The Great War

Chapter 11

Luke's friend was scary. He was a lot bigger than Luke and he also seemed a lot older. But if Luke was right, I wouldn't have any interactions with him. I would make sure that I wouldn't have any. But it made me wonder if Luke was really saving me. He'd already helped me escape regionals, but it seemed like maybe he just wanted to kill me himself, but not. He'd just hire somebody to do it for him. Even though he already shot a few people, maybe he just wanted me dead, but also loved me so he couldn't do it. Am I even making any sense? I'm just too paranoid about everything at the moment. Finally I replied to Luke, "Got it. Don't mess with your friend."

Ronnie smiled at me through the rearview mirror, and I didn't know what to do but look away. I had only a few goals of what not to do to this guy:

Make eye contact

Talk to him

Be anywhere near him if I didn't have to. I shouldn't even be able to breathe in his scent.

But if I had to talk to him, there must have been a good reason for it. And surely I wouldn't be stupid and say something that would get me killed. Maybe Luke's just saying that because Ronnie is a shy person. I feel that sometimes. I get angry really easily if somebody upsets me. Luke and Ronnie chatted like they were pretty good friends. They were catching up like they hadn't seen each other in a while. It felt comfortable to know neither Ronnie's nor Luke's minds were focused on killing me at the moment. They were just focused on themselves and their past couple of weeks.

We arrived at a weird looking wearhouse. It looked decently taken care of, I'm sure the two of them do a pretty good job with that. Plus Luke's an organized person, so he wouldn't have a place that's disorganized. Ronnie must be the same way. But the color was mixed in with the environment, so at a first glance it doesn't look like there's anything there. I was curious about the choice for that, personally I would like a nice, crisp brown color for my home. But then again Luke doesn't live here, so I assume Ronnie has his own home too.

The two of them took me inside. There was a lot of space for the main entrance, and smaller extra rooms. The interior was nice, and actually looked more like a living environment. But the question started to haunt me. How long was I to stay here? Because surely Joel knew about this place right? Or was it really just Luke and Ronnie who knew about this place?

Luke showed me to the room where I was going to be staying. It didn't have a single window. The light wasn't too bright either, and the walls seemed thicker than normal. There was one piece of equipment that caught my eye though. But I decided not to say anything to Luke because it's either his or his friend's.

"Just stay in here. Only come out if you need to. I'll give you some things to do to keep you company. But for now, just get comfortable." Luke said after not having talked since the car. After all my stress, his voice comforted me. I had a sudden urge to ask him to stay. Instead I stayed quiet, he's probably got things to do since he's running from psychopath murderers. Luke left the room and I heard faint talking from outside the door.

"Why'd you give her your room?" It was Ronnie.

"It was the only room with a bed. We can go home, she can't." Luke replied.

"Not like you're gonna go home anyways."

"I can't risk Joel finding her. She's dead if I do." I gulped. I didn't know if I should continue listening. If I did, I'd get too frightened. But if I didn't, I wouldn't know what could possibly happen. So I pressed my ear against the door once more.

"What does Taylor like to do? I'll bring her stuff." Ronnie asked. He's the one bringing me stuff? It's okay. I'll be fine. Wait... How would Luke know?

"I think she makes things out of popsicle sticks, she writes songs, you could grab her a Roku..." It was proven that Luke used to stalk me. Maybe he didn't anymore, but he definitely used to. I heard a knock on my door, I quickly backed up from the door before I told him he could come in.

"I brought you stuff to keep you company. Luke said you enjoyed doing this stuff." Ronnie handed me popsicle sticks, a glue gun, a notebook and pen, and a Roku for watching TV. I just smiled at him, before shutting the door. I put all the things on Luke's bed and went back to listening to Ronnie and Luke.

"What was the sudden change of heart, anyways?" Ronnie questioned. "I mean she seems like a nice girl, but...?"

"Yeah, she is." I laughed at Luke's dry response, hoping that they didn't hear me.

"But you were going to kill her. You always were. Why did that change?"

"What do you think? I just randomly decided to let her free?"

"Oh, Luke Smallbone fell in love with her." Ronnie sneered. My facial expressions turned to scared, to confused, to heartbreak all in the matter of five minutes. Luke loves... me? How? He's all of fifteen. Then again, he does work with a whole group of killers, so why does it even surprise me that he fell in love with the victim?