Chapter 8: The Girl at Room Thirteen
There wasn't any thought for my own safety, instead, I just threw myself in front of the flame, shielding the Man In Black's body with my own.
I could feel the heat of the flames, but not like they were a roaring flame, instead, it felt like a radiator that was just starting to warm up. Hot but not enough to burn me.
With lighting fast reflexes the Man in Black threw something from his left hand, smacking the man on the nose and causing him to point the nozzle of the flamethrower upwards.
Acting fast, I went in the flames dispelling from my back as I crushed the shaft and ripped the weapon off the man before throwing it into the water.
A single kick to the downed man's head, not from me if that was the case there would be no head, and the man as out cold.
"Flameproof as well? What are just invincible?" My fellow vigilante asked, resuming the walk towards the cargo container that the girls were no doubt being held in. I could feel my ego being enlarged by the rather astounded tone the man now had.
"Only when the weather allows," I joked, no doubt confusing him with my little in-joke. I followed along with man then, waiting till we got to the container before shoving myself in front. "If I may?" I asked, putting my hand around the lock of the cargo doors.
The Man In Black nodded, which was when sirens started to blare out, something that seemed to spook him but that I'd been expecting for some time now.
"You go, I've got my own way out of here," I told him, ripping off the lack and swinging the doors open, much to the shocked gasps of the people inside the room. "Come on now, everything's going to be fine," I said, keeping calm soothing tones even as the young girls started to shiver in fear. "Some men are going to come by… just tell them the truth about how you got hear and everything will be okay."
They didn't move, just stayed huddling in the corner of the container, filthy and pale. My heart went out to the young women that were shoved into this container for weeks, I'd be as scared by some stranger with a mask in their position.
It was also possible that they didn't speak English, but I'd hope O'Reilly would've told me that.
Turning around, not finding the Man in the Mask, much to my relief and walked till I was visible at the edge of the ship.
Standing on top of the railing and spotting the cop cars gathering just outside the gates. I took in a deep breath, waited for them to make their way inside the docks… and the;
"HEY ASSHOLES! THERE'S A BRUNCH OF GIRLS HELD SIDE ONE OF THESE CARGO CONTAINERS!"
I could spot them all shifting their lines of sight, all aiming their pistols right at me, could even hear them yell at me to drop to the ground and freeze. But I ignored them, and the rounds that they shot at me, instead I ran to the other side of the ship, the side facing the water.
And leaped over the side of it after taking another deep breath.
x–x-x
(Louise)
"Becca, how about that favor you owe me?" Louise wandered up to the other girl, her much larger stature letting her tower over the girl. Louise wasn't wearing the standard school uniform for a girl, which was a pinafore instead she was wearing the male uniform. preferring the pants to the skirt.
"Louise," The much smaller Becca, who was dressed in the normal uniform for girls, greeted. "No, hello, how are you?"
"Come on," The taller of the two griped, her eyes rolling in her head as she loosened the tie around her neck and popped open the top button. "I got ya in with Rick didn't I!"
"Shh," Her classmate went, her face going red and her eyes looking up and down the street. "You know that I'm not meant to be dating boys, Dad would kill me."
"And probably him, too," Louise laughed, letting her eyes close as she leaned her head back. "It would be a shame if your dad found out."
There was a sort of awkward silence that descended between the two, something that wasn't helped as Becca started to glare up at her friend before scoffing and attempting to walk ahead of her.
"I can't believe that you're blackmailing me."
"Don't think of it as blackmail," The Redhead interceded, her smirk lightly spread across her face as she easily strides to the other girl's side, walking along with her. "Think of it as fun insurance. You… cover for me, I'll cover for you."
"You know you used to be such a cute kid," Becca sniped, her brow furrowing while her eyes glared at the very steps that the other girl was taking. "Then you hit your growth spurt and started to hit the gym. Now you're shaking me down like our dads would be."
"Hey now," Louise was taken back, her mouth widening for what was obviously a mock shock expression. "I've yet to hold anyone upside down off a building and shake them for their money."
"It's only a matter of time," Becca now stopped in the middle of the path, turning around and standing on her tippy toes. "I've gotta eye on you."
The two stood their ground, glaring at each other for several seconds… till the two broke out into giggles. Louise threw her arm over her smaller friend's shoulder, bringing the girl in for a side-hug.
"Fine, fine," Becca sighed, breaking out of the hug and walking into a bus that stopped nearby. "Mom's going get a dig out of making a fool out of yours anyway."
Louise smiled, throwing her loosened tie into her backpack and walking the opposite way from the bus. Waving goodbye to her friend along the way. It wasn't long till she'd crossed several roads, made past another two bus stops and then finally called in a taxi.
She didn't bother to talk to the taxi driver, just handed him a card with an address written on it and the word, mute. The driver simply nodded and drove her to the address, not a single question asked, though he did play so rather horrid music… country music.
When she arrived at the destination, Louise felt her heart, churn in the pit of her stomach. she wasn't meant to come here and felt guilty about it.
See her Pop had set up a lot of prepaid motel rooms throughout the city, mostly within the same area. There were some tensions going at home that meant he wasn't always coming back at nights, or even during some of the days.
It didn't actually bother all that much since her parents had been doing this sort of thing since before she was born. They'd been separated six times, but it never lasted more than a month. It was never even that heated.
But Louise did miss her Pop, the man just wasn't around as much as she liked. So she'd make sure to wander in at times to the motels that he'd rented out, telling her Mom that she was spending the night within one of her school friends.
None of them would tell her Mom that it was a lie, and her Mom didn't get with any of their mothers. They'd lie to her just for the glee that they'd feel whenever Louise's Mom was fooled.
A little white lie that Pop never turned her in for, but one that he told her to stop doing. Something about it wasn't always safe thanks to is business friends… which was absurd… because those creep bags could harm her if they tried.
The part of about being mean and disrespectful towards Mom was more impactful, something that she'd agree with but Louise just wanted to visit her Pop.
She walked through the motel doors, heading to the desk jockey with a bored expression on her face. Trying to act all casual like and said;
"Jimbo sent me," She blew a wad of gum into a bubble, letting it pop before bringing back into her mouth. "What's the room number?"
The desk clerk, someone of gender that Lousie wasn't actually sure, just looked up to her in surprise. There was a moment that they looked down at their books, puzzled and that gave Lousie more than a little concern.
Did she pick the wrong time? Was Pop at a different motel? This was the one that the online banking site claimed that he'd paid with one of his aliases.
"Room thirteen," The Clerk told her eventually, causing Louise to breathe a sigh of relief as one of their eyebrows lifted up slightly as if she was accessing the Senior Highschool student and comparing her to someone else… and maybe checking her out, Louise wasn't sure. "Here!"
The Clerk threw keys, letting the O'Reilly girl catch
"Right," Louise moved forward, untying her school tie while shoving it her bag afterward. She was going to a Catholic School, one of the best in the state, Pop wanted her to feel at one with their religion. That meant terrible school uniforms were the standard there.
Something that annoyed her, long skirts and dress shirts weren't something that Louise found to be appealing.
It wasn't long before she was standing at the thirteen door, listening to the sound somebody moving about in there. Louise placed a key into the lock, hearing the click and the startled what coming from the other side that brought a smile to her face.
"Hey, Pop," She walked in, spitting out the wad of gum into the trashcan by the door. "Do you think...that… " Louise trailed off at the sight before. Instead, her aging father what she saw was a rather unusual sight.
The rather upper body of a man that was soaked to the bone otherwise, his ripped and torn up jumper drenching the carpet enough that she noticed that massive wet stain spreading through the area.
"You ain't Pop."
"I fucking hope not."
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