Seven

Chapter 16- The Taste of Freedom

Mario and Carmen hitched a ride with a truck driver into town and found a gas station so Mario could call his sister. When she didn't answer, Mario started to lose hope. They were in Maine, far away from either of their homes, friends and family. With no money, they had no way of purchasing a bus ticket, or renting a car.

"I can get us the money, you know," Carmen said as they sat down in the corner booth of the gas station's pizzeria.

"Oh yeah? And how are you gonna do that?" Mario asked, sitting across from her.

Carmen looked over her shoulder at the elderly man behind the cash register before looking back at Mario. "Watch and learn, my friend."

Mario watched as Carmen walked over to the cash register and said something to the old man, pointing to the bathrooms. He nodded and walked off to check it out. As soon as he was gone, Carmen jimmied open the cash register and started stuffing her pockets with cash.

"Come on!" she hissed at Mario as she ran past him towards the exit.

Mario ran after her, cursing at her the whole time. "What the hell?! Do you want to go to jail?!"

"After what we just went through, I'd gladly go to jail," she answered, stopping behind the dumpster to catch her breath. "Now we've just got to find the nearest bus station and-"

She hushed abruptly, her eyes widening in horror. Mario looked over his shoulder and cursed when he saw what she saw. It was the same black car that had picked him up from his house.

The two hid behind the dumpster and watched as Richard climbed out of the passenger seat and a man in a black, wide-brimmed hat got out of the driver's side. Mario recognized the man as Dr. Vincent, but he didn't say anything out loud.

"We have to get going," Mario hissed to Carmen. "They're hot on our ass!"

"They left the car running," Carmen mumbled, slowly approaching the old black sedan.

"Please don't tell me...no!" Mario protested, following behind her. "We are not stealing this car!"

"Okay, so what do you suggest?" she asked, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"We can't take their car! Are you crazy?! They probably have some kind of tracking device on it!"

"So? They probably have a tracking device on us! How do you think they found us so quickly?" she asked, catching Mario by surprise.

She was right. They were able to track them down within minutes. If they don't have a car to chase them with, that could at least slow them down.

"Let's go," Mario finally agreed. "But I'm driving."

They hurried over to the car and climbed in, peeling away within seconds. Mario looked up in the review mirror and saw Richard coming out of the store, but when he meets Mario's gaze and smirks, Mario knew he'd been had.

"They expected us to take the car," Mario says. "We have to ditch it."

"What?! We just got in!" Carmen whined.

"What if there's a bomb in it? Or what if it's rigged with some kind of poisonous gas?"

Carmen sighed. "Fine. But where do we ditch it?"

Mario looked around, but there was nothing but the road in front of them and woods on either side. No houses, no vacant parking lots, no way to hide without embracing nature.

Mario pulled over to the side of the road and he and Carmen took off running into the woods. They kept running until they were both winded and exhausted.

Carmen slowed her pace first, eventually coming to a stop and bending over, trying to catch her breath.

"We've got to keep movie," Mario said.

"Just...one second," she panted.

Mario furrowed his brows at something in the distance. Was it a car? Coming this way? There were no streets, not even a path to walk on foot, so why would a car risk driving through such a heavily wooded area?

Mario moved a little closer and realized it wasn't a car at all, but rather two flashlights.

"Let's go!" he whispered, taking Carmen's hand.

They continued to run for what seemed like forever. Mario occasionally looked over his shoulder to see how close the flashlights were, but he could no longer see them. 

"We've got to rest. I can't keep running like this," Carmen panted, little pieces of her dark hair sticking to her face and forehead.

Mario suddenly stopped and looked around.

"What?" Carmen asked.

"I hear water," Mario said, listening carefully.

"Me too," Carmen said breathlessly, looking around to see what direction it could've been coming from.

"Over there!" Mario said, pointing to the left.

They followed the sound as it grew louder and louder. Finally, they came to a clearing and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God! Civilization!" Carmen sighed in relief.

But as they stepped out into the clearing, they found themselves standing between the thick forest they just came from and a fifty foot cliff that dropped right off into the Atlantic Ocean.

There was nowhere to go.

A sinister laugh pulled their attention back towards the woods, where Dr. Vincent emerged under the dim flashlight, looking like a maniac. "Where, oh where will you go now?"

Carmen and Mario shared a panicked look. They could've jumped, but the water below was probably shallow and rocky. Going back the way they came was out of the question, so they found themselves rooted in place as Dr. Vincent drew closer and closer.

"If you come with me right now, I'll let both of you finish the games. There will be no consequences for this little rendezvous," he called out to them.

Mario knew he couldn't go back. He couldn't trust anything Dr. Vincent said. He was either going to die out here or he was going back to the Winthrop Manor to die. Either way, he was dead.

"I'm not going back," Carmen whispered. "I'd rather die out here, on my own terms."

"Same," Mario agreed.

"Should we jump?" Carmen asked, nodding to the water behind them.

Mario took a deep breath. He wasn't ready to die and he knew that, but if he had to choose, he would rather fall to his death than be cooked and eaten. "Let's do it. On the count of three," he said, reaching for Carmen's hand.

"One."

"There's no reason to be afraid! You've made it so far! Too far to give up now!" Dr. Vincent called to them when he realized what they had planned to do.

"Two."

"You're a fool to leave so much money on the table!" Dr. Vincent cried.

"One."

Mario and Carmen stepped off the ledge and fell backwards into the ocean below.

Mario fully expected to die on impact, so he was quite surprised when he hit the water and sank. He quickly kicked his feet, propelling himself upward. He hit the surface and gasped for breath, looking around for Carmen. It was dark out, with nothing but the dim light of the moon above. The water was choppy and cold. If she survived, she would've surfaced by now.

Mario began to swim to shore when he heard Carmen coughing in the distance. He swam over to her, his muscles feeling tight and slow from the icy cold water.

"Carmen!" he called out.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled them with all his might to the rocky shore. Once they made it, they took a second to catch their breath. Mario looked around for any sign of Richard or Dr. Vincent, but he knew it would've taken them at least an hour to make it to this part of the shore safely.

But they were probably on their way.

"We need to get away from here," Mario said, standing.

His back was in pain from them fall, but he felt otherwise okay. He stretched his muscles out, groaning in relief. He looked back at Carmen who was balled up, freezing. They wouldn't be able to make it far in their condition, but they had to make it somewhere they could at least conceal themselves.

Mario helped Carmen to her feet and noticed she was shivering. He wrapped his arm around her, offering her as much warmth as he could.

They moved along the shore slowly, while Mario kept watch. He looked around as they went, searching for a cave, or cove, anything that might conceal them. He spotted something that looked promising in the distance, but as he moved closer, he realized how dark it was. There's no telling what could be hiding there, waiting for them.

"I can't go on," Carmen cried, collapsing to the ground. "Just go without me."

"No, I'm not leaving you," Mario said, kneeling next to her. "We've got to find someplace to hide and then you can rest. I just need you to keep going a little bit longer."

"I can't do it," she cried. "I'm sorry, I just can't do it."

Growing frustrated, Mario picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of flour. To his surprise, she didn't protest. He carried her as quickly as he could, reaching the cove in only a matter of minutes.

He laid her down between two rocks while he went to check out the area. The huge rocks blocked out the moonlight and made the cove pitch black. Mario kneeled at the entrance and carefully studied it. There was no way of knowing what, if anything, was inside. And because of that, he knew it would be the perfect place to hide.

Mario went back for Carmen, picking her up the same way and carrying her up the rocks and into the cove. He hesitantly moved further and further back, not having a clue where his next step might lead him. He used his free hand to feel around and when he touched a wall, he decided to stop. Using his foot, he tapped the surrounding surface, making sure there were no holes or crannies for them to get stuck in. When he was certain everything was okay, he lowered Carmen and sat her down.

She leaned up against the wall, breathing heavily. "It's so dark in here."

"I know, but it's the perfect place to hide. We'll give it some time and then we'll move on. For now, just rest. I'll keep an eye out," Mario told her.

He sat next to her, pulling her back against his chest and trying to create body heat between the two of them. They had no idea how long they would need to sit here before the coast was clear, or if they had somehow just walked into a trap. Either way, they had survived a lot today and to Mario, that was worth something. They couldn't give up now. Not when they were so close to tasting freedom.