Chapter 4
"He did what!'' After minutes of crying and trying to speak up and falling back into a mess, Ruby finally told Jack what her father planned to do to her. He was too stunned to speak.
"It's okay, I plan on running away". She said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"This is not the time for jokes Ruby". He seemed to be the only one panicking.
"I am not joking, I am being serious". Ruby had this playful side to her, even in the midst of a crisis, she would find a way to see the positive sides of things. Jack was having a hard time believing her, and she didn't blame him, she too didn't believe that she could actually do it, actually run away. A scowl evident on her face, she turned to face Jack, at least he should believe in her a little bit, that would definitely boost her morale.
"Well if you don't see me at school tomorrow, just know I went through with my plan". And with that she turned back on her heel, grabbed Jack's hand and dragged him to their
next class. She was scheming her get away plan as she and Jack sat down for their next class, she just really hoped when the time came she wouldnt back down.
The last bell rang, indicating the end of a school day, it was now or never...
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After school hours, Ruby's driver came to pick her up but she was nowhere to be seen. The driver thought she had probably left earlier than expected and so did not give much thought to it and went back home.
From a distance Ruby watched as her driver left the school premises and let out a breath of relief. It was time to execute her plan, she didn't quite believe she was going through with it. Jack had gone to attend to Allison a while ago and had not come back.
"Guess I am doing this alone then-" she mumbled to herself as she left the school premises, found the nearest bus station, and hopped on a bus leading to God knows where.
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Alexander entered the bar and made himself comfortable on one of the bar stools. The bar was plain and had half naked women roaming around the place. Some made a few advances on him but no one practically caught his eye, and besides he had a multitude of women waiting for him when he got back to his house.
Few hours in, he was bored already and stood up to leave when a young girl entering the bar caught his attention. She was definitely young, and looked young and scared, probably still in high school, so what was she finding here?
For a second she reminded him of Victoria, it couldn't be her.. Could it?, he made an attempt to approach her but stopped in his tracks, what was he doing, he watched Victoria die that night, there's no way that could be her, he thought, as he stood up to exit the bar, when he heard her plead with a drunk man who was trying to grope her. Didn't she see the sign board outside before she came in? What was she expecting-
"Leave me alone!'' she continued to plead with him, as the drunk man held her by the collar and tried to kiss her. He really didn't want to meddle....
"What kind of sick place and people are you all, this man is trying to harass me and you are all just sitting there doing nothing-". She was cut short when the drunk man threw her to the floor. He really didn't want to interfere, but he was also one who enjoyed using any means as an excuse just to beat people up.
"She said she wasn't interested".
"Mind your business twerp" the drunk mind said while pushing Alexander back, he really shouldn't have done that. Alex had a smirk on his face, dusted his shoulder and pushed the girl aside.
"You really shouldn't have done that-''
"Oh yeah? And what do you want to do about it-''
By now they had gotten the attention of the entire bar, some were cheering them on, most were exiting the bar incase someone decided to call the cops. The next thing the drunken man felt was a fist connecting with his cheek. He held onto to it groaning in pain. His eyes were bloodshot-
"You bastard-''
He attempted to hit Alexander but Alexander moved out of the way, held the man by his trousers and sent him flying over the counter, taking some bottles down with him.
He looked over to see the girl trying to exit the bar quietly, what an ungrateful brat.
"And where do you think you are going?"
She looked up to him with a timid expression on her face as he grabbed her out of the bar and onto the deserted street outside.
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Ruby had fallen asleep when her phone rang, jolting her back awake. 5 missed calls, two from Jack and the rest from her father. She felt a chill run down her spine, she could not go back now, her father would kill her.
She checked the time on her phone, it was 7pm, she had been asleep for almost 2 hours. The bus suddenly came to a stop, making her head collide with the seat in front of her.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we seem to have a flat tire, please feel free to go out and freshen up, and be back in 3o minutes, again we are truly sorry."
This earned a few grumbles here and there, at that exact moment Ruby's stomach rumbled, she had not really had anything to eat today, she followed some people as they came down from the bus in search of something to eat or the restroom.
She got to a convenience store and realized she had no money on her. It was at that moment she realised she fucked up.
"No no no, what was I thinking..." she was clearly not in her right state of mind when she decided to run away from home, she had no money, no change of clothes, hell she didn't even have her phone charger on her, at that exact moment her phone battery went flat.
"Don't do this to me please,'' she let out a frustrated scream, which got her stares from people. She was lost and was panicking, so she decided to look around for a phone booth and call Jack for help.
Five minutes into her walk she felt a presence behind her, she look behind her to see a man dressed in all black following her, she thought she was just overreacting and so picked up her pace, she looked back to see the man increasing his steps, she was scared, picked up her speed and ran into the dark night.