chapter 9: anemic

After giving up trying to fight against the restraints, August simply allowed herself to drift to sleep.

She figured there was no need to keep her guard up around the woman; she was going to murder her at some point, anyways. Music coming from the speakers of the car was what woke August up from her exhaustion-driven sleep.

"Wild thang!" Willow whisper-sang, making sure she kept the volume at a low level. This confused August—she had placed a gun to her head but now she tried to be sure her music didn't wake her up?

Willow's hand padded along to the beat on the steering wheel, tapping to the rhythm of The Troggs. The woman's mouth mumbled the words of the song, and the upbeat quality of the music in contrast to how she felt on the inside made August want to barf. The happiness exuding from both Willow and the song made her situation feel even more demented, and she deemed Willow an even bigger mental case.

"Do you like The Troggs?" Willow asked, raising her voice slightly over the music. She knew August had woken up without even having to look over at her, much to August's half-hearted confusion.

"My dad loves this song," August mumbled, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes again. The rabbit was returning in her chest, except this time he was thumping a slow beat in accordance with the pounding in her head. Her entire body felt exhausted and stiff, either from thrashing so hard against the ropes earlier or from being in one position for so long. She opened one eye to see the clock. It was 8:30 P.M.

"What's your dad's name?" Willow casually asked. A soda can was heard being opened, and August immediately smelled the cherry Coke scent that instantly began making her sick.

In August's mind, images of the woman hunting her father down and then putting him in the same situation she was in or possibly worse flashed through her mind. "I'm not telling you, you mentally warped bastard," she uttered, her eyes fluttering closed. Her breathing slowed as a pain in her chest became present, making her wince.

Ignoring the girl's comment, Willow eyed her as she sipped her second cherry Cola of the day. There was something wrong with the small, frail girl whose head was limply dangling to the side. Her eyebrows threaded together as she spoke, "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, gee, what a tough question," August quietly began, her eyes rolling to the back of her skull as she tried her best to tilt her chin upwards. "A number of things, if we're really being honest, here. First of all, there is a mentally ill, murderous bitch driving me around all the way across the country and has me tied up to the fucking passenger seat of her goddamn Mustang." Her head fell again as her words slurred. "I'm going to die at 18 years old and I won't even get any Christmas presents first." She suddenly coughed, delving into a spree of hacking that made Willow cringe. She eventually continued, "Oh, and my fucking body hurts." Her eyelids stayed closed, her lashes resting atop her red cheeks.

Willow internally sighed, careful not to show any irritation on the outside. She could take August's comments, but she vehemently hated when people blatantly disobeyed her. "No, you fuckwad. You're acting droopy like you just had a banger of a night or something."

August didn't respond. Her breathing shallow, the ache returned in her chest, causing her to sleepily wince.

"Hey!" Willow raised her voice, setting her half-empty soda down. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Trying to ignore the feeling of her heartbeat pounding in her chest, August managed to raise her head up. "I'm anemic and haven't eaten in 28 hours."

"I offered you my sandwich earlier, but no, you 'didn't fucking want my sandwich,'" Willow mocked her, rolling her eyes. The girl didn't respond, and when she looked over at her she noticed that her once red cheeks had drained of their color and were turning ghostly white.

"Fuck is wrong with your generation? You all have some kind of medical disorder," Willow muttered as she turned into the parking lot of a diner in the middle of nowhere.

The lights of the flickering open sign behind her closed eyelids caused August to open her eyes and see the old-fashioned diner. She looked around and saw that everywhere except the diner's parking lot was covered in snow. "Where are we?" she whispered, licking her pale lips.

"Colorado," Willow said, zipping up her thick, black coat.

"Colorado?" August whispered in confusion. The crazy lady had taken her even farther away. She figured she would have been under a cornfield in Nebraska at that point.

"Yes, sweetie. You know, I figured you would've taken a geography class by now. You're so baffled by Midwestern states." Willow looked around, making sure that she was parked away from the window of the diner and away from any cars.

August's hands went cold again as she watched Willow take out a very sharp-looking knife and hold it up, her cool eyes staring into August's bloodshot ones.

"Before I say anything, I want you to know that I am not going to kill you," Willow spoke in a low voice, as if making sure no one else would hear her. Her eyebrows raised as she held the knife in the air, eyes staring at the frightened girl in front of her.

It would be dumb of August to believe her, but she at least felt some sort of relief—a cautious relief.

"But if you cause a scene in there, or if you even so much as think about trying to run off, I will use this knife to write a best-selling novel all across your body." The dark-haired woman leaned forward, letting the tip of the knife rest against August's shoulder, intently watching the metal reflect the diner lights against the young girl's soft, pale skin.

August watched the older woman's eyes linger on her shoulder, until they traveled up her neck and to her face, seemingly leaving a trail of tingling nerves everywhere they trekked. Then she watched that same devilish smile form, and the green eyes tinted darker, similar to the shadows on the older woman's face.

"So behave, little girl," she taunted, closing the pocketknife and placing it in her coat pocket, but she then lifted her coat to show that she had a pistol tucked under her belt. "But it won't kill me to kill you. So keep that in mind."

Taking a key out from her pocket, Willow reached behind August and carefully unlocked the handcuffs from the girl's hands, letting them drop to the floor of the seat. But she quickly grabbed a firm hold of the girl's arms, slowly bringing them around to the girl's lap herself, just in case she tried anything.

August clenched and unclenched her hands and inspected her red, almost bleeding wrists. They felt so relieved to not be confined to those sickeningly tight handcuffs. She relished in her arms finally being free as Willow untied her shoulders and her waist, then cautiously reaching down to unlock the girl's feet lastly.

After releasing the girl from all her restraints, Willow froze and stared at her, ready to reach for her gun, watching the girl to see if she was going to make any sudden movements. "Stay here." She turned and opened her door, getting out into the cold, dark night, then slamming the door shut. The sound made August jump in her seat.

Run, her brain told her. It screamed at her to jump out of the car and sprint into the diner, screaming like a banshee for help and telling everyone in there that she had been abducted. It would be so easy, so simple. All she had to do was open the door and run.

But her door was suddenly opened by the tall, slender woman who hovered right in front of the door in caution as she grabbed August's arm and pulled her out of the car.

When August's feet touched the ground, her legs nearly faltered. She hadn't stood up in so long, and her anemia had been getting worse by the minute. All the blood left her head, causing for her vision to turn to spotty black and her consciousness to white noise as she lost control, her body slowly leaning forward as she momentarily lost all self-awareness.

Two strong arms caught her by her waist, and her cheek fell upon a warm shoulder as the tall body of the woman kept her from hitting the asphalt ground.

"Shit," Willow mumbled as she quickly caught the girl from falling. All of August's weight was put upon Willow as she leaned against her, letting her be the only thing keeping her from a concussion on the icy parking lot surface. Willow allowed this for a few moments, watching down with confused eyes as August's thick eyelashes finally fluttered their way open, and she looked up at the woman.

August quickly backed away, but the arms stayed on her waist. "I-Sorry," she muttered placing a hand on her forehead.

Willow slowly released August's waist, eyeing the girl up and down. "Can you stand?" she unaffectedly asked, purposefully trying not to show too much concern.

August's skin finally realized how cold it was outside. Wearing only a tank top, she crossed her arms over herself in an attempt to retain body heat. "Yea, I'm fine."

The taller woman just eyed the girl for a few moments before placing a firm hand on her lower back, pushing her forward which caused the girl to stumble a little bit as they began quickly walking towards the diner.

The slender hand pressing firmly on her lower back made August shiver, goosebumps rising on her skin that weren't just from the cold. The woman touched her with a threatening force that sent inconspicuous messages to her telling her that if she made one wrong move, she would be sorry. August's vision slightly blurry, she watched the lights of the diner blur together before finally clearing up the closer they got.

Ding! went the bell above the door as the pair stepped inside the diner, warm relief washing over the younger girl's shivering body as the diner's heat comforted her and the smell of food invaded her nostrils. She looked around. The diner, ornate with Christmas decorations and a tiny tree standing lit up in the corner, was completely empty except for one old man sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee in his hand. He turned around slowly, his brown leather jacket groaning as he did so, and stared through his bushy grey eyebrows flatly at the girl who blushed, realizing she looked very strange wearing a tank top in December in Colorado, with red wrists and rope burns on her bare shoulders.

The hand on her back pushed her to the left, leading her to a booth that she slid into slowly and carefully because of her knees that were still very shaky. She watched as Willow slid into the seat opposite her, her cold eyes roaming the diner as if searching for someone.

The cold eyes shifted to hers. "What do you want?" she blankly asked.

August picked up a menu laying on the table, opening it up to read the contents. On one hand, the thought of food made her want to throw up. She was anxious and scared for her life, and being abducted by a strange murderer is a good way to lose one's appetite. But on the other hand, she knew if she didn't order, she would probably pass out from anemia which would only add to the woman's absurd temper.

"Chicken," she quietly mumbled, closing the menu.

"Chicken?" Willow asked, her eyebrows threading together as she stared at the girl who mimicked a child, staring at her with wide, unsure eyes and ordering such a simple plate.

"Chicken strips," August confirmed with a nod. She looked around the diner, at the checkered floor, the red and white booths, and the metallic bar with red stools that gave a view into the even-more-so metallic kitchen.

"Well, look just who the cats brought in!" exclaimed a cheerful voice as a redheaded woman in a waitress' uniform sauntered over to the table. August watched as Willow's face genuinely light up for the first time since she ever met the blasted woman.

"Well, look what the cats dragged out!" Willow smirked, her eyes traveling completely down the waitress' body, licking her lips as she eyed the tight, white skirt that the waitress was wearing.

August caught sight of a name tag on the woman's pink blouse that read, "Penny."

Penny rested her hand on Willow's shoulder, giving a laugh that August could tell was exaggerated. "Well, it's such a nice surprise seeing you here, Willow. Haven't seen you in about two years."

"Ah, well, I've been busy," Willow said, leaning back and eyeing Penny with a dark look in her eyes that August had never seen before.

Picking up on the sexual tension between the two women, August shifted in her seat and looked out the window, wondering how Willow knew a woman in a remote diner way out in Colorado.

Penny must have finally noticed that August was even there when she saw her shift in her seat. "Who do you have here, Willow?" her perky voice asked, her lipstick-red lips smiling cheerfully at August.

August quickly looked to Willow who gave her a cold look, those threatening eyes finding their way into the deepest parts of her soul—as they seemed to have the habit of doing quite often. She shifted her eyes back to Penny. "August," she spoke her name, faking a small smile while making sure she kept her painful wrists hidden underneath the table. She wondered if the blue-eyed waitress was aware that her apparently old friend was a gangster and had been trailing a knife along her shoulder only minutes before.

"Nice to meet you, August," Penny amiably spoke, giving the girl a warm smile and not noticing the rope burns on her shoulders. "Coffee, as always?" she asked as she turned back to Willow.

"Yes, please, and chicken strips for her." She nodded towards the girl who felt awkward between the two.

"Alright, be right out with that." Penny sent Willow a wink, which Willow seductively returned, before clicking away in her heels back to the kitchen.

"Damn," Willow hissed, her eyes staying on the waitress' ass as she walked away. She was almost drooling. "If I wasn't stuck with you, I'd probably be in the bathroom fucking her against the wall right now like last time." Willow bit her plump lip, leaning back against her seat.

"Too bad you chose to be my abductor." August kept her eyes on the window, getting an outside view of the black Mustang that stole her from her college dorm and took her to that diner. "How do you even know her, anyways? We're all the way across the country."

Flipping through pink and yellow sugar and salt packages sitting against the wall on top of the table, Willow answered, "This diner is only about an hour away from my place."

August's eyes snapped to hers. "Your place?"

Before Willow could respond, the waitress brought out the coffee and chicken strips, setting both down in front of the two.

August didn't hesitate in grabbing a French fry and chewing it down, forgetting about the nauseating anxiety that nestled in her stomach and replacing it with fried chicken strips and salty French fries.

"Thanks, you're a doll. I'm gonna go ahead and pay now. We will be leaving soon." Willow took out a roll of cash from her pocket and handed it to Penny, not even looking to see how much it was.

"You come back some time soon, alright?" the waitress told her, taking the cash and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away.

"I would barf if I wasn't too busy eating this chicken," August mentioned, taking another bite.

Willow took a sip of her coffee, watching the hungry girl scarf the food down. "Don't be homophobic."

August stopped, looking up at her with a glint of amusement in her. "Homophobic? I'm gay."

Her sip abruptly stopped, her eyes staring at August in disbelief. "Oh?"

She kept her eyes on the woman for just a few more moments before bringing her attention back to the chicken.

Willow held the warm cup of coffee in her hands, intently watching the girl in silence. Her eyes were like vigilant cat eyes, eyeing every single move of the rat trapped helplessly inside its cage.