A Road-trip

I opened my eyes, but it was still dark. I blinked a few times, but still nothing. I tried hard to move, but something was holding me still. I was sweating, and it was hard to breathe which made me realize I was in a really narrow place.

What the fuck is happening? Where am I? Breathing deeply, trying to calm down, I remembered that crazy psycho knocking me out when I refused to go with her, and now that my mind was clearer, I knew where I was.

Did she seriously lock me in the car trunk? Shit... for how long was I unconscious? I reflected while I frantically moved my hands that were behind my back and noticed they were bound together by handcuffs.

Where the bloody hell does this woman keep on finding those things?

Since trying to free my hands was useless, I decided to use my feet. Collecting my strength, I delivered strong blows to the trunk's cover. I kept on doing it for a minute or so until I felt the car stop. I heard one of the car doors opening and then slamming shut.

Footsteps were approaching me and suddenly the trunk was opened and a blinding light hit my face. It took me a moment to adjust my vision and there, in front of me, stood the devil herself smiling innocently."What the fuck is this for?" I spat with rage.

"What do you mean? You were so soundly sleeping that I didn't want to wake you up" she replied, still with that smile on her face.

"Soundly sleeping? you hit me! again! And that doesn't answer my question on why I'm handcuffed in a car trunk!"

"Oh, that's because you're stubborn and I didn't want you to cause me more trouble," she said calmly like it was the normal thing to do.

"Are you kidding me? You know I could have died from both the blow to my head and suffocation in here."

She answered, placing a hand on her waist, grinning "Not a chance. I'm an expert in killing people, I didn't deliver a deadly blow to your head and plus, I was opening the trunk for you every once in a while so you wouldn't suffocate."

I gazed at her with daggers shooting from my eyes. I've never wanted in my whole life to hit a woman that badly."Come on doc. Don't look at me like this. I was being nice, I even bought you a milkshake. Here! Take a sip." She added, approaching the straw to my lips.

"I don't want a fucking milkshake!! I want you to get the hell out of my life and....wait a minute...are you wearing my jacket?" I remarked, scanning her clothes

"Yeah, you noticed? I needed to get new clothes because my old ones were bloody, so I took your jacket to cover myself while I was shopping and I kept it because I was a bit cold and you didn't need it while in the trunk. Does it look good?" she sang, doing a full spin.

"Sooo...let me get this straight. You knocked me out with a wrench, took my jacket, handcuffed me, threw me in the trunk, went shopping, and bought a milkshake... while the entire fucking country is searching for us right now?!"

"No. I bought a burger too. I wanted to leave you some but it was too delicious. Don't worry, I will get you one later."

"Are you fucking crazy?!!" I yelled in frustration.

"It took you an entire day to figure that out?" she joked "And don't worry, with all the chaos it will take them a while to notice our escape. Anyway, it was nice chatting with you. See ya later!" she ended, closing the trunk again.

"NO, NO WAIT!! please don't leave me here. I won't stand it here while awake." I begged, trying to stop her.

"What do you want me to do? Knock you out again?" She proposed, excited.

"What, NO! If you hit me on my head one more time, I will surely go into a coma!! Please. Just let me sit in the car. I promise I won't try to escape...you can even handcuff me if you want." I pleaded desperately to get out of there.

She looked into my eyes intensely before finally declaring: "Fine...you can sit in the car. But if you try anything like escaping or crying for help, I will definitely knock you into a coma"

"Yes, I promise. Just get me out of this hellhole." She grabbed me by my shoulders and yanked me out helping me to stand on my feet. I swayed a little forward when my legs couldn't support me but she caught me and dragged me to the backseat of the car. She opened one of the handcuffs and attached it to the grab handle on the car ceiling leaving me with one arm in the air. It was very uncomfortable but much better than being stuck in the trunk. She closed the door and went to the driver's seat, starting the car. Then she turned around and handed me the milkshake. Glaring at her, I took it; too thirsty to argue.

We drove like this in complete silence for a while and honestly, I was thinking of different ways to get myself out of this situation but nothing was in my favor; I was handcuffed to the car, the windows were darkened, no one from the outside can see my misery, and looking at the passenger seat next to her, she still had that damned axe and I was sure as hell she wasn't going to hesitate before using it if I did something stupid. So, I decided to talk to her, maybe I could persuade her to let me go."So...where are we going?"

"I don't know yet" she answered in her calm bored voice.

"Are we just driving with no destination?" I asked surprised.

"Be patient. We will get a call on where to go in a few minutes" She explained, showing me one of those old-version mobile phones that normally are hard to track down.

"A call from who?" I was barely able to finish my question when the phone started to ring. She turned her head lightly and said in a firm voice "Keep your mouth shut" before answering.

"Hallo ja, wo kann ich jetzt hin?" ( Hello yes, where do I go now?)

"Ok, ich verstehen. Ich gehe Jetzt dorthin" (okay, I understand. I am going there now.) she ended the call, threw the phone out of the window, and took a right turn increasing the speed.

"Was this German?" I blurted out.

She looked at me with her magical eyes using her rearview mirror. "Nothing goes past you doc, does it? Yes, it was German."

"Do you speak different languages?"

"Not really. German is my mother tongue."

I widened my eyes, not expecting that "I didn't see that coming. Your English is very good"

"Seriously. You Americans always think that your language and accent are so hard for foreigners" she said mocking while imitating a thick accent.

"Hah...that's kind of true. So you're German or...?"

"Ya" she answered briefly and after a swift silence, she added "If you're going to make a stupid Nazis joke, I'm going to hang you from your balls"

"What? No, I wasn't. I would never bring that up. I'm half black so not really a big fan."

She abruptly slowed the car down and turned around to look at me. "You're half black?!"

"Are you genuinely asking me this or just teasing me?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes.

"No seriously. I'm surprised. You look more like a regular white dude who spent a day or two on the beach and got a tan"

"Are you making fun of my skin tone?"

She began laughing out loud in response, throwing stupid comments at me "I mean...Isn't calling you black an insult to the entire black community?"

"Stop it! Don't you think I heard enough of these comments from my dad growing up?" I growled.

"Wait... your dad is the black one?" more laughter was heard "Oh my god! I'm sure he was so disappointed when he entered the hospital room that day" and she kept on making fun of me, tears coming out of her eyes.

"I said CUT IT OUT!" but my yelling to shut her up didn't work.

"Hey, I have a question. Do you have a pass to call the real black people the N-word?"

Scowling at her, I scolded "Shut up! You were annoyed when you thought I was going to make a joke about your ethnicity and yet you are being racist!"

"I am not being racist. I am just being a bully...to YOU" She had a good laugh until eventually, she got tired of it and finally shut her big mouth.

I don't believe it. I didn't only get kidnapped, hit, and dragged along, now I also have to hear this bullshit from a crazy psychopathic killer? What the hell did I do to deserve this?

We didn't exchange any words after that conversation and actually, it was for the best, even though my arm had been aching like crazy from being up in the air for what felt like an hour. I really wanted to nag about it but I wasn't in the right state of mind to put up with my kidnapper's mood swings. Right now, what occupied me was this woman's identity, who she talked to, and where the fuck she was taking me to.

"Are you dead back there doc?" she asked but I didn't answer. I really didn't want to deal with her.

"Ohhhh...the silence treatment? Are you mad doc?" She insisted.

"Could you stop calling me that stupid nickname? My name is Alexander or Alex. You could even call me by my last name, just don't call me that anymore. You sound foolishly annoying!!" I exploded directing all my anger on a ridiculous matter.

I saw her frowning, before yelling back "I call you whatever the fuck I want!! you can't tell me what to do in your position and don't yell at me!! I like you, but I don't like you THAT much. So keep it down, shithead. You know what happens when I lose it".

"You like me? Should I be flattered or something?" I grinned.

"Hell yes, you should! Because you wouldn't have kept your pretty head on your shoulders otherwise."

"Can't you deal with your problems without using violence?" I snapped back.

"What did you just s-" our immature argument was interrupted by red and blue lights, a police car quickly passed next to ours and went the opposite way. In an instant, Ezra's face turned rigid. She looked forward, setting her mind on a targeted destination, and drove at full speed.

Remembering the tight situation we were in, I shut my mouth, calmed myself, and sat back in my seat waiting for my fate. A few minutes later, she pulled inside a large building's parking lot and stepped out of the car, taking her favorite weapon with her. She opened my door, released my hand, and signed me with her head to follow her. I didn't have much choice but to do so. Like I've been doing since this morning.

We walked towards an array of cars and she started checking them out, reading the plate numbers and skipping to the next one when she wasn't satisfied with the numbers she was reading and by the look of it, she was searching for a specific car.

I stood in my place, looking at her while she continued her search between cars until she started cursing and yelling in a mix of English and German as she kicked one of them.

Her outburst and change in mood are going to be our downfall. what the fuck was she mad about now?

Rolling my eyes, I dared to look closer as she kept kicking an old, white car's wheel."Ummm...What are you doing?" I asked and she looked at me with the face of a child who is not satisfied with his gift on Christmas morning and whined "I asked that dickhead of Roy to find me a suitable car which wasn't stolen and hard to track and he gave me a beater clunker! A fucking car that can barely run a mile before it breaks to pieces!"

I looked over at the car again, it really was in a bad shape: the left mirror was missing, the paint was peeling on the edges, the front defense was tilted due to the lack of some screws and the tires were old.

"At least no one will ever guess that we are driving a car like this," I said with a shrug, trying to calm her down.

"Just get in this junk" she ordered, walking to the driver's door, grabbing the handle, fighting with it for a few seconds, and finally settling in the seat, placing the ax in the back and looking intensely in my direction through the front glass.

My body moved automatically and I sat in the passenger seat next to her "My body hurts like hell and I have no reason to escape because I am probably as wanted as you are right now. So just let me be and drive." She didn't even look at me or said anything, she just turned on the ignition and drove out of the parking to the main road.

Who is that Roy guy she mentioned? Is he her employer or something? Then is she a hitman? This woman is getting more and more mysterious. I reflected.

"Are you hungry?" She suggested, stopping at a red light.

I glanced at her, raising my eyebrow "No, I don't really have the appetite. why are you asking?"

"Because we are going for a long ride and I don't need you nagging."

"When did I ever nag? And what do you mean by a long ride, where are we going?"

"It's none of your concern," she replied dryly and I didn't insist anymore, turning around to look out of the window. if she wasn't going to tell me, I wasn't going to beg her to. It doesn't matter either way.

"Hey, there is something bothering me," I glanced at her, waiting for the question "why are you so calm?" she asked.

"Calm?... Me? I am not. My mind is a mess."

"Really? You look too calm for someone in your circumstances."

I thought about her question for a minute before answering. "Maybe because I am still trying to process everything. Or I'm developing Stockholm syndrome." I said with a grin.

"What's that?" She questioned, seemingly interested.

"Stockholm syndrome is a coping mechanism where people develop positive feelings toward their captors or abusers over time" I explained.

"Wow...you people really give a name to everything" she mocked.

why does she care how I feel anyway. Isn't she the main cause of my problems?

Sighing, I looked back out of the window where it started to rain again. I felt my eyelids become heavy and tiredness started to get the best of me. Dosing off, I heard the sound of falling raindrops hitting the glass like a lullaby putting me to sleep. I woke up a while later with a hand on my shoulder shaking me violently. "Rise and shine Princess! Move your ass out because I won't carry you bride-style to the motel!"

"The motel? What motel?" I mumbled, with eyes half closed, looking sideways. We were parked outside of a deserted motel and it was already dark. I must have slept for hours."Why are we here?" I added.

"Because we need to rest...duh!!" she answered annoyed. "Don't worry, I'm a killer, not a rapist. Move it. Come on." She walked out, slamming the car door hard enough to dislocate it. I followed her, yawning, lazily stretching. Every muscle in my body was screaming in pain.

She opened the trunk and took a suitcase, opening it, there were two guns inside and an envelope with a few dollar bills inside. She closed it and walked up the stairs to our room. Climbing behind her, I asked: "Did you have those with you all this time?"

"Yeah... but I'm not a big fan of fire guns. I prefer slicing tools." she answered smiling, looking at the ax on her left shoulder before she added, "However, we will need those if someone has the bright idea to come knocking on our door." I just nodded and we entered a poorly lit motel room that she had opened with an old key.