Sheltered

Chapter 45

"This is a temporary place." Luke checks his watch.
3:25 a.m.

Savanna runs her hands through her tangled hair, trying not to look at a spot of blood on her shirt.
"How temporary?"

Lucas sighs, deep in thought. "We'll leave in the morning." Checking his watch again,
"Ah- later... in the morning. A few hours."

"Where are we going after this?" Sav's eyebrows furrow.

"Uh.." he sighs again. "Mexico."

"Mexico?"

"Yeah. Probably Nuevo Laredo."

Savanna lets out a short laugh. "Lucas."

"What?" He replies, already busy flipping through a book that was lying on the floor.

"Are you serious?" She sits next to him on the queen sized bed in the middle of the room.
"What even happened at your place?"

"Uhh..." he pretends to be absorbed in an elaborate story on the yellowed pages in his hands. "Not sure."

"Lucas!" Sav slams his book shut and tosses it on the bed behind her. "Who was at your apartment? I think I have a right to know who-" she blinks back tears. "Who I just shot."

"Oh." Luke glances at her tear-flooded eyes.
"Listen. There are some people that I'm... kind of in trouble with." He sighs, wiping a tear from Sav's face. "I was an assassin, Savanna. When I worked for Ian."

She twitches at the word "assassin".
"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I had to get rid of whoever Ian told me to. Ever wonder why they're called the Asesinos? They kill people, Savanna. Mostly really, really bad people."
He blinks rapidly as if he's trying to melt away the room around him.
"But not always bad people."

"What are-" Sav covers her widened eyes, trying to hold back tears. "Why? Why did you do that?"

"I had to, love. Ian-"

"No." She states, but the word comes out as more of a question. "Why do they do it? What do you mean 'not always' bad people?"

"You need to trust me, love. They aren't what you think. I owe Ian my life. And I've taken so many lives that I know how valuable that is."
He cuts himself off, fearing that he'll scare Savanna to death.

"Okay." She draws in a deep breath.
"Well I haven't killed anyone." She shakes her head.
"I take that back. Um-"
Sav lets out a frustrated groan.
"Listen. I've had people taken away from me. I know how valuable life is too. I have nothing left. I have no one but Ian. He's all I have. Him and the Asesinos."

She takes a deep breath.
"Luke, we're going to Mexico."

"I know. Thank you for trusting me. Just-" he hesitates. "Think twice about Ian. Please."

"Okay." Savanna agrees with a confused expression.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Savanna insisted that Luke sleep on the queen.

"I wanna sleep on the couch. It looks much more comfortable."

But now in the still, gloomy dark, she regrets choosing the stiff sofa.

Every time she closed her eyes, flashes of light and deafening gunshots rang in her head.
The sight of blood on the white walls, and a lifeless human being sliding to the ground.

My fault. Not my fault. I had to. No I didn't.

She lets out silent sobs, the face of the dead man burned into her eyes, the light drained from his face.

"Are you awake?" She calls out to the dark room.

"Now I am." A raspy voice replies.

Savanna rises from the couch, walking toward the bed in the center of this oversized toy log cabin.

She stops in front of it, arms crossed. "Hi."

"Um, hi. Are you alright?" Lucas asks sleepily.

Sav wipes the tears from her face. "Yeah. I can't sleep."

A loud sigh through the black room. "Okay."
Luke sits up, patting the space beside him with his hand. "Come here."

Savanna climbs onto the bed, sitting next to him awkwardly.

"It gets easier." Luke says. "You'll be able to sleep eventually. Just- try not to think about it."

Quiet sobs escape Savanna's mouth, her body shivering in the stale air.

Lucas wraps an arm around her, pulling her closer. "Hey... I'm serious. It's not always this hard, trust me. And listen-" he raises her head to look in his face, both their eyes already adjusted to the dark.
"You saved my life. Don't blame yourself.
It was either him or me, just think about that."

She eventually drifts into a deep sleep, a strong arm around her until she falls into dream land.