A Life Less Ordinary

Isla sat with her head leaned against the arm rest of the passenger seat, dozing in and out of consciousness. Bane had insisted on taking the wheel upon seeing her first yawn. Then he had proceeded to go through the entire library on her iPod, She learned quickly that he had taken a liking to Pink Floyd. She had faked being asleep during the five times in a row he played Welcome To The Machine, but on the sixth time, could no longer.

“Oh my God, Bane.” she said, sitting up. He looked at her curiously, iPod still in his right hand.

“I enjoy Pink Floyd as much as the next person, but damn.”

“You are tired of this song-”

“Yes I am tired of this song!” she snapped.

“I have 900 songs, feel free to listen to any of the other 899.” She couldn’t help but smile as he narrowed his eyes, focusing on the road. “I was kidding, you know.”

He held up his hand, still holding the iPod. “Shh.”

Isla crossed her arms. “I will not, shh. Don’t get mad-”

“We are nearing the border.” He said. Isla looked forward. She could just barely make out the shape of the Border Patrol.

“Bane…what are you going to do?” she asked, suddenly very nervous.

“Isla, get in the back and lie on the floor.” he replied.

“Why? What are-”

“Get. In. The. Back.” he interrupted her, his voice sounding menacing through the mask. Without another word, she unbuckled her seatbelt and crawled into the back floor.

“Keep your head down, no matter what.” he said. She did like he asked, suddenly remembering the night he shoved her into the trunk of her car.

“Don’t kill us, Bane.” She said loudly, covering her head with her arms.

She heard him laugh and the engine roar as he pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, praying silently that she would survive whatever incident was to come.

She felt the SUV collide with something with a loud crash. Bane cursed loudly and the car jerked to the left. The unmistakable sound of sirens filled the air. She lifted her head to peer over the dash.

Sensing her movement, he pushed her down with his massive hand. “STAY DOWN ISLA!” he bellowed.

‘Oh God! We’re caught!’ her thoughts were racing. They were caught and they would take her away from him and she would likely never see him again. That thought was more frightening to her than their present situation. She opened her eyes to focus on Bane, just in case it was the last time. He gripped the wheel tightly, the muscles in his arms were like rocks and the veins in his neck were bulging. She closed her eyes again, trying to calm herself.

The car jerked violently to the right, causing her to slam her head into the metal leg of the seat.

She clamped her hands over her now throbbing head. “Jesus Christ Bane!!” She could hear something like a popping sound, as if hail were hitting the car. “Are those bullets?!” she shrieked.

“Yes!” he yelled.

“Bullets?!” she burrowed herself into the space under the bench seat as far as she could.



Nearly an hour later, she could feel the car decelerate. “Bane…”

“Are you alright?” he asked. Isla’s head popped up like a rabbit out of a hole. She was shocked to see all of the windows in tact.

“How are none of the windows busted?”

He kept his eyes on the road. “Bullet proof.” he replied.

“What was that back there?” she asked, still seated on the floor.

“We crossed the border.” he replied.

“You blew through the border check point?!” Isla turned quickly and looked out the back window, expecting to see police cars in pursuit, but there was only empty, snow covered highway.

“Ooohhh….Bane, that is so illegal…” she whispered, staring back at the quickly fading horizon.

He looked at her in the rear view mirror, his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Darling, what about these last three weeks, has not been illegal?”

“Why is no one following us?” she asked, sitting down in the seat. “AND HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO JUST HAPPEN UPON A BULLET PROOF VEHICLE?!” She was on the verge of a panic attack.

Bane shrugged his broad shoulders. “It doesn’t matter at the moment. All that matters now, is making it to Dungeon Peak. To do that we need to switch the vehicle.” He said.

“Where are we supposed to find another vehicle?” she asked, crawling back into the front seat. He looked over at her.

“It is all a part of a well thought out plan.”

She pulled her knees to her chest. “Could you be anymore vague?”

“I could. The less you know, the better.” he replied.



Isla huffed and looked out the window. Daylight was quickly fading and the snowfall was picking up. “How much longer?” she asked, as they passed a sign for the town Winkler.

“Seventeen hours twenty six minutes, by my calculations.” He said, adjusting the rear view mirror. “We will have to



Isla was woken hours later by Bane gently nudging her. Momentarily disoriented, she blinked a few times before bolting up right. “What is it?”

“We need to switch vehicles. Put this on.” he helped her into his black coat, still warm from his body. He helped her out of the car. The wind whipped the snow through the air, stealing her breath.

“Where are we?” she shouted over the wind, leaning into his massive form for warmth. He said nothing, but held her close as they began to cross the lot of an abandoned building. Upon rounding the corner, she could barely make out the shape of another SUV. In the short time it took for them to get to it, her teeth were chattering loudly. He opened the door and helped her in.

“Start the car, lock the door.” He said.

“Wait where are y-” He shut the door before she could finish. Too tired to argue, she locked the doors and shoved the key into the ignition. Once the engine started, she peered out the window, trying to find him in the storm. He opened the door, startling her.
“Won’t someone find the Yukon?” she asked.

He looked at her. “Yes.” He held up a metal device. Isla brows scrunched in confusion.

There was a loud explosion that gave her a violent start. She could almost feel the heat from the flames that consumed their former get away car. Bane wasted no time driving away. She watched the flames in the side mirror, certain that authorities would immediately find them. Did the fact that the thought of authorities catching them scared her, mean she was now some sort of criminal? At the least, she was an accomplice.

“What is it with you and blowing things up?” she asked.

“The end result is absolute. Done properly, all evidence is essentially obliterated, leaving nothing to incriminate us.” he said.

She was about to complain about the context of the word us in his statement, when a sudden realization dawned. “You just blew up all of our clothes! AND MY IPOD!!” she cried.

“On the contrary.” he held up the shiny metallic blue mp3 player. “You were sleeping when I transferred the bags.” Isla couldn’t help but smile.

“We will stop to rest once we get to Yorkton.” he said.

“I thought we couldn’t afford to be seen in public.” she said, looking at him.

“I’m willing to risk it, ” he looked over at her and smiled behind the mask. Her cheeks and nose were rosy from the cold. “If it means that I get to have my way with you.”

She felt her face redden and the undeniable feeling of desire rose in her stomach. She was speechless, but a light smile played at the corner of her lips. The thought of their bodies together again set off a spark. If not for fear of death by motor vehicle accident, she would’ve jumped him right there.

“Besides, once we get to Yorkton, we will need to get a few things.” his gaze returned to the road. Isla sunk into the chair, pulled his coat around her and sighed.