The Runaway

Chapter 7

Violet's hotel bed felt like soft clouds that caused her to melt into the sheets. It was more relaxing and comfortable than the one at the motel, but even though it was satisfying, she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, images of the abandoned building crept through. It was way too traumatizing for her to forget. The most annoying thing was the questions that popped into her head. Why did they touch her like that? Why did they plan to kill her? What is their purpose? She could only hope that they were just a gang with killers and strange fetishes. The flashback to her arrival when the boy attacked her appeared, causing her to shiver. When she shot him, he kept coming at her even though it was clear that he was injured. He didn't even flinch. When she saw him in the building, he looked completely normal. No bandages. No struggle. Absolutely nothing. The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. This "team" was strange. What the hell did she get into? Her mind suddenly brought up images of Rena and her parents, which also lead on to her friends Franny and Joe. She couldn't believe that she was actually starting to feel remorse and regret. She had abandoned them after being abandoned herself. The fact that she ended up joining a gang felt wrong. She had been selfish, and even though she never liked her parents, they were probably somewhat worried. A single tear formed to this acknowledgement. It was already too late. She couldn't return. After a while of expressing her feelings, she quickly wiped her face with her sleeves. Violet pulled the covers up to her chin and finally shut her eyes. This time she managed to block out the bad memories.

The sense of a presence in the room caused her to fully open her eyes. Colton was sitting on the chair next to the bed watching her. "Morning," he said.

She glanced over at the clock. "What are you doing here at seven in the morning?" The words came out weak and quiet due to her sudden awakening.  

"Check-out is in an hour." He got up and handed her a toothbrush and toothpaste from his pocket. "It's time to get up."

She wiped her eyes and stared at the brightly colored toothbrush. She hadn't brushed her teeth since she was at the motel. "Where's my duffel bag?" she asked.

"It's probably back at the building somewhere," he responded while keeping an eye on the clock.

She got out from the sheets and stepped into the bathroom to get ready. When she was done, they immediately left. "What's all the rush?" she asked.

"We have work to do." He was already a meter away from her. She struggled to keep up with his pace but remained quiet. The "work" he mentioned made her nervous. It felt like a second had passed when they approached the front desk in the lobby. The young woman working there smiled as she spotted Colton.

"Checking out already, Joshua?" The lady grinned at him with admiration. Despite her anxiety, she found it funny how the woman found him so attracting. It was even more silly that his name was apparently Joshua. It also
took a while for them to leave since the lady kept asking for his number.

"She was so annoying," he stated when they got in his car.

Violet managed to laugh. "Joshua."

He chuckled. "I had to show her a fake I.D. card and the number I gave her was also fake."

"Fake I.D. card? Did you get in any trouble? Wait, where are your parents?" she asked, curious. Colton never really mentioned his parents and she never met them, but she could remember that his family was poor. He always seemed to have a hard time affording stuff but he hated when his financial status was brought up.

"No, we haven't been in trouble yet and all of our records are clean except for Ace's," he paused, "I never had the chance to tell you, but my parents found new jobs and had to move to Texas. I just decided not to go with them."

Violet thought he had moved with his parents all along. "So does this mean you're also on the run?" She hadn't realized how obvious it was until now.

"Yeah. We all are." He made a left turn and sped up.

She couldn't believe it. They were all runaways. There was also a lot to him that she didn't know about even when she thought she did. The Colton she was in the car with wasn't the same person she wanted to reunite with. It felt like they were complete strangers. Violet wanted to curl up into a ball and roll away forever.

Violet studied the view of the abandoned building, which was surprisingly more unsightly from the outside than it was from within. Now she could tell why the building remained vacant for a long time.

Colton lead her to a different room this time. All of the others were already inside and stared at her when she entered. The room was clean and different compared to the ones that she'd seen. There were lights and some furniture.

"Are we preparing for the next hunt?" Riley questioned while eyeing Violet.

"Yes," Colton replied.

Everyone seemed to be focused only on her.

"You can't possibly bring her along. You didn't even give her an explanation yet, did you?" Aiden shook his head. "You're supposed to be our leader."

Colton raised his voice. "She'll be the watcher for now. Violet will be on the lookout for anyone approaching."

Delsin crossed his arms. "Colton, it would help if you thought of something to tell her before she takes part in this."

Colton ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled deeply. "I know that."

Violet stood there feeling strange. They all hated her. She didn't understand what they were keeping from her, and she didn't want to know. It was probably something bad. Too much information was being thrown at her and her head began to ache.

"You don't know what to say, do you? If you can't do it, I will," Riley announced.

Colton's response was quick. "No, I'll do it. Just give me time. We'll just see how well she does tonight as a test."

This time, it was Violet's turn to speak. "Hold on. A test? What for?"

"We need to see if you're eligible to be apart of this. If you fail, we'll have to make you leave. We won't tolerate even one mistake." Colton's words surprised her while everyone else looked satisfied. He sounded too solemn as in he meant what he said. She never imagined that he would ever threaten her like that.

"Okay then, we'll trust your decisions, Colton," Colette said.

What they were going to do was definitely dangerous, but Violet already knew that. Uninformed about what was to come, Violet felt nervous while they all packed their lethal weapons and loaded it into a huge van.