Runaway
To Leave It All Behind
Chapter One
I wanna run away
I wanna run away
Anywhere out this place
I wanna run away
Just you and I
“What are we going to do? What are we going to do? ” Gert panted as they ran through back streets of downtown L.A. with no clear direction in mind.
They were all Brentwood kids and it was clear from the first few seconds of them sprinting away from the bus station that nobody knew where they were going. Chase being the fastest had taken the lead and ducked into the first side alley on the left. Nico wasn’t sure how wise it was of them to follow him because moments later they found themselves standing on the sidewalk of a busy intersection opposite one of those giant ten story car parks. Not exactly laying low for the most wanted people in the country.
“This way!” Alex called and set of across the street without giving them a chance to protest. As he stepped into the road several cars were forced to slam on the breaks and the chorus of loud horns directed at him had the others quickly moving to follow before someone recognised them and called the police.
She watched as Karolina placed her hand on Molly’s shoulder and safely escorted her across to the other side of the road. They then slid through the gap between the barrier of the car park and the wall. Nico waited for Gert to catch up, she was moving slower than usual and Nico wasn’t about to leave someone else behind. She already felt guilty enough about leaving Karolina that night.
The horns stopped suddenly and were replaced with muffled screams as she and Gert crossed with Old Lace on their tail. It was going to be hard to stay hidden when a literal giant dinosaur followed them everywhere. They weren’t known to be the most covert of pets.
“Come on!” She hissed at the girl who had frozen halfway across the junction. Except she wasn’t completely frozen, only her legs were, in fact her chest seemed to be moving at an above average rate.
Then Nico remembered. Her anxiety. Gert was having a panic attack. With wide eyes she glanced around as the drivers began to take their phones out. She didn’t know whether they were planning on taking pictures or calling the police but neither one was good for them. The former seemed to be higher on their priorities as various flashes from their cameras hit her eyes. Old Lace roared loudly at the cars as bright lights messed with her vision.
“Snap out of it Gert. We need you to focus right now.” She urged and began to pull the girl across the street with what little strength she had. She knew she should have gotten a gym membership. The padding of feet running towards her had her glancing up to find Karolina running back out of the car park.
The taller girl scanned Gerts overwhelmed expression, Nico’s struggling form and nodded. She took the purple haired girls arm and wrapped it over her shoulder so that Gert’s weight was resting on her and dragged her towards the building the others had disappeared into in a clumsy half sprint.
“Nico, come on!” Karolina called over her shoulder, throwing a quick glance backwards to make sure Nico was still with them.
Seeing her master moving away, Old lace eagerly followed after them, leaving many shocked and terrified commuters in its wake.
They jogged into the car park and quickly located the boys and Molly standing next to a pillar. They weren’t hard to find due to the raised voices of both Alex and Chase as they engaged in yet another heated debate. Nico rolled her eyes in exasperation at the two because it really was not the time.
“What do you want me to do? I’m an engineer not a fucking car thief!” Chase exclaimed and dropped his backpack, gesturing to the van Alex was pointing at.
“So what you expect me to believe you can make those stupid gloves and yet you can’t figure out a Ford transit?” Alex crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in challenge at the other boy.
Chase bristled. “Those stupid gloves saved your life, Wilder. And I’m sorry my dad didn’t teach me how to be a criminal like yours did!” He spat and stepped forward at the same time as Alex.
It was a move reminiscent of the night Chase had smashed Alex’s laptop. It was a move that indicated a fist fight was about to happen and Nico was the only one going to stop it.
Karolina was busy trying to calm Gert down having sat her on the floor leaning against he support pillar. Old Lace had tucked herself under her arm like a freaking puppy. Nico could see that Karolina method of counting slowly down from ten was working but neither of them were in the place to mediate the boys. And Molly, well Molly wasn’t paying any of them any attention. Sometimes she wished she could be Molly.
“Enough!” Her shout echoed in the car park and the sound reminded her of her mother. She shuddered at the thought. “Alex, back off.” Yes she was still slightly pissed at him for lying to her. “Chase, Hotwire the car. I’m sure you can figure this out.” She ordered.
“How am I supposed to do anything if the electrics are on the inside?”
Nick rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day.
“Molly, could you open the door please.” The girl beamed at the request and nodded. She easily turned the handle and pulled, breaking the lock of the door without even trying. The car alarm blared.
Chase huffed but knelt down and began to remove the cladding from under the steering wheel.
Nico watched as Alex frowned before stepping around to the other side of the van. She felt a stare burning the side of her face. Looking down she caught Karolina watching her with a faint blush and a flustered look on her face. The blonde didn’t break the stare when Nico caught her and instead intensified it. Their eyes remained locked until a cough broke through their haze and had both of them quickly turning to Gert.
“Don’t mind me having a panic attack right here. Nope, just keep eye sexing each other, by all means.”
The blush that lights up Karolina’s face is so bright that Nico’s eyes automatically move to check she’s still wearing her bracelet and not actually glowing. She would be just as bad if not for the heavy layer of pale foundation she wore. Though Nico was embarrassed she as glad to see Gert seemed to be coming out of her head.
“I-We weren’t. We didn’t...” Karolina spluttered helplessly before quickly standing and brushing off her jeans. Eyes steadfastly avoiding Nico’s. “Yes Molly, I’m coming.” she called and marched over to the girl whose head had popped up in confusion.
“I didn’t call you...” Molly began to protest before was promptly dragged out of sight by a frazzled Karolina.
Gert whistled lowly. “That’s some church grade level repression right there.” She commented amusedly. Nico decided to ignore her and instead asked in a low voice, “Are you okay? Do we need to find you some meds or something?”.
“Not everything can be solved with drugs, Nico. That’s a very blinkered view of mental health in general and I-“. Nico saw the rant coming from a mile away and held up her hand to silence the girl.
“Never mind, you seem to be all back to normal.” She interrupted quickly before Gert could ramble any further.
Just as Gert opened her mouth, most likely to protest being silenced, the car alarm stopped and the vans engine roared to life.
“Right, everyone in the van. Gert get that thing in first.” Nico waved a hand at the dinosaur resting its head on the green haired girls lap.
“She has a name.” Gert huffed but still did as she was told. The van lowered at least two inches as the creature climbed in the back. They would have to get Chase to heighten the suspension at some point. The old transit wasn’t going to hold the weight of six people and a dinosaur forever.
Alex, Molly and Karolina appeared from behind the van.
“I’ll drive.” Alex and Chase both stated at the same time and then proceeded to glare at each other. They were seriously starting to get on Nico’s nerves. Apparently Gert was feeling the same way because she started mumbling something about ‘toxic masculinity’.
“Karolina will drive. Alex get in the passenger seat. Chase you’re in the back with us.” It was really the only option. Gert was still a little too shaken up to drive. Nico didn’t have her license. The last thing they needed was to be caught pulled over and caught for something stupid like that. Separating Alex and Chase was only smart because those two cooped up in the back of the van for however many hours was bound to end in disaster.
Gert’s eyes widened at the same time Karolina’s smile dropped. Both Alex and Chase made noises of protest. Then they all started speaking at once.
“Who made you the boss?”
“I’m the best driver here!”
“Nico, you do remember the last time she drove us around right?”
“I don’t think I can...”
Nico pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Did these people have no sense of perspective? They were wanted by literally the entire country and here they were debating the driving situation.
“Shut up!” It was what Nico was thinking but the words didn’t actually come from her mouth. She whirled around to see Molly glaring at all of them. Her eyes glowing that scary golden colour that gave away her frustration. “We don’t have time for this!” With one hand she pushed Alex towards the passenger seat and dragged Chase into the back of the van with the other. Nico wasn’t sure her eyebrows could rise any further.
“Damn girl.” Gert muttered in awe and quickly got up to follow Molly into the back of the van.
Nico was left standing with a frozen Karolina as Alex reluctantly got into the passenger seat. They smiled softly as they locked eyes, both clearly amused by Molly’s show of strength. That was until Karolina realised she would be driving, alone in the cab with Alex, for god knows how many hours.
“I don’t think I’m the best choice to drive Nico. Alex would be much more-“ The taller girl began nervously and reached for her bracelet only to drop her hands to her sides when she realised it wasn’t there anymore.
Nico sighed. Karolina needed to find some confidence in herself. With a quick glance at Alex in the passenger seat she pulled the taller girl towards her so that they were hidden from his view. Revealing their relationship to him at this point in time wasn’t a priority and they really needed to focus on surviving.
“You’ll be great.” She whispered softly to the taller girl and leant up on her tiptoes to capture Karolina’s lips in a soft kiss. Their third kiss was just as magical as the first two. It was almost as though everything had lightened as soon as their lips touched, no wait a minute. Everything was lighter.
She quickly broke the kiss and leant away when Karolina, still with her eyes closed, tried to move in again. When she felt Nico move away her eyes snapped open.
“What’s wrong...” Karolina began before trailing off as she realised what had happened. As soon as she did her lights dimmed until she appeared normal again. “Sorry, I’m not used to having to control it” She apologised sheepishly and tapped her fingers on her wrist, a nervous habit she’d picked up.
“It’s fine. You’re fine.” Nico assured the anxious girl with another smile, strangely she’d smiled more in these past few days than she had in the years since Amy’s disappearance.
A whistle from behind her had Nico spinning to find Gert peering around the van with an all too smug smirk. Nico wasn’t sure how long the girl had been there but judging by the look on her face, too long.
“Molly’s getting pretty angry. Don’t want her chucking you in the back of the van like Chase, do you?”
Nico shook her head and squeezed Karolina’s arms one last time before entering the back of the van.
“Oh, Karolina! You’ve got a little something right there.” Gert gestured to her lips and Karolina quickly rubbed her lips clean. Her hand now stained with Nico’s signature black lipstick.
Gert chuckled and climbed in the van, shutting the door behind her. Karolina sighed as her skin began to glow a faint pink colour.
She was going to have to get better at controlling that.