Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Anywhere but Here ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: destiny dreamer 
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance / Suspense | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.23.2010 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 192 | Status: Completed
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance / Suspense | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.23.2010 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 192 | Status: Completed
It was late when Hayden got off and she hadn't seen him since he left. With food in her arms, she went back home hoping to see him there.
It was on her way home that she ran into him. In his arms were folded work clothes. He frowned and looked down rather sheepishly. Though it seemed that he procured a place to work, he was quite ashamed of the fact that he would be doing such menial labor. "Well, I got a job," he said, offering her a small smile.
"Good," she smiled and let him in the apartment. "I got us food."
"What did you bring home?" he asked curiously, sniffing the air while his stomach growled.
"Patty melts, fries, cakes, and some pop," she nodded.
"Okay, well save me some. I'm going to get a shower real quick and then I'll join you."
She nodded and sat on the bed. After a nice shower, he pulled out his night clothes and slipped them on before joining her on the bed and helping himself to some of the food. At that point she got a shower and hurried back just in time to eat cake with him.
"You have to let those ladies know that was the best cake I've ever had," he sighed in contentment. "Not even the chef's back home were that good."
"Oh I made the cake," she nodded. She licked her spoon, dragging her tongue over it to get the icing off.
"Really!? You did?" He looked at her just in time to watch her tongue trail ever so slowly over the spoon. An image surfaced in the recesses of his male mind, but he quickly tried to push it down.
"Yep," she said as she pushed her hair from her eye. "Oh...you have some on your...here I'll get it." She reached over and wiped his lip with her finger then brought it to her mouth and sucked lightly.
He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. Bad thoughts! Very bad thoughts. "Um...thank you," he said softly, his lower half shifting on the bed.
She flashed him a smile. "Sure." Taking a cherry, she slipped it on her tongue then ate it while still smiling.
"So...have you ever had a boyfriend before?" He had to ask. Seeing the way that she did things, he swore she was almost doing them deliberately!
"I was never allowed to date."
"Because your father..." Wanted to keep her all to himself. Great. Bring up a touchy subject.
"Yeah," she nodded and took another bite of her cake.
Laying back on her bed, he stretched and got comfortable. Any feelings he had were long gone thanks to his mental process of associating her father, the cop, raping his daughter.
She took the stuff to the kitchen then laid back with him. "So what are you thinking about?"
"You," he told her.
"M-me?" she asked. He nodded. "What...what about me?"
"Just things," he shrugged, turning his head to look at her.
"What things?"
He started to tell her, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he figured it probably wasn't the best idea to tell a rape victim that you were thinking about them intimately. "It's nothing," he smiled. "Just thinking about your smile."
Her fingers went to her lips. "My smile?"
"Yeah. You have a pretty smile."
She smiled brightly and blushed. "Thank...thank you..." After a few moments of them staring at each other she got off the bed. "We better get to bed," she said and fluffed her pillow on the floor. "Goodnight."
"Yeah...goodnight." Shifting on the bed, he pulled the covers over him and fell asleep.
Like every morning now, she left a note for him and went to work. This morning, however, he slowly got up and got dressed in the wretched uniform he was given. By the time the sun was up, he was standing line in a factory, being yelled at and forced to hurriedly assemble things together.
For two months, the two of them worked and saved. When they did get to see each other, they would try to catch up. Hayden helped Sai open an account in the bank to store his money like she had and helped him set a goal which was based on working hard.
When he finally got back to the apartment late one night, he just collapsed in a small heap on the bed. He had to stay late because someone had fucked up on the line.... Great, now he was starting to use the vocabulary of a commoner. Someone had messed something up, and the boss had blamed him. His arms were so sore he didn't even think that he could move them.
Hayden walked in with a yawn and handed him some food she brought home. She sat on the pallet on her floor and started eating hers.
He feebly reached for the food and then groaned. "Forget it. Too sleepy to eat," he yawned. "How was work?"
"Very busy," she said while chewing.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. I don't think I'm ever going to get the oil off my hands."
"Baking soda helps," she said. After finishing eating she went and took a shower.
When she came back, he hadn't moved an inch. In fact, he was already asleep, his body half on the bed and half on the floor. She pushed him on the bed then crawled in her pallet and fell to sleep herself.
In the morning, he got up before her and drug himself to work. As he was walking, he became acutely aware of the feeling of eyes on him. His mind was too tired to truly register this phenomenon, however, and thus he kept walking to work like he always did.
Hayden had quit her job at the factory when the bakery offered her more hours. She now worked mornings in the bakery and she was a waitress in the afternoon. Most of her money came from tips and she found that as long as she smiled and was nice, the tips were more than her paychecks.
Two men sat in the back in Sai's usual spot. When she came to serve them, they gave her a smile and a nod. "How are you today, miss?"
"Doing wonderful, thank you for asking!" she smiled. "What can I get you two? We have the meatloaf special today, and trust me, Hank makes the best meatloaf in all of California," she winked.
"Well then, I think it's settled. We'll take two orders of the meatloaf," the man said. When she turned to leave, he stopped her and reached into his pocket. "By the way, while you're here, we were curious. You seem like a knowledgeable girl. Have you seen this boy around here?" Pulling out a picture, he held up an image of Sai.
She looked at the men. "Is...is he in trouble?" She never asked about Sai's life. She never thought it was her place. Was he on the run too?
"Oh, now I wouldn't say that I mean, not the extent that the law needs to get involved. He's just a troubled kid, and his parents are worried sick about him. He's an heir to a rather sizable family business, and information you could provide would only help him and of course there is a reward for anyone who helps."
"I don't want any reward...and...and I don't think I should say anything without talking to him first..." she said softly.
"Order up, Hayden!"
"Oh! I coming!" she called. "I'll be back with your orders."
She hurried off and delivered the food to another table while placing their order. When she came back with the plates, she sat them down and smile softly.
"You just said that you shouldn't say anything without talking to him first," the man said with a smile. "So you do know where he is?"
"With all due respect...I don't want to talk about this anymore..."
"No, no , no, that's quite alright. Just know that hiding information about a missing child is against the law. So should we have to get the cops involved we'll have to contact the local police where he lives so that they can work with the cops here in this case."
She bit her lip and her hands shook. Running her hands over her apron, she stared out the window. If they went to the police, her father would find her. But if she said something about Sai and he got hurt or sent back when he obviously didn't want to be back, she couldn't live with her guilt... It was either go back to hell...or betray a friend. Her lip quivered and she wiped some tears from her eyes.
"I understand your position...so I'll just wait for the cops then... Because I am not telling you anything else," she said in a shaking voice.
"Hayden, take your lunch!"
"Alright!" she called. "Excuse me," she whispered and hurried to the back
"Well, I think that was rather telling," the man said to his friend. "She knows where he is, and they're very close."
"Wanna go see if she has a place in her name?"
"I do," he smirked. The two men finished their meal and left her a sizable tip before leaving.
After her shift was over, Hayden ran to the factory. She heard the whistle go off and people started pouring out. Her eyes scanned the crowd until she saw Sai. Pushing through people, she called for him. "Sai! Sai!"
Sai was rubbing his shoulder and wincing every time he moved. He still had his ear plugs in, so it wasn't until she drew right up on him that he heard her. "Huh? Hayden? What are you doing here?"
She grabbed his hand and started running. While she ran towards the park, a crowded area, she explained what happened. "So we can't go home! Because that is the first place the police look!"
"Trust me, they won't call the police," he told her. "But we still can't go back home nonetheless."
She sat down on the bench and shivered as the snow fell on them. "What are we going to do now?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "I had hoped they wouldn't find me..." He snapped his fingers and nodded. "I've got it. We can stay in my boss's office tonight and figure out what we'll do in the morning."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean...it's the 20s, Sai. If they want to find us...they will find us."
"Trust me. I know how they work," he promised. "They'll sit on the place and then tomorrow they'll start searching for where I work."
She swallowed and took his hand, her fingers freezing from the cold. "Sai...I'm scared of them..."
"You should be," he whispered. His fingers intertwined with hers and he pulled her with him back toward the factory.
She followed behind him, women and men staring at them as they walked. She looked at her long hair compared to all the women who were cutting their hair short and discarding corsets because of the roaring twenties. Women were equal now and she had lived most her life under her father's thumb. Women were showing their legs now and clubs were being made just for women to take their clothes off. She was still stuck in the the early 1900's. Maybe she should cut her hair like them and wear that red lipstick with those pretty dresses. She wouldn't look like herself and that was what Sai had said once right? You have to blend in. Now she was running with Sai...and she didn't know why.
He cursed when he found that the door to the factory was locked. Looking around, he stopped when he eyed her. "You have a bobby pin on your dress. Can I have it?" She reached in her hair and pulled one out. Stray hair fell into her face as she handed it to him. Taking it from her, he bent it outward and then slipped it into the door. Twisting and turning it, he had the door open in less than a second. "There we go," he whispered, urging her inside.
She hurried in out of the cold, rubbing her arms and knocking snow off her. Unfortunately it wasn't much warmer inside the factory than it was outside. He shuddered and shut the door back, locking it behind them. Moving past all the machines, he took her to his boss's office. Picking the lock again, he frowned an examined it. They were going to freeze tonight at how cold it was. She slipped her jacket off and put it around his shoulders.
He looked at her in shock, his face softening even while he shook his head and put her jacket back on her. "Keep it. You'll need it to keep you warm."
"Yes, but I'll find things to keep me warm. It's alright," she said and put the jacket back on him. Moving past him she fixed the couch up. "You can sleep on the couch and I'll take the floor like always," she smiled.
"No. Take the couch tonight. I got you into this, at the very least you can sleep on something comfortable."
"I really don't mind the floor," she said as she laid down.
He was too tired to argue. Laying her coat over her frame, he crawled on the couch and curled up. It was going to be a long night. Her body curled into a small ball and she used her arm as a pillow. Halfway through the night, he woke up freezing. His body was shaking and his breath was visible in the air of the building. He had to sit up and rub his arms just to get the feeling back in them. Looking down to Hayden, he realized that she too was shaking in her sleep. "Hayden?"
Her eyes snapped open. "Yeah? Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I just...you're shaking," he explained.
She smiled. "Yeah...a bit. Need my coat?"
He shook his head. "Come here."
She shifted. "W...why?"
"We're both freezing. I read in a science book that if we huddle together for warmth we can at least make it through the night."
"You won't...um...you won't...try...anything right?" she whispered.
He shook his head quickly. She bit her lip. Hesitantly, she took his hand and let him help her on the couch. He swallowed hard before laying down. His hand gently pulled her down, her body pressed against his, their combined body heat giving them something resembling heat, just enough to keep them warm. She curled against him, watching his hands for a long time. After a while, she finally closed her eyes and rested her head into his chest.
His arms were draped against her, holding her close. After a while, however, he fell asleep, his head resting against hers. In the morning, he awoke to the sound of machines starting to heat up and turn on. He groaned and shifted against her. "People are coming to work....we should go," he whispered.
She pulled from him slowly and stretched. "We...can go back to the house now? I need to go to work."
"Yeah. Go home. It should be safe now. I'll stay here, my shift starts in just a little while."
"Meet me at lunch. I know you are starving," she said. She got up and hurried out. After stopping at the house, she found everything in order. She showered and dressed in her bakery uniform then hurried to work.
At lunch time, the two men returned and took their seats in the back. "Good afternoon, Hayden," the talkative man said with a smile.
She froze. "Hi...what can I get you?"
"We'll take the meatloaf, shakes, and fries," he smiled. "Oh! And while you're at it, you could save us all a lot of trouble and bring Sai back here once he gets off work."
"I'll get your food," she said and called out their order before tending to some other people. She came back with their food and placed it on the table for them.
"You know, we were making some phone calls earlier about people Sai would know here, and when we were looking through stuff, we discovered that you're the daughter of the police chief back home. Isn't that right? You know, he's been putting up fliers all over trying to get you back home; but I reckon that if you left, you had a pretty good reason to leave. Isn't that so? It would be a shame for him to find you after you've been doing so well all by your lonesome."
She looked hard at him. "Then send me back because I'm not helping you get to Sai. Find someone else willing to sell someone out because it's not me."
His smile never faltered. "You are a feisty girl. Very well, if you want to play your games so be it. Just know that your actions have consequences."
"I'll kill myself before I go back to him," she said softly. "I'm going on break!" she called to the cook. She disappeared in the back and grabbed her lunch and Sai's before running out the back hoping to catch him before he came in the diner.
Sai was walking down the street, keeping his low and his eyes on the ground. As long as people didn't notice him he would be okay. Opening up the door to the diner, he stepped in just as two people were staring to leave. "Sorry I-"
"Hello Sai."
The boy's eyes widened when he looked up to see them standing there. "Oh shi-" Ducking as they tried to grab him, he turned around and dashed out of the door.
Hayden dropped the food as she saw him running. She ran after him and took his hand. "Come on! I know a place to hide!" He didn't ask questions, he just let her drag him wherever it was they were going. She pulled him down a way through a back alley, weaving through buildings. She pulled a ladder down and pushed him up it. "Go to the top and crawl in the window!" she called as she pushed the ladder back up the building. She had found that place a while back when thinking of some place to stay other than the shelter. It was an abandoned building and as long as he was quiet, the men wouldn't know. "I'll lead them away!" She looked back where she came and started running.
As soon as the men rounded the corner, the silent one pulled out a gun and started firing. The talkative one, however, reached over and pulled his gun from him. "What the hell are you doing!? If you hit Sai the boss will us put in a meat grinder!"
The silent one just groaned and they started chasing after the girl, hoping that she would lead them to Sai.
She held her arm, crying hard now. A bullet had hit her, but at least Sai was safe. She ran as fast as she could, tripping on snow, sliding on ice, and tumbling to the ground.
Right when she rounded a corner they grabbed her and forced her against the wall. "Feeling more talkative now are we?" the man smirked as he pressed the tip of his gun against her wound.
She cried out. Her hand reached out and she fought against him.
When she cried out, another gun was forced into her mouth. "Listen to me! We want the kid. So either you give him up, or we blow your brains out. Got it?"
She closed her eyes. Readying herself for the shot.
"Screw it. Kill the dame." The man nodded and started to the pull the trigger, but a loud, metallic thud was followed by the man falling down. Before the other guy could figure out what was going on, he too was hit on the head by the ancient fire extinguisher. Once both men were out cold, Sai dropped the metal canister and looked to Hayden.
"My God, your shoulder...you've been shot," he whispered.
She fell to her knees shaking. "They...they were going to kill me..." she cried.
He nodded slowly, figuring as much. Going to her, he helped her up and let her lean against him. "Come on. We have to keep moving." She cried out as she moved and leaned against him. That was really a lot of blood. He knew enough that he had to stop the blood flow or get the bullet out. Either way wasn't all that pleasant. "You can't climb to get up to that hiding spot, can you?"
"I...I can try...but...I'm...I'm a little dizzy..."
"Just lean against me. I've got you," he promised.
She leaned into him. "No...no doctors..."
"But-" He bit his lip. "Okay. I'm going to have to get the bullet out then."
She gripped his hand. "I trust you..."
Right. That just made things worse. Pulling down the ladder, he helped her foot onto it and he had to push her up to get her moving. She worked with one arm and she was really slow, stopping to get a better grip or catch her breath. Finally, they were at the top and she crawled in the window.
Once inside, he quickly began searching the deserted area for anything he could use. Of course he didn't find anything sanitary, but he did find something. A small butter knife would have to do the trick. "This is going to really hurt," he told her. Holding her down as he slid the knife into her wound and began fishing the bullet out of her.
Her screams echoed in the building and her tears drowned her face even as she closed them tightly.
It was on her way home that she ran into him. In his arms were folded work clothes. He frowned and looked down rather sheepishly. Though it seemed that he procured a place to work, he was quite ashamed of the fact that he would be doing such menial labor. "Well, I got a job," he said, offering her a small smile.
"Good," she smiled and let him in the apartment. "I got us food."
"What did you bring home?" he asked curiously, sniffing the air while his stomach growled.
"Patty melts, fries, cakes, and some pop," she nodded.
"Okay, well save me some. I'm going to get a shower real quick and then I'll join you."
She nodded and sat on the bed. After a nice shower, he pulled out his night clothes and slipped them on before joining her on the bed and helping himself to some of the food. At that point she got a shower and hurried back just in time to eat cake with him.
"You have to let those ladies know that was the best cake I've ever had," he sighed in contentment. "Not even the chef's back home were that good."
"Oh I made the cake," she nodded. She licked her spoon, dragging her tongue over it to get the icing off.
"Really!? You did?" He looked at her just in time to watch her tongue trail ever so slowly over the spoon. An image surfaced in the recesses of his male mind, but he quickly tried to push it down.
"Yep," she said as she pushed her hair from her eye. "Oh...you have some on your...here I'll get it." She reached over and wiped his lip with her finger then brought it to her mouth and sucked lightly.
He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. Bad thoughts! Very bad thoughts. "Um...thank you," he said softly, his lower half shifting on the bed.
She flashed him a smile. "Sure." Taking a cherry, she slipped it on her tongue then ate it while still smiling.
"So...have you ever had a boyfriend before?" He had to ask. Seeing the way that she did things, he swore she was almost doing them deliberately!
"I was never allowed to date."
"Because your father..." Wanted to keep her all to himself. Great. Bring up a touchy subject.
"Yeah," she nodded and took another bite of her cake.
Laying back on her bed, he stretched and got comfortable. Any feelings he had were long gone thanks to his mental process of associating her father, the cop, raping his daughter.
She took the stuff to the kitchen then laid back with him. "So what are you thinking about?"
"You," he told her.
"M-me?" she asked. He nodded. "What...what about me?"
"Just things," he shrugged, turning his head to look at her.
"What things?"
He started to tell her, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he figured it probably wasn't the best idea to tell a rape victim that you were thinking about them intimately. "It's nothing," he smiled. "Just thinking about your smile."
Her fingers went to her lips. "My smile?"
"Yeah. You have a pretty smile."
She smiled brightly and blushed. "Thank...thank you..." After a few moments of them staring at each other she got off the bed. "We better get to bed," she said and fluffed her pillow on the floor. "Goodnight."
"Yeah...goodnight." Shifting on the bed, he pulled the covers over him and fell asleep.
Like every morning now, she left a note for him and went to work. This morning, however, he slowly got up and got dressed in the wretched uniform he was given. By the time the sun was up, he was standing line in a factory, being yelled at and forced to hurriedly assemble things together.
For two months, the two of them worked and saved. When they did get to see each other, they would try to catch up. Hayden helped Sai open an account in the bank to store his money like she had and helped him set a goal which was based on working hard.
When he finally got back to the apartment late one night, he just collapsed in a small heap on the bed. He had to stay late because someone had fucked up on the line.... Great, now he was starting to use the vocabulary of a commoner. Someone had messed something up, and the boss had blamed him. His arms were so sore he didn't even think that he could move them.
Hayden walked in with a yawn and handed him some food she brought home. She sat on the pallet on her floor and started eating hers.
He feebly reached for the food and then groaned. "Forget it. Too sleepy to eat," he yawned. "How was work?"
"Very busy," she said while chewing.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. I don't think I'm ever going to get the oil off my hands."
"Baking soda helps," she said. After finishing eating she went and took a shower.
When she came back, he hadn't moved an inch. In fact, he was already asleep, his body half on the bed and half on the floor. She pushed him on the bed then crawled in her pallet and fell to sleep herself.
In the morning, he got up before her and drug himself to work. As he was walking, he became acutely aware of the feeling of eyes on him. His mind was too tired to truly register this phenomenon, however, and thus he kept walking to work like he always did.
Hayden had quit her job at the factory when the bakery offered her more hours. She now worked mornings in the bakery and she was a waitress in the afternoon. Most of her money came from tips and she found that as long as she smiled and was nice, the tips were more than her paychecks.
Two men sat in the back in Sai's usual spot. When she came to serve them, they gave her a smile and a nod. "How are you today, miss?"
"Doing wonderful, thank you for asking!" she smiled. "What can I get you two? We have the meatloaf special today, and trust me, Hank makes the best meatloaf in all of California," she winked.
"Well then, I think it's settled. We'll take two orders of the meatloaf," the man said. When she turned to leave, he stopped her and reached into his pocket. "By the way, while you're here, we were curious. You seem like a knowledgeable girl. Have you seen this boy around here?" Pulling out a picture, he held up an image of Sai.
She looked at the men. "Is...is he in trouble?" She never asked about Sai's life. She never thought it was her place. Was he on the run too?
"Oh, now I wouldn't say that I mean, not the extent that the law needs to get involved. He's just a troubled kid, and his parents are worried sick about him. He's an heir to a rather sizable family business, and information you could provide would only help him and of course there is a reward for anyone who helps."
"I don't want any reward...and...and I don't think I should say anything without talking to him first..." she said softly.
"Order up, Hayden!"
"Oh! I coming!" she called. "I'll be back with your orders."
She hurried off and delivered the food to another table while placing their order. When she came back with the plates, she sat them down and smile softly.
"You just said that you shouldn't say anything without talking to him first," the man said with a smile. "So you do know where he is?"
"With all due respect...I don't want to talk about this anymore..."
"No, no , no, that's quite alright. Just know that hiding information about a missing child is against the law. So should we have to get the cops involved we'll have to contact the local police where he lives so that they can work with the cops here in this case."
She bit her lip and her hands shook. Running her hands over her apron, she stared out the window. If they went to the police, her father would find her. But if she said something about Sai and he got hurt or sent back when he obviously didn't want to be back, she couldn't live with her guilt... It was either go back to hell...or betray a friend. Her lip quivered and she wiped some tears from her eyes.
"I understand your position...so I'll just wait for the cops then... Because I am not telling you anything else," she said in a shaking voice.
"Hayden, take your lunch!"
"Alright!" she called. "Excuse me," she whispered and hurried to the back
"Well, I think that was rather telling," the man said to his friend. "She knows where he is, and they're very close."
"Wanna go see if she has a place in her name?"
"I do," he smirked. The two men finished their meal and left her a sizable tip before leaving.
After her shift was over, Hayden ran to the factory. She heard the whistle go off and people started pouring out. Her eyes scanned the crowd until she saw Sai. Pushing through people, she called for him. "Sai! Sai!"
Sai was rubbing his shoulder and wincing every time he moved. He still had his ear plugs in, so it wasn't until she drew right up on him that he heard her. "Huh? Hayden? What are you doing here?"
She grabbed his hand and started running. While she ran towards the park, a crowded area, she explained what happened. "So we can't go home! Because that is the first place the police look!"
"Trust me, they won't call the police," he told her. "But we still can't go back home nonetheless."
She sat down on the bench and shivered as the snow fell on them. "What are we going to do now?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "I had hoped they wouldn't find me..." He snapped his fingers and nodded. "I've got it. We can stay in my boss's office tonight and figure out what we'll do in the morning."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I mean...it's the 20s, Sai. If they want to find us...they will find us."
"Trust me. I know how they work," he promised. "They'll sit on the place and then tomorrow they'll start searching for where I work."
She swallowed and took his hand, her fingers freezing from the cold. "Sai...I'm scared of them..."
"You should be," he whispered. His fingers intertwined with hers and he pulled her with him back toward the factory.
She followed behind him, women and men staring at them as they walked. She looked at her long hair compared to all the women who were cutting their hair short and discarding corsets because of the roaring twenties. Women were equal now and she had lived most her life under her father's thumb. Women were showing their legs now and clubs were being made just for women to take their clothes off. She was still stuck in the the early 1900's. Maybe she should cut her hair like them and wear that red lipstick with those pretty dresses. She wouldn't look like herself and that was what Sai had said once right? You have to blend in. Now she was running with Sai...and she didn't know why.
He cursed when he found that the door to the factory was locked. Looking around, he stopped when he eyed her. "You have a bobby pin on your dress. Can I have it?" She reached in her hair and pulled one out. Stray hair fell into her face as she handed it to him. Taking it from her, he bent it outward and then slipped it into the door. Twisting and turning it, he had the door open in less than a second. "There we go," he whispered, urging her inside.
She hurried in out of the cold, rubbing her arms and knocking snow off her. Unfortunately it wasn't much warmer inside the factory than it was outside. He shuddered and shut the door back, locking it behind them. Moving past all the machines, he took her to his boss's office. Picking the lock again, he frowned an examined it. They were going to freeze tonight at how cold it was. She slipped her jacket off and put it around his shoulders.
He looked at her in shock, his face softening even while he shook his head and put her jacket back on her. "Keep it. You'll need it to keep you warm."
"Yes, but I'll find things to keep me warm. It's alright," she said and put the jacket back on him. Moving past him she fixed the couch up. "You can sleep on the couch and I'll take the floor like always," she smiled.
"No. Take the couch tonight. I got you into this, at the very least you can sleep on something comfortable."
"I really don't mind the floor," she said as she laid down.
He was too tired to argue. Laying her coat over her frame, he crawled on the couch and curled up. It was going to be a long night. Her body curled into a small ball and she used her arm as a pillow. Halfway through the night, he woke up freezing. His body was shaking and his breath was visible in the air of the building. He had to sit up and rub his arms just to get the feeling back in them. Looking down to Hayden, he realized that she too was shaking in her sleep. "Hayden?"
Her eyes snapped open. "Yeah? Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I just...you're shaking," he explained.
She smiled. "Yeah...a bit. Need my coat?"
He shook his head. "Come here."
She shifted. "W...why?"
"We're both freezing. I read in a science book that if we huddle together for warmth we can at least make it through the night."
"You won't...um...you won't...try...anything right?" she whispered.
He shook his head quickly. She bit her lip. Hesitantly, she took his hand and let him help her on the couch. He swallowed hard before laying down. His hand gently pulled her down, her body pressed against his, their combined body heat giving them something resembling heat, just enough to keep them warm. She curled against him, watching his hands for a long time. After a while, she finally closed her eyes and rested her head into his chest.
His arms were draped against her, holding her close. After a while, however, he fell asleep, his head resting against hers. In the morning, he awoke to the sound of machines starting to heat up and turn on. He groaned and shifted against her. "People are coming to work....we should go," he whispered.
She pulled from him slowly and stretched. "We...can go back to the house now? I need to go to work."
"Yeah. Go home. It should be safe now. I'll stay here, my shift starts in just a little while."
"Meet me at lunch. I know you are starving," she said. She got up and hurried out. After stopping at the house, she found everything in order. She showered and dressed in her bakery uniform then hurried to work.
At lunch time, the two men returned and took their seats in the back. "Good afternoon, Hayden," the talkative man said with a smile.
She froze. "Hi...what can I get you?"
"We'll take the meatloaf, shakes, and fries," he smiled. "Oh! And while you're at it, you could save us all a lot of trouble and bring Sai back here once he gets off work."
"I'll get your food," she said and called out their order before tending to some other people. She came back with their food and placed it on the table for them.
"You know, we were making some phone calls earlier about people Sai would know here, and when we were looking through stuff, we discovered that you're the daughter of the police chief back home. Isn't that right? You know, he's been putting up fliers all over trying to get you back home; but I reckon that if you left, you had a pretty good reason to leave. Isn't that so? It would be a shame for him to find you after you've been doing so well all by your lonesome."
She looked hard at him. "Then send me back because I'm not helping you get to Sai. Find someone else willing to sell someone out because it's not me."
His smile never faltered. "You are a feisty girl. Very well, if you want to play your games so be it. Just know that your actions have consequences."
"I'll kill myself before I go back to him," she said softly. "I'm going on break!" she called to the cook. She disappeared in the back and grabbed her lunch and Sai's before running out the back hoping to catch him before he came in the diner.
Sai was walking down the street, keeping his low and his eyes on the ground. As long as people didn't notice him he would be okay. Opening up the door to the diner, he stepped in just as two people were staring to leave. "Sorry I-"
"Hello Sai."
The boy's eyes widened when he looked up to see them standing there. "Oh shi-" Ducking as they tried to grab him, he turned around and dashed out of the door.
Hayden dropped the food as she saw him running. She ran after him and took his hand. "Come on! I know a place to hide!" He didn't ask questions, he just let her drag him wherever it was they were going. She pulled him down a way through a back alley, weaving through buildings. She pulled a ladder down and pushed him up it. "Go to the top and crawl in the window!" she called as she pushed the ladder back up the building. She had found that place a while back when thinking of some place to stay other than the shelter. It was an abandoned building and as long as he was quiet, the men wouldn't know. "I'll lead them away!" She looked back where she came and started running.
As soon as the men rounded the corner, the silent one pulled out a gun and started firing. The talkative one, however, reached over and pulled his gun from him. "What the hell are you doing!? If you hit Sai the boss will us put in a meat grinder!"
The silent one just groaned and they started chasing after the girl, hoping that she would lead them to Sai.
She held her arm, crying hard now. A bullet had hit her, but at least Sai was safe. She ran as fast as she could, tripping on snow, sliding on ice, and tumbling to the ground.
Right when she rounded a corner they grabbed her and forced her against the wall. "Feeling more talkative now are we?" the man smirked as he pressed the tip of his gun against her wound.
She cried out. Her hand reached out and she fought against him.
When she cried out, another gun was forced into her mouth. "Listen to me! We want the kid. So either you give him up, or we blow your brains out. Got it?"
She closed her eyes. Readying herself for the shot.
"Screw it. Kill the dame." The man nodded and started to the pull the trigger, but a loud, metallic thud was followed by the man falling down. Before the other guy could figure out what was going on, he too was hit on the head by the ancient fire extinguisher. Once both men were out cold, Sai dropped the metal canister and looked to Hayden.
"My God, your shoulder...you've been shot," he whispered.
She fell to her knees shaking. "They...they were going to kill me..." she cried.
He nodded slowly, figuring as much. Going to her, he helped her up and let her lean against him. "Come on. We have to keep moving." She cried out as she moved and leaned against him. That was really a lot of blood. He knew enough that he had to stop the blood flow or get the bullet out. Either way wasn't all that pleasant. "You can't climb to get up to that hiding spot, can you?"
"I...I can try...but...I'm...I'm a little dizzy..."
"Just lean against me. I've got you," he promised.
She leaned into him. "No...no doctors..."
"But-" He bit his lip. "Okay. I'm going to have to get the bullet out then."
She gripped his hand. "I trust you..."
Right. That just made things worse. Pulling down the ladder, he helped her foot onto it and he had to push her up to get her moving. She worked with one arm and she was really slow, stopping to get a better grip or catch her breath. Finally, they were at the top and she crawled in the window.
Once inside, he quickly began searching the deserted area for anything he could use. Of course he didn't find anything sanitary, but he did find something. A small butter knife would have to do the trick. "This is going to really hurt," he told her. Holding her down as he slid the knife into her wound and began fishing the bullet out of her.
Her screams echoed in the building and her tears drowned her face even as she closed them tightly.