Ellie woke up facing the cloudless sky with the afternoon sun shining in her eyes. All the bright colors caused her to groan and roll over as far as the seatbelt would allow her. This amounted to facing the cars roof.
"So how are you feeling now?" the stranger asked.
Ellie looked at the roof with squinted eyes in an attempt to adjust to the light. "Still no urges to jump out of the car," she commented, turning her head to face him.
Ellie looked around and noticed that they were parked in a rest area full of travelers and their pets. There was a large building with a lobby inside, and a concrete patio in front that was full of benches. The rest of the area was rocks and sand with a few paths running over it.
The stranger had his seat pulled back to where he was lying down. He had both hands under his head, using them as a pillow, His legs were bent and his knees where propped up against the steering wheel.
His eyes were closed as he spoke. "Waking up in a resting area with a stranger isn't worrisome?"
Ellie looked out of the window and blinked a few times as she looked at two little girls running after their hyperactive yorkie. "Ever heard of the stages of loss?"
"You didn't lose anything." he cut in.
"The first stage is denial," she continued, "and I'm in denial."
"Did you happen to lose your brain?"
"So now you’re a funny guy." Ellie laughed, quickly wincing when her head pounded, causing red dots to jump before her eyes. "But why do you expect me to be worried? If you were going to do something, I doubt you would have waited this long." she waved a hand towards the window.
In truth Ellie really wasn't afraid; worried? Maybe, but if anything this guy would be giving her a free road trip. And cute guys are never bad; they just end up making a few bad choices... In the movies.
"How's your head." he said, dragging her out of her thoughts.
"I'm alive, so I'm sure I'll survive," Ellie said, grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it up so she could see her stomach. "I'm just worried about my tummy." When she bent over to look at her abdomen all that seemed out of place was a thin white line that stretched completely across her skin. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "You have a little explaining to do."
He sighed. "Just in case you’re curious; although I doubt it, my name's Danny."
"Ellie," she said thoughtlessly, "So what’s going on?"
"What happened yesterday?"
Ellie tried to ignore the stab of pain that began when she remembered the earlier day. “I was shanked," she pointed at the scar. "And it hurt."
He released a sigh of frustration, "What did she say?" he urged.
"She told me that…that...” she stopped when her train of thought slipped. “That I…” she attempted again in vain.
Danny opened his eyes, revealing black orbs. He lowered his legs, lifting the lever to make the seat straighten. When he was comfortably adjusted, he started the car. "This isn't good."
"What isn't?" Ellie's eyes widened when her thoughts cleared.
He put the gear in reverse and sped out of the area, spinning the car roughly before changing to drive and accelerating down the road. He reached the empty highway and began to speed down it. The dry land stretched for miles around them, Foot Mountains containing the only vegetation.
Ellie chuckled and looked out the car, observing its body through the rearview mirror. Black tundra? Typical."
Danny didn't reply to any of her comments, he was too intent on searching for the right exit. Ellie rested her head on the seat, enjoying the powerful hum of the car. She fingered the seat seductively.
"Trucks are sexy." she murmured.
Danny smirked, but he didn't acknowledge her past that point.
"How did you find me yesterday?"
Finally, Danny answered her. "I was looking for something and you were crying like a banshee locked in a room, so I checked the room and there you were."
Ellie remembered walking up the stairs in the loading room back at the mall, but looking back right now she wondered why that had happened. There was no reason to go there, especially not after hearing a voice in her head. So what had happened?
"And the workers didn't stop you?"
"They had no reason to." Danny said, deciding to keep the recollection of yesterday to himself.
When he had followed Ellie's energy source earlier, he had found all the workers in the loading room out cold with hard knocks on the head. Once he had found Ellie, she was shivering uncontrollably and scratching at herself; inflicting wounds that healed in moments. Ear splitting screams escaping her chapped lips occasionally.
"That's just a little hard to believe..."
Her voice drifted into his thoughts, bringing him back to watching the road.
"I work there,"
"Bullshit," Ellie whispered to herself.
"Not at all."
"Okay." Ellie retorted, not believing him in the least. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere."
"And we're getting there someday, right?"
"You're a fast learner."
"You're annoying."
A period of silence ensued.
Finding the correct sign reading: EASTERN RANCH, Danny pressed the brakes and spun the steering wheel many full rotations, making the car spin in a half circle before speeding forward a little more and turning onto the dirt road next to the poster. Ellie gripped the seat, becoming a tad unnerved at his dangerous stunts. In attempt to keep her head from spinning as much as the wheels, she pulled away from the door, but her head still banged itself against it. She bit her lips to keep from screaming out in pain.
"Is this the part when you turn all pedo' on me and then leave me for dead in the middle of nowhere?" She asked, watching the sand spit up around the car.
He laughed rudely and made a sharp turn to follow the road, pressing the accelerator farther down. "Sorry but..." he looked at her through the corner of his eyes with a raised eyebrow.”You're not my type."
“That cut me deep,” Ellie averted her attention to the road, moving onto another conversation. "Your car is going to be dead by the time it's on a real road again."
Danny's lips quirked. "Have you ever been off road?"
Ellie shook her head.
"The faster you go, the less you’re tousled."
"Until your tank comes apart."
"That's for those cheap city cars, and drivers who can't see pot holes. This truck'll just need to have the springs readjusted, the transmission checked, and probably get a change of tires."
"So basically fixing the whole damn thing.” Ellie murmured, yawning. She closed her eyes and began to drift into the deep abyss of sleep. The cars rumble serving as a silent lullaby.
Danny lost himself within his own world the moment her breathing turned even, subconsciously casting worried glances at the sleeping girl next to him.
Stepping on the accelerator, Danny brought the cars speed up to 140. The cars transmission was going to be fried by the time he got to the building, and at the moment he didn't care.
He felt his hands growing ice-cold, the freezing sensation spreading to his shoulders. He growled at this response, and pressed the brakes harshly when the steering wheel froze under an inch of ice. He slammed his fists against it and groaned loudly before yanking the door open and pacing outside anxiously. Ignoring the fresh Colorado sun that beat against his back.
His body was chilling itself in preparation for a release of energy; he felt the cold vapor flowing out of his body. Taking a deep breath, he forced all of his energy to the palm of his hand and forced it out. A pillar of ice shot out of his hand and crashed against the burning earth. It splintered the tip fell several yards in front of the truck. The end fell before Danny feet, but he paid it no mind.
This area had yet to be hit by a storm, a thing Danny was grateful for. Who knows what he was able of doing in his current state of mind. Bring a snow storm his way, and he was capable of making the United States look like the North Pole for the next decade.
Danny turned to the frozen steering wheel and lifted his index finger, pointing at it and slowly separating the ice from the leather and moving it outside to the warm day.
In seconds he was closing the door and speeding away, leaving a trail of dust to settle over the melting ice.
Long after he had continued the rough journey, a black speck appeared in the distance, growing larger as Danny’s truck closed in, eventually shaping a building.
The check-engine light had turned on half an hour back, and Danny had immediately regretted treating the love of his life in such a harsh matter. Every time he took this useless piece of metal out it would kill his baby, diminishing its admirable size to a paper. His poor wallet would be emptied, and for what? A stupid car and a girl.
The worst part is that she won’t even realize how much trouble she'll bring. Danny wasn't even sure of how much it would amount to at this moment.
The cars radio lit up with an image of a phone flashing on and off, signaling an incoming call. Danny pressed a button on the tattered steering wheel and the call came through.
"Danny?" a female’s voice said.
"Farah." he replied, a smile lighting up his stiff features.
"Is it you driving like a lunatic towards the building?" she said with a touch of laughter in her voice.
Danny looked in the rearview mirror and watched the sand that was being kicked up behind the car. "Depends on how many people are headed towards base at this moment."
Farah let out a soft laugh as she made a loud popping noise. "You messed up another car?" she said with a scolding tone.
Danny clenched his hands around the wheel in annoyance. "Last one of the year, I promise."
"The year ends in two weeks..." she commented.
Danny scoffed as he turned back to the road. Slowing down admirably to avoid more of the cars destruction. "Exactly my point."
Farah’s voice lost its touch of humor as she began to speak again. "So why did you return this time?"
Danny sighed and leaned his chin against the hand resting on the top of the wheel. "I found this girl..." he said quietly.
"Your assignment?” her voice had lowered considerably.
"She's dangerous," he said, stealing a glance to Ellie’s sleeping form. "That’s about all I can say."
He fell back to the memory of the room, and how he immediately knew that her situation was not caused from an illness. It was something much more dangerous as a whole.
"Danny?" a slightly agitated girl said as he returned to the present time. "Are you still there?"
Danny shook his head and focused on the road. "Did you say something?"
Farah sighed. "I said to bring her over right away, I need to see her."
"Just make sure the gates are open and I'll get to you in five minutes."
"Understood."
The call ended with a silent click.
Danny brought the speed up to the fastest the car could manage, and in minutes he had approached an enormous building. From here it looked like a jail, with the wired fence and the watch towers every few yards. But inside it was a whole other world altogether. Long passageways led from one section of work to another. This was home, a perfect professional atmosphere with a touch of party every evening.
The gates were open just as he had asked. A guard stood near the edge of them, making sure that the right car was pulling in. Danny nodded towards him, and the guard indicated to a large door that led to the parking lot.
He drove up and found a place to leave the car. The hairs in the back of his neck prickled, a feeling he typically got when something was about to surprise him.
And just as he thought, the moment he killed the engine, soft hands reached out from behind the seat and caressed his chin. Causing shivers to run up his spine.
"I missed you." Farah’s voice whispered into his ear playfully. She had managed to get in the car- a trick she usually pulled because of her power- and had sat there, waiting for a chance to terrify Danny.
When Farah leaned closer to him, a lock of her brown hair fell over his shoulder.
He turned slowly, his eyes wide from shock. Her slanted eyes were shinning with mischief and her lips were parted with a smile.
"Missed you too." he grunted.
He earned a slap to the side of the head from her as she moved back. "You took too long to return."
"I know."
Farah situated herself in-between the two front seats with her body facing away from Danny. She crossed her legs and leaned against him. She pointed at Ellie.
"Is this the girl?"
Danny nodded and turned to face Ellie.
Farah clicked her tongue as she observed Ellie, taking in every detail, from the color of her hair, down to the way her mouth was slightly parted as she slept.
"She's pretty." Farah commented. "And I'm getting the shivers just looking at her." She smiled and looked at Danny.”
Danny growled, “Does this seem funny to you? Because I sure as hell don’t see the humor.”
Farah groaned loudly, pulling herself up. "Then I might as well tell you." she said. "You're going back to headquarters."
Danny pounded against the window, shattering the glass. “I assumed as much the moment they sent me out on such a weird assignment.”
"I'm sorry." she whispered.
Danny stormed away, making a beeline to the first place he could think of to find some alcohol.
And the whole time Ellie had listened with growing curiosity, trying to keep her face neutral. But she knew she had failed when Farah turned to her after Danny had left.
With a knowing smile, Farah said. "So, ready to wake up? Maybe we can get to know each other better."
“Shit…” Ellie muttered.