Snaked

Don't Worry

Luke's pov

Christmas. The best holiday of the year. Sometimes.

Driving away from Julie has to be the worst thing I've done since I left my parents. After an hour or so of driving to Sacramento, Reggie and I pulled into this small motel and got the cheapest room they had so we could sleep for the night. I figured out Alex was following us fifteen minutes after we left Julie's house but I didn't stop. I kind of hoped he would have turned around and went back so that I didn't leave Julie alone but I knew there was no stopping him once he got in that car. I gave Alex and Reggie the bed in the room so I'm currently curled up on the couch trying to fall asleep. Soon enough I start to drift off, thinking of all the things I'm going to say to Ave when we get her back.

"Ave, what are you-" I start to say but stop when I see another jolt hit her, making her fall to her knees. All of the happiness I was just feeling was gone and turned into worry and I ran over and kneels in front of her. Alex and Reggie join me on either side of me, staring at her worriedly.

She looks up from the ground and smiles sadly at me to tell me everything's going to be okay but I shake my head quickly, not wanting to lose her again. I reach forward to cup her cheek but my hand goes right through her, making her sob as tears fill my eyes.

"I wouldn't touch her if I were you," a familiar voice says from behind her. My eyes drift up slightly to see a purple cape that's hanging just below Caleb's face. I then look down to see something blue being held against her throat, making my breathing hitch, knowing she could be gone in seconds if we did something wrong. "One more move from any of you and you will never see her again. Alive anyways," Caleb says as Ave's eyes shoot up to Julie for a moment before looking back down at me.

Another jolt hits her and she becomes limp for a moment, making the tears in my eyes fall before she opens her eyes and I can't help but look between her and the blue thing in Caleb's hand, hoping he won't use it if he doesn't have to.

"Caleb, please," Alex pleads, his voice broken.

Caleb tightens his grip which makes Ave flinch, in the moment I want to kill him for making her flinch. But I can't do that because if I do, he'll take her away or kill her before I get the chance to. He leans down and whispers something in her ear and I immediately know something's wrong when the blood drains from her face. I know what he's about to do so I lung forward, screaming. "Don't you fucking dare!"

I sit up quickly, sweat dripping off of every part of my body even though it's freezing in this room since the air conditioning is broken. I cover my face with my hands before standing up and walking to the bathroom before splashing water on my face. I feel my turkey start to come up so I turn around and hunch over the toilet and wait until my assumptions are correct and my turkey does indeed come back up.

I hear a faint knock on the bathroom door so I flush the toilet and wipe my mouth with one of the towels before opening the door. "You okay, dude?" Alex asks, purple and blue circles under his eyes from exhaustion.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I say, pushing past him before sitting on the couch and looking over at Reggie who's laying completely still. Who can sleep so soundly when we just ran away with no thought as to when we're going to be back? I feel the couch cushion move and I look to my left to see Alex sitting beside me, watching Reggie as well. He looks like he needs to say something but I know I have to be the first one to say something. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you that Reggie found something," I say, whispering so that I don't wake him up.

"You didn't wanna get my hopes up, I know, don't worry," he says, looking over at me.

"She's your sister though, she was just my girlfriend. You of all people should have known before Reggie decided to spring it on you and Julie like that," I say, putting my head on his shoulder for the first time since 1995.