Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy

by P. Anastasia

“What!?” Alice and I echoed.

  “Why?” I slammed my feet on the floor and stood. “Why would you—”

  “Shut up, Brian.” She shot off the bed and made fists with both hands. “Just stop being a little bitch and listen to me! We need her on our side.”

  “But… she can’t find out about…”

  “She called me a couple of times and I felt like shit ignoring her. So I told her you two were okay and… the next thing I knew, she said she was coming. I’m sorry, okay? Jesus! I thought I was doing the right thing! How was I supposed to know you and that crazy ass David were gonna rob someone!?”

  How was I supposed to know we were going to rob someone?

  Chapter 29

  The hotel room phone rang and I clammed up.

  Should I answer? What if…

  It rang again. Alice cringed.

  A third time.

  She wouldn’t stop twiddling her fingers. Nibbling her bottom lip. Shooting me anxious glances.

  I lifted the receiver slowly to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  Silence. The caller took a breath.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s Jane. Please don’t hang up.”

  “I won’t.” I cut a glance at Alice.

  “Mom?” she mouthed and I nodded.

  “Brian, I know you don’t want to see me right now. I know you’re scared and worried for Alice and yourself. But I want to help. I need to help you in any way I can.”

  “We’ve been through this before, Jane. How are you supposed to help us with—”

  “I’ve left something for you just outside. There’s a note in there that explains everything. Please, go get it.”

  I veered toward the door.

  “She left something for us,” I said, gesturing for Alice to retrieve it.

  A moment later, Alice lumbered back inside carrying a stuffed pack in her arms, our leather riding coats draped over her shoulder.

  “My backpack?”

  Alice set it onto the bed beside me and unzipped the top to peer inside.

  “There are some things in it I thought you could use and some extra clothes. Please, Brian, don’t be angry with me for what happened.” She started to breathe more audibly into the speaker, like she was fighting back tears. I thought I should say something comforting, but nothing came out.

  “I really do care about you as if you were my own. Be careful out there. Take care of my daughter and take of yourself. That’s all I ask of you. Goodbye, Brian.”

  “Jane, wait!”

  CLICK

  The line went dead.

  “Mom!?” Alice shrieked, scrambling to snag the receiver from my hand. “Mom?”

  “She hung up,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

  Alice groaned and pulled her knees up to her chest.

  I slid my hand into the top of my backpack and lifted out a folded up piece of paper.

  I unfolded the handwritten note and quickly scanned over her writing.

  “Oh no.” I shook my head and passed the note to Alice.

  “We’re… wanted by the police?” She dropped the note onto the bed like it had been laced with poison. “But we didn’t do anything!”

  “I know that and you know that, but no one else knows the truth.”

  According to Jane, the man from the diner had died in the hospital this morning and the police were searching for us in connection both with his death and with the robbery of the convenience store.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and dropped my head back. “We’re screwed. We’re so screwed right now.”

  The bag contained several other things. A stack of money we’d need eventually. Extra clothes. A water bottle. Protein bars. A first aid kit. A map of the entire state and at the very bottom… something soft and leathery—my art journal.

  It made me crack a brief smile. To think she’d known what my art meant to me, even in desperate times…

  She’d thought of everything. More than I would have, at least. I had stormed out with nothing but the clothes on my back and a useless, battery-sucking cell phone.

  “Get out of the city,” Jane instructed in her note.

  But, where would we go?

  What would we do once we got there?

  . . .

  The phone rang again and Alice nearly jumped off the bed in fear.

  I didn’t wait so long to pick up this time.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey. I’m outside in the parking lot,” Kareena said. “I’ve got something for you guys.”

  “Such as?”

  “Look, I know this chick… she’s made me fake IDs in the past so I could buy drinks and, well, if you’re going to do anything on your own, you need these. You won’t be able to do shit without them. You’re not eighteen. At least now you’ll be able to… Oh no!”

  I heard the car engine revving up.

  “Kareena?”

  “Shit! The cops are out here. They’re talking to the hotel manager and… damn it. I think they’re looking up at your room. Yeah. They totally are. Shit! I gotta go. Get out of there! Meet me behind the strip mall down the street. I’ll wait as long as I can.”

  “Where? What do we do!? Kareena!”

  Alice panicked.

  “What’s going on?” She hopped off the bed. “Brian?”

  “Grab the money. Get our jackets.” I pointed. “Give me the backpack.”

  Alice yanked the drawer out of the dresser and took out the bag of money.

  “Kareena? You still there? Kareena?”

  “Yes! Christ, Brian, just get the hell out of there before they—” She gasped. “I have to go.”

  The phone disconnected.

  I peeked through the blackout shades. Two police cars with lights flashing. A handful of cops walking around.

  I shrugged on the backpack and grasped Alice’s hand tightly.

  “Come on. We have to get out of here.” I pulled, but she pulled back, refusing to move. “Alice? Come on!”

  “I’m… I’m…” She squeezed my hand harder.

  “This is no time to let fear get the best of you. We have to be strong. We have to!”

  “But…” She craned her neck to look over her shoulder. Green light skittered up her back.

  “There’s nothing we can do. Put on your coat and let’s go. Now.”

  She shrugged on her jacket and I took her hand once more.

  “You’ll be okay, Alice,” I said, looking into her terrified, pale blue eyes. “I promise.”

  We ducked out of the room as fast as we could and darted around the corner, down the wraparound hallway and to the stairwell at the back of the hotel. From the ground floor, we crossed the street and jogged toward the strip mall in the distance.

  We spotted Kareena’s car parked out back and broke into a sprint. She saw us coming, peeled out of the driveway and met us at the corner with a screeching halt of her brakes.

  She rolled down the passenger window and unlocked all the doors.

  “Get in!”

  Alice hopped in the front seat. I tossed the backpack onto the backseat and jumped in beside it.

  “Thanks,” I said, short of breath. “That… was too close.” I buckled my seatbelt and tossed my head back against the seat.

  “What do we do now?” Alice asked, turning around in her seat to face me. She hadn’t put on a seatbelt.

  “I don’t know.” I looked out the window. “I really don’t know.”

  Chapter 30

  My legs were starting to cramp. We’d been in the car for over an hour, driving God knew where. I couldn’t keep myself from checking our tail every five minutes for flashing red and blue lights.

  A headache pulsed in my temples and my stomach churned.

  Deep breaths.

  “How much farther?” I asked, leaning forward against the back of Alice’s seat. She’d been silent the entire ride.

  Kareena pulled
out her phone and swiped it on. She thumbed some text into a map application and then shot her attention back up at the road. I guessed the odds of us getting into an accident because Kareena was on her phone were slimmer than being snatched up by the Saviors. At least I hoped so.

  “There’s a major bus station up ahead. Somewhere downtown. I’ll drop you off there.”

  “Alright then. It’s as good a plan as any.” I fell back against my seat and cupped my hands in my lap.

  She parked on the forth tier of a huge parking garage set aglow with flickering, off-white fluorescent lights. The three of us wandered down the moldy grey concrete stairwell and into the street, where we crossed and entered the bus station.

  “Wait here, okay?” Kareena said. “I’ll get your tickets.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  “Shut up. I’m trying to help.”

  “Okay.” I shrugged. “Th-thanks.”

  Kareena headed into the office.

  “It’s nice of her to do this,” Alice murmured, looking off into the distance at the busy streets of downtown wherever.

  “Yeah. Though you and I both know a couple of bucks isn’t shit to her.”

  Alice scowled at me.

  “I’m sorry I say stupid stuff when I’m anxious. I can’t help it.”

  “Yes. I know. I’m pretty freaked out, too. You really need to calm down sometimes. Be thankful she’s helping us at all.”

  She was right. Without Kareena’s help, we’d probably have been arrested already.

  “I’ll try,” I replied.

  “Thanks.”

  We walked over to a metal bench along the wall just outside the station and sat down. I dropped the backpack by my feet and shoved one of my legs through a strap so it wouldn’t walk away if I took my eyes off it. The station was fairly empty now, but with dusk looming on the horizon, shadier people might come lurking.

  “I can’t believe this is really happening,” Alice said, looking down at her lap. “It feels like I’m going to wake up any minute now and be back home in my safe, comfortable house, with a steaming cup of tea waiting for me in the living room.”

  “I think we’re a long way from a hot cup of tea right now.”

  “Probably.” She heaved a sigh and looked back toward the office. Kareena stood in line, thumbing through her wallet. “What do you think is going to happen now?”

  “I… really don’t know, Alice. I’m sorry. All I know is, we need to get out of this city. This state. Find a way to breathe on our own for a few days. To think about what’s happening and how we’re going to fight back.”

  Alice stared blankly ahead, nodding ever so slightly at my reply.

  Kareena came out through the large sliding glass doors behind us and walked around to where we sat. Her hands were full. I reached up to help her with the two bottles of soda and bag of chips she had sandwiched between them in her arms.

  “You’re allowed to have food on the bus, so… Yeah. Anyway, I don’t know what you like to drink and all they had were these.”

  “They’re fine. Don’t worry.” I hadn’t expected her to get us anything.

  “Thank you,” Alice said as Kareena gave her one of the sodas.

  “Here.” She handed us two printed tickets. “There’s, like, three transfers or something, so pay attention. They’re on there, though. On the sides there.” She pointed to the list of transfer times and locations. “You’ll get into town sometime in the middle of the night. I thought that would be better because there wouldn’t be as many people out, maybe.”

  She was smarter than I’d thought.

  “Thanks.” I took the tickets, separated them and handed one to Alice. “So where are we headed?”

  Kareena unfolded a map she’d gotten inside the office and hovered her finger over an area I’d never heard of. “I asked and they said this town is pretty rural. You should be safe there for a little while, at least. Maybe the Saviors won’t be able to find you with all of the cows out there?” She let out a nervous chuckle and then went silent.

  “Are you going to be okay on your own?” I asked, looking up at her from the bench.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Seriously, Brian? Like I need you two to survive? I’ve been fine for this long without you.”

  “Sorry. I’m just… I worry about us all, you know?”

  “Me, too,” Alice chimed in. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, either.”

  The expression on Kareena’s face softened. “Yeah. I-I know. Just don’t start thinking I’m helpless, okay?”

  I glanced at Alice and then back at Kareena. “What’s with you two and making these assumptions? I never said anything about either of you being helpless or useless or whatever. Besides, Kareena, we would have been kind of screwed without you tonight.”

  “Oh, I know.” She smirked, perking up. How humble.

  Bright yellowish lights glimmered in the distance, casting huge shadows behind us. We turned our heads. I grasped onto my backpack and lifted it up into my lap. A dark blue and silver bus came toward the station, halting with a loud hiss of the breaks.

  “Is that it?” I tried to make out the name of the city on the LED screen in the front window, but it had stopped quite a ways down the sidewalk.

  “Yes,” Kareena confirmed, squinting. “Yeah. That’s it.”

  I stood up and shouldered my backpack. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”

  Kareena jerked her head toward me. “What? Yeah. I’ll be fine.” She bit her lip. “Just text me or something when you can, please? So… so I know you’re okay.”

  “We’ll do what we can,” I tried to reassure her.

  Alice and I started off toward the boarding line.

  “Brian!” Kareena trotted after me, her heels clicking against the pavement. She grabbed my free hand and stopped me in my tracks. Her fingers were cold and clammy.

  “Be careful,” she whispered, squeezing tighter. “Please?” Her worried eyes glistened in the fading light.

  “Kareena, I…” She had caught me off guard. I struggled to find the right words.

  “Brian?” Alice tugged my arm. “We need to go. We can’t miss this bus.” She pulled me along with her and Kareena’s fingers slipped from mine.

  I approached the bus doors, put one foot onto the metal steps, and then the other. I took a few more steps up and then turned around. The anxious, sullen look on Kareena’s usually confident face made my heart sink into my stomach.

  “Bye, Kareena,” I mouthed the words, as the glass doors closed in front of me.

  Leaving her behind felt… wrong.

  . . .

  Alice had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I wanted to sleep, too, but couldn’t yet. I’d sleep once we got where we were going. Once I felt safe.

  Safer, at least.

  I leaned against the window and looked out, watching the city pass us by. Then long stretches of open field zipped past. Barbed wire fences and wide open pastures as far as the eye could see. The clear deep-blue sky sparkled with stars, and the lights of the city faded more and more with every mile traveled.

  We arrived at our final destination at just past three in the morning. I gently nudged Alice awake. She stretched her arms out high over her head and yawned. I reached under the seat and took up my backpack.

  We shuffled our way down the aisle, carefully avoiding sleeping passengers who had their legs sprawled out into the aisle. I quietly thanked the driver and stepped off the bus.

  “Where do we go from here?” Alice asked, looking around at the dismal town square. Obscure, private restaurants and shops lined the sidewalk across from us. An old-fashioned diner. A thrift store. A bakery. All closed up tight for the night. The streets were narrow and quiet, and the bus station was much smaller than the previous ones.

  A man sauntered out of the tiny office building behind us.

  “A little late for you kids to be out here all by yourselv
es, ain’t it?” he said, looking us both up and down quickly. His dark blue lapelled jacket and slacks appeared black in the dim light of the station overhang, but I could tell he was a bus driver.

  “We’re visiting family,” I replied.

  “I take it you kids ain’t from around here, then? You look like you’re from the coast.”

  “Yeah. Maybe,” I stammered.

  “Whatchya so afraid of, young man?” The driver took a step closer and squinted at me. I held my breath. “You’d think ya had ants crawling in your jeans.”

  “We’re tired, that’s all,” Alice said, coming up to my side. “We’ve been riding on that bus most of the night and we’re exhausted.”

  “That’ll do that to ya.” He nodded. “Long bus drives. I’ve had my share of those for sure, but in this town, you gotta take whatcha can to make a living.” He sniffed hard and wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand. “Pardon me.” He pulled a tissue out of his jacket pocket and blew his nose. “This night air always stirs up my allergies.”

  “Do you know where we can get a room for the night?” I asked. “We don’t know our way around this town yet.”

  “Sure.” He shoved the balled-up tissue back into his pocket. “There’s a little motel just a few blocks down the road. I can call ya a cab if you’d like.”

  “That’d be great. Thanks, sir.”

  “No problem, son.” The driver tipped his head and walked back into his office.

  “You don’t think he’s calling the police, do you?” Alice whispered.

  “No.” I shook my head. “He seemed honest. And besides, we’re in the middle of nowhere. I doubt anyone here’s even heard about what happened back home.”

  “True.” She tucked her hands into her coat pockets and looked away.

  Fifteen minutes later, a bright green cab pulled up in front of us. I glanced at Alice and smiled. “See? Honest, right? I think I like this town already.”

  . . .

  A bell clanged loudly against the glass door as we entered the motel office. A musty smell irritated my nose the moment we walked in.

  The man at the front desk turned toward us and cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. He wore a tired old sweater vest and had a shiny bald head that reflected the light of the nearby desk lamp.