cowritten by emotionless
All that is left of the blood that had once flowed thick and scarlet in her veins and out of her wound is a drenched shirt, and neatly packed gauze. They come to a stop and Casper, ever the gentleman, hooks an arm around her and helps her to the black sedan. She winces and tries to relax as her cohorts do their parts. She draws a smiley face on her abdomen in the already congealing blood, to Quin blood was no more interesting than any other mess that needed cleaning
“Oh, it goes without saying, but at least try to take it easy. Like wait a few weeks before you whip out that big pink strap on.” Casper says and Quin quirks an eyebrow at him as if to say ‘you should know better’.
“There is nothing easy about me baby boy, and a little hole will not keep me from my hedonist ways.” Quin says as she moved to the far side of the back seat. They are gone just as quickly as they had come, a fiery ball of yellow flame, billowing outwards left in their wake. Quin turns her eyes to the passing scenery only half-aware of a world outside the claustrophobic comfort of the car as her Bambi pulls away from the disastrous scene that is likely to have the closest town’s police department's finest on their way, siren's blazing.
The wind pushes on the car to no avail. They are going forwards and nothing can change that. The tires make their monotonous hiss over the sun heated highway and the air that makes its way through the filters is meadow-sweet. All around, through these tinted windows are fields. The world outside continues like some choreographed dance but without the soul it should have. Quin closes her eyes she can feel the gentle rise and fall of the road beneath them.
Sleep stole over Quin quickly, more so than she would ever have expected considering the situation they were currently residing in. Her small frame is curled to one side as if in protection of itself, and her full lips are slightly parted. Her long, ebony lashes, free of mascara, brushed her cheekbones. Her heart thumps in accordance with slow, shallow breaths. Serenity is plastered across her face as she sleeps. At peace, for a suspended moment, her consciousness swirls in the land of dreams, oblivious to the physical world.
Time passes, Quin watches it dissolve like a mirage across a desert as the sedan flew across the empty horizon.
Spinning cylinders, heart racing, time slipped past her fingers like loose sand. There was a quiet energy buzzing between them, as if at any moment they could all go down.
The flats blended in the sky, changing colors as the sun set. Bambi just kept driving into the sun, chasing the light. She heard mumbles around her but with the engine beneath her and the stereo playing softly as to not attract attention, she was in another world. Driving had that affect on her, you might as well be talking to a brick wall ig you try to start a conversation with her behind the wheel. Everything about driving was hypnotizing; wind brushing your hair back, sun kissing your skin, the engine humming beneath you as the world races past you.
It was somewhere just over state line she lowered the volume and pointed out an upcoming truck stop. The others protested.
She nodded along but ignored their suggestions, taking the exit anyway.
The lot was mostly cargo trucks, with some scattered run down sedans throughout. On one lot was a gas station with an attached diner. There were signs in the gas station window advertising showers available within. On the other end of the lot was a plain brown building with a neon XXX on the window. Bambi put the car in park, nodding to the conspicuous brown building. “My type of establishment - whaddya reckon, titty bar or pervy anime porn dispensary?”
“I’m sure you’re going to find out.” She heard one of the boys joke. She looked back to find Quin passed out in the back seat, better off she stayed in the car anyways.
“Grab me a slim jim and a water?” She asked, bouncing away without another word in direction of the shabby building. It was sadder than she expected inside, baron and dimly lit. A balding man sat behind a glass display case of exotic sex toys. Bambi drifted toward the magazines, curiosity immediately sinking its hooks into her. There was something for everyone, with every sort of fetish. A goofy smile took over her expression as she flipped through the fetish magazines. She grabbed a few, paid cash and thanked the man behind the corner as she left.
Quin’s eyes move under the lids in a somewhat frantic manor before they shoot open and she sits up suddenly. The sedan is at a stop and Bami is no longer behind the wheel. It is too dark in the car for Quin’s liking. Panic begins in her abdomen, and logic is of no use to her groggy adrenaline addled brain. Tension grew in her face and limbs. Her breathing became more rapid, more shallow. Thoughts are accelerating inside her head. She wants them to slow so she can breathe but they won't. Her breaths come in gasps and she feels like she will black out. Her heart is hammering inside her chest like it belongs to a rabbit running for its skin. In these moments before her personal hurricane, she understood the drug addict, the alcoholic... anything to stop the primal surge to flee. She frantically pushes through the pain in her side as she reaches for the pistol tucked into her boot. The warm smooth metal helps her fight her way back to reality. Quin takes in their surroundings. They are at a truck stop…The Oasis.
Bambi opens the door to the back seat to see a frantic Quin, her pain evident. The light reflected from the pistol in her hand. Bambi grinned, “Got you some reading material.” She said, tossing the magazines into Quin’s lap before climbing into the back seat. Curling up beside Quin like a cat she opened a bondage magazine. While bondage mostly bored her, the outfits were incredible.
She heard Casper and Andreas before she saw them, she could recognize the sound of their footsteps as they approached. Neither could see them in the backseat behind the tinted windows, so when Casper opened the window he didn’t expect for Bambi to come out. She stepped into his space, pivoting around him before he had time to react. “Thanks for getting the door, cutie.” She winked.
Armed with sustenance, Bambi was granted a second wind. They weren’t far from the designated meet spot, but if Bambi knew the others there’d be little time for rest upon arrival. Bambi never would get her own room, she’d either end up passed out with her head between Quin’s legs or Alexie asleep in her lap. Bambi instead found her moments of solidarity taking a cruise on her own, or just listening to music smoking a cigarette stretched out in the back seat. Something about four points of exit and wheels to take her anywhere made her feel safe.
The sun sunk below the horizon, dusk came and went leaving them under an indigo sky, driving further into obscurity, They’d go to where no one would ask questions, they always did. Bambi wasn’t surprised to see that the others had arrived before them. After the chase Bambi usually kept to the speed limit unlike the others did.
The motel was one of those seedy places men with beer guts go to bang other men's wives with promises they cant afford to keep. It was a place hooker's brought their john's who paid for rooms by the hour. A place where no one takes a second glance at a rag tag group of individuals of the shady persuasion. Weeds grow through the cracks in the concrete path, and the litter from cheap take-out meals are strewn across it. The whole building looks like the building inspector was either bribed to pass it or drunk on the job. There are at least two screaming matches going on in separate rooms, and the cars in the lot wouldn't have been out of place in a wrecker's yard. Quin sighs and finds her way to the pitiful office they called the ‘concierge station’. She couldn’t help but snort in derision at that.
Sketchy characters watched as she crossed to the liquor store, the hem of the t-shirt she wore only covering the tops of her thighs as she walked. The thin fabric did little to keep her warm from the cool night, goosebumps rising across her arms and legs. Her fingers ran though her hair, it felt like it needed a wash, stringy breath her fingers.
It was even colder inside, she crossed her arms to keep the tip of her breasts from poking out from beneath the fabric. The store reminded her a lot of the sex shop from earlier, despite the better lighting. It was impossible not to see Alexie, he towered above the aisles. The top of Ash’s head bobbed in and out of sight.
“What do you want?” Asked the man behind the counter. She pointed at a tin of loose tobacco and a pack of papers. She stood at the counter after having paid, rolling a cigarette and waiting for Alexie and Ash to find her leaning against the counter, waiting for them.
[color=#800000Behind the counter at the front desk sits a young man, greasy dark locks fall loosely in his face, a beany placed haphazardly on his egg shaped head. Too young to be working, let alone a night shift at a shitty motel. Quin can read people at a glance, and this boy screams lack of parenting. She could tell he survives junk food, alcohol, and some unknown substance she is sure is not legal. She sighs and meets his glazed half lidded eyes. Not her circus, not her monkeys.
“Didn’t your mamma ever tell you it’s not nice to stare?” Quin grinds out as she pulls money from the bralette she is wearing as confidently as any T-shirt. The man-child pointedly looks at her wound and she rolls her eyes. She slaps the money on the counter to get his attention.
“I fell down the stairs. Reservation, under Peaches McGee, bottom four rooms.” Quin says as she snatches the keys from him and she turns on her heel and leaves.
There are external wooden stairs that Quin passes by without a second glance. Quin never took anything but the bottom floor. No exceptions. She opened the door on the corner and flicked the light on…and back off again. She would need a drink before she would sleep in this dump.
She shuts the door and turns back to the sedan. A few minutes of cursing and ruffling around she finds a backpack with clothes. She pulls out a black backpack and finds a plain black T. A few quick cuts with her pocket knife and some well placed ties and she has an acceptable shirt.
Quin made her way to the Liquor store. She spotted Bambi, and with a small grin she stole her freshly wrapped cigarette.
“I need booze, so I’m ransoming your cigarette. Fair deal? Play nice and you might even get a kiss.” She says with a playful smile.[/color]
Bambi looked offended, mouth agape and a fire behind her icy stare, fixed on Quin. The clerk seemed dumbfounded, but Quin had that affect on others. Muttering under her breath, Bambi pouted as she shook her head, rolling the next cigarette.