On Sleepless Roads
Chapter Fifteen
Ryan’s POV
“She’s nice when she’s sleeping.” Jon said.
It was a while later and Marti was asleep.
She seems to have a habit of falling asleep everywhere but in a bed.
“She isn’t absolutely terrified of everything when she’s asleep.” Brendon pointed out.
“So what happened at the park today?” Spencer asked.
I quickly explained what happened, including Marti’s cuts and what my mom told me.
Jon whistled when I finished.
“Wow, poor kid.” He said, glancing at Marti.
“So how exactly are you planning on getting her to make a statement?” Spencer asked.
I shrugged.
“I have no idea.” I admitted.
“Good-luck.” Jon said, still staring at Marti.
“Yeah, you’ll need it.” Brendon added.
I glared at him.
“So you guys aren’t going to help?” I asked angrily.
They stared at me as if I were stupid.
“She doesn’t know us.” Spencer said,
Speaking for him and Jon.
“And I doubt that she’s going to like me after today.” Brendon said.
I couldn’t disagree with that.
But there was no way I’d be able to get Marti to make a statement on my own.
“Please help!” I begged.
Luckily my friends took pity on me.
“Fine, we’ll help! But in the morning, it’s too late now and I’m tired.” Spencer said.
“Me too, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Brendon said with a yawn.
“I guess we better get going too.” I said, looking over at Marti.
I walked over to her to wake her up.
To my surprise she woke up the second I touched her shoulder.
“Come on, we’re going now.” I said.
Marti nodded and stood up, looking wide awake.
I just stared at her suspiciously.
You’d think she’d be tired since she was just sleeping.
But I didn’t really have time to dwell on that,
Brendon was jumping up and down,
Looking desperate to leave.
Marti’s POV
Well that proves it,
Ryan definitely isn’t as nice as he was pretending to be!
And not that he's pretending to be all that nice!
I heard him telling the others that my mom might try to kidnap me.
Why wouldn’t he tell me that?!
Isn’t that something I should know?
I mean, how can I protect myself I don’t even know what’s going on?
All I know is that I sure can’t trust Ryan.
If he’s going to keep something that important from me then what else is he hiding?
And I’m obviously not that safe with him.
I’ve seen both my mom and Carl in a span of two days.
Is that what he calls “protecting me”?
There was only one thing I could,
And this time, I could not get caught,
By anyone!
I waited until Brendon went home and I was sure that Ryan was asleep.
Then I stuffed some clothes into my backpack along with my journals and videos.
No way was I leaving them behind for him to read and watch.
Then, as quietly as I could, I snuck out the front door,
Closing it carefully behind me.
There as a car across the street with its lights on,
But I didn’t recognize it so I ignored it.
I kept to the sidewalk,
Not wanting to go down any alleys in the dark.
I may be young but I’m not stupid.
I didn’t run,
Figuring that I still had a few hours to go before Ryan woke up,
Let alone noticed that I was gone.
In a way I was sad to be running away again,
But it didn’t take long before the fresh air and the feeling of freedom perked me up.
At least if I’m on my own no body can hurt me or lie to me.
I’d never been in this part of the city before so at least it was interesting to walk through.
But after several hours I began to feel tired and could barely keep my eyes open,
So when I got to a park,
I decided to rest my eyes for a while.
I found a tree that would mostly hide me,
And curled up into a ball underneath it.
In minutes I was asleep.
But not for very long.
“Who the hell are you?” Someone asked angrily,
Shaking me awake.
I jumped and tried to run but they had a death grip on my shoulders.
“What were you doing at Ryan’s house?” The person was asking.
They had an oddly familiar voice but I just couldn’t think of who they were.
I didn’t answer and this seemed to make the person angry.
“Were you stealing from him?” They asked.
No,
I’m his half-sister who hates him and would rather live on the streets than with him.
It might just be me but I didn’t think that whoever this was would take that that well.
So I remained silent.
Trying to get away of course,
But I don’t know why I bothered,
I’m so weak it’s pathetic.
“We’ll let Ryan tell us who you are then!” The person said,
Pulling me to my feet.
“No let go!” I cried, trying to pull away from them.
“So you can talk!” The person said,
Ignoring my struggle as he pulled me over to a car.
When we got to the car,
He opened up the passenger door and pushed me in,
Getting in behind me.
There were three other guys in the car,
And it was too dark for me to see their faces.
“Go back to Ryan’s house.” The guy who grabbed me said.
The driver nodded.
I won’t lie,
I was terrified.
I was with four complete strangers,
Who were taking me back to Ryan’s house,
Who I was sure was going to murder me when he saw me.
“How old are you?” One of the guys in the backseat asked.
I didn’t answer.
“Can you talk?” The other guy in the backseat asked.
I still didn’t say anything.
“She can talk.” The guy who grabbed me said.
“Then why doesn’t she?” One of the guys in the backseat asked.
The guy who grabbed me shrugged.
And that was the extent of the conversation on the drive back to Ryan’s house.
I stared at my feet but I could tell that the guy who grabbed me was watching me.
Why?
Was he afraid that I was going to try and make a run for it?
In case he hadn’t noticed,
I was in the middle seat,
I’d have to climb over either him or the driver to get away.
And I’m pretty sure they’d catch me before I even touched the door.
After what seemed like an eternity we reached Ryan’s house.
I gulped as the guy who grabbed me held onto my arm,
Pulling me out of the car and up to the door.
I struggled the whole way,
But like before,
It was useless.
The three other guys came up behind us,
And as one of them rang the doorbell,
I wished that I would die.
Just die right there on the spot.
It’d surely be better than how Ryan was going to react.
“She’s nice when she’s sleeping.” Jon said.
It was a while later and Marti was asleep.
She seems to have a habit of falling asleep everywhere but in a bed.
“She isn’t absolutely terrified of everything when she’s asleep.” Brendon pointed out.
“So what happened at the park today?” Spencer asked.
I quickly explained what happened, including Marti’s cuts and what my mom told me.
Jon whistled when I finished.
“Wow, poor kid.” He said, glancing at Marti.
“So how exactly are you planning on getting her to make a statement?” Spencer asked.
I shrugged.
“I have no idea.” I admitted.
“Good-luck.” Jon said, still staring at Marti.
“Yeah, you’ll need it.” Brendon added.
I glared at him.
“So you guys aren’t going to help?” I asked angrily.
They stared at me as if I were stupid.
“She doesn’t know us.” Spencer said,
Speaking for him and Jon.
“And I doubt that she’s going to like me after today.” Brendon said.
I couldn’t disagree with that.
But there was no way I’d be able to get Marti to make a statement on my own.
“Please help!” I begged.
Luckily my friends took pity on me.
“Fine, we’ll help! But in the morning, it’s too late now and I’m tired.” Spencer said.
“Me too, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Brendon said with a yawn.
“I guess we better get going too.” I said, looking over at Marti.
I walked over to her to wake her up.
To my surprise she woke up the second I touched her shoulder.
“Come on, we’re going now.” I said.
Marti nodded and stood up, looking wide awake.
I just stared at her suspiciously.
You’d think she’d be tired since she was just sleeping.
But I didn’t really have time to dwell on that,
Brendon was jumping up and down,
Looking desperate to leave.
Marti’s POV
Well that proves it,
Ryan definitely isn’t as nice as he was pretending to be!
And not that he's pretending to be all that nice!
I heard him telling the others that my mom might try to kidnap me.
Why wouldn’t he tell me that?!
Isn’t that something I should know?
I mean, how can I protect myself I don’t even know what’s going on?
All I know is that I sure can’t trust Ryan.
If he’s going to keep something that important from me then what else is he hiding?
And I’m obviously not that safe with him.
I’ve seen both my mom and Carl in a span of two days.
Is that what he calls “protecting me”?
There was only one thing I could,
And this time, I could not get caught,
By anyone!
I waited until Brendon went home and I was sure that Ryan was asleep.
Then I stuffed some clothes into my backpack along with my journals and videos.
No way was I leaving them behind for him to read and watch.
Then, as quietly as I could, I snuck out the front door,
Closing it carefully behind me.
There as a car across the street with its lights on,
But I didn’t recognize it so I ignored it.
I kept to the sidewalk,
Not wanting to go down any alleys in the dark.
I may be young but I’m not stupid.
I didn’t run,
Figuring that I still had a few hours to go before Ryan woke up,
Let alone noticed that I was gone.
In a way I was sad to be running away again,
But it didn’t take long before the fresh air and the feeling of freedom perked me up.
At least if I’m on my own no body can hurt me or lie to me.
I’d never been in this part of the city before so at least it was interesting to walk through.
But after several hours I began to feel tired and could barely keep my eyes open,
So when I got to a park,
I decided to rest my eyes for a while.
I found a tree that would mostly hide me,
And curled up into a ball underneath it.
In minutes I was asleep.
But not for very long.
“Who the hell are you?” Someone asked angrily,
Shaking me awake.
I jumped and tried to run but they had a death grip on my shoulders.
“What were you doing at Ryan’s house?” The person was asking.
They had an oddly familiar voice but I just couldn’t think of who they were.
I didn’t answer and this seemed to make the person angry.
“Were you stealing from him?” They asked.
No,
I’m his half-sister who hates him and would rather live on the streets than with him.
It might just be me but I didn’t think that whoever this was would take that that well.
So I remained silent.
Trying to get away of course,
But I don’t know why I bothered,
I’m so weak it’s pathetic.
“We’ll let Ryan tell us who you are then!” The person said,
Pulling me to my feet.
“No let go!” I cried, trying to pull away from them.
“So you can talk!” The person said,
Ignoring my struggle as he pulled me over to a car.
When we got to the car,
He opened up the passenger door and pushed me in,
Getting in behind me.
There were three other guys in the car,
And it was too dark for me to see their faces.
“Go back to Ryan’s house.” The guy who grabbed me said.
The driver nodded.
I won’t lie,
I was terrified.
I was with four complete strangers,
Who were taking me back to Ryan’s house,
Who I was sure was going to murder me when he saw me.
“How old are you?” One of the guys in the backseat asked.
I didn’t answer.
“Can you talk?” The other guy in the backseat asked.
I still didn’t say anything.
“She can talk.” The guy who grabbed me said.
“Then why doesn’t she?” One of the guys in the backseat asked.
The guy who grabbed me shrugged.
And that was the extent of the conversation on the drive back to Ryan’s house.
I stared at my feet but I could tell that the guy who grabbed me was watching me.
Why?
Was he afraid that I was going to try and make a run for it?
In case he hadn’t noticed,
I was in the middle seat,
I’d have to climb over either him or the driver to get away.
And I’m pretty sure they’d catch me before I even touched the door.
After what seemed like an eternity we reached Ryan’s house.
I gulped as the guy who grabbed me held onto my arm,
Pulling me out of the car and up to the door.
I struggled the whole way,
But like before,
It was useless.
The three other guys came up behind us,
And as one of them rang the doorbell,
I wished that I would die.
Just die right there on the spot.
It’d surely be better than how Ryan was going to react.