All She Can Take

F I F T Y - S I X

A sob caught in her throat when her feet reach solid ground. Her toe felt for the drop of another step but there was none. The bank of turnstiles was down the corridor to her right and she took off toward them. Afraid that if she stopped moving her trauma would catch up with her. She went to the turnstiles and pushed her body through but her hips came to a hard stop against the metal bars. She looked around confused before it dawned on her. She needed to swipe a Metrocard to get in. Oh, yeah. 

Sid spun around before locating the large MetroCard vending machine tucked in the corner. She fished around in her wallet for her debit card and tried to read all the instructions to make sure she was doing it right. Some things were not like riding a bike. She used to be able to make her selections quickly and move on ready to go on her weekend adventures with Aiden but now she squinted and read every word painfully slow. Her anxiety simmered as her brain began to realize where she was and aggressively urged her to get back to safety. She jabbed her debit card into the machine and bounced her knee while she waited for the machine to spit out her pass.

If she was less in her head and more observant she may have noticed the sound change. The particles in the air shift. But she didn't hear anything. She just felt the stream of warm breath on the back of her neck.

"A real badass would've jumped the turnstile," Kru said with a chuckle. The machine spat out a pass and Kru reached around her, his chest pressing up against her back as he pulled the fresh card from the slot before casually handing it over to her.

"Shall we?" He motioned toward the turnstiles that led down to the platform but didn't wait for her to respond before he strolled toward them. With his back to her, she slowly moved her hand to her waist. Feeling for the hard metal that was tucked in her jeans pressed against her pelvis. Wishing that she had actually spent time practicing how to fire the damn thing. She never touched it after she had Nixon get it for her from one of his boys. She was confident she would know what to do with it. Trusted that guns had been designed to kill and between its purpose and determination Kru would be bleeding before sunrise.

The mezzanine was empty now. She felt stranded on an island and but she forced herself to remain calm and keep her eyes on Kru. He wore black jeans that fit neatly into a pair of blue and white Jordan 1's. A blue t-shirt clung to his fit frame. She wondered if he could have a gun on him as well. Concealed somewhere to use if she didn't do what he wanted. Guns didn't seem like his style though. He liked to make his murders look like accidents and that scared her more.

As they approached Sid could see Luke holding open the emergency exit. She stopped in her tracks.

"I said to come alone."

Kru ran a hand over his face before turning to her. "No. You said I had to come."

"He has to leave or I'm leaving."

"You're not going a goddamn place, love," Kru told her. "But...okay." He signaled for Luke to go and grabbed the door to hold it open for Sidney. Luke looked uneasy but he left, ascending the stairs up to the street slowly. Kru motioned for her to go through the door. She didn't move. The foe politeness was irking her. Like he was trying to Jedi mind trick her or drive her insane by behaving like this utterly traumatic experience, being here, with him, after all, that happened was somehow normal. That they were two friends meeting up to go to the freaking arcade instead of a murderer and his victims' daughter battling over control of the streets above them.

He shrugged and went through the opened gate, the metal door clanging closed behind him. Sid swiped her MetroCard through the turnstile and entered.

Any other time descending the stairs to the platform may have sent her into a full-blown anxiety attack but her mind had other things to focus on. She didn't let Kru out of her sight as they descended to the platform. She relied on her peripheral vision to scope out her surroundings. The train had recently left the station. The only other person was bundled up in layers of clothing and slumped over on the wooden bench. It would only be a few minutes before more people would trickle in. Unless Luke was barring entry from above. Her heart rammed in her chest and her head swam at the thought of being locked down here. Kru stopped in the middle of the platform and whirled around.