NOAH POV
Two days have past.
I think.
There's only three of us in the cell now. A drunk guy snoring like a cat being strangled.
And him.
I've done everything not to look his way, even though it's inevitable. I can feel the pull.
Even completing more push ups and sit ups than I can ever remember doing in my life hasn't helped. Counting the bricks under the chipped render is useless as well. My thoughts still keep coming back to Avalon and the choice I've already half made. Know I will surrender too. I know I shouldn't think of her but it's like trying to hold back a wave. She's the only one ever to break through the waste land I've created around myself, the only person to ever make me want to create happiness for them. The only person to cause me long for more.
She's going to be long gone when I get out. Long gone.
Gone. It's a word that makes my head burn, my stomach churn and my fists clench. He said yesterday that he didn't have to ask me what I could do, or how far I could go. It was evident in my eyes. She deserves more.
But what could take her place?
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. It's what I will become.
I sigh and rub my hands through my hair, one still clutches her bikini top. Teasing the fabric out I inhale her scent for the millionth time before finally stowing it in my pocket. My fantasies put to rest. I have to face reality.
He senses my weakness moving with surprising grace to the bench next to me. It creaks with his weight.
"When I was your age, I had nothing mate. No one. Nothing but a shithouse family and pain in my gut. Now? Now I have everything. A real family so to speak, power, cred, money. I have a purpose. A reason for living. A reason that dwarfs the pain. When you go in - if you work for me- you won't be just another useless bum. You'll have a purpose too. People that will be on your side. You'll be needed."
Finally, I turn to him, surrendering everything with a millitmetre nod. I see no other option. He smiles at me and claps me on the back. What does it matter? I noticed he didn't say 'women'.
"You'll be glad son, you're made for this type of work. I can see it clear as day."
I close me eyes, resigned now to my choice. Funnily enough last time I was in here all I could think about was Seth and his Dad, bringing them down, this time I realise I haven't thought of him once before this. I hate him still but I don't care anymore. It seem stupid compared to what awaits me.
'Rocky' continues to serenade me with stories of his 'jobs'. Turns out his nickname is 'The Dentist' for reasons that become gorily clear when he gets into the juicy details. He starts to churn out things I could do to earn myself a fear inspiring name. I should feel sick, I should feel repulsed, but I feel... nothing. I will probably not feel anything ever again and I'm relieved about it because it hurts.
Thinking of not seeing her again... fricken hurts. Feeling nothing is much better.
Dad was right, it's best to clamp down emotions and sink them to the bottom of oblivion, they only make you weak. I know the world I've just been deemed entry to, I can't have a weakness. I can't have someone that they will hunt to bring me to my knees. Because I would do anything to keep her safe. Anything.
Rocky spends the next hour or so teaching me, plying me in depth instructions in to the prison 'message' service, how to make weapons and the black spot locations to carry out jobs.
With each and every time he brings up a new topic, I feel further and further from my old life. The information he has passed on to me is dangerous enough in itself to possess. It's time to stop looking back. To look forward, embrace the weapon that I will become.
Ice floods my veins matching the rest of my body with the choice finally made. Avalon is something in the past. I keep repeating that to myself hoping I will believe it.
From now on she will just be thought of in the quietest moments, the darkest moments. The glimmer of warmth in my cold life.
**#<*.*>#**
"Noah Reed," another officer, an older one is at the barred door. "This way mate. Change of accommodation."
Rocky bestows on me a look that communicates a lot of things. One is to shut my mouth from what he's divulged. I nod my understanding. I have plenty of practise in keeping close lipped. I won't talk again.
The officer leads me out to a different part of the station, an older part. "We've got a few being processed, so as we know you're staying awhile longer you can stay in this one. Don't want you messin' with the likes of Rocky either. Bad news that one. Real bad."
That's what they'll be saying about me in a couple of years. Again I feel nothing, the only person I really care about won't know anyway.
I enter the cell without complaint, it's older than the rest. Obviously on the cards to be remodelled.
Time ticks by. I'm not sure how long, time seems to flash by or drip slowly when I'm in the dark place. A skitter breaks my trance. Opening my eyes in the grey light, I see a white paper bag on the floor. I didn't hear footsteps, so my mind interprets it as the initiation to my 'employment' for Rocky. Guy moves fast.
Leaning down to pick it up I'm surprised to find a iced pink donut in the bag, complete with 100's and 1000's. I can't imagine Rocky buying this or anyone that is in his so called 'family'.
When I pull the sugary creation out I see the words EAT ME spelt out in yellow icing. This has to be a joke. There's no way I'm ingesting that, who the hell knows what it's laced with. I destroy it with my fingers, frowning when I see a tiny paper rolled up in Glad Wrap.
Ignore the commotion and get ready.. ;)
WTF?
Ready for what? I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. The only weapon I have is my body. Standing up, I warm up and start to flex and stretch.
Suddenly, the hallway is filled with a symphony of bangs and shouts. Smoke fills the air. I press myself against the bars to try and get a handle on what the hell is happening. I can't see a damn thing through the thickening smoke.
A cop emerges coughing and spluttering through the smoke, "We'll get you out in a sec mate! Hold tight!" he says with a hoarse voice. Then he disappears, the hall door clanging shut ominiously. Dropping to the ground I breathe in the fresh air and wait.
A strange slithering noise makes me roll to the side and peer behind me. I'm alert and ready for anything. Initiations can be brutal. I'm surprised to see a rope now threaded through the bars on the window.
Trepidiation mixes with something icy as I ready myself for what's coming. Or who is coming. My heart rate slows as I wait to see my first opponent. This is make or break.
The bars trembles and the brickwork around it starts to shake and crumble as the rope tightens around and becomes taunt. They must be using a car or something. The rope pulls and relaxes, pulls and relaxes. The wait escalates the tension in my body. I start to massage my hands, flexing and clenching them in readiness as I watch the grid of bars slowly but surely move from their once permanent position.
The scraping stops and starts, loud against the swirling smoke. Finally they give, falling to the ground outside with a thud.
Moving into a position I think will give me not only surprise but the upper hand when I attack whoever is coming through, I wait flattened against the wall, watching... ready.
A gloved hand grips the edge of the craggy bricks. I see the ends of the fingers curl as the owner's weight leans forward.
I strike.
The amount of force I lend to the move proves to be way more than needed as the intruder's light body flies effortlessly through the window and smacks on the cement floor with a bone jarring thud. I expected a big guy and am confused for a second by the small stature of the body gasping for air in front of me. But fierceness can come in any size package, so can experts. I boot him in the side for good measure before falling on him ready to beat the shit out of him. The black hat flies off as I jerk the bastard toward me revealing a now bloodied ,long beard and messy hair.
The outburst of foul language belongs in prison but the voice doesn't, stopping me dead from laying in to it's owner with my fist.
I stare unbelieving holding the front of her shirt.
Those eyes Ive dreamed about narrow at me, burning with a fierceness I've only ever seen in her eyes.
Avalon.
My eyes rove over her. I want to chuckle, but my face can't move. She's no angel come to save me from my choice that's for sure. She wild, dressed all in black, like some olden day bandito Outlaw or something. And obviously the weird beard is fake stuck somehow on her face.
I still stare, kind of in shock.
She sits up with a barely repressed groan and glares at me under thick bushy eyebrows that are not the colour of her hair or her beard. They're fiery red like her horse's colour. "Fricken hell you boofhead! That has to be the crappest ever welcome for someone trying to save someone! Geez don't bloody ask any questions before laying in! And you aren't even wearing the bikini top! What in hell?" She grunts as she pushes to her knees, clutching at her side for a second.
That gets me moving as I run my hands over her to check she's got nothing broken. She bats them away but not before I notice her eyes watering from the pain. Shit, I really hurt her. I move my thumb over her face quietly inspecting her, she's got a cut on her forehead, it's not deep but it's running freely. I pull her bikini top from my pocket and hold it against the wound. My other hand seems to have a mind of its own, caressing her neck.
"If you haven't noticed, Padre, I'm breaking you out. I don't have time to get all jiggy with you," she pushes her self up with a grin pressing her hands over her beard. The palms of her hands are all hairy as well. "Lucky you had that top of this mission would be taking a very different turn."
"What you would repleace the bars?"
She nods.
"Men don't have hair on their palms, Av," I suddenly feel happy and light but consumed with guilt for hurting her.
"Uh hello! I'm so tough I grow hair on my palms like all real tough men do, you just aren't built King Gee like me. City boys I dunno," she quips indidcating for me to give her a leg up to the window. I see her wince as she pushes herself through. "I'm channeling Ned Kelly here so I can't blame you for being taken aback and frightfully scared and extremely jealous of my hairy palms of toughness, I guess."
She curses as her 'beard' gets caught on something outside on the window sill. "Beards are so stupid!" She growls.
I hear a bit of movement before I see the rope dangle down, I grab on and am pulled up steadily. When I get level I see Av on Amber, another horse waiting patiently beside her.
"I was going to break out the giant apple and carrot costume to do this," she laughs as she fiddles in a bag hanging at the side of her saddle. "Can you imagine a cop saying, 'All units, APB on a carrot and apple escaping on horseback. Warning, both pieces of fruit are armed and dangerous!' She cracks up nearly falling off her horse. "Seth's Mum calls me a rotten apple. Seth is probably agreeing with her at this moment." She can't hold the feindish giggle that escapes and I wonder what she has done to Seth. I don't feel bad whatever it is.
I should stay, I shouldn't leave because I'm only going to get in more strife and drag Av into it with me.
But... to spend one more day with her before I go in for good is way too much temptation for me to turn my back on. This day will live in my memory until I die.
She thrusts a bag at me. "Put those on." Her voice is full of mischief and looking in the bag I see why. On top of the old western style clothes in there is a fake moustache and a... mop. A long stringy one that has been used.
"What is this made of?" I laugh pressing the moustache on to my lip. It's bloody itchy.
"Cow hair, horse tail and this stuff I found in Harry's medicine cabinet mixed with glue. Put everything on quick mate! I starting to wonder if you know time is of the essence when escaping from a police station!"
I shove the old style shirt on, throw the fringed vest on top, plonk the bright red tomato hat on and stop...
"The mop! That is a crucial piece of your disguise. Put it on under the hat so it looks like you've got-" she falters, "Blonde unbrushed hair?"
It's dry thank god. She snaps a photo.
"Get on!" she urges pointing to Peanut. She has to be the only person to break someone out of a modern day jail on horseback dressed like Ned Kelly bringing a disguise that includes a used mop head.
God, I love her so much. It hurts.
Hesitating for only a second I put a leg up in the stirrup.
"You have to put the other leg in," she points. She quickly jumps off Amber to demonstrate. Peanut moves around while I try to mount so she holds him. It takes a few seconds to get up.
"Hold on," she raises one of her bushy eyebrows. And then we are off and I'm holding on like hell as the horse takes off like a rocket after Amber.
#*#*#* o.O *#*#*#
I've never been so glad to have warmed up my hands, as I dare to flick my eyes down to my white knuckled, gripped tight fingers. I'm kind of getting used to the feel of the horses movement below me now maybe because my butt is numb. Which is lucky because I've almost fell off at least twelve times, corners aren't too easy. Neither is jumping small fences. Av grins as she sits with ease next to me.
I have no idea where we are, we are winding up between trees in the bush, higher and higher. We've been off the road for at least an hour now and although I heard the occasional siren, nothing has came our way. She stopped about twenty minutes ago and grabbed a bag that she strapped to the back of her saddle. I can smell salt water.
It's just on evening when the horses slow to a bouncy gait and then to a walk. Twisting and following a track only they and Av can see. I like walking on horses, its so much more relaxing.
This whole time something has been happening in my body, my brain, every cell. Since the moment I saw her eyes in that cell. It literally burns everything else out of the stratosphere. The survival mode of gripping the horse like a mokey disappears... I can't think of anything but the way I feel about her. The twenty things I wanted to do for her.
The way I felt when I heard myself talk to her the other night, the way she snuggled into me. I don't want to go to prison, I don't want to work for Rocky. I want to be with the girl that will tattoo this moment on my back in stick figures, complete with her in a beard and a mop on my head.
"Av?" My voice is croaky with what I'm feeling. I fucking love her. It's overwhelming me.
She swings around in the saddle, I frown as I see the blood, now dried, fanning across her face. She didn't complain once about it. "Yeah?"
"Can we stop?" There's something I had to do.
"We are almost there. We'll be able to get off in like," she shrugs and looks ahead. "Three minutes. This isn't the best place to stop right now."
"Oh shit!" I exclaim realising just then we are walking of the side of a bloody sea cliff face. The waves below tumbling over sharp rocks. I can't remember taking my eyes from her form the whole journey. I'd never find my way home if she left me.
"Cool hey?" She beams looking down in to the murky water crashing beaneath us. "No one will find us up here."
God help me.
We meander away from the cliff edge into the bush until she pulls up in a cleared area, already equipped with a tent.
Peanut keeps walking, I'm not sure how to stop him so I pull on the reins only to have him back up. Av laughs of course. Instead of working it out I feel the need to get to more important things. I jump off his back and stride to her side. I need her so much.
Av is swinging down when I catch her, turning her to face me in my arms she looks surprised.
I stare at her for a full minute, etching everything in to my mind. She just waits with one of those crazy bushy eyebrows raised.
She's not expecting this but there's only one girl in a guy's life that he would wear a used mop head and a fake itchy moustache for. And she's it for me.
For the first time in my life, I let go of everything my Father has instilled in to me. For the first time I pull a girl toward me. Holding her like she's the most precious thing I will ever hold before leaning in toward the only girl I will ever love and to feel her soft lips against mine.
A/ N -OKkkkkkaaaaay then....
I'll try to write the whole kiss thing in Av's POV... maybe... Should I?
Anyone guessed why Seth is angry at her lol?
PS - ALl will be revealed how she did it as well next chapter ( getting Noah out lol) Its not what you may think ;)