On the Run

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"Maybe he has other problems and it's all just getting too much for him," Damien suggested, as he shoved the phone into his back pocket, taking his keys out in its place. "Oh, Drew, Ellie's kindly offered to let us stay at hers for the night, so we can book the hotel for tomorrow. Alabaster gave us a little gift. I'll show you when we get back."
 
Ellie wanted to know a bit more about that phonecall, since it seemed a bit suspect, but, much as she had been suspicious of Alabaster's intentions with no real cause, Ellie shook her mind clear of such paranoid thoughts once more. The rain was starting to grow heavier, and, as Ellie saw Damien reach for his keys, she decided that it wasn't worth spending another second standing around and getting soaked.

"Please tell me that your car's parked nearby," she said, pulling up her collar and trying to tuck her body into itself, to keep dry. "I can direct you back to mine and there's underground parking there, so let's just get out of the rain, right?"
 
"Yeah, the car's right there," Damien said, pointing towards a battered silver four-wheeled box sitting between two much better and more colourful vehicles. The car had been his uncle's, however, when he had bought a newer model, he had given it to Damien as his first real car. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. He began making his way towards his car, then opened the driver's seat door, slowly climbed in and finally sank back into the comfortable leather chair. He was glad the interior was more aesthetically pleasing than the exterior.
 
Ellie waited for Damien to open the car and then quickly dashed out into the rain, running straight around to the front passenger side. In doing so, the heavy rain soaked her golden hair, turning it a shade or two darker, whilst an inconvenient puddle soaked through her left shoe and made her left sock squelch uncomfortably. As her frustration with the weather took over, Ellie flung open the door and pretty much threw herself into the seat, before slamming the door shut behind her.

She waved across to the other two, still stood out in the rain, "Come on you two, hurry it up!" Ellie sighed whilst brushing the wet strands of hair from her face and then removed her glasses before attempting to dry them on her top, without much success.
 
He glanced at Ellie, forcing a smile on his face. "Well, isn't that nice of her? Not everyone would invite a suspected murderer into their house." He said, bitterness seeping into his tone as he recalled the whispering and staring. He shook his head, jogging over to the car and pulling the back door open, climbing in. His hair had gotten damp, even just the few metres from the door to the car. He ran a hand over it, making himself comfortable as he did so. He barely fit in the back seat, but managed to arrange his legs in such a way that he wasn't too uncomfortable, and his knees weren't digging into Ellie's seat either. He definitely felt better after the coffee. Definitely.
 
Alabaster woke up with a migraine the size of Jupiter and vision so blurry he literally saw big dots instead of actual things. Lots of white. As the dots slowly got smaller and more focused, Alabaster made out the shape of a bed. A white bed. He was laying in it. Yeah. Definitely laying in it. "His brain activity is still very low. Whatever thoughts are going through this poor mans head are not very smart." Your mom isn't very smart... Yeah... That was good... Alabaster looked around the slightly clear room. "Amm-uh I in.. Uh-doctor-y place...?" Alabaster slurred, brain still half dead. "Yes, you are in a hospital. What is your name, sir?" The doctor asked the mentally handicapped Alabaster. He spoke. "I... I am Ala... Baster..." Alabaster felt his brain restoring itself. He looked around the room. It was obviously meant for a girl, pink floral patterns on the sheets, pink napkins on a white night stand, etc. Alabaster saw that he had a visitor. An unexpected one. "A-A-Amy?!" Alabaster stared at the girl. He rubbed his eyes and looked up again. She was gone. "Doc, I'm hallucinating." He replied, "We are going to run some tests on you. You will be here for around three days until we think you are ready to leave, but the number may increase." Alabaster nodded. "Can I have my phone?" He handed it to him. Alabaster sent a text to Damien.
Hey, at hospital, must've tripped and ht my head on concrete. Doc just told me its St marys medical centr.
 
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Casey had followed Damien outside but remained silent. She ran her hands through her short hair and let out a small sigh. She didn't know what she was doing out here. She could be at home, she didn't need to be here. She wasn't a suspect, yet. Her only fear was whoever killed Amy would come after the people close to her, and that freaked her out.

The money and conversations going on between Damien, Ellie, and Drew didn't phase her. In fact once Alabaster had made his hasty exit and she saw a glance at the money she found herself replaying memories of Amy and the... No. Casey shook her head slightly.

Casey didn't pay attention to anything and barely heard Ellie offer a stay at her house. Casey wouldn't except the money or Ellie. She refused to lean on people, she would not be apart of this. Casey started to slowly walk away in the rain, not saying a word to anyone. She would hitch hike for a ride home, she's done it before. Her plan was just to get home and lock every door and continue to live her life. She did not want to be stuck with a suspect in a murder case, a guy she barely knew but felt like she should know, and some sister of her best friend who obviously had a dislike for her. Casey wouldn't allow help, the only person she wanted help from was dead.
 
As he leaned forwards to insert the ignition key, he had barely finished turning it when he heard the sound of two doors closing both beside him and behind him. As he fully turned the key to the extent of its turn, he heard the engine rev up, ready to go. He looked up into the rear view mirror to see his own reflection, but as he adjusted the angle of the mirror, he realised that Drew was sat alone in the back seats. He span about to look at the empty space beside Drew, before gazing back down the road. He could see Casey slowly walking away, each step pressing onwards into the distance. He felt his phone buzzing again, but the lack of the ringtone showed that it was just a text message and not a call. It could wait. He opened his door quickly and pounced out of the car, bolting towards her. As he had reached a distance of about ten feet from the girl, he slowed down to her pace. Many droplets of rain fell onto her hair and flattened it, the clear beads of water on her skin reflecting the drizzly grey sky. The wind, slightly but not strongly, blew her soaked hair to the side so that it swayed effortlessly.

"Are you alright, Casey?" he asked in a caring tone, just loud enough so that she could hear his voice.
 
Casey was now soaking to the bone, she had never been so not presentable in her life. As Damien approached her she ran her fingers through her hair the best she could, but the rain made her hair a bit tangled. The droplets of water ran down her face streaking her face like tears, but no real tears ran down her face.

"Oh Damien," She wiped some make up off from underneath her eyes to make herself look a little less messier, "I'm actually doing pretty fine," She lied through her chattering teeth, "I just rather not take Alabaster's money and I don't want to stay anywhere with Ellie. I rather take my chances at home. You know?" She spoke softly against the sound of the rain. Truth be told, she wasn't okay. She wasn't sure if she would ever be really okay, but it was incredibly nice of Damien to care. She almost smiled a bit at the happy thought of someone like Damien watching over Amy whenever Casey couldn't. It was comforting to know her best friend had a good friend like him and it almost made her jealous. She wished someone had watched her more over the years, since Amy and Casey always just got into trouble together.

Casey put her hands in her soaking pockets and stared at Damien, small bags had formed around her eyes. And the once bright and mysterious girl she once was was wearing thin now.
 
Drew had barely finished adjusting his position when Damien started the engine. Drew frowned. Weren't they missing Casey? Or was Damien being a gentleman and picking her up at the door? However, before he could say anything, Damien got out of the car and headed down the street to talk to her. Drew cleared his throat, suddenly feeling awkward. He couldn't make up his mind whether to say anything or not. He couldn't stop thinking about the phone call. Had he done the right thing? Either way now, he had to face it. Backing out would make him a coward. And he wasn't a coward.
 
With so much going on in her mind, Ellie had failed to notice that Casey wasn't in the car with her until Damien turned off the engine and went running back for her.

Way to go, Ellie. You just made your mind up to take care of these kids for the next few days, or at least for the night and now you've almost left one of them behind at the first possible opportunity... It's a good job that Damien's paying more attention to what's going on than you are.

The blonde girl sighed, a little louder than she had intended to and then remembered that she was still in the car with Drew. Amy's Drew. She didn't know what to say to him, but, fortunately, he seemed to be equally lost for words. All she could think of was banal small talk, but she had to say something, or things would only get more awkward.

"Have you got enough room back there?" she asked, reaching below the chair and fumbling for the slide lever. "I can probably pull this seat forwards a bit if it would help. I guess the last person sitting here was a bit taller than me." Without moving her head, Ellie tried to spy Drew's reaction from the rear-view mirror, but she was the wrong angle to see much of anything. "I suppose it was probably you sitting here on the way over, right?"
 
He grinned as she started offering to move the seat. He was arranged in such a way that he was totally comfortable, and didn't have much of a problem with it. "Nah, don't worry about it, you're fine. And, um, no, actually, I was back here last time as well. I haven't really been sleeping since..." He cleared his throat again. "And, uh, I was exhausted after the questioning, and was half asleep, so back here was more comfortable for being able to sleep. I think Damien was in that seat, before he moved to the driver's seat. I suppose I just have a talent for being able to fit in tight spaces." Being six foot tall did have it's drawbacks, as well as making you more distinctive.
 
Ellie nodded, sliding the chair forwards a little bit anyway. Even if Drew was fine, she could afford to give him a little more space, so why not? It wasn't going to cause her any problems, after all. His comment about "fitting into tight places" sounded a bit like a tease of some kind, but she had been reading too much into things all night, so she dismissed such thoughts instead.

"I guess it's been quite a busy time for you since, you know," said Ellie, finding it uncomfortable to talk about what had happened using anything more than the vaguest of terms. "It's been pretty much the opposite for me; I've not been at work since then and I've not even spoken to the police. They didn't see me as having anything to tell them, I guess, so other than the odd call from my parents, I've just been left to myself. Time's been moving so slowly... I'll be honest, I'm glad to see you again, if only to have some company. It gets very lonely, especially when the obvious is all that's rolling around in my mind." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, staring out of the car's front windscreen. "Sorry," she said, quietly, "I guess my problems just sound whiny by comparison to yours."
 
He adjusted his position slightly as she moved her chair forward. "No, it's fine . Being perfectly honest, it's nice to have someone familiar around. I've been staying with Damien because my dad actually thought for a while that... Well, that the police were right. I didn't care. Didn't look back. He was always convinced that I was a screw up. I've been in and out of questioning ever since. Evidently there's something about me that they don't trust. Maybe because we were fighting, or I just look like I'm trouble." He laughed a little bitterly. "But yeah. I mean, she was your sister, it can't have been easy for you either." He pulled off his jacket and slung it over his lap, staring out the window.
 
No reply. Alabaster was back to normal. Well, mind wise. His skull, however, was not. "Why isn't he answering...?" He shot another text his way.
Hey, u there? I'm at the st Mary's hospital. Don't make me spam ur phone.
He pressed the lock button and closed his eyes. "I need more meds, doc." The young doctor smiled. "Right away, sir." He rushed to another room. Alabaster thought about calling Damien. "Maybe he thinks that, since its a text, it shouldn't be too important. Ten minutes and no reply, I'll call him."
 
Damien watched Casey gently wipe away a smoky line of mascara from under her eyes. As she gave him her reason why she had walked off so unexpectedly, Damien couldn't help but to smile a little. He was glad at least that she had a family to turn to - he sure as hell didn't, and neither did Drew. Returning home was a safe answer. He probably would have taken the option to go back too if the tension at home wasn't so high. He watched Casey bury her hands in her pockets, her eyes fixed onto his. He noticed that she seemed to be quite cold, and the rainwater pouring down onto them wasn't helping much. She seemed worn out and exhausted. He could only think that this was the most real he had ever seen her appear. The rain was washing away her make-up, little by little, and her natural bare skin was being slightly exposed. The rain had almost completely drenched her hair by now and Damien had quickly decided that, given how warm the day had been earlier, she wasn't wearing enough clothes to be unable to comfortably fit on another jacket.

"I can understand where you're coming from," he smiled, as he began to remove his beige hoodie. "Here, take my jacket." He stretched out a single arm offering her the jacket. "Are you sure you don't want a lift home then? It's the least I can do to help you."
 
Ellie sighed once more and took her glasses off, holding the frames in her lap and idly fumbling with them. "Yeah, it's a weird one. I don't know what I'm supposed to do any more. We used to be really close when we were kids, but we've gradually been drifting apart. There were so many things that she and I could have done together, but I always said that there wasn't enough time... Now there never will be. I just feel pretty guilty about it." Ellie swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat, "You probably knew her better than I did at the end."

She sat in silence for a moment, as an uneasy awkwardness filled the car. Ellie sniffled and glanced up at the rear view, just about able to see one side of Drew's face in the mirror. "When you said that you were glad to have someone familiar around, you meant Damien... Right?"
 
He frowned. "Yeah. Although there's something kinda familiar about you too, y'know? Like we've met somewhere before. When I first saw you, it was like "oh shit", but I've been trying to remember ever since, and it's like it's just out of reach." He ran a hand over his hair. "I think I was drunk or something. I probably was. Ever since... you know... I've been really drunk a few times, and I probably just tried to chat you up or something." It was really starting to annoy him as to what it had been.
 
Alabaster frowned at his phone. "Okay, I'm gonna call him..." He typed in the Damien's phone. "Sir? You talk to yourself a lot." Alabaster glared at the doctor. "I do not." He then began rambling to himself as the phone rang. "Why would I talk to myself...? I'm not crazy. At least I-" "Sir." Alabaster closed his eyes. "Yes, I am." The phone continued ringing. "What is he so busy with?"
 
Ellie nodded, there was something about Drew that she found strangely familiar too, but she couldn't put her finger on it, either. The best idea that she could come up with was that she had either seen Drew's face on the news reports, or perhaps in some of her sister's photographs online. That was probably it.

"Well, I've not been drunk since the night of Amy's..." Ellie coughed, "So I would have remembered it if you had tried to chat me up since then. Even if you didn't. I probably just look familiar because I'm Amy's sister." She put her glasses back on and brushed some loose strands of hair back behind her ear. "We're hardly twins, but people always said that we had the same eyes and nose. Maybe that's all it is."
 
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