Trust the Killer

Chapter Eight:

Wyck sat closer to me than usual, his leg was against mine and when I pulled away his leg would shift to close the gap again. It was strange, and instead of staring out the door window he watched the road straight ahead.
With his eyes so close to seeing my movements, and his body against mine I had no way to sneak my phone out and call for help, so I kept it tucked into my pocket and out of sight.
The diner was less than ten minutes away, we pulled into the cracked parking lot and parked far from the door.
Throughout the drive, I devised my plan. Once we were sat down I would wait for the waitress to come to the table and excuse myself to the bathroom, because it would be suspicious if they told me no in front of someone. Then once I'm locked in a stall, regardless if they follow me or not I should be able to call 911. As long as I'm in public, I can buy enough time to be rescued before they... do anything to me.
Wyck waited for Johnny to pull his headset off and leave the van before he opened the passenger door. I can't believe I'm about to make my escape, my breathing was uncontrolled.
I heard the back doors of the van swinging open too as Wyck climbed out without looking at me. I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid to the side, making sure to keep the phone hidden.
I closed the van door and was shocked that Wyck was walking away without looking at me or grabbing me, maybe I should run off now? No. I have to follow the plan.
I took a few steps to catch up with him, but he turned suddenly. I gasped as he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me harshly once.
"What the fuck did I tell you?" His eyes were wide and angry, my face went numb from anxiety and I felt adrenaline fill in my legs.
Wyck slid a hand from my arm to the jacket pocket and I swallowed harshly as he pulled the cellphone out and held it up to my face. Fuck. I should have run.
"What did I fucking say?" He spat, his other hand left my arm and gripped my jaw, the force of his hand made me wince. I felt tears in my eyes from both the pain and stress of the situation, I'm completely trapped and just sped up my fate.
"You think I wouldn't notice? What were you going to do, call for help?" He was mocking.
I nodded and broke into a sob, my hands lifted to my chest and stopped before I touched Wycks wrist. He roughly pulled his hand from my jaw and took a step back. My hands were shaking and I was terrified of what would happen next, but he only shoved my phone into his pocket and pulled me to his side by my arm and began dragging me to the other side of the van where Johnny stood with Julia and Mason.
    The three looked at my red and tearful face without sympathy and began walking to the diner.
     "Clean yourself up." Wyck growled into my ear before jolting me to follow the group.
     I wiped underneath my eyes with my hand and sniffled, I wanted to stop crying but the tears continued to pour out of my eyes. I wasn't crying in sadness, I was terrified. My stomach had dropped and I felt my throat tighten shut, I was caught and just marked my grave, I just don't know when he will do it.
     We approached the door of the diner but Mason turned to stop in front of Wyck and I, "We can't go in there with her fucking sobbing."
     Wyck groaned quietly, "Go get a table." He responded. Mason and Johnny continued into the diner but Julia stayed behind staring at Wyck and I.
     "What's going on?" She asked with edge.
     Wyck shook his head and lead me to the right out of the way of the door and next to a parking curb. Julia followed with an annoyed expression.
     "I looked away for one second and she got ahold of her fucking phone." He let go of my arm and rubbed his face.
     Julia looked at me with a raised brow, "Oh?" She stepped toward me, "Did I not tell you we'd fucking kill you the second you try something?" Her voice was quiet and threatening. More tears poured from my face as I regretted my choices, my arms moved over my chest again and I felt my knees shaking.
     Julia gritted her teeth and stepped at me quickly as if she were about to grab me and throw me to the ground, I stepped back once and lifted my hands to block my face but before Julia could get to me Wyck stepped forward and put his arm out to block her.
     Julia stopped and stared at Wyck with swirling confusion, "Wyck? We fucked up trusting her, there's no point in keeping her around!" She whisper yelled through her teeth and I felt my body tremble.
     "Go inside." He grabbed Julia by the shoulder and shoved her back gently. Julia cocked her head before scoffing and turning away.
     "She better be a corpse next time I see her." She spoke again as she reached for the diner door and disappeared inside.
     I looked to Wyck with wide eyes, but he didn't look at me. Instead he dropped down to sit on the parking lot curb and began rubbing his face with both hands.
     I looked around the parking lot to see it was deserted and I came to the conclusion that my escape attempts only seemed to make matters worse. Suddenly, I felt Wycks hand on my arm as he roughly pulled me down to sit on the curb beside him.
     I stared at him as he looked at the ground with a strange defeat.
     "Do you want to kill me?" I wasn't sure were my bluntness came from, but I felt tired of the suspense.
     Wyck looked at me finally with stressful eyes. "Not fucking really." He sounded exasperated and somewhat sarcastic. He looked away again and shook his head with his lips parted.
     I felt a bit of hope inside my guts, he continued to speak.
     "I would've done the same thing." His voice was softer. He turned his entire body towards me and leaned in close, "I'm going to give you this one chance... I want to keep you safe." His words shocked me and my eyes flittered slightly confused. "I can't do that if you don't listen to me, you didn't ask for this and you're scared, I'm being understanding here." His hand moved to my knee and I shivered. "I dont want to hurt you, or let my friends hurt you Ava, but if you put me in the position, I will have to. Do you understand what I'm saying? I need you to be obedient to me. If you continue to be a problem I won't be able to help you. They already think the plan is to get rid of you and I can't change that if you don't behave." He pulled my phone from his pocket briefly and waved it. "This is a lot of stress on me, please don't make it harder." His blue eyes watched every detail of my reaction and waited for a response.
     "I- if they think the plan is to kill me then why haven't they done it already?" I asked.
     "I have final say, to an extent and I said not yet."
     "Oh."
     "Again, I'm sympathetic to the situation, but in order to live you have to trust me."
The tears in my eyes dried throughout the conversation and I caught my breath despite everything. "I'm- confused. How am I supposed to trust you when I don't know who you are, or what you are... you just kill people?" My voice raised slightly and I watched Wycks hand twitch to cover my mouth, he stopped himself and looked away.
"You don't need to know details like that." He stood up abruptly and leaned over to pull me up with him. "Are we at an understanding?" He asked.
"Yes." I half lied, it's not like I have a choice. I can either sit here and listen to his every command like a dog or die. I wasn't able to wrap my head around why he even cared to keep me 'safe.' Everything about the situation doesn't add up, what was he? Some sort of serial killer? A hit man or is this a gang? Every step I took felt like thin ice and at any moment I could crash through.
     He paused for a moment while watching my face, I felt slightly embarrassed and began wiping my eyes to clean up the makeup I'm sure has been running.
     "We don't have to go in if you're still upset." His voice was kind in comparison to the sternness he previously had.
     "I'm okay." I was definitely not okay. I couldn't shake the question on why he wanted to keep me alive.
     Instead of grabbing me by the arm as he typically did, Wyck slid his arm around my waist. I hadn't noticed how cold it was with the thick jacket and large T-shirt on my body, but I shivered when the wind picked up as he walked slowly beside me into the diner, it was far warmer inside and as deserted as the parking lot.
     We walked past the hostess and a few tables back until we reached the booth where Julia sat with a grimace, staring dead at me. I felt my heart stop momentarily and I began to tremble again which I believe Wyck noticed, he pulled me into his side tighter. On one side of the booth table sat Julia with Johnny on the outside, on the other side Mason slid further into the seat allowing me to sit in between him and Wyck. I was uncomfortable with Mason being beside me but at least it's not Julia, he tried to catch eye-contact with me but I looked to my lap, I'm sure Julia filled them in on my escape attempt.
     "What the fuck are you doing, Wyck?" Julia leaned over the table to angrily whisper.
     "J, chill the fuck out." He snapped back.
     "I really don't know what he's doing, it's bullshit. Get rid of her already." Johnny spoke for the first time in a while.
     Wyck's promise of keeping me safe seemed far out of reach, I wasn't sure how he planned to change their minds like he said he would, his voice was harsh, "She was a random hostage-"
     "When did you become all sympathetic?" Julia cut him off. The table went silent and Wyck seemed to be extremely angry, he was ridged with his hands in fists on the table. I kept my hands tucked in my lap as I tried to avoid any sort of contact with anyone. I kicked myself for feeling relived to have Wyck beside me.
     "I for one, love having Ava around," Mason spoke up with a joke filled voice. "She's been great for me to look at and I'm just waiting for my turn to share a hotel room with her." His jokes made my blood run cold, I felt my knees shaking again and I wished I could be more brave.
     Beside me I noticed Wyck lift his chin up with a clenched jaw and slowly turn to Mason, "I do not condone rape in this group." He spat.
     Mason only laughed before looking at me closely, he tucked my hair behind my ear and I cringed, "What makes you think she wouldn't want it?" He continued a gross laugh and I felt my body gravitate in the seat towards Wyck but I'm not sure if I actually moved.     
     The waitress made an appearance at the perfect time to free me from this conversation, she took down orders from the killers around me and Wyck ordered for me as I sat without a word.