Run Away [Completed]

5

For the next couple of days, Alden had gone to the roof deck each night waiting for Maine from early evening until a few minutes after midnight, but she never came.

He had tried listening against his wall to find out if there was anything going on inside her unit but for two days her room was completely silent. There was no shuffling inside, no footsteps nor any sound of activity.

Once, he passed by the room at night and saw that the light wasn't turned on inside. It made him wonder if she was still staying in her unit. He also wondered what had happened to her since she'd left his unit two days ago, and if she was somehow earning the repercussions now of being inside his room when she wasn't supposed to.

On the third day, he was about to leave his unit and had just pulled the door close when the elevator doors opened and out came Maine with a guy who had his arm around her shoulders.

Alden glanced at her but she shot him a warning look. The guy looked at him with a smirk and waved a greeting. Alden nodded at him, trying to suppress the anger that was starting to build inside his chest again.

"Hi," he said quickly, right before the guy closed the door to Maine's unit.

The guy raised his eyebrows at him questioningly.

"Hi bro, I'm Alden, I just moved in next door," he told the guy as he extended his hand. He snuck a quick glance at Maine and saw her standing a few feet behind the guy with a surprised and fearful look in her eyes. She shook her head twice at him, asking him to stop.

The guy took his hand and shook it. "Well hello, bro. My name's Brent. Welcome!" he said jovially. "Sorry if you hear a few noises here from time to time. My girlfriend and I like to play it rough," he said winking at him.

Alden chewed on his lip and tried to contain himself. The guy's malicious statement was already drilling a hole inside his head, making him seethe with anger. He masked it with a tight smile.

"It's all good," he answered. "Just knock or call me if you need me," he said aloud while looking at the guy, and then he stole a glance at Maine for a split second to let her know that his last message was for her.

He saw her nod from his peripheral vision.

Brent smiled at him nodding. "Okay," he said patting Alden's shoulder, and then he shut the door to his face.

Alden found himself breathing heavily as he faced the wooden door, and he quickly ran up the next 4 flights of stairs to the roof deck to let out some steam.

+++++

It was just after sunset and the sky was starting to turn black with just a splash of pink and orange on the horizon where the sun was finally saying its goodnight. Alden was sitting on one of the lounge chairs with his MacBook on his lap, trying to continue his story draft.

A couple of hours later, the roof deck door opened slowly and Maine stepped in, looking at him.

"Maine," he greeted, happy to see her there.

"You're really here," she said softly.

"I waited here for two nights in a row. I told you I'll be here, didn't I?"

She nodded and took a seat on the chair beside him.

"Is he gone?" Alden asked and she nodded. "Did he hurt you today?"

"No. He's actually in a good mood since the other day. He took me to a 2-day trip, said he was sorry about the last fight," she answered and she was staring at her hands.

Alden tutted, shaking his head.

"It was dangerous what you did earlier." she said, looking at him. "He's going to remember your face now."

"Good," Alden said simply and Maine shook her head.

"Alden, you don't know who you're dealing with," she told him.

"Then tell me," Alden said, placing the MacBook down on the table and facing her.

"He's dangerous," she said, her voice trembling.

Alden sighed. "Can you tell me more? I really want to know how this all started. Jerald said you weren't like this before."

Maine took a deep breath while looking at him, trying to decide how much she should tell.
"Brent and I have been together for 2 years," she began. "Everything was great during the first year. He was a good boyfriend; we were even good friends before we became a couple. He has always been the possessive type but at that time I found it cute. I moved to this condo less than a year ago and then things started going downhill from my second month here.

I found out that he was cheating on me, and although I let that slide, things were never the same again. The hard part about it was that even though he cheated on me, he didn't like it when I'm talking to other guys. He said he's scared that I would cheat on him too.

He never laid hands on me before. The worst that he had done was clutch my arms and wrists too tight, it left marks on them. But then it gradually became worse, especially after I found out that he was taking illegal substances. I saw them inside his bag once and he was so mad at me for going through his stuff. I also discovered that he wasn't just using them, he's actually involved in a drug trade.

I lost all the respect and love I had left for him at that point, and even more after I'd uncovered more of his secrets. I tried leaving him once but he found me, and he made me pay real hard for trying to leave him," she finished, her tears streaming down her face as she recalled everything.

"What did he do?" Alden asked, handing her a handkerchief from his pocket.

Maine shook her head. "I can't tell you. It's unimaginable and it made me wonder what happened to the guy I fell in love with before. He's like a monster now and I have no escape from him."

Alden moved closer and pulled her in for a hug. He caressed her hair and her back as she cried against his chest. "Now I'm more determined to help you, Maine. I'm going to help you escape this."

"It's not that easy, Alden. I told you, he's dangerous. And it's not just him, it's the people he's working with." she told him with fearful eyes.

"I told you we'll figure it out. And we can get help from the police," he told her.

Maine shook her head hard. "You can't trust them. Most of them are actually under his payroll."

"I'll think of something," Alden insisted.

"Alden..." she said trying to suppress her sobs so she could speak clearly. "The last time someone had tried to help me, she'd ended up dead."

Alden stared at her as he tried to process this information.

"Then I'll die trying," he finally said.