See How She Runs (4 page)

“Aren’t they so cute Kennan? It is like they
are wearing tiny formal wear.”

I just got a blank stare in return. He was
totally zoned out like he was not even paying attention. He had
been doing that more and more lately. Either I was seriously
starting to lose my marbles or something majorly weird was going on
in the world around me that I was not privy too.

“Earth to K.O., anyone home in there?
Listen, if you don’t want to stay at the zoo we can head out, I
think I am getting hungry anyway.”

“Seriously Iz, how do you not know if you
are hungry?” he asked.

We spent a little more time meandering
through the zoo. He made jokes at my expense and I ignored him. It
was finally feeling like a normal day again. Plus he bought me a
pretzel, which left me being the happiest girl in the world. After
a couple of hours we hopped on the bus and headed over to
Millennium Park.

“You want some lunch, Izzy? I am thinking
something fast, like a hot dog or something,” he said, spotting a
vendor in the park.

“Sure, sounds good,” I said, mostly because
I knew it is a losing battle trying to peel him away from a hotdog
stand.

He grabbed himself four hotdogs, and one for
me. I knew he was a big guy, but he seriously ate like a horse. I
could not stomach half of what he did, and if I tried I don’t think
I would fit through my front door. We sat down on a bench
overlooking the lake and proceeded to chow down. It took me about
ten minutes to finish my hotdog and by then he was finished with
all four of his.

“Ready?” he asked grabbing our trash. “Hey
you wanna walk over there or grab a cab?”

“It is such a pretty day. Do you mind
walking?" I asked, hoping to hide the sadness in my voice. While we
were eating, the date snuck its way into my head reminding me that
today was not a fun day. In fact today, two years ago, I was
sitting in a funeral home mourning the loss of my Grams.

“Nope, don’t mind walking at all, as long as
you don’t burst into tears on me. What gives?”

“I just remembered what today is. Sorry, I
am fine, really I am good. Let’s just head over there and I will go
look at some giant totem poles and feel better. Deal?” I asked as
he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

He called it the duffle bag approach. I
called it annoying. I beat on his back trying to get him to drop
me. He was laughing as he placed me back on solid ground. He had
effectively pulled me right back to today and out of the past. He
always knew how to pull me back to the now. Whether I was just
distracted or lost in the past.

By the time we made it to the Field, it was
almost closing. The guard at the front told us there was only an
hour left. So, I headed straight for my favorite exhibit. Kennan
hollered he had to use the facilities at me and darted off towards
the men’s room. I just waved and headed to my isolated display.

I was shocked to see some of the lights
illuminated in the exhibit. Mostly because the museum was almost
closed but also because most visitors tended to go to the jewelry
or dinosaur exhibits. I walked into the display area and headed to
one of my favorite cases. I was lost in my own thoughts imagining
what it must be like to revere the earth as the Native American’s
did, when a hand tapped my shoulder. I knew that feeling. I felt it
just yesterday. A heady mix of fear and anticipation assaulted me,
like I was about to plunge down the first hill on a rollercoaster.
I turned already knowing who the hand belonged to.

“Hello,” he said in his deep baritone. “I
don’t know if you remember me, but we met yesterday. You delivered
some stuff to my office.”

I knew full well who he was, but I feigned
ignorance and stared blankly. After a moment I responded.

“Oh yeah, you are the guy from the top floor
of that huge building." Clearly, this was not the response he was
expecting. He scowled for a moment before plastering what was meant
to be a convincing smile on his face.

“Well, if that is all that made an
impression on you, I will have to try harder for next time. Say, do
you have any dinner plans this evening?” he asked, raking his eyes
from my head down to my toes.

I mean, I was not dressed to impress here.
Besides, I seriously did not appreciate being ogled by mister split
personalities. I didn’t even get a chance to form a response before
I heard Kennan approach and answer for me.

“She already has dinner plans. Furthermore
she has no interest in developing any association with you,” he
said with barely contained menace. There was something strange
about his voice, something almost foreign. I turned to make sure it
was really Kennan. And were those tattoos that I just saw?

“Well, I think we should let the lady decide
whether or not she would like to dine with me, don’t you?" Mister
fancy pants was nonplussed by my suddenly overbearing roomie. I
decided to intervene before they proceeded to pee all over the
ancient artifacts.

“I appreciate the offer sir, but I don’t
interact socially with clients." I smiled at him with the most
genuine, sweet-tea, southern smile I could muster.

“That truly is a shame, my dear." He said it
as a threat.

I grabbed Kennan’s hand and jerked him out
of the museum before he burnt the whole thing to the ground just to
bury the man inside. I didn’t speak to him the entire way back to
the house. I was so confused about what had really just happened. I
felt like they had been talking a whole different language with
subtext I could not even begin to decipher. I was kind of pissed
off that Kennan would step in and speak for me as if I did not have
the right to choose my own suitors. Not that I would have gone out
with Mr. Xander, but I would like the choice. The worst of it was
that I felt like I did not know my roommate and best friend at
all.

**********

SIX

When we got to the house, Kennan paid the
cab driver and we headed inside. As soon as I came inside he closed
and locked the door. He turned to me with a wild look in his eyes
and then just let me have it.

“What in the hell do you think you are doing
talking to him, Iz? Do you even know who that was? No, you don’t do
you? How could you possibly know? You don’t know anything. Listen
to me carefully. You need to head upstairs and pack a bag. Fill it
with everything you need. We are going away for a little while.” He
said it with that strange accent he used back at the museum. It was
almost Irish or Scottish but older somehow.

I stood there gaping at him, and then all
hell broke loose inside of me. I was tired of feeling like I was
not a player in my own life. I felt as if I had steam slowly
building inside with no release. Between the dreams, Kennan being
all crazy for the past few months, and the events of yesterday and
today, I had had enough.

“What in the hell do you mean we are going
away for a little while? I am not going anywhere with you. I don’t
know what it is you think is going on, or who you think you are to
tell me what I can and can’t do. You are sorely mistaken sir. You
are not my keeper, nor are you my parent. So just back the hell
off."

He quietly walked into the kitchen and came
back. He had something in his hand, maybe a towel. He grabbed me so
quickly I did not even see him move then pressed the towel over my
mouth. As I started to lose consciousness I heard him whisper, “I
am so sorry, Iz."

Then it was oblivion.

**********

I awakened slowly to the feeling that I was
not standing still anymore. Realization slowly started to sink in.
I looked around me and noticed that I was in the back of an old SUV
of some sort. My mouth felt like it has been stuffed with cotton
and my hands and feet were tied down to something. I started to
panic, and as soon as the scream bellowed up in my throat, I saw a
hand reach out from the front seat with the towel of doom. This
time, there was no apology.

**********

I came to again, and before the towel could
descend upon me with its nocturnal powers, I screamed. I saw Kennan
jerk with surprise from the driver’s seat. He glanced over his
shoulder at me. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me
cry. Instead, I started in on calling his mother some rather
unsavory and unladylike names. Then I told him where he could go,
and what kind of monster I really thought he was. I think I also
suggested he perform some anatomically impossible tasks.

He listened with that eerie calm he got
sometimes. He waited until I had gotten it all out of my system
before saying anything.

“Are you finished? If so, I will pull over
at the next truck stop and untie you so that you can use the
restroom. Before you get any ideas, I am going in there with you.
There is no escaping me now. Trust me when I say this, I will find
you Izzy and I will drag you back. Always. However, if you behave
and act normally, I won’t tie you up when we get back in the
car.”

So these were my choices. Be an amiable
hostage to my suddenly psychopathic roommate or have him hunt me
down like a dog when I slipped the leash. Neither one seemed like a
great choice. I could fight, but I knew I would lose to him. I
could run, but I was pretty sure he would still catch me. Plus, my
arms were really starting to hurt from being tied in this position.
If he was going to murder me, he would have already done it by
now.

“Fine, but you are so not coming in the
stall with me,” I said as he started to exit whatever road we had
been traveling down.

I thought I saw a glimmer of old humor in
his eyes, but I was too mad to really give a damn. As we pulled
into the truck stop, I noticed that the area looked nothing like
home. The sun looked like it is about to set, which did not make
much sense. I refused to ask him any questions though, and in all
honesty, my bladder was about to burst.

He parked us in a remote part of the lot,
and climbed over the front seats to the back where I was tied down.
As he reached for the ropes with a knife, I automatically flinched.
His face fell a little, but he quickly put on a blank expression,
and cut me free while mumbling something about not hurting me. He
opened the door and helped me out of the vehicle. He reached down
to ensnare my hand with an iron grip, thwarting any brilliant
escape plans I might have been hatching. He headed directly back
towards the bathrooms and walked in with me like it is no big deal.
No one seemed to notice either.

“I was serious about you not coming into the
stall with me. There aren’t any windows for me to scurry out of. So
you can release my hand."

Reluctantly, he let me go. I took my time
going until he piped up about coming in after me. It was not like I
was used to having to go with an audience. I came out, and hurried
to wash my hands before he grabbed them again. As soon as I was
done, he pulled me into the handicapped stall with him.

“What are you doing?” I demanded as he
locked the door behind me.

“Well, I have to go. And since I don’t want
you running off, I want you right where I can see you,” he said in
that same accent. I was beginning to think the Kennan I knew was
some kind of imaginary person.

“NO WAY am I staying in here while you use
the bathroom! NO WAY! I will go willingly with you back to the car,
I will play nice. But I refuse to watch you pee!”

“Then turn around. No one said you had to
watch me. But if you want to peak Lass, go right ahead,” he said as
he unzipped his pants and I quickly turned away.

Did he seriously just call me "Lass?" I was
still trying to get my mind to catch back up to everything that had
happened in the last however many days it had been that I didn’t
really know how to react to anything. As strange as it seemed, I
didn’t feel like I was in danger with Kennan. I didn’t know if I
had developed Stockholm syndrome from living with him for so long,
or if my instincts were broken. Either way, I was just going to go
with it and see where it led me. He flushed the toilet and reached
past me to unlock the stall.

“It’s all put away, Iz. No need to fear
now,” he snickered as he headed to the sinks to wash his hands. I
followed like a deranged lap dog. Where else was I going to go,
seriously?

“Hey, are you hungry?” he asked as we headed
out into the truck stop. Still, no one noticed us walking out of
the women’s bathroom together.

“Kind of,” I replied, deciding to be sullen
and keep all of my answers as short as possible.

That just caused him to drag me throughout
the store, loading up my arms like we were two besties on a road
trip. We headed to the check out counter, and the cashier finally
noticed us.

“Oh, I did not notice you guys come in at
all,” she said as if she had just snapped out of a daze. She rang
us up and told us to have a nice night then we headed back out to
the vehicle.

We were riding in an old Jeep Cherokee, I
realized. Not for the first time I was trying to figure out where
in the world Kennan came by a vehicle. I climbed in and decided to
keep my trap shut for a while. Suddenly, I started to feel queasy
and my head began to throb, as if someone was reaching in and
pulling the thoughts from my head.

I must have made some sort of noise, because
Kennan looked over at me quickly with a look of someone battling
themselves in his eyes. He reached for the towel again. I tried to
reach for the door to leave, but my head hurt so badly I couldn’t
do anything. He slowly placed the towel over my mouth, cursing in
some foreign language and then there was nothing.

**********

I awakened again, slumped over in the front
seat. At least this time I was not restrained. We were bumping
along on some sort of gravel road in what appeared to be the middle
of nowhere. I realized my head no longer felt as though someone was
trying to pry my brain out. As I woke up a little more, I started
to realize I once again really had to pee. Half of me was afraid to
tell Kennan, and the other half just really wanted to relieve my
bladder of its current agony. I started to talk but my voice was
hoarse.