𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬

Blake Farmer

"Did you get it?" Carmen stood leaning against a trash bin at the alley behind the church.

Blake took out the little slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Carmen.

"That's what the deacon gave me, he didn't tell me anything else," Blake shoved his shakey hands back into his pocket, he didn't dare to look Carmen in the eye.

Carmen flipped the slip of paper over multiple times, he exhaled a sharp breath through his nostrils and looked somewhat satisfied with what Blake got. "It's fine, we can use it."

Blake blinked. "Now what?"

Carmen looked at him like he was an idiot. "Now we can go back and Walter will use this information in order to hack into their system."

"Will I be able to go home?" Blake asked, there was much more strength in his tone of voice than he felt inside.

Carmen rolled his eyes, luckily he started walking out of the alley and into the street. "Why do you have the nerve to ask that? We'll see once we get back."

Blake stood still for a moment, watching the back of Carmen as he exited the street. His heart kept pounding against his chest, a voice inside screamed to turn around and sprint in the other direction.

"Blake!" Carmen yelled but didn't look behind him.

There was a halt, Blake knew that he couldn't continue to go on like this. He couldn't go back.

"Blake, come on! We have to go!" Carmen was about to turn the corner, Blake cringed at the nervous energy flowing through him.

Without another thought, he started to slowly back up, making sure his feet were light so they wouldn't echo. He made his way through the garbage bins, the stench made his gut feel like it was about to return all of its food earlier, but Blake just kept his nose plugged and made a run for it.

Feet hitting the ground, he swerved through the obstacles. He ran faster than ever before, flying through the tight quarters.

He knew Carmen noticed, he could still hear the string of curse words that were being thrown at him. But there wasn't time to look back, he just kept running towards the other end.

Splashing in a puddle full of mud, he turned the corner and kept up the quick pace. What he didn't think about was where he was going next. He flew by other people that were walking on the sidewalk. He crashed into strollers and knocked over a man who was holding a bouquet of flowers.

But it didn't stop him, he still heard Carmen behind him, somehow getting closer.

A naive decision made Blake want to run across the street. He turned the sharp corner, the light above was green, and cars were still humming. What he didn't calculate was the massive moving truck that was coming down the street at eighty miles per hour and didn't see Blake running.

He didn't run fast enough. It was already too late. The loud honk of a scared truckdriver screamed through the streets.

Blake's knees buckled from fear. He fell on the ground and his eyesight failed. He could hear people gasping and calling if he was okay.

The last thing he heard was a growl in his ear and two strong grips attached to his arms. "That'll show you to never run away again."

I'm sorry, mom. I tried.

~~~

Vanessa Vaughen

"And here's your keys, enjoy your stay with us!"