Kathrine's Converse slapped the road as she ran down Park City hill. She was hoping that someone would stop to help her. She wasn't yelling; she didn't think anyone would be there to hear her. The breeze picked up, but she didn't notice. Her hair wrapping around her face, she still kept running. Her ankles were starting to hurt from the lack of support in her shoes, but she still kept running. She kept running and running down the hill and towards the strip of town. Just the streetlights on... store signs were off, the usual "nightlife" had gone to sleep. She just hoped she wasn't alone.
The sound of an engine was starting to rumble behind her. She turned her head, letting the breeze flip the hair away from her face. There was only one set of headlights coming down the street. She was still turning on the inside. She didn't know who was driving. What if it was the same person after her? She didn't really have a choice. She had to trust someone, so she hustled from the turning lane to stand on the right side of the road. The street lights were reflecting off the jet-black car as it started to slow down. The tires rolled to a halt in the middle of the vacant road. Finally, there was a standstill. She threw caution to the wind and ran to the driver-side door. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The teenaged girl cracked the window just enough to hear Kathrine's begging.
"Please help me! My friend back there, I don't know what's happening. I was scared, and I ran. I'm new here and I don't..." It was too much for Kathrine to handle. She was flustered and couldn't gather the words she wanted to say.
"Chill, girl. What's going on?" the girl asked from behind the cracked glass.
Kathrine made eye contact with the driver as she tried to catch her breath so she could say what she needed to. Her heavy breathing was starting to slow, "I need a ride to the police station," she uttered between the breaths.
"Is it really that serious?"
"Please!" Kathrine yelled as she hit the window. It made the driver flinch like a jump scare in a horror film.
The driver tapped the steering wheel with her nails as she contemplated what to do. "Don't you have a phone?" the driver asked. She was actually getting angry that she was hitting her car like that.
"Yes. It's dead. I'm scared... please," Kathrine said one last time.
The driver reached across the passenger seat and pulled the locking lever up. Click. "Get in," she said as she rolled up her window.
Kathrine raced around the car and jumped in the passenger seat. She thought it was strange that no other cars were coming down the street. Yeah, it was midnight, but she was used to busy streets in Florida. In fact, going out late at night alone was something she had never really done. And she doesn't think she would ever do it again.
"What's your name?" the driver asked.
"Kathrine Woods. Thank you for doing this." Kathrine couldn't keep her eyes off the road in front of her. She couldn't turn to the girl. She was thankful, but you couldn't hear it in her voice. She was still trying to catch her breath.
"And don't you want to go back and check on your friend?"
"The cops will be able to do more than I can. I don't know what I'm doing!" Kathrine finished her sentence by yelling. Her breathing was starting to pick up again, and the driver was getting anxious now. She didn't know how to help, so she tried to connect with her as she drove into town and towards the police station.
"My name's Evelyn," she said, still keeping her eyes on the road. "Evelyn Harper."
Kathrine didn't say anything. She continued to stare out the window, bouncing her knee to try to relieve her anxiety that wasn't going away. Evelyn's car smelt like Taco Bell. An empty bottle of Diet Mountain Dew rolled in the back seat. Her bookbag still in the floor from the last day of school before Christmas break.
Evelyn pulled into the police station parking lot, and Kathrine pulled the locking lever up, and within a second she was out of the car. She bolted up the cold concrete steps to the glass door.
"Hello?!" she yelled, searching around the door for a way inside. She alternated between yanking at the locked door and banging on it with her fist.
"There she goes again with that banging," Evelyn said to herself. She shut her door and leaned back with her arms crossed. She still wasn't sure what happened, but she thought Kathrine was overreacting.
"Yes?" a voice said from a speaker to the left of the glass door.
"I need help! Someone was after me and my friend in a parking lot, and I ran. I don't know what happened but..."
A deputy opened the glass door from inside, keeping one hand close to his gun. "Ma'am, you need to calm down. Take a deep breath, and we will go inside." Kathrine nodded and followed his lead. The deputy caught a glance of Evelyn leaning against her car. "Can I help you?"
"I'm the ride. I don't know what's going on... I'm fine," Evelyn answered.
The deputy nodded and shut the door behind them.
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