Tracing Echoes

Chapter five

Without a word Jonas helped Lynn over to the carpeted corner and sat her down. Then turned to the control panel and hit the button to close the doors. As he waited for them to shut, he expertly took the gun apart, letting the bullets fall to the floor, then tossed the two pieces of metal out through the doors as if they were the most disgusting things in the world.

Lynn then watched as he continued to face the wall. His shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths, while the veins in his arms pulsed and bulged through his skin. From the light reflecting off the walls, she could see his face. His eyes were closed and a single bead of sweat had snaked its way down his cheek.

Lifting a shaking hand to his hair, he mumbled something under his breath. Then slammed his palm into the console. Lynn flinched, startled, then felt her stomach lurch as the elevator slowly came to a halt. When the doors never re-opened she figured he must have hit the emergency stop button. The thought didn't bother her as much as she knew it should. Instead, it actually comforted her in the sense that she didn't have to move or go anywhere. She could just pull her legs up to her chest and and hide her face for a while, and that's exactly what she did.

As she breathed, the warm air from her lungs began to accumulate against her shorts, creating a humid bubble, and she felt more tears glide down her cheeks. Thousands of questions swirled through her mind, threatening to make her sick. Of them all, the one that stuck out the most was; could she trust Jonas? He had saved her life, but then threatened it less then twenty four hours later.

"Are you okay?" Jonas suddenly asked. When Lynn looked up she saw him sitting across from her. He looked tired, but otherwise fine. When she didn't reply, he stuck out his hand and gave her a comforting smile. "My names Jonas."

"Lynn." She whispered, keeping her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She couldn't help but notice his previously shaking hand was now as steady as it had been while he was holding the gun.

"Lynn." He repeated, withdrawing his hand. "That's a pretty name."

"Don't, just don't I...." Lynn looked down at the floor, too worried to catch the words that she had let trail off.

"I'm sorry." Jonas whispered back. She didn't have to look into his eyes to know that he was apologizing for everything that had happened, but she peeked anyway, and was surprised to see the mix of happiness and sadness had returned. Only now there was a serious tint of remorse and concern in them.

Looking past him, she could see the reflection of her own tired, and haunted eyes. The sight made her feel a pang of anger towards herself. She knew she was being a coward, nothing at all like the girls she had grown up watching in the movies. "It's fine." She finally whispered. Then loosened her grip around her legs in an attempt to swallow her fear.

"And what about you?" He asked softly. "Are you fine?"

The question caused her to pause. She really didn't know. As she lifted her head to stare at the ceiling, she shrugged. "I don't know, am I? I mean that guy..."

The corner of Jonas' lip twitched into a small smile "What you did was really brave, and no, that guy isn't going to come after you. He only needs me"

"Good."

"I'm not going to hurt you either." He said as if reading her mind. "I'm not a murderer like they said."

She didn't know if she believed him. Yeah, he had saved her life and everything, but the police had accused him of murder. Even with all of the weird stuff going on, that was still a pretty big deal. "But that one guy, the man who accused you is? Right?""  She asked, reverting her eyes back to the ground so that she was looking anywhere but at him.