Page 19 of Promises in the Dark

Moving fast but quiet, I opened the driver’s door and slid inside. I shut the door gently, barely making a sound, though my side ached like someone was drilling into my flesh. The engine roared to life as I twisted the key, and for a split second, I felt that surge of adrenaline. I was so damn close to freedom. But then—bam!—the passenger door flew open, jarring my ribs so bad I saw stars. It scared the living shit out of me, and the sharp twist to look nearly made me pass out.

I snapped my head to the side, my vision swimming for a second, and there was Red, glaring at me through the darkness.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I blurted, wincing as the words forced my ribs to expand.

She flinched at my sudden shout, but she didn’t seem afraid. Meanwhile, I was biting back a groan, trying not to let her see how fucked up I really was. “Drive!” she commanded in a hushed tone. “Now!”

My heart beat out of my chest as I tried to make sense of what the fuck was happening. Every pulse in my gut felt like someone was twisting the knife that wasn’t even there anymore.

I hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do next. Instinct kicked in quickly and I obliged, keeping my hands tightly gripped to the steering wheel and my eyes on the dark and empty road ahead. I pressed the gas pedal and drove away from the camp, following the dirt road deeper into the desert.

The car quickly gained speed, kicking up a cloud of dust as it rushed through the night. The jolts from the uneven terrainsent fresh spikes of pain through my side, but I didn’t let up. Freedom—or whatever the fuck this was—was worth every second of agony.

Red stared straight ahead, her face blank as a slate. She didn’t seem to give a flying fuck about explaining herself, which only pissed me off even more. My mind was racing with a million questions, and I needed some answers, fucking now.

“You have five seconds to explain yourself,” I snapped at her.

Red kept staring out the window, not even flinching at the harshness of my tone. She sat there silently, a stone-cold expression on her face. Was she even listening to me?

“Answer me!” I barked again, my anger growing with each passing second.

“I had to get away,” she responded, avoiding my gaze.

“From what?” I asked, already annoyed.

“My life,” she finally answered, still not looking at me.

“Your life?” I repeated mockingly.

I turned to look at her, but her gaze remained fixed on the dark landscape outside.

“What the hell kind of answer is that?” I snapped, my irritation growing.

“I was in trouble... with someone,” she said, more like a whisper. “I had to get away.”

I took my focus off the road for a moment and looked over at Red, trying to figure out what the hell she was saying. There was something different in her expression, something I hadn’t seen before. A drop of vulnerability, or maybe it was pain. In that moment, I sensed a kindred spirit in this chick, someone who understood the struggle against their own inner demons. I could relate to that shit.

Despite my attempts to keep up my usual indifference, I felt a brief pang of understanding as I caught a glimpse of myselfin her. I recognized her fear and the way she was trying to escape from her problems. Perhaps we weren’t so different after all.

“Who hurt you?” I asked in a quiet and neutral murmur.

Red looked away, seemingly ashamed. “I can’t tell you,” she mumbled, “it’s complicated.”

I narrowed my eyes, annoyed at her refusal to speak. “You must like the pain if you’re unwilling to share the cause,” I challenged, keeping it casual but pushing.

She shuffled uncomfortably in her seat, her voice hushed. “It’s not like that,” she protested, her words clipped. “But my pain is none of your concern.”

A dry chuckle escaped my lips. “Did you feel that way when you jumped into the car?” I raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “When you needed me to save your ass?”

Red shifted again in her seat, a bit of color rising up her cheeks. “Don’t try to take the moral high ground here,” she murmured, without breaking our eye contact. “Pointing a weapon at someone isn’t typically how one makes new friends.”

She crossed her arms, staring me down through the rearview mirror. “What gives you the right to tell me how to behave?”

I snorted, feeling the anger rise again. She was pushing every fucking button, and it took everything I had not to snap.

“You’re lucky I didn’t toss your ass out of the car back there. That would’ve been better, right?” Her expression twisted with annoyance as she took in my response.

“Lucky me,” she scorned. “How kind of you to give me such a gracious reprieve.”

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