DURABLE (completed)

Free At Last, Right?!

As I sat waiting for the Amtrak to leave the station a hundred different scenarios on how my parents would find me bounced around in my mind. It wasn't until I felt the first pull of the train as it left the station that I calmed down and my breathing returned to normal. I was going to make it. I was going to be free! With that thought, my anxiety melted and, in its place, a bubbling feeling of euphoria blossomed. I was free! For the first time in my life I was totally free! I threw my head back, and carefree, genuine laughter spilled out of me.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" a soft brush to my shoulders sent a spike of fear down my spine, and I thought "Oh no, they found me!" I tensed, readying myself for a fight,

He was tall, taller than my dad who stood at almost 6 feet high. A sharp jaw line and full kissable pink lips and his head of golden red hair almost touched the ceiling of the cabin. He was in a word gorgeous, tearing my eyes away from his I tried to focus on what he was saying, but the sound of his voice intensified the feeling of familiarity. My brain struggled to recover the memory of where we had met. I shook my head slightly and refocused on his words in time to hear him say "I believe you are in my seat."

"No, I don't think so; my ticket says 15B" I quickly searched my pocket and with a flourish, lips pursed, presented my ticket. With a raised eyebrow he took the ticket and read it over before a smile curled up against the edges of his perfectly shaped mouth.

"Actually, your ticket says Coach 15B; this is First Class."

"Oh, oh, I am so sorry, I didn't realize." Embarrassed and regretting the sass I had given him, I quickly gathered my things and made to leave the cabin. I should have known I was in the wrong place. Everything about it was too ritzy, for a $190 ticket. There was a sitting area and a door that opened into an area to lay down. It was fortunate that he had entered when he did because I was moments away from drifting off to sleep. Between the beating I had taken earlier and the running I was beyond wary.

I was almost through the door when he called out to me, "Wait, you don't have to leave. It's a two-bed suite." As I glanced back at him a feeling of trust bloomed in my gut. I was supposed to trust him! I didn't know how but I knew that if I stayed with him, I would be safe. I paused for a few beats watching his eyes while deciding if I could rely on the sense of familiarity and safeness that the brush of his hand had instilled in me. Then with a slow nod, I returned to suit and sat across from him. "Can I just stay here like this? Won't I get in trouble?"

With a chuckle that reinforced my instinct to trust him and soothed my anxiety he shook his head, "They wouldn't even dare to open the door." I could have sworn that for a split second his eyes turned to red slits but when I blinked and looked at him again, they were back to honey mint. I leaned back and contemplated why I felt so at ease with him. The only other person that I had felt so at peace with was Dr. Levi.

"By the way, my name is Keith D'Vanni. If we are going to be sharing the suite manners dictate that I introduce myself." With a nod and a short pause, I held out my hand "I'm Nikki." I still had a little reservation, and a lot of confusion, about how at ease I felt with him, so I wasn't quite ready to reveal my full name. "Thank you for allowing me to stay. You're not going to kidnap and keep me as a sex slave, are you?"

The cabin grew awkwardly quiet, but then he let out a burst of laughter that startled me. "You, little one, you are something else. My sex slave, huh? Well, I like grown women little one plus I am centuries too old for you." Shooting him a quizzical look at his odd phrasing I shrugged my shoulders "I just wanted to be sure. Anyway, just in case you get any ideas my parents are waiting for me in Chicago so they'll be looking for me if I disappear."

The moment I spoke the half-truth, Keith's grin slid off his face, and his nose twitched as if he was sniffing the air. "Hmm, really? Are you sure about that?" He asked as his eyes zeroed in on me. A sense of unease uncoiled and snaked through me when he spoke, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.