Page 21 of Born in Depravity

Like he found me amusing.

“R-right. Of course,” the boy stuttered. Like me, he could sense danger when it was right in front of him.

“Why don’t you go get gas for your truck? I’ve got this.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. What could I say to that?

Something told me I shouldn’t let him take care of anything for me. I didn’t want to end up owing him anything.

I had a feeling I wouldn’t like owing him anything.

But he didn’t give me a choice. He turned me around and gently pushed me out the door, the bag of candy still in my hand. It wasn’t until I was halfway to my car that I realized he shouldn’t have known I came in there for gas.

I looked back at the gas station, but the way the sun was reflected in the windows made it hard for me to look inside. I turned back around and walked up to the truck.

My heart thudded loudly in my ears as I tried to remember how to pump gas.

Actually, I didn’t know how.

I had never done it before.

My hands clenched into tight fists at my sides.

What was I supposed to do now?

The idea of going back inside and asking for help, from either the weird boy or the dangerous man, held no appeal.

I looked around, but it didn’t look like anyone else was pumping their gas.

Tears stung my eyes.

Fuck, this was useless.

I was useless.

How could I possibly get to California now?

What would I even do once I got there?

I didn’t know how to survive in this world, let alone live in it.

I closed my eyes as a single tear escaped.

Fuck.

I sniffed and wiped at my wet eyes. When I opened them, a large shadow fell over me. I jumped in surprise.

For a moment, I thought it was the same man from the gas station, but no, this was a different man.

My breath caught.

This man wasn’t as beautiful as the man in the gas station.

Whereas the man in the gas station looked and felt fiery hot, like a destructive explosion just waiting to happen, this man was ice cold.

I shivered slightly when he turned his dark eyes my way.

I couldn’t decide if they were black or brown, but whatever color his eyes were, I was sure they were one-hundred-percent devil.

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