by Marisa Logan
No way, Jenny typed. First off, my mom would kill you if she caught you down here. You know how she is about me having online friends. She's convinced you're a serial killer or a sexual predator.
Her mother hadn't approved of Jenny's friendship with Jeremy since she first found out about it. If him being an “internet stranger” wasn't bad enough, he was also eight years older than Jenny. As far as her mother was concerned, that meant he was only after one thing. And that was a thing that “good, pure Christian girls” didn't do.
Besides, Jenny added, I'm in the complete opposite direction from you. Aren't you already driving like eleven hours?
I'd drive two more for you, he typed.
Jenny bit her lower lip. It made her feel warm when he said things like that. It'd be four, dork. Two down, two up. You'd be dead at the convention if you spent fifteen hours driving, and I need my Wilhelm to be looking good for the cosplay contest.
Okay. So how are you getting there?
Jenny drummed her fingers on the desk. She glanced over her shoulder again, but there was no sign of movement in the house. I'll figure something out. Worst case scenario, I can catch a bus heading that way. Or I'll hitchhike.
Don't go taking any risks, Jen. I want to see you there in one whole Jennifer-shaped piece.
She smiled as she read his words. Jeremy was the only person in the world who ever called her “Jen.” I'll be safe, she typed. You just get some sleep, and I'll meet you there in the morning.
Jenny logged off the computer, then pulled up Google maps to check the directions from her house to the convention. There was no bus on a direct route from her town to Atlanta, where the convention was being held. If she had a car—not that she even had her license, since her mother refused to give her driving lessons—it would have been a two hour trip. If she could get to the nearest bus station, she could catch a bus for a more than four hour ride to Atlanta. But even the bus station was an hour away.
She looked at the clock. The convention started at 10:00 AM. She could catch the first bus of the day and be there mostly on time, but only if she could get herself across the fifty miles to the main bus station before 6:00 AM. An hour long cab ride, if she had money for a cab. Or a twelve hour walk, if Google was accurate.
Or she could hitchhike. And while she knew that was dangerous, she was just desperate enough to do it.
She went back to her room and dug her backpack out of the closet. She shoved a change of clothes inside, along with her black and red Crimson Star costume and her silky red wig. She shoved in her nightsticks, which were really just two lengths of copper pipe she'd covered in electrical tape, and added a flashlight, her cell phone charger, and a few comics to read on the bus. She strapped the backpack on, pulled on her boots, and climbed out the bedroom window.
“What are you doing?”
Jenny froze and looked back into the room with one leg already outside. It would figure that the one night Kathy slept in her own bed would be the night Jenny snuck out.
“I'm going to Atlanta,” Jenny whispered.
Kathy sat up in bed, leaning on one elbow. “Are you running away?”
“No, skreb.” Jenny smirked and shook her head. “I'm just going to the comic convention. I'll be back tomorrow.”
“Mom's going to kill you when she finds out.”
Jenny looked at her sister, hurt by the fear in Kathy's eyes. They both knew how much of a temper their mother had. It had been years since she actually raised a hand to one of them, but Jenny still had nightmares about the beatings Mom used to give.
“You didn't see me leave, okay?” she whispered. “Go back to sleep.”
Kathy laid back down, watching her big sister leave. “Be careful.”
“I will.”
Jenny dropped down to the ground outside, then shut the window. She moved quietly as she made her way around the house, then hopped over the chain link fence. Her skirt got caught on the fence and ripped, leaving a shred of cloth behind. She left it there, hurrying down the street and getting as far away from the house as she could.
It took her half an hour to walk to the highway. Once she got there, she started walking backwards down the road, holding her thumb out and watching the cars that passed her by.
There weren't many cars out on the highway at this time of night. When a car finally started to slow down, Jenny's heart began to race. She wished that she still believed in God, so that she could pray to Him to keep her safe, just in case whoever picked her up had something in mind beyond just giving her a lift.
Chapter 3
The car was a black four door, with the rear windows tinted. A man who looked to be in his forties sat in the driver seat. He rolled down the passenger-side window and leaned over, peering out the window at Jenny.
“Do you know how dangerous hitchhiking is?” he asked.
Jenny looked around. There were barely any other cars on the road. If this man wanted to, he could do just about anything to her. She wondered for a moment whether she'd be able to defend herself with her prop nightsticks.
“I just need a ride to the bus station,” she said.
The man rubbed his chin. “Are you a runaway?”
“What?” She frowned at him. “No. I'm just taking a trip. Besides, I'm nineteen.”
He continued studying her, then hit the button to unlock the door. “Get in.”
Jenny hesitated. The man didn't look dangerous. Not really. But he did look muscular and fit. She wouldn't stand a chance if he tried to manhandle her.
She took a deep breath and decided the risk wasn't great. After all, what were the odds of her stumbling across a serial killer or rapist?
She took off her backpack and got into the car, dropping her bag on the floor. “Thanks,” she said, pulling on her seat belt. “As close as you can get me is fine. I don't mind walking a ways.”
The man reached into his jacket. Jenny froze. Then he pulled out a leather wallet and handed it to her.
She opened it and found herself staring at a police badge.
Her heart hammered in her chest. Her mouth felt dry. “Am...am I under arrest?”
“No,” the police officer said, taking back the badge. “I'm not on duty, and I wouldn't arrest you for hitchhiking. Usually when I spot a teenager alone at night, I just contact their parents. You sure you're nineteen?”
“Of course I'm sure.”
He started driving, and Jenny already felt a sense of progress compared to her slow walk from home. “It's not common for people to get hurt while hitchhiking,” the man explained. “It's not like it is in the horror movies. But still, in the middle of the night like this, you could be a target for just about anyone. What's so important that you'd risk yourself like that?”
Jenny's face heated up. She turned away, looking out the window. “I'm going to a convention. I didn't have a ride, and I need to get to the bus station early.”
The man sighed. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You still live at home?”
“I live with my mom.”
“She know you're out?”
“No.” Jenny turned back towards the man. “But I'm old enough to make my own choices. It's not her business.”
“Maybe it isn't. But that doesn't mean you should worry her like this. If I woke up in the middle of the night and found out my daughter had snuck out of the house?” He shook his head. “Did you at least leave a note? Or call to tell her where you were going so she knows you're not dead somewhere?”
Jenny lowered her head. She hadn't even thought about it like that. She'd assumed her mother would be angry with her for sneaking out. But it hadn't occurred to her that Mom might think she'd been hurt, or kidnapped, or anything else. “I'll leave a message in the morning,” she said. “I guess it'll be a good idea, so she doesn't call the police and report me missing.”
The man laughed. “What's your name?”
“Jenny.”
“Well, Jenny, nice to meet you. I'm Officer Hank Wi
lson.”
They chatted for a little while as they drove. Jenny found out that Hank was divorced. He had two kids, both still living with their mother. And he'd been a member of the Georgia State Highway Patrol for fifteen years.
“So what are you doing out driving in the middle of the night?” she asked, once she got more comfortable in his presence. He reminded her of her own father. Gruff and stern, but the sort of man who would never hurt a fly.
“My brother in law is sick,” he said. “He's in the hospital in Macon. My ex and the kids are there. He took a turn for the worse, so the whole family, my ex's family that is, is heading down there. I'm driving up for the weekend to help take care of the kids.”
“What's wrong with him?”
“Pancreatic cancer.”
Jenny touched trembling fingers to her lips. She looked down at her feet. “My dad died of lung cancer.”
Hank looked at her for a moment, silent, as if he weren't sure how to comfort her. “I'm sorry. How long ago?”
“A year and a half.”
“It's a terrible disease.”
They were silent for most of the drive after that. Hank made a few attempts at small talk, but neither of them was much in the mood for chatting.
When they neared her exit, Jenny said, “You can just drop me off here. I can walk to the bus station.”
“Nonsense,” he said. “There's no way I'm dropping a teenage girl off on the side of the highway all by herself.”
He drove her right to the bus station and dropped her off at the front entrance. She opened the car door and grabbed her backpack. “Thank you,” she said, smiling at him. “I really appreciate this.”
“Do yourself a favor,” he said, “and next time, find a safer way to travel. Here.”
He pulled out his wallet and handed her a hundred dollars in twenties.
“I can't take this.” She held the money in her hands, torn between guilt over accepting it, and gratitude for the man's charity. It would be enough to cover her bus fare, and maybe leave enough left over for her to buy some breakfast. She'd brought a little bit of cash with her for the trip, but not much. She hadn't planned this little adventure out very well. Without Hank's gift, she might have been able to afford a one-way ticket to Atlanta, but she realized now that she would have been stranded there.
“Take it,” Hank said. “And this.”
He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a small black cylinder. Jenny turned it over in her hands for a moment, examining the little button at one end.
“Mace?”
“Pepper spray.” He nodded to the vial. “In case you run across someone who might want to take advantage of a young girl.”
She stuck the pepper spray in one pocket, and the cash in the other. “Thanks. If there were some way I could repay you...”
“Just get yourself where you're going safe,” he said. “And call your mother. Promise me that.”
“I will.”
“Good luck.”
She got out of the car and shut the door. Hank watched her from the car until she was safely inside the bus station. Then he drove off, his tail lights gradually fading into the distance until they disappeared into the night.
Jenny pulled her backpack on and took a deep breath. She walked into the bus station, glad that the difficult part of her trip was already behind her.
Chapter 4
Jenny was jolted awake when the bus went over a bump. The sun was up, and it blurred her vision for a minute. She clutched her backpack against her chest, then checked her pockets to make sure no one had tried to rob her while she was asleep. The woman sitting next to her wasn't paying any attention to her. She was watching a movie on her tablet, and Jenny could just barely hear some of the dialogue coming from the woman's ear buds.
She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was just a bit past seven, and the sun had only just risen. She'd been on the bus for a few hours, and it was looking like she'd get where she was going with plenty of time to reach the convention.
She scrolled through her contacts list until she found her mother's cell phone number. She figured her mom was still asleep this early in the morning. Unless, of course, she'd woken up in the middle of the night and found Jenny was missing. But if that was the case, then she probably would have called Jenny's phone first thing, demanding to know where she was.
She glanced at the woman next to her, but she figured the lady was too involved in her movie to be bothered if Jenny made a phone call. She certainly couldn't afford to wait until the bus reached Atlanta.
She sighed, closing her eyes, and whispered a soft prayer for strength. She wasn't sure who or what she was praying to anymore, but the gesture still brought her comfort. She thought that maybe that was the only reason anyone prayed. For comfort.
She tapped the screen and the phone started to ring. She sat there with her eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable.
“Hello?” Her mother's voice sounded bleary with sleep.
“Mom?”
“Jenny? Why are you calling me? What...?”
Jenny heard her mother getting out of bed and crossing the hall. She could picture Mom standing there in her bedroom door, glaring at Jenny's empty bed.
“Jennifer Marie Campbell, where in the hell are you?”
Jenny swallowed a lump in her throat. “I'm going to Atlanta.”
“Atlanta?” Her mother was practically screaming into the phone now. “Oh no you are not! You get your self back home right now.”
Jenny glanced at the woman next to her. The woman was eyeing her sidelong, and could probably hear Mom shouting through the phone.
“I'm going to the convention. I told you—”
“And I told you that you weren't going. What about your brother and sisters? Who's supposed to watch them?”
“Kathy can—”
“Kathy is a child. And so are you, apparently. My word, I don't know what goes through your head sometimes. I try to trust you with a little responsibility...”
“A little responsibility?” Jenny said, raising her voice and drawing an annoyed look from the woman next to her. Jenny turned towards the window and lowered her voice. “Damn it, Mom, I practically have to raise your children. The one time I want to do something for me for a change—”
“Jennifer, you turn around right now and come home this instant. I'm not playing games with you.”
“I'm on a bus, Mom. I couldn't turn it around if I tried.”
“Then you catch a bus back! I'm serious. You get home right now, or—”
“Or what?” Jenny glared out the window, wishing her mother could see her face right now. “What are you going to do, Mom? I'm nineteen. I can do what I want.”
“When you get home, you are grounded.”
“Maybe I won't come home, then.”
She hung up the phone before her mother could say another word. The woman sitting next to her shifted uncomfortably in her seat, still eyeing her. Jenny shifted so her back was to the woman. It wasn't any of her business what Jenny and her mother had been talking about, even if she hadn't been able to have the conversation in private.
She stared out the window and watched the world passing her by. Trees whisked past the bus, along with the occasional billboard advertising gas stations, local produce sellers, and tourist attractions. She'd never been this far from home by herself before. It was rare that the family had gone as far as Atlanta on trips, and she certainly hadn't ever gone further than that. Someday, she wanted to travel up north, see New York and Philadelphia. See what it was like in a place where everyone wasn't prejudiced and super religious.
She thought about just running away after the convention. She could find a job in Atlanta. Except that she wouldn't have any place to live. And since she didn't even have her driver's license or any other form of ID, it would be hard for her to find a job, or an apartment. Starting out on her own, without anyone to turn to, would be just about impossible.
; She sighed and closed her eyes, starting to drift off again. She slept the rest of the trip to Atlanta, her sleep disturbed by nightmares of her mother showing up from out of nowhere to drag her back home.
Chapter 5
Jenny arrived in Atlanta with plenty of time to spare. It took her over an hour to walk to the hotel where the convention was being held. When she got there, she was stunned by the huge crowd of people already gathered out front. There were hundreds of people, from teenagers to middle-aged adults, a good number of them dressed in costumes. The most common costumes were from the biggest DC and Marvel properties, with dozens of people dressed as X-Men or Avengers or members of the Justice League. Though she also spotted some characters from some less-known comics. There was one guy dressed up as Atomic Robo from the indie comic by Brian Clevinger. And there was a whole group dressed in some amazing stick-figure-styled costumes, portraying the characters from the Order of the Stick webcomic. Jenny thought for sure they'd win the costume contest. After all, it wasn't easy to make realistic-looking costumes based on stick figures, but they'd done a phenomenal job.
She waited until the doors opened and people were let inside, then headed for the bathroom to change into her costume. The skin-tight black and red leather showed the curves of her body more than anything she'd ever worn, and the top was so low cut she worried she might fall out of it. She pinned her brown hair up against her head and put on the bright red wig, then added the Crimson Star's iconic red-tinted sunglasses.
When she stepped out of the bathroom stall and saw herself in the mirror, she didn't recognize herself. She was completely transformed. No more shy, sheltered, homeschooled girl in a pure, chaste ankle-length skirt. She looked sexual. She looked badass.
She twirled her nightsticks in her hands. She looked like she was ready to kick some butt.
She pulled her backpack back on, wishing she had someplace to put it. It really ruined the vibe of her costume. Though once she found Jeremy, she could ask him to stash it in his room. He'd booked a room for the entire weekend, since he'd driven way too far to head back home without staying the night.