The Unkillable Girl - [ONC 2024]

9. The bank job

After they had finished in the Halloween store, the two of them headed outside and started to walk home. Their apartment block was only about a mile away from where they were, so Darius had decided they could walk there instead of getting an Uber. He was still a small town boy at heart, so often preferred to walk.

There was also the bonus in the fact that physical exercise also helped to calm down Amelia. She was at that moment happily skipping along next to him and swinging the bag around like an excited child on their way home from kindergarten.

The sight amused Darius, but it also annoyed him. There was obviously something seriously wrong with Amelia, but she was behaving like she didn't have a care in the world.

She had nearly died. She should be worrying about it, or at least showing some sign of acknowledgement. But here she was bouncing around like usual. It was infuriating.

Darius wondered if he should say something to her. Force her to confront and deal with her issues. He sighed. If only that was possible.

Darius already knew her well enough to know exactly how that conversation would go. Once her mind was fixed on something, Amelia was incredibly stubborn. So he knew that trying to change her was futile.

It was something Darius always felt like he had to compete against. He had to become more flamboyant and sassy himself to counteract Amelia's tendency to hyper focus on the wrong things.

Darius was pulled out of his thoughts by a car pulling up to the curb in front of them. The doors opened, and three large men climbed out. Darius paused, as the three men walked straight across the sidewalk in front of him, and went on through the large double doors to his left.

When Darius went to start walking again, he realised that Amelia was frozen in place. She had stopped skipping, and was standing completely still with a serious expression on her face.

"What's up, babe?" he asked.

Amelia scowled while deep in thought, then she suddenly reached out and grabbed hold of Darius's hand.

"Quick, quick, quick," she whispered urgently, as she started marching stiffly forwards, and dragging Darius behind her.

Amelia walked a short way down the street before she turned down an alleyway, and dragged Darius along behind her.

Darius shook his hand free from her grasp and stopped walking. "Babe, what are you even doing?" he said. "You're acting weird again."

"Did you see?" Amelia whispered, that Darius could barely hear over the sounds of the busy street.

"See what?"

"The car," she said, and pointed back the way they had come.

Darius took a few steps back and peered around the entrance of the alleyway. The car that had pulled up a moment ago was still parked by the curb.

"You mean the black sedan? What about it?" he asked.

"It's parked outside the bank with its engine running," said Amelia, excitedly. "I bet it's a getaway car, and they are busy robbing the place."

"Errr, I guess so? Or there's just nowhere else to park and the guy's worried about getting a ticket."

"No, they're bank robbers. And we need to do something about it!"

"Okay, okay. If you're that convinced, I'll call 911," said Darius, as he took out his phone.

"Pffff, no need. I got this," Amelia said, and she waved the bag she was holding.

"What? No. What do you think you are going to do? How would you even stop them?"

"It's all about the performance. I'll act like a superhero and be all intimidating, that'll stop them."