Caterina
"We're almost there." Dolion's voice calls out, waking me from my sleep in the backseat.
I sit up and rub my eyes, looking around and taking in the interior of the car I didn't pay much attention to till now.
This thing has to be expensive.. of course.
I look out the window and take note of the lack of snow. Good, that stuff was horrible.
"Where are we?"
"We're halfway to New Mexico, I figured we'll stop here and stock up on things we need, get a place for the night, and then finish the rest of the drive early tomorrow."
"Why are we headed there though?"
"I know someone who can help get us out of the area, for now."
"Where are you planning on taking me?"
"I can't tell you that yet, you'll know once we've left."
"I don't like that, there has to be something else we can do."
"Listen princess, I'm doing what needs done. I'm doing my job, just sit back and trust me."
"That's laughable." I mumble.
"While we're in public you can't use my name."
"Why the hell not?"
"How many Dolion's do you know, Cat?"
He's got me there, I hadn't even heard the name till him.
"Okay, fair enough I guess.." I stare out the window, taking in the scenery, when it hits me.
"I killed someone." I say quietly.
"You saved my ass, Cat. Don't think too hard on it."
I've never even attacked someone before, and I just killed someone.
"Oh my God." I bite my lower lip and close my eyes, letting it really hit me.
"Stop. You can't cry over someone like that, who knows what his plans were once he got to you. He could have killed us both."
"I'm not used to this lifestyle, I left this shit show as soon as I could, I left everything behind so I wouldn't have to deal with these things.." My voice trembles, though I refuse to cry.
"It gets easier with time."
"I don't want it to get easier, I want to go back to being normal and boring."
"You want to stay innocent and naive, and that's just not how life works. Not for me, and not for you."
"I'd rather stay innocent than be dragged down to your level."
"You think you can come out of this unscathed?"
"I know I can come out of this the same person. I'll never be brought down to your level."
"Mm, that sounds like a challenge, princess."
"Take it as you will, you can't break me."
I watch as a down right devilish smile graces his stupidly handsome face.
"Oh, Cat." He laughs darkly as he pulls into a parking lot, parking the car in a spot in front of a small motel.
He takes his seatbelt off and turns in his chair to look directly at me.
"I think I'll enjoy bringing you down to my level."
"Excuse me?"
"In fact, I think it'll be down right fun breaking you down, baby girl."
His eyes look me up and down, making me feel exposed despite the fact I'm completely dressed.
I roll my eyes, trying not to let his actions get to me. "You don't scare me, Dolion."
"Wanna bet on that? I can promise you've never had a man like me before." He smirks.
His confidence makes me wanna slap him right across the face, such fucking cockiness.
"How would you know what kind of men I've had?"
"You're so innocent it almost makes me feel bad." He laughs at me.
"Bullshit, you have no idea who I am or what I've been through. And trust me, I've had men bigger and better than you." I lie right through my teeth.
He raises a brow, simply grinning at me. "I could prove you wrong, you know."
"You wish, heatmead."
"Oh, Caterina, I'd bet on it." He says low, seductively.
My heart races in my chest as Dolion and I intently lock eyes, and for some reason it feels like it would be weak to be the first one to look away.
That is until his eyes dart down to my mouth, something that tells me his idea of breaking me has more to do with than just dragging me down to his level.
I quickly look away, checking out the motel, trying to distract myself. It doesn't look great, but also doesn't look roach infested. It'll do.
I hop in the passenger seat and pull down the visor that I know should have a mirror on it.
I smile as I pop open the little mirror, only for my smile to instantly die.
"Oh my God I look like hell."
"You look fine, come on we need to get checked in."
"I'm not being seen like this!"
"You look like you just woke up, what's wrong with that? A little bed head never hurt anyone. Women care too much about their looks."
"Easy for you to say when you wake up flawless." I shoot back at him.
A devious smile makes its way onto his face. "Flawless, you'd say?" He questions teasingly.
I run my fingers through my hair as I feel my face turn red before angrily getting out of Dolion's stupidly nice car, slamming the door closed.
I can't believe I just said that.
I walk towards the doors of the motel, feeling goofy in my blue sweater and Dolion's grey shorts.
He catches up to me quickly, a look of indifference on his face.
We walk into the lobby of the small motel, it's outdated but well kept.
"Hello! How can I help you?" I turn my head in the direction of a guy who looks about my age, and is down right cute as hell.
I open my mouth to greet him back, but Dolion's loud mouth beats me to it as he walks up to the desk. "We'll just be needing a room for the night." Dolion informs him.
I walk up beside him while he checks us in, feeling annoyed suddenly.
"That'll be one room?" The guy with a name tag reading 'Alec' asks.
"Mhm." Dolion replies, seeming uninterested and bored.
"One or two beds?"
"Two beds!" I say a little too quickly, earning me a glare from Dolion.
Like I care, be mad about it.
Alec gives Dolion the total, and he slips over a plain black credit card to pay for the amount.
Alec hands the card back, but instead of looking at Dolion, he looks at me.
"So are you two relatives?"
I smile widely. "Yes! This is my cousin, we're going on a little family road trip."
I can basically see the steam coming out of Dolion's ears out of the corner of my eye.
"That sounds pretty great. My name is Alec, by the way. This town might seem small but we have a lot to offer here." He smiles. "There's actually a nice quiet bar next door, I get off work around seven tonight, if you'd be interested."
"The names Caterina, and-"
"And she has a boyfriend back home, so she won't be joining you for drinks, Alec." Dolion cuts me off.
He continues to the door and out to the car, seeing as how we need to go park closer to our room.
"Sorry about him, he's a grump after long road trips." I say awkwardly to Alec.
"Well hey, the offer is still open, have a nice stay Caterina." He says with a small smile.
I nod my head and return the smile before walking out to the car, getting in and slamming the door shut.
"What the hell was that about?" I demand.
"You can't go around telling people your name like that, you also can't really be dumb enough to accompany some strange guy you just met to a bar when we're on the fucking run."
"You never even gave me the chance to tell him no!"
"It's not your place to talk while we're out. We need to lay low, Cat. Just let me do the talking from now on."
I roll my eyes. "You really expect me to be your quiet little mouse? Is that it? Sorry to disappoint you, but I won't shut my mouth for anyone."
Controlling asshole.
"Yeah, I can fucking tell. That bratty little mouth of yours is gonna get you in trouble, princess."
"You're such a jerk." I mumble under my breath.
We pull up in front of the room we'll be staying in. He gets out and grabs the bag he had packed, and I can't help but wonder what things I've mine he deemed worthy of bringing.
I hate that he's gone through my things twice now.
I get out of the car and join him in the room we'll be staying in. I ignore Dolion and look around the room, taking in the interior.
The floral wallpaper is definitely older than I am, the carpets in need of a good cleaning, and the blankets look dusty and old. But I'm not worried about that, my eyes are searching for the bathroom door.
I need a shower and I'm taking it now.
"The bathroom is mine first." I begin walking over to the bag he brought in, knowing some of my things are inside of it.
I just hope he's not as dumb as I think he is and brought things that matter.
He snatches the bag up and opens it before I can, grabbing out a second smaller bag within it, by the looks of it those are his handguns he chose to bring with us, probably the bullets to go with them, too.
He leaves the bag open for me after he's done, allowing me to grab my own things out.
I dig through it, noting it wasn't just me he didn't grab extra clothes for. There's notably nothing in here for him except two pairs of clean boxer-briefs and some hygiene products.
At least he knows what's important.
My eyes land on a burgundy bag, and I'm instantly pissed. "You fucking tit, you grabbed my makeup bag? Out of all the things you could have grabbed for me?"
"Open it up, smartass."
I glare at his back before opening up my makeup bag, finding not only my makeup, but also most of my underwear, tooth brush and paste, my menstrual cup, and pads.
I can feel my face heat, not wanting to apologize but also not wanting to acknowledge that, yes, these were probably the most logical things out of all my shit to pack in a situation like this.
No one likes smelly ass or breath, and if I didn't have my period items I'd be fucked here soon.
I hate him for it.
He snatches a pair of his underwear out of the bag and makes his way towards the bathroom.
"Hey, I called dibs on the shower first."
"You'll be in the bathroom for at least forty minutes, whereas I'll be out in ten or less."
I pout my lips but say nothing.
He takes that as my 'okay' and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
I hear the shower start and take that as my que to begin digging through the duffle bag more thoroughly.
I find nothing of importance, and then it hits me, the important stuff would be in the small black bag with his weapons.
Things like a cellphone. He's working for my dad, so if I can get into the cellphone I can easily contact him. What for, I'm not sure. Maybe just to go off on him.
I search and can't find it anywhere, realizing Dolion must have taken it into the bathroom with him.
That means there's something in that bag he doesn't want me to mess with, and it just makes me wanna dig through it even more to find out what it is.
He's hiding something, and I want to know what it is.
What secrets are you keeping, Dolion?
I sit down on one of the beds and turn the tv on that sits on a tall dresser, one with a small cubby that has a microwave situated inside of it. A mini fridge sits next to the dresser, and that's when I realize how absolutely starving I am.
The last thing I ate was the damn soup back at the safehouse.
I hear the shower shut off, and after a few more minutes Dolion walks out, his hair wet and messy, wearing the same clothes he was before, minus the underwear he switched out.
"I'm hungry." I announce.
"Get cleaned up, I'll order takeout."
I smile and nod my head, before standing and making my way into the bathroom with my small makeup bag.
The bathroom feels cramped and the lighting makes everything seem yellow, but all that matters to me is the hot water coming out of the shower as I turn the knob.
I undress quickly, grabbing the small complimentary soaps, conditioner and a washcloth from the towel rack above the toilet.
I hop in and let the hot water ease my aches and pains away from the night before.
I try not to think too hard about it, but part of me worries this isn't even the worst of what's to come.
A knock on the door scares me as I'm rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.
"What?" I shout over the sound of the water.
"Pizza okay?" Dolion's voice asks from the other side of the door.
I can feel my stomach grumble, and at this point anything will do, I'm just hungry.
"Pizza would be fucking fantastic."
2,284 words.