Her eyes were bloodshot from crying.
Her hair, dyed deep green, was an absolute mess from where she had been struggling.
I couldn't see much else.
Her mouth was gagged with an old rag I had used in the engine months ago. It still reeked of oil when I topped it up and wiped off the spill.
Her wrists, knees and ankles were bound with silver duct tape, the cheap kind. I went through two whole rolls just making sure she wouldn't be able to run.
Her checkered shirt was splayed out around her. It was such a nice coloir too. Pink lines met orange and purple to create this unique take on plaid.
Her ripped jeans left her knees almost exposed. One leg was shorter than the other, an old trend resurfacing again.
I smirked as I remembered doing the same thing as a kid. I'd roll them up and look so cool.
She just stared up at me when I stood there holding the boot open.
The poor thing was shaking. She was waiting for me to do something, anything.
I glanced to the others muttering and smoking by the dingy toilet stall we had parked up at.
It was in the middle of nowhere. The block reeked of stewing piss that had cooked in the sun for weeks. View was nice though. It had a little ledge of shrubbery diving down into a valley of trees.
It was quiet too. Only the curve of the dirt road, our old shitbox, and this silence.
At least it wasn't too hot today.
"Camie!" one of the guys called out, holding out his cigarette "smoke?"
The lopsided amused smile behind the offering belonged to Jezzie. Not Jessie, not Jezza. He made it clear he didn't like people fucking with his name his dead mama gave him. He cut the cheek of the 'prick' who had tested that theory for themselves.
The guy had been through the shit since joining the gang. His whole right eye had been torn out on a run gone bad, leaving him with a pit and a gouge that ran over what was left of the bridge of his nose. His lip was mutilated too, leaving it lopsided and snarling.
You could even see curling smoke twisting out of the old gouge when he inhaled and savoured the taste of the cigarette.
As tough as he made himself out to be, Jezzie sure was a great guy to have around.
I looked down to the girl, contemplating on shutting the boot again.
"Do you think she needs to piss?" I called out.
Jezzie snickered with the woman beside him.
She's the one who tested him so long ago. The slice across her cheek proved her smart attitude with Jezzie once didn't fly.
She was old enough to be his young mother, but Aster had still hesitated when Jezzie lunged for her. Short blonde mohawk, brown shaved sides; she was as rebellious as he was. Smoked as much as he did too.
Now, they were best friends. Aster and Jezzie did every run together. They liked each other's company, and I liked being with the two fools.
In a way, I liked Aster mothering me. My own had kicked me to the curb on my eighteenth birthday. I was old enough, I should have thought about my whole future by then.
Aster was the one who introduced me to my new family and made me proud to wear my colours on my sleeve. A woman I brushed off as a stalker was the one to help me when I dragged my garbage bag through the street.
The girl in the boot muffled out groans and caught my attention again. She nodded her head, lifting her bound hands to point to the block.
I guess she did have to pee after all.
"Look, it's got to be quick" I muttered to the girl as I lifted her up and helped her out of the boot to stand "no messing around."
She stretched her back, letting out a grateful noise as she did. I kept beside her.
She couldn't go anywhere. I had taped her knees into a fixed bent position. Even trying to straighten only made the tape constrict her legs further.
I'd have to carry her.
Looking her over, I wasn't sure. I'd never lifted anyone before. I left all that for the brawn back home.
"Aster" I meekly called.
Aster groaned, syphoning her smoke and blowing it out before handing it to Jezzie.
"I want to see that when I get back" she pointed to him eyeing it off "come on, Noodle Arms."
Aster slapped up my arms to pinch them and make me smile. She scooped the girl up to carry her towards the block Jezzie still leaned against.
I followed until Aster stopped me.
"Women only" she shouldered the wall below the pictured sign "perve."
Shuffling back, I took the cigarette and lighter Jezzie offered so I could lean beside him.
"You don't smell that?" I gagged as I lit up, taking a few puffs "it reeks dude."
"Don't smell much of anything" he snorted, nudging me.
"Lucky" I muttered as I tried to cloud up the air with something better.
We leant there, just smoking in peace, until I looked to the blocks behind us.
"Do you really think she's going to like you?"
He turned too, smiling when he did.
"What isn't to love about me? She's the one who made the moves."
The bound and gagged girl worked at the local coffee shop Jezzie liked to visit. She smiled at him a few times, gave him extras like a biscuit here and there, or put extra chocolate on his cap; just doing her job, really.
Jezzie took this as affection. None of the girls at camp liked him or his gross eye or dark humour. The one girl he thought he clicked with and we kidnap her on her walk home.
She never heard us coming. She was too busy listening to her music that Jezzie had already taken the liberty of listening to himself when he took her phone.
Jezzie was lonely; I understood that. He wanted someone who would enjoy him and want to be around him on runs. Drastic times called for drastic measures.
Stubbing out the butt of the cigarette, Jezzie pushed off the block to walk around and peer down the women's side entrance.
"You two good in there?"
He really liked the girl. Already he was smitten and thinking about murder to anyone who tried to snatch her up.
I knew a few back home who would make moves on a shy, innocent barista. All the rough and brawn made people drool over anything unlike them.
"Give us a minute, would ya?" Aster snapped back.
Jezzie huffed, returning to me as I crushed my butt with my heel.
I shrugged to his confusion and saw him frown at the open boot.
"You reckon it's too small? Not comfy enough?" he worried in mutters to me.
I giggled, shaking my head.
"It's not like you can throw a blow-up mattress in there."
His grin came before it turned cheeky.
"The things we could do on that!" he nudged me and mimed fucking the girl.
I laughed with him, quickly falling silent when Aster returned to glare at Jezzie caught in his pose.
"You wouldn't know what to do with it" she jeered to his quick correction and embarrassed peer to the frightened girl "besides, we need to figure out what to do with her first. She's got her period."
Jessie's nose scrunched and I looked the girl over who refused to look at any of us.
"It's a natural thing, you brute" Aster pulled the girl against her side to rub a comforting hand along her arm "and if she's going to be your 'forever', you need to treat her right."
The girl looked to Aster, then to Jezzie, trying to speak while shaking her head frantically.
"Obviously, she loves the idea" I forced a smile while Jezzie's lip curled.
"She hates me too" he threw a hand up "I knew it."
"She's just confused" I reassured him as he started to stomp back to the car "we did kind of throw her in the boot and tie her up."
She almost escaped that second stop too, but Jezzie was determined on keeping her locked in his arms. Taping her screaming mouth settled both of them when he was convinced she hated him there too.
"She can sit with me in the front" he pointed.
"Fuck off!" Aster gasped back when we followed "I drove us here!"
"And I'll drive back" Jezzie snarled "unless you want to leave me with my Double Chocolate Queen in the back seat?"
"Nuh, Aster" I mumbled to her fuming face "I'm not being stuck next to him like that."
Smashed against the window trying to ignore Jezzie fawning over his girl? I wasn't here to ride out a relaxing trip while wishing I hadn't agreed to take it.
"Stick her in the front. His hands will be busy."
"Oh yeah they will be" Jezzie smirked from the drivers side he slid into.
Aster shot me a glare that I shrunk under. She forced the girl into the front before clipping herself into the back with me.
"So, are we going to grab some pads?" Aster spoke up when Jezzie reversed the car to peel it back onto the dirt road "We had to make do back there. There's a corner shop a couple of k's from here. It's right next to a servo."
Aster stabbed in a few words into her phone she held between Jezzie and the girl. There was a blue line taking us right to the doorstep.
"You can park it down the road and chuck up the sun reflector" I added hopefully "I'd kill for a soft drink."
Aster groaned in agreeance.
"I'll grab some chips too. The hot kind with gravy and chicken salt."
I groaned now. That sounded like absolute heaven waiting to burn my tongue and dance in my clenching stomach.
"Dude, we have to."
Jezzie grumbled, trying to ignore us.
"She'll bled all over your lovely seats that you'll have to scrub out because you couldn't make a stop" Aster threatened in a tone more for joking "but... if you want to keep going..."
Grumbling, Jezzie glanced with a softened glare to the girl and agreed.
"Only for a little" he warned our celebration in the back "we don't want to get caught."
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Pulling up down the road and shoving up the plain silver reflector, I climbed into the driver's seat that Jezzie slid out of.
"Remember, if shit goes down, take her home" he prodded my shoulder "we won't be long."
"I'll be back soon, sweetheart" Aster leant over to address the girl who nodded.
Her eyes glistened on the verge of tears.
The doors were slammed shut and I leant over to make sure the vents weren't aimed directly at the girl so I could flick the air conditioning on.
No-one could see us here. The reflector covered our front completely, and our damaged vechile blended right into the others parked up the sides of the roads.
The girl muffled again, running her fingers along her knees.
Were they sore again?
I guess I had been a bit too harsh on them in trying to shove her into the boot for a second time.
Locking the car completely from the panel beside me, I leant over to scratch at the tape and grab a length to peel back.
"Remember, don't do anything" I warned her "it's only the knees."
Her ankles were still tied tight. She couldn't escape even if she wanted to.
The girl nodded frantically and shifted herself back so that her shoes were on the dashboard. I could unwrap her legs easier this way.
Scrunching up the tape as I went, I was left holding a ball of it when the girl muffled out something else.
A thanks maybe?
She really was a sweet-looking thing. I don't think Jezzie even got her name before he decided she'd be in his life forever.
As much as i loved Jezzie and the gang, this girl wasn't one of us. She'd fight the order and make it worse on herself in trying to escape.
For now, she knew she couldn't, but that wouldn't stop her when she had to be cut free.
Jezzie wouldn't let her frantic sprint for freedom slide either. He'd have his dream girl beside him one way or another.
She could do with a break. She looked like she needed it.
"I'm going to take off the gag" I told her instant agreeance "but, if you scream, it goes right back on, ok?"
She nodded frantically, bracing and sobbing when my fingers untied the knot pressed into the back of her head.
"Oh my God" she gasped as her fingers touched her cracked lips "oh my God."
She needed a drink. Her white tongue tried to paste saliva over her lips that still remained dry.
I pulled out my phone to shoot Aster a message. The least she could do was bring back a drink for us both while she was there.
"I need to go home" the girl's eyes darted down to my phone I slid back into my pocket "my mum will be wondering where I am. My dad is going to ask questions."
"Jezzie made up his mind" I shrugged "there's nothing I can do."
In the pecking order, he was above me. He'd proven himself to the gang more than I had. He had many more years with them, but loyalty could be earned through so many more other ways. Aster was most certaintly rubbing shoulders with the leader. She only did that because she had helped carve up a couple hundred traitors and thieves. She hadn't even been there as long as Jezzie either.
"I want to see my boyfriend" she begged, sobbing.
My heart stung for her, but my gut churned.
"Listen, you need to forget about him. You can't be mentioning him around the others. It'll make them pissed."
"Who, M-Marcel?" she sniffled.
Was that his name? I don't think I had heard that one outside of games. It was exotic, that was for sure.
She didn't seem too anguished about it. Maybe it was a young love? Something older would have her way more hysterical.
Maybe she had just given up at this stage? She looked exhausted. She still smelled like the coffee grinds of her workplace.
Pulling out my pinging phone, I smiled at the photo Aster had sent of which brand to get for the girl.
She really was putting her first. With a bit of love and guidance, transitioning wouldn't be so hard. The girl had a lot more to lose, which would make it trickier to tear her from.
Maybe.... she didn't have to?
No.
Brushing the thought, I showed the girl the photo for her to pick from.
"I want to go home" she whispered when I leant back to reply.
My eyes glanced up to her tearful ones. My heart ached again in guilt at what I had gladly been a part of.
If I had something to go back to, I'd want that chance too.
Groaning, I placed down my phone.
Jezzie could be convinced to get another girl. Maybe I could interest him in someone not so bitchy in the gang, like Mable?
Its keep him distracted long enough to throw the scent off this one until he fixated on her again.
By that time, I hope she was smart enough to be long gone.
Fuck.
Stall Aster. That would be the first step. Jezzie wouldn't leave without her.
Punching in a request for a different brand, I dropped my phone down in the middle compartment so I could lift my arse up and slide out my pocket knife.
Yanking the girl's hands towards me, I desperately sawed at them.
"You stay off the road and keep heading back that way" I jerked my head behind me "if you can, catch a bus; Jezzie hates busses. You'll quit your job and move with Marcel somewhere else. Don't go back, he'll only grab you again."
The girl nodded as she listened, the tears returning.
"There's members linked to the cops" I tore off the duct tape and slapped her legs for her to put them on the dash again "don't tell them where you are. They'll send someone worse to find you."
"What do I do?" she frowned.
"Just run. Don't stop until you make sure it's safe. Even if you have to hide somewhere and have your boyfriend come to you, just make sure you aren't found."
The girl's lip trembled and she choked out a sob.
"Thank you."
I ripped the tape off her ankles and bundled it into the ball I handed her.
"Throw this somewhere on your way. I'll try to keep them off you for as long as I can."
Another ping on my phone startled me. I didn't have much time.
Snatching it up and rambling in a stupid response, I unlocked the car and gestured for her to leave.
"Hurry!" I whispered "they'll be back any moment!"
"Thank you!" she squeaked out before throwing open the door and bolting down the road she quickly diverted from.
I threw myself out too and dashed for a patch of ground opposite the car.
Hearing my phone ping again, I stuffed it into my pocket and yanked down my pants enough to wriggle out my dick.
Urging myself to pee, I was grateful when the stream started just as Jezzie and Aster could be seen returning.
I made sure not to check the way the girl had gone. I kept my focus on my puddle of pee that steadily dried up.
The cries from a distressed Jezzie hit me first.
I heard him tear through the car and groan out. His snarling breath advanced on me to shove me.
"She's gone!"
"No..." I frowned as I shook and zipped back up "...she's right th..."
I pointed to the car, shutting my mouth when I saw the door still wide open.
Eyes wide. Look confused. Sound regretful.
This was easier to fake than I thought.
"She was right here, Cameron!" Aster complained with a bag in her hand "what the hell happened?"
I pointed to the stream snaking down the grass sheepishly.
"I didn't know she was going to escape!" I whined back "she was tied up! I didn't hear a thing!"
"FUCK!" Jezzie snapped while scanning the clear landscape for her "FUCK!"
"Look" I searched too, confused "she's panicked, right? She'll head to town where there are people, maybe use a phone or something?"
Jezzie growled, agreeing. He rushed for the car, leaving Aster to approach me and lay a hand on my shoulder.
"Nice one, idiot" she muttered under her breath.
We exchanged a smile, before she shoved me for the car she ran to.
"HURRY UP!" Aster threw open the back door for me to clamber into "we can catch her before she gets away!"
Jezzie skidded us along the tar as he tried to jerk the car back on the road again.
I grinned to myself as we sped along in the opposite direction the girl had gone.
Hopefully she ran and didn't look back.
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