EPISODE FIVE:LOS ANGELES
1041 Words
For someone who has never been on a bus, Atheia is finding the experience pretty exhilarating. For once in her life, she feels free from the grip of her parents, and by extension, her family.
Damn, she still cannot believe that she summoned up the courage to run away. What’s more unbelievable is how she managed to get away without anyone finding out.
YESTERDAY
When Atheia woke up from the terrible dream after being hit at the back of her head, she saw her mother, and everything came flashing back.
She remembered how she had heard voices, and how she had fallen to the ground with Soren towering above her.
Then, it all went dark.
When she came to, and her mother told her that there had been a robbery, she knew that the only way she could save herself was by playing along.
She did not know exactly what was going on, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to sit down and find out.
As soon as she was alone, she packed a few clothes and shoes in her school bag, some jewelry, and she made sure not to forget her Jenkins Platinum Card which was preloaded with exactly seven thousand dollars.
Atheia had always wondered why her parents never let her handle physical money. She could buy anything she wanted with the card, but couldn’t withdraw cash from it.
She would have taken her passport, but it is in the safe custody of her parents, as always.
When they told her that she could hold her party, she just knew that something was up. But she had to pretend like she was happy.
What about when she saw Soren? She practically jumped, but she tried her best not to let her fear show.
At the mall, she cried as she left the store where they were shopping for dresses, as it was the last time she would see Ava and Victoria, her best friends since the beginning of high school.
She quickly bought the watch from Swarovski and went to another store to sell it.
The middle-aged owner of the store had looked at her very suspiciously. Clearly, he had thought she had stolen it.
“Sir, I am not a thief, so don’t look at me like that,” Atheia had told him. “Do I look like I have ever lacked anything?”
The man looked at her again and proceeded to pay her six thousand dollars in cash as agreed.
“Keep the profit in exchange for your silence.” Atheia said before leaving the store.
There was one final thing that she had to do.
“Sir, may I speak with you for a second?” She approached the security guard manning the entrance to the mall.
“Yes, please. How may I help you?”
Within minutes, and with three hundred dollars, the deal was sealed. He knew exactly what to tell her friends when they came asking for her.
After one final look at the mall, she got on the four-ten bus to Los Angeles. According to stats, it was a three-day bus drive from Rhodes Island.
At that point, there was no going back.
THREE DAYS LATER
Three forty-six p.m.
Atheia’s bus arrives at the University of California, Los Angeles. She chose a place where she can blend easily with people of her age.
She has it figured out to an extent. First, she finds the nearest salon and dyes her hair from black to blonde. Next, she lodges in a four-star hotel and writes her name as Brianna Matthews. When asked to show her ID, she bribes the receptionist with a hundred bucks.
She has quickly realized that if she wants to survive on the run, she must be willing to part with some cash.
She makes sure to check out the next day before going to find a place to stay. Very close to the university, she finds a nice building to stay in, and the landlord is so nice and accommodating.
In fact, he gives her the room for free, and Atheia is happy. How lucky can she be that people who don’t know her from Adam are so kind and helpful to her?
*
It has been three days since Atheia got to Los Angeles. It is a very populated city, compared to where she is coming from.
It is eight-thirty in the morning, and she is so hungry. She decides to get some coffee and donuts from Dante’s.
As she eats, lost in thought, she thinks about how she misses her family. Her life in Rhode Island, her friends. Her birthday is in a week, and she is going to spend it alone.
Well, not really. Mr. Spencer has been so kind to her, and he loves to eat cake.
How cute.
Atheia is sharply pulled out of her thoughts by a very tantalizing smell. Confused, she sniffs around for the source of the smell, thinking it is Dante’s special.
That is when she sees him.
Tall, dashingly handsome with jet-black hair. He strolls in like he owns the room, and when he takes his seat at the far end of the diner, Atheia cannot stop staring at him.
Damn, he is fine!
He looks like he is waiting for someone, as he keeps checking his wristwatch.
The spell is broken when a beautiful redhead walks in and walks towards the man.
Atheia watches them. It looks like they are in a meeting of some sort . Whatever it is, she doesn't care. Why does he have to be this good looking?
Suddenly, Atheia has that strange feeling again; the feeling of being watched. It is so strong that it pushes her out of her seat and out of the diner.
Scared as hell, she races down the street and into Mr. Spencer’s building, her safe space for now. She opens it with her spare key, and immediately catches a particularly strong stench.
What is going on with her nose today?
What she sees next makes her expel from her guts, all the food she has just eaten.
Right there, on the floor of the living room, is the rapidly decomposing body of Mr. Spencer.
- Writer
