The vacant highway slid steadily beneath the car with a low, menacing grumble. Kira glared out over the dusty fields, brooding so far from anywhere, her hands gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. A surging shudder shook her tense shoulders, eyes averting from the dashboard warning light as it flickered on.
Low on gasoline.
Kira glanced at the curtesy sign as she passed it; Hillsdale was the last stop for fuel for the next two-hundred and fifty miles. She fought to ignore the clenching tightness in her stomach, and the realization she was as low on money as the car was with gas. She was meeting the end of her journey in a town left to rot in obscurity.
It was as good of a place as any, she decided, and possibly better than most.
She startled at the sudden slicing clamor. It was his ringtone again. She regretted not keying his truck before leaving. Maybe he'd have gotten the hint if she had.
The cellphone shattered as it struck the embankment along the lonely highway, pieces scattering, left to indulge itself in the solitary silence.
Kira guided the car off the highway and followed along a narrow, meandering paved road, watching the forgotten farming community fade into view from a hazy distance. She pulled into the corner store, the one stop in town for fuel, grimacing at the notice posted that payment was to be in advance.
As she parked in front of the deteriorating shop she glanced around at the short main street of town, noting there were no substantial chances to steal and escape. For now she was stranded, content to at least have her car. Searching through her wallet for any residual cash, she paused. The photo of her parents and little sister, waiting in Korea, was beginning to fade. A quiet tear touched her cheek. A sharp tinge of regret seared her for embarking on a noble quest for 'the dream', and then letting Michael persuade her to drop her classes to 'be' with him.
She smeared the tear with the back of her hand, grumbling at herself.
The bell above the door alerted the store clerk and sparse spattering of customers as she stepped in, her black high boots clunking across the hard floor for extra measure. Everyone stared. Kira tried to act as though she didn't notice, swallowing back at the lump in her throat.
Maybe a small town wasn't a good place to disappear.
She stepped undaunted along the aisles, all eyes on her, as she hunted for a meal she could get for less than five dollars. She picked up a protein bar and strolled as confidently as she could manage to the refrigerated section, scanning the icy wire shelves for bottles of cold water.
Absently she heard his truck pull up to the store a minute before the bell announced him. She watched his reflection in the refrigerator's glass door as he trounced inside, broad shoulders barely clearing the door frame. Kira furrowed her brow as he surged in, his muscular body towering proudly, his shirt unbuttoned deep enough to show the rich, masculine hair between the cut of his tight pecks.
He reminded her of Michael. The two men looked nothing alike, this rugged unshaven stranger with gallant facial stubble, dark eyes and a shapely, beautiful mouth, and Mike with... well, none of that. But this was a man, cunning and cruel, his natural predator inclinations...
Rage stirred inside, rumbling like quiet thunder, when she saw the dark stranger slow down and notice her, his eyes scanning her loose short sleeved shirt, her tight shorts, and the smooth, tan Asian skin along her slender legs. She glared at his reflection, pretending she was looking at the drinks, all the while watching him ogle her like she were a new party favor, leering blatantly at her bared legs. She hadn't dressed this way for him to gawk at.
She choked at remorse with the recollection... she had dressed this way for Mike to gawk at. But, apparently, some other girl had dressed even better... or just less.
The anger grew hotter.
Kira waited for the garish stranger to wander to the back of the store before she grabbed a bottle of water and hastily paid at the check stand.
She sat alone in the car to eat, the awareness of her plight pressing down hard on her. Glancing along the main town road she could see where the shops ended. She was looking at the entirety of the town from where she sat. Little more than a handful of specialty shops, a post office, a bank, and a small grocer lined the rough street. A few stores were boarded up.
A solemnity dredged up inside of her, tugging at vague, fleeting images of the country man from her memory. Kira tried brushing it off, but rubbed at herself through her shorts with a gnawing need, her fingers toying with the fastener.
"I really need to relieve some tension," she mumbled. She glanced around for a park, or anywhere she'd have a moment of relative privacy.
He walked out, broad shoulders swaying as he moved. She watched in her car mirrors as he crossed the parking lot and heaved himself up behind the wheel of his farm truck, his demeanor powerful and commanding. He pulled out onto the street, turned the corner, and vanished. Kira stared after him, a sudden sense of emptiness looming in her gut.
Tossing the half-eaten protein bar into the passenger seat she revved the car engine and followed where she'd seen him turn. The road narrowed as it rolled out from the town center, weaving through a residential area, and past a vacant town park. He could have turned off anywhere, and Kira peered down along the streets searching for the truck. The homes soon fell behind her and the road came to a T intersection at a gravel road only a mile or two further down.
She sighed heavily, grumbling under her breath. "And just what were you going to do if you'd caught up with him?" she muttered to herself. The anger still roiled within her, the tension building. "Were you going to curse at him? Are you an idiot?" she chided. "I need to find a place to park and get some sleep." Peering back at the car's small back seat she cringed. "I imagine it gets pitch black at night out here."
She started to turn the car around, and stopped cold. She noted a tuft of dust rising far down along the road to her left. It was about as far away as he would have gotten.
The car shuddered as it raced over the gravel, the rage reverberating through the both of them. Kira slowed as she approached a lone, looming barn. It was old, and appeared about ready to topple over. But a familiar truck huddled in front of it.
Pulling to the side of the road, Kira slipped quietly from the car, making her way cautiously. Halfway to the barn she stopped, her mind reeling. She turned and paced back to the car. Crouching behind the wheel she nibbled nervously at her lower lip. Taking in a deep breath she leaned over, pulled her stun gun and spare cartridge from the glove compartment, and grabbed her bag. Kira got out, shut the car door, and glowered at the barn with a dark and deeply piercing glare.
She could see he was startled a moment later when he noticed her standing just inside the large barn door, scowling at him. The stifling scent of old barn wood warming in the midsummer sun filled her senses, blending with the smells of hard clay, straw, and a hint of motor oil. The air was thick and stuffy.
He turned to face her and stood in stunned silence for a long and uncomfortable moment.
"Can I help you?" he offered politely.
She didn't respond, didn't move, her shaking hand clenching the stun gun behind her back and out of his view, holding it in reserve in case she needed it for protection.
He shifted his weight uneasily. She watched as his lecherous eyes roamed down her body, dwelling too long on her dark, slender legs, then back up to meet her own stare.
"Are you lost?" he asked. "Do you need directions?"
She didn't answer, only glowered angrily, utterly uncertain of what to do next.
He took a step towards her. His powerful body was suddenly menacing.
