Web of Lies

3

Danielle's POV:

THE drive to the airport was long and awkward, the tension filling the car in an almost unbearable way. It was silent from most of the drive, only ever being interrupted by the murmurings for directions by my parents.

I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was betraying Levi by leaving, by giving up and abandoning everything we tried to do. I mean I was. But I was trying to stay positive, that's how we balanced each other out, he was the pessimist while I was the optimist.

Most of the time, however, it didn't work out like that. It always seemed to be him reassuring me that we'll sort everything out. It was always him looking out for me, taking upon the role of an older sibling and guardian since there was no-one else. It was always him who would be able to get us out of situations.

Shaking my head slightly, I try to concentrate on different things, to distract myself before I go spiralling down. I focus on the humming of the engine, the sound of other cars driving past, the air-con blowing out a light breeze of cool air, the feel of my coat wrapped tightly around my body.

I repeat this process, finding different things to divert my attention to each time, successfully reducing the speed at which my heart was beating at.

However, all my concentration was lost when the sound of car doors opening filled my ears. I quickly scrambled up, grabbing the 3 bags I brought into the car with me and made my way out to stand next to my mum by the open boot.

"You're going to follow us, not make a sound and keep your head down. Don't make eye contact with anyone. Don't speak unless absolutely necessary." My mother stated, "Got it?"

I quickly nodded in response. A sharp tug at my hair made my eyes quickly snap to meet her brown ones which were staring right into mine with a certain urgency.

"I said, got it?"

"Yes sorry," I responded.

She released my hair, going back to retrieving the belongings she brought along. My gaze travelled the car park, trying to locate my dad within the crowds of people.

"Where's father?" I asked, my eyes still roaming the space.

"Paying for the parking," she responded, "Now bloody shut up, I'm sick of hearing you."

I complied, moved my attention to my hands fiddling with the straps of my backpack.

"But how can we fly to America?" I blurted out, saying what I had been wanting to ask since I had found out, "I mean, can we even afford it?"

"Didn't I just tell you to fucking shut up?" she sighed, closing the boot with a slam, and walking towards the entrance of the building.

I scurried after her, doing what she told me and keeping my head down. It will be easier this way after all. It will attract less attention to us.

We met dad at the front desk, talking to one of the receptionists.

"Look, I don't care if the seats are miles apart, we need 3 of them and that's it." He was saying, "I know you have some empty, it says it right there on the screen. Now bloody book it for us, it's not that hard."

The poor receptionist nodded her head quickly, hands flying over the keys of the keyboard, clearly intimidated by him. My dad handed her the money for the flights in cash, making her eyes widen slightly, obviously not used to people carrying around that large of a sum.

She completed it anyway, taking our larger luggage items and putting it on the conveyor belt leading to the plane. Ripping away the receipt, details, and tickets from the machine, she handed it over to him mumbling a small, "Enjoy your flight" before calling for the next customer.

We walked down the hallway and went through security, surprisingly not drawing in any notice. We made it to the gate just as they opened it, meaning we had to queue in a long line to get in.

Pushing me in front of her, my mum handed me my passport and flight ticket making me the subject of the lady at the desk's view once we had got to the front of the line. She checked it, eyes scouring my face and referring back to the little picture. She wasn't going to find any faults though. It was completely real and legal.

Considering there was always a chance of needing to run, my parents thought it would be easier if we were already completely prepared for a quick getaway, taking 2 hours to leave the country at the most. Being arrested because of a fake passport wasn't really included in their timeline.

We walked to the plane through the tunnel and checked the seats allocated to us by our tickets.

"Right, I'll sit in the two seats up there with her to make sure she doesn't do anything," my mother said, "You can sit at the back, come find us if you need anything."

With that they took off in different directions, my mum heading to the first set of stairs at the front of the plane, me following her, and my dad going to the second set of stairs at the end of the plane.

We entered and went to find out seats, the flight attendant guiding us to numbers 21 and 22. They were in the middle row, squashed right up next to two others.

My heart lurched to my throat at the thought of sitting next to two complete strangers that close. We get seated, my mum very kindly taking the row seat meaning I have to sit next to someone else.

I attempt to close my eyes, to block out the fact I will be sitting next to someone in such close proximity, but as soon as I try, I feel a smack to my thigh. My eyes snap open and meet my mums who just glares at me and slightly shakes her head. I inwardly sigh and sink back into the seat.

To pass the time waiting, I retrieve a book out of my bag 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. It's the only book I've ever owned, and I must have read it about 100 times. I used to read it to Levi when we were younger to lure us to sleep when we were too scared to go by ourselves without help, too scared to face the demons that awaited there.

I occasionally do it now, the familiarity and comfort radiates off it from each page and persuades me to sleep. But that's only when I feel as though I'll collapse from exhaustion. Apart from that, I don't sleep. As I've said, I don't dare. I can't guarantee that my dreams won't be haunted by terrors that want to rip me apart from the inside out.

I open the book to the page marked and begin entering the world, seeing the characters, smelling the food, touching the water from the black lake, hearing the laughter of the students.

It reminds me why I love reading so much. You can live a different life through their eyes and experience it as if it was your own. You can forget about how shit your real life is because it doesn't matter there, it is all overlooked and ignored. You can create your own world to escape too when things get too much. You can develop relationships with characters, with people who don't show themselves to anyone else except you. You can create the lives you wished you lived.

The familiar words swam into my head, making everything scrambled. The familiar laughter makes my brain begin to shut down. The familiar smells made my eyes feel heavy until they fully close, my head falling on my shoulder, and the book going limp in my hands.

A/n: Hey, the character aesthetic chapter is now up, the 4 there are just the main ones so far (or who we will meet soon). I will release more, once they get introduced, altogether on a separate chapter so you can get the notification.

Thankyou for reading, if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote/ comment. Go eat something, have a drink and get some sleep. I hope you have a great day/ night! <3