Hollow Point

Footsteps echoed through the room as Noire continued to pace. "Sulfuric acid..how could I ever get my hands on something like that? I don't go to school anymore, I don't work at a school." She placed her hands on her hips and looked out the window towards Hollow Point. "I have to hurry. There's only 15 hours until I head up to get Daelen free." She paused, but got back to pacing at once. Suddenly, a thought popped into her head and she raced to her phone, punching in the numbers quickly.

"Hello?" answered the elderly voice of Mrs. Cummings. She sounded quite tired today.

"Good morning, Mrs. Cummings. I was wondering if I could borrow Vilhelmas for a quick minute before he heads off to school." Noire's heart raced. Things were already going so well, she had a good feeling tonight wouldn't be any different.

"I'm sorry, Noire, Vilhelmas has already started walking to-" They were interrupted by a loud knock on Noire's front door.

Noire's eyes widened a bit. "Well, I guess he decided to drop by for a visit anyways. Thank you, Mrs. Cummings." She hung up and ran over to her door, opening it quickly.

Behind the door stood Vilhelmas, grinning broadly. "Need me, do you?" he asked smugly.

She tried her hardest not to gag and invited him inside. "Yes. I have a favor to ask you. I need you to get some sulfuric acid from school. Say you're doing a project of some sort. Plus, if you don't ask me what it's for, you, my friend, will be getting a kiss." Noire's eyebrows raised slightly and she grinned.

Vilhelmas instantly brightened and a blush crept up his face. "On the lips," he demanded. "And I want to know what you need it for."

Noire frowned and shook her head. "I was going to give you a kiss on the lips, but seeing as you want to know what it's for, I'm afraid it can't happen."

The boy stopped dead. "N-no! I'll still do it, you don't have to tell me!" He looked desperately at her, not wanting this rare opportunity to be wasted.

A grin reappeared on Noire's face and she hugged Vilhelmas. "Thank you so much. I'll give you a kiss if you can get the sulfuric acid today. Sound good?"

Vilhelmas smirked, his red face positively glowing. "Yeah, of course, Noire. I'll be back here at around two." Somewhat reluctantly, he finally turned and left, but not before starting to whistle a happy tune.

Noire smirked, before realizing she was going to need something to cut the bars once they had dissolved. She walked into the kitchen, searching through her knife drawer. "Hmm..no such luck here. Guess I'll have to face Mr. Ezra again and go buy a new knife from the general store." She threw on a sweatshirt and raced out the door to the store.

Once she got there, she put the hood up over her head, hoping that Mr. Ezra would not recognize her and ask why she was buying a small pocket knife.

Mr. Ezra squinted at her from behind the counter, finally settling into a scowl as he recognized her. He looked down at the knife in her hand, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Noire's face turned a bright shade of red as she placed the pocket knife on the counter. "This is all, sir." She pulled out 14 Litas, pushing them towards Mr. Ezra. "You can keep the change for a tip."

The old man didn't touch the currency, choosing instead to study her face distrustfully. Finally he spoke. "And..what does a little girl like you need a pocket knife for, huh?" His voice was quiet but gruff, his eyes flashing at her.

Her eyes shot down at the ground as she tried to hide her face. "I'm..I'm going camping with my next door neighbor. We thought that it would be a good idea to have one of these." She shut her eyes tightly, hoping he would buy into the lie.

He bit his lip but said nothing, instead taking the money and shoving the knife back at her.

"Thank you." she said quickly, rushing out of the store and back to her house. Throwing the knife on the coffee table, she threw herself down onto her leather chair. Her eyes began to close slowly as she fell asleep.
--
A loud knock at the door shook Noire awake from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and stumbled over to the door, opening it slowly.

Vilhelmas stood there yet again, this time looking even more eager, clutching a brown bag tightly. His eyes were bright from adrenaline.

Noire smiled and took the bag from him carefully. She opened it, revealing a small tube of a clear liquid. Her smile became wider as she closed up the bag again. "Thank you, Vilhelmas. Ready for your kiss?"

He nodded enthusiastically, leaning in and pucking up his lips at her.

"Oh. Well, I was wondering if we could do it outside. It'd be a bit more romantic, don't you think?" Noire winced in an attempt to smile.

Vilhelmas looked a little confused, but nodded again all the same, stepping back outside.

Noire led him out to the steps right outside her door. "Are you ready?" she asked, trying to be coy.

His eyes widened. "Yes," he breathed.

She leaned in, getting an inch away from his lips, before turning slightly and kissing him on the cheek. She quickly retreated and ran back to the door, opening it quickly. "Thanks again for the sulfuric acid, Vilhelmas!"

There was an indignant yell, muffled slightly by the slam of the door closing. "You tricked me!" he yelled angrily, his pouting tone shooting through the anger.

Noire cackled quietly, before placing the acid next to the pocket knife. "Now..I need to get Daelen some new clothes, plus some black clothes for him to wear tonight." Once again, she pulled on her sweatshirt and dashed out the door.
--
Noire avoided the lights as she snuck along the wall, her bag filled with all the goodies she needed for Daelen's escape. She bent down to the window. "Daelen?"

He looked up at her before his eyes trained on the bulky bag and he raised an eyebrow. Something sparked in his eyes. He turned his attention back to her, his expression strangely hopeful. "You came prepared." he pointed out, his voice carefully plain.

"Yeah.." she paused for a moment. "Well, I guess we better get going. I suggest we both stay away from the bars when I put the sulfuric acid on it. I don't want either of us to get burned."

Daelen looked impressed. "Good idea," he said quietly, stepping back into the darkness of his room.

Noire blushed slightly, beginning to get hopeful. She carefully poured the acid on the bars before putting the empty tube in a new bag. They both continued to sit and wait for 30 minutes, before the metal looked weak. Noire searched for Daelen through the darkness. "I should try cutting it now, shouldn't I?"

Daelen appeared very suddenly, studying the bars. "Can I?" he asked quietly.

She was taken back a bit, but smiled and handed Daelen the pocket knife. "Please be careful." she said nervously.

As Daelen took the knife, his knuckles whitened against the handle, gripping it like it was his last hope. He ran his finger down the sharp edge, not making any noise as a shallow cut appeared on his skin, the blood welling to the surface. And with that, he suddenly started to attack the bars with a burning determination, each slice bringing him closer to his freedom.

Noire nervously looked on, watching all of Daelen's anger pour out of him onto the bars. She watched as he scraped away the bars, acting as though nothing in this world could stop him from getting free.

As the last bar was cut away and fell to the ground with a soft clump, Daelen stood back, breathing hard. His eyes were wide, flashing with intense emotion, his hair falling haphazardly into his eyes. He gripped the window painfully hard, his harsh gasps turning into a silent laugh of relief. He finally looked up at Noire, his eyes staring into hers with genuine gratitude. Without a look back, he heaved himself up out of the window and fell upon the grass, staring up at the sky.

Tears began to stream down Noire's cheeks as she watched him marvel at the world he was taken away from. "Welcome back, Daelen." she whispered to him.

He stared at her, a slight smile gracing his features. "I haven't lain on the grass for so long," he whispered. His hand swiped across the ground softly. "Thank you."

She smiled at him once again, before looking over her shoulder at the lights surrounding the building. She frowned, before handing him the black clothes. "Here. I'll turn around and you can get changed into these. We best be leaving soon."

He nodded and stood, his eyes widening as if he couldn't quite believe this was reality. He towered over Noire as he grabbed the clothes and began to change.

Noire waited a few moments until she could hear Daelen put his ratty clothes into the bag. She stood up next to him and found herself to be about a foot and a half shorter than him. "Well..this is great." She looked up at him and smiled, before grabbing his hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Daelen blushed again as he felt her skin against his. Trying to ignore how awkward he felt, they rushed down the hill and away from Hollow Point.
--
"Dammit." Noire said as she dropped her keys on the stairs. She picked them up and fumbled around with them until she found her house key. "Welcome to the house, Daelen." she said as she opened up the door for him.

Daelen stepped in hesitantly, his hand trailing along the open door as he passed it. He tensed up as the door was closed a few moments later. Trapped.

Noire sensed Daelen beginning to panic. She looked at him with concern. "Don't worry, Daelen. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again. You're my best friend." She walked over to him and hugged him tightly, feeling at ease.

He stiffened in response to the unexpected contact, breaking away quickly. He turned and strode along the hallway, trying to find a more open space. He willed himself not to panic, but here he was again, his breathing coming in short bursts, his fists clenching against his sides as he paced around the main room.

Hurt, Noire followed him. "Daelen, please don't panic. Do you want to go outside to the lake? It's really beautiful out back."

Daelen shook his head, not meeting her eyes. He swallowed loudly and sat down on her couch, only to jump back up again and continue his purposeless pacing.

She started to become frustrated. "Well..here, Daelen. I bought you a lot of new clothes. New jeans, shorts, shirts, sweatshirts, shoes." She placed a large shopping bag by the couch. "There's food in the fridge. Help yourself whenever you get hungry. I'm going to make myself a salad. Would you like some?"

He just nodded, not able to speak.

Noire went into the kitchen, grabbing romaine lettuce out of the fridge, alone with shredded carrots and cheese. Pulling out two bowls, she poured equal amounts into each, topping it with homemade dressing. She walked over to Daelen, who was still pacing, and handed him the bowl. "Hope you like it."

Daelen finally muttered a soft, "Thanks," and sat down gingerly on the couch, holding onto the bowl like he was holding everything else lately: like his life depended on it. He tentatively picked up the fork and jabbed at a piece of lettuce with more force than was strictly necessary.

She looked over at him with slight concern. "So..I won't have to worry about you murdering anyone, right?" she said with a small laugh, hoping that he would catch on she wasn't being serious.

He looked up at her, staring for a long time. Finally he said,"Well, it's a little late for you to be worrying about that. If you don't trust me, maybe you should have thought twice about letting me run free." He sounded bitter.

Noire's eyes began to water a bit. "You know I trust you, Daelen. I was kidding. Take a joke." Anger flashed in her eyes and she got up, throwing the remote on the couch. "Watch what you want. I'm sure you know how to use a remote." She stormed off into her room, leaving her half-finished salad on the coffee table.

Daelen was left confused, staring at the door in which she had disappeared through. A joke? Who jokes about murdering? His thoughts were immediately interrupted as the doorbell rang. He felt his heartbeat pick up, his breathing becoming shallow once more. They found him. They were coming to drag him back. Daelen could only stand there as he felt the dread crashing down all around him.