Chapter 103: Chapter-103. (A Genuine Laugh).
It was a freaking mini-van.
It was coming toward us, growing bigger with every heartbeat. Relief burst through me so suddenly that my knees wobbled. Someone was here.
Finally, A living being was here.
But as soon as the relief came, it got replaced with doubt at the same speed.
What if this person was not safe?
What if they stopped and saw two desperate people... A woman and a child.
And decided we were easy prey?
I imagined the door opening, a smile that wasn’t really a smile, hands grabbing us, voices lying sweet while planning worse.
I almost turned back. Nearly pulled Emma into the trees to hide again, but then I looked at her.
At the tired slump of her body, the dark smudges under her eyes, the way she still held on without complaint. She could not take another night in the dark. She couldn’t.
I forced my fear down like poison and told myself: Not everyone is a monster. Someone has to be still good. Please, someone has to.
The van slowed as it neared, headlights sweeping over us like a spotlight. My heart slammed against my ribs, wild and desperate.
I lifted one arm and waved, though it felt clumsy and too frantic.
The van made some weird noises and came to a stop a few feet away. My grip on Emma tightened until she whimpered, but I could not let go.
I shielded her with my body, bracing myself for the worst.
The window rolled down, slow, almost taunting.
And then...I saw the face.
My breath caught like I had been struck. Recognition crashed into me as my eyes scanned the face.
"You?" The word came out like a mere whisper.
The person’s eyebrows shot up as she was shocked to see my reaction. She then glanced at the man sitting beside her, in the driver’s seat, then again her gaze shifted in my direction.
The man also gave us a suspicious look as if we were some scamsters trying to pull them into one of our traps.
"Do I know you?" The woman asked, getting my attention.
I blinked twice before I opened my mouth, but words got stuck in my throat, "I...uh...you..."
I scratched my throat, dried from thirst, as I coughed, trying to get my voice back, "Actually...we met at that grocery store."
I pointed in one direction as I recalled the memories from that day, "Someone asked you to call me in that grocery store where you worked. And you also said to call security, but I insisted on handling the matter by myself. Remember?"
The man’s expression did not change; instead, it turned into a grim one as if he was not buying my sh*tty explanation.
But my whole focus was on her. She did not look at me but down as if she was trying to recall those memories.
I bit my lips, gripping Emma’s hand firmly yet not hard enough to hurt her. I kept praying in my mind to God for her to remember.
A few seconds passed by, which felt like over an eternity, when she finally spoke out, "Oh yeah, I remembered you. You were with your friend, right?"
My eyes shot up as I frantically nodded my head in agreement, "Yes, that was Caroline. She is my friend."
In that moment, I could not express in words how grateful I felt when her eyebrows furrowed, making my blood go cold.
Her gaze dragged from my face to down at my feet, when she asked with a worried expression on her face, "But how come you are here and that too in such...condition. I cannot understand?"
My eyebrows shot up as I looked down at myself and Emma.
Our clothes were dirty and torn in several places. Our feet were also no different. Dirt and small cuts covered our feet, and mud stuck in our nails, making them look disgusting.
I licked my dry and chapped lips, realizing that, even though how awful we would have looked, she could not even recall my face.
I opened my mouth, but before I could reply to her question, the man sitting beside her shot the question at her, "Do you really know her?" His tone was too condescending for my liking, but I did not have a choice but to keep my mouth shut at that moment.
She looked between us, then her face started to get redder. Her gaze looked down as she felt too embarrassed to match my gaze. She whispered something to him.
Though I could not hear her words clearly, after she spoke, the man’s expression went stunned, and then he shut his mouth like an obedient kid.
She then focused on me, waiting for my reply, when I said, "I will tell you everything, but first, can you give us a lift to any local police station? Someone is after us."
As I said those words, my hand instinctively went on Emma’s shoulder, pulling her to my side.
That’s when her gaze fell on Emma.
Emma quickly hid behind me, making that woman give us a sympathetic look. She then smiled and said, "I think you can come with us?"
"Really?" I and Emma said together while that man’s words also came at the same time, "What?"
That woman shot her a glare, making him stiff in his place. He did not say anything after that, as she asked us to get seated at the back.
Without wasting another second, I thanked her as I took Emma. Opening the back door, I made Emma sit before I settled beside her.
She turned to us as she extended her hand, "By the way, I am Sophie."
I took her hand and shook while I introduced myself, "Hi, I am Elena, and this is Emma."
Emma hugged me as she whispered out a small, ’hello,’ making me and Sophie smile at her cute gesture.
And surprisingly, this time the man’s lips also curved into a small smile, which faded the next moment, but the blush on his face made it evident that he also found Emma’s gesture cute, making us chuckle.
A genuine laugh. After a very long while.