Heathens & Hand Grenades (Book 1 of the Heathens Duet)

Chapter 6 - Callie

It appears that my inner pep talk was heavy on the talk, not so much on the inner, if God's musing over my name is any indication.

"Where are we?"

The thought slips out as I realize we've been driving for some time. Great thinking Callie. They'll for sure tell the hostage where they are. They may even throw in their names, addresses, and fingerprints too all wrapped up in a pretty gingham bow. Gingham or buffalo plaid, that sounds about right if you're gonna dress something up. Cute, but casual. Focus girl, no time for brain spacing.

"Okay, I know that was a stupid question. But I'm curious. Are we over the Carter county line?"

The music is turned down to a barely detectable whisper. "Why are you asking," God asks. He's not angry about my question, at least I don't think so. He sounds thoughtful, contemplative. I've been a pretty good hostage so far, in my opinion. Well, minus arguing with Pretty Boy over a nickname that hopefully won't mean anything soon. If I'm lucky, I'll never see them again and Bambi will be nothing more than a movie that I'm going to find and watch as soon as I get home. After I check up on Rachel.

And Nicole.

And probably Blake too. I may even go on that date, much as I said the opposite earlier. Seize the day and all that you know.

"Running from the law Callie Cat?"

The time has come to decide how honest do I want to be with the men who hold what little of a life I have in their hands. So far, they've been decent. I'm unharmed as are the people in the bank. It could've just as easily ended with my body being discussed on the evening news, tucked neatly in between a story about the local high school sports team and the newest power ball winner.

"It's better for everyone involved if we stay out of Grayson county," I whisper. There I said it. It's out there. Not my whole sad life story, but still the truth.

"We? A little soon for all that, but I can get behind a woman who knows what she wants," Cupid says flippantly.

Cupid's easy flirtation rattles me and makes me feel like the shy, naïve teenager that I left in Bells. I don't hate it, but I don't know how to be her anymore. "I-I didn't mean. I know I said-ugh. Words." I take a deep breath in a desperate attempt to stop every word that pops into my head from spilling out of my mouth. "I meant me. I need to stay out of Grayson county. It's not safe."

If I had thought the car quiet before this, I was wrong. At this point, my heart feels like the bass at a rock concert, loud enough to dwarf anything else.

"Why." Growled out of God's mouth, the word is not a question but a command I'm compelled to answer.

"Some people don't like to give up their favorite toys. They'd rather break them," I laugh, a watery sound unlike the quiet, nice captive they've been saddled with. That's Callie. No, this is what Calista sounds like. Broken, beaten, and beaten down. Just the thought of being back in his orbit has brought her back to the surface.

The tears don't come with sound, just a deep painful crush on my chest, a wringing of my lungs as they desperately seek a full breath. They trail down my face and drench the blindfold, not that I'd see much through my blurry eyelashes. It hurts. So much hurt. Three years of attempting to be stronger gone in the blink with one tiny admission. It's not safe.

Safety is just an illusion anyway. I'm sure he could've found me, but my life has been relatively stagnant since I left Bells. There was nothing to chase. No fight. For three years I've been a wounded animal bleeding out, not dead, but not really living either. Just waiting for the moment where I close my eyes for the final time. Maybe Rachel's right and I need to give up on living in fear. He'll find me or he won't.

Nothing to do now but rest a moment and hope this nightmare is over when I wake.