Thalia

Chapter 26: Unintentional Freedom

Maybe it's smart if I leave this place before I get tazed to the floor. There's something black coming out of his pocket and I'm not sure I want to find out what it exactly is. Because if I do, I'll never make it home. Leave it to me to make a bartender want to kill me in less than three minutes. I can already envision my convulsing body. "Um, thanks for your time, but I have to go now. My mom texted me to be home."

"How would you know? You never even looked at your phone. And why're you so interested in my cousin? You got something to do with it?" Yeah, he's plotting something illegal and brutal in his mind for me.

Stay calm, Rosie. He can't kill you. You're a super, remember? 

Right. Good for me. "No, sir. I was just curio—"

"Are you that Rose girl?" That's it. Duces. 

In a moment's time, I'm up out of my seat and running for the door with him hot on my heels. Why do Ryan's shoes have to be three sizes too big? Because fate hates me and thinks this will be humorous to watch. I can't even get a chance to mourn over my possibly-missing father because of it. Which is why, in the future, I plan to move to Zimbabwe or Mexico.

Mexico is more of a getaway place that no one would tell on you for. I'll keep that thought close in mind.

"Where do you think you're going, girl?! What'd you do to my cousin?!" I pooped her out of my butt. Is that what he wants to hear? Because that's about as true as the statement people are making that I actually took her. There's absolutely no logic in that thesis, anyways. Scrawny Rose stealing the mean girl? 

Zero. Logic.

Ahead of me, there's a fence that's too tall to hop over so apparently, it's fate laughing in my face with its stinky breath once again. That's right, Fate. There's such a thing as a toothbrus—

"Ugh!" Before I get the opportunity to finish my thought, I fall to the muggy ground on top of some shredded leaves and moss. That was cruel. My breath gets hitched in my throat as I try to continue my sprint and my feet are grabbed by heavy hands that're followed by a small growl. What is he, a gorilla? 

On command, I'm flipped over to my back and kicking profusely. "Get offa me! Help! Someon—mmph!" My mouth gets covered by one of his hands and he leans in dangerously close while I still kick like a maniacal rabbit.

"You ain't going nowhere until you tell me what you know. And I'm not," He pauses in his sentence and flashes something metal and shiny to the corner of my eye. I'm no genius, but I'm pretty sure that's not candy. The cool material strokes my neck in a way that half-tickles, half-scares me. I'm going to go with scared since I'm pretty sure I shouldn't laugh right about now. "Playing games. Now, where is she?"

At this point, I have options that determine life or death. I can cry,—which I'm already doing—or use Thalia to get rid of him, but that would only reveal the Rose Parker is Thalia which I'm not particularly ready for, or let him kill me. And Plan C seems to be my best bet.

I start to think back to my medical phase I went through in Freshman year of high school. What the crap did they say about being a medical professional? Something about thinking fast. . .

Oh wait, it was to think fast. Well, I'm slow at that.

So I do what any other teenaged girl would do: I kick him where it hurts and make a run for it. It's hard work being the most complicated person alive. I finally make contact to the fence and begin climbing at an unnaturally quickened pace. As I haul myself on the top to drop to the other side, my shoe is snatched away by Brock and I fall to the ground with a loud thunk and one shoe on.