Darkside

Darkside

 One

Short dark hair. Suits me more than I thought it would actually. Makes me look kinda badass...and I need to be a badass if I’m going to survive what’s next. Long blonde locks that nearly touch my butt might’ve been my staple image for ages, but I’m shaking off my old life like a snake skin. Including the hair.
This isn’t just planning anymore, I’m really doing this shit. It couldn't be more different.
“Phoenix.” My reflection in the grubby truck stop bathroom mirror repeats me. “That’s who you are now, Phoenix.”
I suppose I should add on a surname at some point, but I’ll do that when the time comes. Acting on instinct has done me well so far, it’s brought me to this point, so I don’t see why I should change things. It’ll just pop into my brain like magic when it needs to. Then I’ll stick with it. The surname will become me.
My sweaty palm drags down the mirror, immediately alerting me to the wipes in my purse. No fingerprints. I need to get rid of any evidence that I was ever here, or anywhere for that matter. I even researched damaging my fingers so the prints don’t exist anymore, but wiping everywhere I go seems like the least painful solution. I don’t need any more pain, that’s for sure.
But I also can’t have anyone finding me, least of all him.
“Not Luvvie Thompson anymore. No, she’s Missing: Presumed Dead. Just as planned.”
Completely abandoning one life to start another is no easy task. Only the most dedicated can do it. Only those who have something they really need to run away from, and I cast myself in that category. Luvvie needs to be dead, she can’t come back, there’s nothing left for her now. But Phoenix has a chance. She can do something, be someone, be free. That’s all she wants really, freedom. That isn’t too much of an ask. A basic human right, some might say.
“Time to go.” My heart jackhammers against my ribcage. “It’s now or never.”
My legs don't move immediately, they seem to be waiting for something to happen, a sign maybe, that this is the right thing to do. As if I haven’t had enough signs already.
No one will mistake me for Luvvie now, I couldn't look anymore different, all I need to do is head out there and jump in the first truck to give me a ride, and freedom will be within my grasp. Hitchhiking might not be the ideal way to get around, but safety can’t be my first priority here. Getting away undetected is. Presumed dead isn’t always enough for some people. They’ll continue to search for signs of life anywhere.
There they are. The truck drivers, adding fuel to their bodies and trucks before starting their long endless drives all over again. I just need one who doesn’t look like he’ll bother asking too many questions I can’t answer. My escape route, I just need to take it. Find the one and go.
No words come, it’s too much of a big ask, I’m too vulnerable, too exposed. My thumb will have to do the work for me.
“Where you headed?” This man’s grubby beard doesn’t appeal, it’s full of crumbs, but no one else is offering. I wouldn’t be so ignored if I still had the hair. “I might be headed your way.”
“Oh, I think you are.” Don’t smile, I can’t smile. My cracked front tooth might give me away. “Because I’m headed in whatever way you’re going.”
“What you escaping from?”
“Take your pick.” Violence, blood, missing: presumed dead. “I just need to go.”
A simple nod is an invitation into his truck and far away from here. I don’t even watch home fly by the window. I don’t need to see it go. It’s behind me, in the rearview mirror. Gone. It’s over. Onto the next chapter of my life.
Let’s hope it’s better than the last.
“You’re a quiet one, huh?” I ignore his question, staring at the road ahead through the front window. “I like that. Too many people think silence needs to be filled. It don’t. Quiet is good.”
“Want to give me some then?”
Yep, barking like a badass at this idiot works, it goes with Phoenix. She doesn’t take any shit. Not like Luvvie. Luvvie stood back and let all sorts happen to her. She would’ve continued to do so as well, if that hadn’t happened...
Not that I’m thinking about that anymore.
“Yeah, course.” He coughs up mucus from his gross black smoker lungs. “Though you might have to get out at the next stop. I can’t be caught with a young lady by my side, if you know what I mean? Won’t be for a couple hours or so though, if you want some shut eye.”
“No.” I shoot him ice-cold eyes, hiding the crushing disappointment. That won’t be far enough away. I’ll still be within reaching distance. “I don’t ‘know what you mean’. Tell me.”
“Tell you?” He shifts uncomfortably. Good. He should be uncomfortable. “Well, you know, an ol’ dude like me, a pretty young thing like you...people might assume there’s summat going on.”
Wow. Just wow. Me and him? No way.
He wouldn’t make that comment to Luvvie. She was clearly too good for him. Phoenix is too, he just doesn’t realize it yet.
“Whatever. Drop me wherever. I don’t care. I will sleep. Wake me up when we get there.”

***

Small town, ass end of nowhere. Why did he drop me here of all places? Did I really offend him that much because I wouldn’t hook up with him?
Urgh, as if! That beard for one…
This won’t do. I need a city, I need to be anonymous, not with a freaking neighbor who knows my name. I can’t pay for everything with my carefully concealed cash here. The people have nothing else going on. They’ll ask questions for sure. They might even know.
News travels fast, it could be here by now, if so…well, my first stop might be my last.
Fucking truck driver and his hurt pride. What an asshole. He might as well have thrown me out of the cab, he couldn't get away from me fast enough. I tug my backpack hard and push him from my mind. Fuck that dude, he won’t destroy me. No way.
There’s a motel up ahead anyway, and since it’s late, that’s all I got. Let’s just hope whoever works there has no interest in some newbie in town.
Is there any chance of me getting so lucky?

Read more HERE!