Wake Up ||ONC 2021|| GxG

4. Need to Go

Esme wobbled a bit and grabbed the sink in front of her before she toppled over. With shaky fingers she typed back, wrong number, knock it off. She blocked the number and shoved her phone deep into her pocket, or as deep as it would go in women's pockets. The door swung open, and she dodged around the woman that walked in on her way out.

"There you are, it's my turn to sing, go sit," Nevaeh shouted excitedly. The peppy woman shoved Esme into a seat and ran up to the .

Esme couldn't have fought her even if she'd wanted to. Although she'd made it to the seat and was sitting as still as she could, the room still lurched from side to side like a rocky boat. The red glare from the lights seemed dim now. That part at least was quite nice.

"Is she really good or something?" Esme whispered to Easton, trying to ignore the slight ringing in her ears. The room had a fuzzy haze to the edges like some bad dream filter. She blinked quickly and hoped that would clear it up some. It did, but only for a minute.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise," Easton answered under his breath. He looked over Esme with an eyebrow raised. The blue of his eyes looked faded though the haze clouding her vision. "You alright? You look like you're about to pass out."

"M'fine," Esme grunted. She gripped the edge of her seat with clammy palms. They started to slip off the second she put any weight on them. It was as if every muscle in her body had started to tense and untense with no rhyme or reason. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck, soaking her green camisole. It made her thick hair cling to her like a wet blanket. She shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor at her side.

Easton nodded, looking skeptical about her definition of fine. He pulled out his phone and Esme narrowed her focus to Nevaeh as she began her song.

She wished the ringing in her ears would get just a little louder. It turned out; Nevaeh sang with the voice equivalent to a screaming frog. The high screech touched something deep inside her that shriveled and died immediately. But when Nevaeh looked at her, Esme managed a wide encouraging smile.

"You look sick agent 23, maybe you should go home. You're whiter than a skinned almond," Easton placed a warm hand on her arm.

"What'd you just say?" Esme pulled away from him, nearly falling out of her seat as she did. The entire room tipped to the side and her stomach lurched.

"Esme, trust me, let me take you home," Easton pleaded as he grabbed for her wrist and tightened his grip.

"No, I'd really rather not," she slurred. Behind him the front door opened, and another wave of confusion washed over her, bringing a temporary moment of clarity. Two men entered, thick jackets concealing most of their upper body. The outfit choice was absolutely ridiculous in the heat of the cramped bar. They looked her way, and her heart skipped a beat. There was something familiar in the way they looked at her. "Let me go."

"Easton, she asked you to let her go. I can take you home if you want Esme," Paula grabbed her other wrist, pulling her the other way. Esme tried to recoil from her grip, but Paula held on like Esme was a pair of designer shoes on clearance.

"Seriously? No one even likes you Paula," Easton snapped, tugging harder at Esme.

The dazed woman swayed back and forth between them, her head spinning faster and faster. The men from the door were getting closer. Too close. "Let me go, stop it," she whimpered. Their grips tightened and started to inch towards pain. They argued over her head, going off about agencies and codes. Her voice was completely lost in the raising racket. "I said let go!"

Esme tugged her wrist from Paula first, bringing her knee up as the woman jolted forward and hit her square in the stomach. She stumbled back as Esme used her still raised leg to slam her foot into Easton's side. It only grazed him but that was enough for her to pull free and shoot forward towards the door.

"Hey! No fighting, take it outside if you're going to get rough," the bartender shouted after her.

The men from the door were right in front of her now, both raising their arms towards her. Esme ducked at the last second and slid on her side across the slick wood floor. For good measure, she grabbed a chair and smashed it across their backs. She could hear the bartender shouting again but distantly, like he was at the end of a tunnel while she ran the other way.

The cold air hit her like a blast of relief. The panicked haze lifted long enough for her to feel the embarrassment of the commotion she'd caused. It came back like a boomerang and immediately her feet were pounding on the pavement as she dashed down the street. The bell on the door behind her clanged as people ran out after her. Faster, she needed to go faster.

Esme skidded around the corner, flattening herself against the wall to avoid colliding with a passerby. More shouting, it was starting to be excessive in her opinion. She was sprinting again, dipping in and out of crowds. Her phone was going off again and she nearly threw it across the street. The damned thing was quickly becoming the bane of her existence.

She turned another corner and dropped down to the ground behind a car. Gasoline fumes wafted over her. The smell made her gag, but she kept herself where she was. Her palms stung from where they'd hit the ground and her knees, already bruised from the morning, felt like they were definitely bleeding now. Still, she kept still.

When nothing happened for a few minutes, she pushed herself up to kneel. "What am I doing? This is insane," she whispered to herself. Her entire front was soaked in grease and a few things she didn't want to think about. The blood hadn't soaked through her jeans, but she could feel it on her skin. "I have to get out of here, wherever here is." Esme reached to pull her jacket closed only to realize she'd left it on the floor of the bar. By now it would be covered in footprints and spilled booze. If she got it back, it would need a few runs through the washer.

But she hadn't left the damn phone! She ripped it out of her pocket, bringing her arm back to throw it. Nevaeh's name flashed across the screen and she lowered her hand. She hit the screen with shaky fingers and pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"