Persona

by Amy Lunderman

  He notices that she is inching towards the door though, and only has half a thought to run and stop her, before Marty is already up and beside her. She flinches like he is going to attack her, but he snatches her by the arm and leads her out of the room. She doesn’t resist.

  He watches her disappear into the only room in the small condo, and as the door closes behind them, so does her scent. The rest of them relax visibly, and begins to whisper to one another. He tries to ignore what they say, and really he doesn’t have a problem there. His mind is too busy turning.

  For the first time, he really wonders what was done to her back at the facility. Whatever it was, he has a feeling that they are all in store from some interesting things from Moira.

  Sighing, he thinks he better call Charles, they have a lot to talk about now.

  Chapter Seventeen

  In her full Persona, Moira lets Marty lead her from the room. Honestly though, it’s more shock that he’d do it that her giving in. Bu then again, her mind feels all muddled with rage at the moment, so she isn’t really sure what the heck is going on. All she really knows is that Marty is finally not ignoring her now and is touching her.

  More like griping her arm in a bruising hold, but still, she’s take that over the nothing. By the time they are completely in the room and he closes the door behind him, she comes back to herself and pulls herself out of his hold.

  Backing up and practically hissing at him, she is about to tell him to leave her alone, even though she doesn’t really want him to. That changes when she gets a good look at his face.

  He looks so sad and lost, that her heart breaks. In the next instant, all the rage is gone, and she feels kind of sad herself. Tears form in her eyes and before she can stop them, they fall out in waves and cascade down her cheeks.

  Her breath comes in pant now, and she feels her knees give out a second before she is about to collapse. She never hits the ground though, because Marty is at her side in an instant. She clings to him sobbing now, and he just sits down on the floor with her and holds her close.

  When the sobs dwindle down to shaking hiccups, Moira realizes at some point her persona left her without her knowing.

  Embarrassed, Moira leans back from Marty, while wiping her messy face. It’s easier for her to hide her flaming cheeks in her limp long hair now, while she turns away.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.” She says sniffling.

  She finally looks back up at him, as she scoots away from him to lean against the foot of the bed in the room. He looks exactly like he did when she first met him, but slightly less arrogant, and more sympathetic.

  “You don’t have to apologize; ace. This is kind of a good time to get mad. I just want you to know, I don’t think you should go back there.”

  Sighing, and leans her head against the soft mattress and closes her eyes.

  “You don’t understand Marty. If I go back, everyone else will be left alone. How can I not do the right thing?”

  She opens her eyes now, and he glances away shaking his head.

  “You don’t know what they want with you. If you do this, you could very well be signing you death sentence. I can’t just let you do that.”

  He looks back to her now, and Moira can feel her pulse rising. Not in the way you’d think though.

  “Let me?”

  He sighs again, and scoots over so that he is beside her, all the while never taking his eyes off her.

  “You know what I mean ace. Don’t try to turn this into a fight. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, and you leaving; that’s bad.”

  She has to look away from him now, the way he watches her so intently, makes her feel something. Something, that she has been trying not to think about, and has nothing to do with what mad her so mad.

  “I know it’s a bad idea, I just NEED to do something, anything. I feel so useless.” She says softly.

  Marty laughs suddenly, and she turns to him in shock. What he finds so funny about that, she wonders. He better tell her fast before she smacks him.

  “I’m sorry, not funny I know. It’s just your by far the least useless person I know. The way you brought on your persona like that just now, it made mine want to come forward too.”

  Her eyes go wide; she didn’t know she affected anyone besides Liam, that’s new. Besides the fact that her Persona did come on pretty quickly, even more so than the other day.

  She has the feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better regarding that. Worst of all, she has no one to ask about it; unless you count the very man she is running from. Which she doesn’t.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence. You really felt it though?”

  He nods and smirks at her, and it makes her calm just seeing it.

  “It was weird, one minute I was staring at the TV and feeling my own Persona, and then Bam! I felt this warm tingling heat traveling across my skin, trying to pull mine forward. It almost did too.”

  “Weird.”

  She looks away from him, and ponders this for a moment. It was strange for her Persona to come on like it did, and then even stranger when it faded without her feeling it. She wants to scream all of a sudden. Out of everything she ever pictured of being a teenager, this wasn’t it. Not only is she a freak among freaks, but she also has feelings for two boys and has no idea what any of it means. Welcome to crazy town, she thinks to herself.

  While she is lost in her own thought, Marty has leaned head back and closed his eyes. His breathing is even, and she feels comfortable around him again. Like before they kissed. She has to know something though, otherwise, she’ll just go nuts.

  “Hey Marty, are we alright. I mean, are things alright between us?” She asks softly.

  Opening his eyes, he turns his head towards her, bringing his face only inches from her.

  “I’m sorry for being such a guy the last couple of days, but yes, things are alright. I’m just an idiot.”

  She smiles easily, and feels one of the many weights lift from her shoulders.

  “Well I know that dummy, but good, I’m glad. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

  He grins and snorts out a laugh to, and sits up so fast and pulls her into his arms. She clings to him again, but this time she doesn’t feel like crying, more like peaceful.

  “I’m glad too. Besides, you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “Good to know.” She says as they lean back from one another and goes back to resting their heads against the bed.

  Sitting there in the dimly lit room with Marty in a comfortable silence, she has to wonder. Did she make the wrong decision in just naming him her friend? She thinks she needs to reevaluate her feeling for him when they get to Montana; or rather, if they ever make it to Montana.

  ***

  It’s the middle of the night, and Liam like all the other nights before this one, can’t sleep. Instead, he is sitting at the tiny kitchen nook table in Katie’s condo, alone. The others are all lounged about in the living room across from him, blissfully asleep, except for one; Moira.

  He’s felt her trying to sleep for the last hour or so, and he wonders when she is just going to give up. It would seem, the two of them find it difficult to actually rest these days. He can’t figure out why, it’s not like they are all running for their lives or anything. Right.

  Earlier, he had waited for the jealous feeling to overtake him when Marty was the one to comfort her; but it never came. He likes to think it’s because he’s getting over whatever feelings he has for her, but he knows that’s not it. It’s because he trusts her.

  For all the wanting to leave and turn herself in, he knows she’d do the right thing in the end. And that is to keep moving forward and get the help they need, however hard that may be. Plus there is the fact that he can sense her like she is a part of him, as strange as that seems.

  While she was coming down from her rage, he had other things to take care off. That being to figure out thei
r next move and the best person to go to is his friend Charles. Luckily, he is on top of things, and already knew the reason for Liam to call him. It didn’t take them long to decide that they needed to get out of here, and fast. Charles told him to sit tight, and expect a call to leave as soon as possible.

  He is just about to start fiddling with his cellphone that he wishes would ring, when he picks up on the ever present scent of apples. Glancing over to where Moira is laying down, he finds that she isn’t lying down anymore; she’s standing right in front of him.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” She tells him blushing and hiding her face in her mass of hair.

  “No worries, I don’t startle that easily.”

  She glances back up at him and nods her head. She moves closer to the table and sits down across from him. Neither one of them says anything for a while. It’s not exactly a comfortable silence, and not before long he can’t take it anymore.

  “How are you, are you alright?”

  She looks away nervously, and bites her lip. Apples dance across his senses.

  “I’m not really sure, but I’m still here, so that’s something I guess.”

  He leans across the table and places a light touch on her hands resting there making her glance back to him.

  “It’s all right to be afraid Mo, we all are. I just believe that it has to get better the farther we get away.”

  She gives him a wary grin, and not too subtly slides her hands out from under his and places then in her lap.

  “I know. I just hope your dad lives up to his street cred he’s getting lately. I have so many questions.”

  Ignoring the fact that she pulled away, he leans back with a smirk.

  “You and me both, but if you have questions I-”

  He never gets to finish that last sentence, because his phone begins to vibrate against the table. Their eyes go to it quickly, and he almost doesn’t want to answer it.

  Which is stupid he knows, getting out of here is more important, that talking to some girl. Reaching for the phone though, he knows she isn’t just some girl to him. Not anymore.

  The next couple of hours go by too fast for Liam to really keep up with it all. It was Charles on the phone, and he told him that he was able to get in touch with his dad, Marshal. He was also able to get enough money together so that they can pay off the border toll workers.

  That actually came as a great shock to Liam, that his dad would give money away like that, not the other. It’s pretty typical for the men that run the toll booths to bet paid for things, their usually slippery; it just takes the right amount.

  Like all the other times before, right after he got off the phone with Charles, they don’t have a lot of time to get to the border. With Moira’s help, they round up everyone and pack up inside the truck again. He would be lying if he didn’t say how relieved it feels to be out of that small apartment and back inside his truck. He hates being caged up like that, must be a wolf thing, he surmises.

  ***

  By the time the sun is coming up that morning, they are already heading for the border of Minnesota. Unlike all the other times before, they actually breeze right through the tolls; literally. He doesn’t even have to bring the truck to a stop at a booth, the man inside just waves him on.

  This makes him wonder what they were told when they got their funds. Not that he cares really, he is just glad to have another State between Moira and Fletcher.

  It’s about a few hours of a drive to Moorhead, where they have to go to next. But everyone is a little more relaxed from the last time they were all in the truck together. He’s relieved to find that they aren’t treating Moira like she’s a pariah or anything. Then there is something else, that he can’t tell if it’s a good or bad thing. She is currently sitting in the very back of the truck with Marty.

  They must have gotten over whatever was going on, because they seem pretty chummy to Liam. Not that it really bothers him, not at all; yeah keep lying to yourself he thinks.

  Raven is beside him in the front again, with the other two in the middle. The main premise of conversation that he can’t avoid is Fletcher, with lots of speculation over what he’ll do next. The consensus is that whatever it is, it won’t be good and it’s best to be far away when he does it. He can’t argue that for sure, and pushes the truck to go faster than it already is.

  Still, they all seem to be in a better mood and it makes sense, since they only have two more states to pass through until they reach Montana. Liam can’t wait, he always works best when he knows what to do, and he hates not knowing how to solve a problem.

  Eventually, they arrive at Moorhead in the afternoon. He pulls the truck into a used car parts garage and everyone goes silent and curious at the same time. He wonders what the man that lives here is like, but has the strange feeling that it’s not going to be good. He doesn’t know why for sure, call it instinct, but for the life of him; he wants to back up and drive away.

  He’s not alone in this either, because the moment he puts the truck into park; he can sense the apple scent of Moira’s worry and persona.

  ***

  Starring out the window of the back of the truck, Moira has to wonder what the heck they are doing in a place like this. If she has to put an image together of what a junk yard slash, car impound would look like; this place would fit it to a tea. There is so much clutter around and Liam has a hard time actually finding his way around the place.

  They eave around for what feels like forever, trapped between trash piles and flattened cars piled on top one another. Eventually, the truck comes to a screeching halt and Moira now sees why. They’ve reached the end of the junk maze, and find themselves in front of an even shabbier looking ground level house, that resembles a shack to her.

  When Liam puts the truck into park, and turns off the ignition, her first thought is ‘oh hell no’. She isn’t alone in this either, thank goodness.

  “You can’t be serious; this is where we’re getting the next set of passports?” Raven asks disbelievingly, as she stares wide eyed out the window.

  Liam sighs, and sits back in his seat, and does what they are doing, just staring out at all the junk, making them all somewhat leery of this new situation.

  Or rather Moira thinks they are, because she is.

  “Yeah man, I agree with Raven on this one; doesn’t seem all that safe to me.” Ray replies, moving up between the seats to make Liam hear him.

  Moira is about to voice her opinion, when Liam cuts her off by turning around to face them all.

  “Your right it does seem, off somehow, but it’s all we have right now. We have to take all the help we can get.”

  “No offense, but it doesn’t seem like they could even afford to help us out.” Ray tells him right away.

  Liam starts like he is going to say more, but Marty beats him to it this time.

  “Liam is right you guys, we can’t exactly be picky. No matter how shady this rat hole looks like. We don’t have any other options.”

  Moira wants to object, but the boys do have a point. They’ve come such a long way, to just turn back now, because of some stranger’s home environment.

  Maybe they’ll surprise them, and be decent; she doesn’t really believe that though. But she sits back regardless, and takes Marty’s hand in hers. When he turns to her with a small smile and gives her hand a squeeze, she feels better.

  Liam clears his throat, making her bring her attention back to him, as he turns back around in his seat. Is it her imagination or was he staring at her hand in Marty’s before he turned around? Now for some reason, she feels like she is doing something wrong. As her hand begins to sweat, she really wants to take it out of Marty’s hand; but she doesn’t. She knows she would hurt Marty if she did, and that’s something she doesn’t want happening.

  On the other hand though, it would seem she hurt Liam in some way. When they get to Montana, she wonders if maybe she should make a graph to keep all these things in order for her. No on
e likes mistakes or hurt feelings.

  “Right then, I’ll be right back. Just sit tight, it may take a while.” Liam says, as he reaches for his door handle.

  Ray moves further into the middle console and grabs Liam’s shoulder, making him stop pushing open his door.

  “Dude, I agreed that going in there is a good thing. But seriously, you ain’t going in on your own.”

  Liam sighs and looks like he’s going to argue, but Marty pulls his hand free of hers, and sits up over the seats to face the other boys.

  “Ray is right Liam. We’re going with you, or no dice.”

  He looks like he wants to argue, and Moira picks up his cinnamon scent in the air strongly, but then he nods his head; like he isn’t happy about it. The boys move as one and start for their own doors pushing them open. The mixture of cool muggy air seeps into the truck, and the three girls share a look as the boys climb out.

  She doesn’t know about them, but Moira doesn’t really like the idea of waiting in the truck alone, while they go inside. Call it intuition, but she has a really bad feeling about all this. Turns out she’s not alone in this, because as one they quickly follow the boys outside, closing the doors behind them.

  Liam and the others don’t bother arguing, Moira thinks it might have been the look Raven had given them. But they walk in silence to the dingy door of the shack (house) a couple feet away from them. When their group reaches the door, Moira can almost feel Liam’s hesitation to knock on it, even from the other side of Marty.

  None the less, he bangs his closed fist on it, and they don’t even have to wait long before someone answers it.

  The door is yanked open, and they all take a step back, except for Liam. Who Moira thinks, actually took a step forward. The guy at the door is probably around their age, and at the sight of him, he doesn’t exactly prove to NOT be shady.

  He is a red haired tall boy and kind of skinny; making his baggy clothes to hang off of him. His eyes narrow at them all, and he grips the door in one hand and half closes it on them.

  “Yeah, what do you want?” The boy says with a deep twang, similar to Liam’s.