Don't Stand By Me (COMPLETE) - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

KIARA
August 6th: 10:10
Our journey so far had been entirely silent. But for the first time in this entire clusterfuck of a trip, it wasn't from animosity. Brent had slept the entirety of the day before, sprawled across the backseat, only grunting at me to swap, where I slept uncomfortably, curled up into a ball and resisting the urge to vomit at the stench. Despite all the windows being open, the wind whipping through seemed to only spread the corpse smell through the car. The heat certainly wasn't helping, wafting the smell through my nostrils unpleasantly, even when I stuck my head out the window like a dog.
"Whaz going on?" Brent bolted upright in the back seat as I thumped over a pothole, glancing around wildly.
"Pothole." I shrugged, "We're only about two hours from town, we'll have to hide out until nightfall...too risky to go during the day, it'll be flooded with tourists."
"Cool." He yawned, stretching and scratching his chin, "We should get pancakes."
"I would love some pancakes right now." I groaned, feeling an ache in my stomach, "I feel like I haven't eaten in days."
"I can't wait for this to be over." He sighed, "Worst week of my life."
"Where are you gonna go?"
Brent fell silent and I figured he had woken up fully enough to realise it was in fact me he was talking to, but after glancing in the rearview mirror and seeing the thoughtful look on his face, I gave him a few moments to collect his thoughts.
"I'd love to travel. This is the first time I've ever really left New York and while it's been hell...the sights have been something else."
"Is that why you insisted on driving so much?"
"That and it gave me some distance."
"Do you think we could have ever been friends?" I asked suddenly, the pit in my stomach no longer feeling like hunger, "Did we ever stand a chance?"
"I think so." He said quietly, head bowed, "But at the same time there was too much between us to ever really be friends-Not that way!" He snapped when he noticed the disgusted look on my face, "I just mean that...the animosity between us since day one ruined any friendship before it could even begin."
"I get that but...despite everything, I think you understand me better than anyone else here does."
"Saddest thing is I feel the same."
That statement gave me pause. The fact that I knew next to nothing about Brent and I was still the person who knew the most about him caused a small ache to form in my chest. This stupid, insufferable arrogant man, who was surprisingly deep and perceptive had literally no one in the world anymore that knew him. He was trapped with people he considered literal strangers on a chase to stop him from ruining his entire life. That thought alone made tears prick behind my eyes.
"I want to say that I misjudged you." He continued, "But I don't think that I have. I thought you were impulsive, rude, arrogant and somewhat cruel."
I bristled, gripping the wheel tightly but keeping silent.
"And I was right, you are those things. But they're not necessarily negative traits. Your impulsivity has saved us on multiple occasions, your rudeness is usually in defence of someone else, your arrogance is probably the reason you've been able to concoct these hairbrained schemes and your cruelty has kept us alive."
"Interesting take on making me not sound like a psychopath."
"I'm not saying you're not a psychopath. I'm just saying that maybe I respect you a lot more than I've let on."
"I can't believe you didn't do a degree in psychology, your analyses are fascinating."
"I considered it." Brent snorted, "My brother gave me hell for it. In the end I went with business. More generic but more opportunities for a career."
"I really hope we get out of this."
"I don't think we will." Brent sighed, "Not to be pessimistic but we have two of the most powerful men in the country against us, not to mention law enforcement. The rest of them should be fine but...you and me? We might be fucked."
"Well hey...if we go down, we go down together right?"
Brent paused for a moment, then shook his head, "Every man for himself."
I willed down the flash of hurt that hit me, "Every man for himself."
I couldn't expect any more from him, despite our mutual understanding I knew that we weren't friends. He had stressed that many times throughout this trip, and he was right. Just because we were similar didn't mean that we had any sort of bond.
"We're here." I noted after a while of silence, finally seeing the small town in the distance, passing the billboard that read Welcome to Grand Canyon Village!
"Holy shit." He gaped, leaning forward between the two front seats, "We actually fucking made it."
"Still don't think we can pull this off?"
"Yeah...but to be fair I didn't think we'd even get this far. I've been wrong before."
"Shocking." I muttered, glancing down the streets as we entered, keeping an eye out for a motel.
"Grand Canyon Motel." Brent pointed out, "Sounds like it'll do the job fine."
"So just me and you camped out in a motel for twelve hours."
"Well we're going to be in separate rooms. I'll pass on any extra alone time with you, thanks."
"Glad we're on the same page." I smirked, indicating and turning into the tiny parking lot.
"This place looks rough." Brent noted, clambering out of the car and grabbing our backpacks, exhaling deeply as he did, "God the fresh air."
"Look, it's nondescript and it's close. We'll be safe here." I said, getting out of the car and staring down at it, biting my lip.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Brent grabbed my wrist.
I shrugged him off, continuing my mission of yanking the licence plate off the front of the car.
"Safety measure." I shrugged.
"That's Dixon's car!"
"He's hardly going to keep the Corpsemobile after all this? Take the back one off."
Brent glared at me but did what I said, tossing both plates into the backseat and locking the car up. We walked into the lobby of the motel, which was much more appealing than the exterior, but still fairly shabby and rundown. A grumpy man behind the reception desk didn't even acknowledge us as we walked in, head buried in a week old newspaper.
"Excuse me?" Brent said, only to be ignored, "Hello?"
"Jesus Christ." I muttered, "This is getting us nowhere. Excuse me!" I snapped, smacking the newspaper out of his face, causing him to jolt and turn to me with a bewildered expression, "We need two rooms."
"We don't got 'em." He grunted, trying to yank his paper from under my hand.
"What have you got then?"
"Nothing." He yanked harder.
I inhaled deeply, leaning over the counter and getting into his face, schooling my expression to not convey the disgust I was feeling at being this close to him. The smell wafting into my face was reminiscent of Charles rotting in the backseat.
"Listen here, asshole." I snarled, "I have been perfectly pleasant and all I am asking for is two rooms. We have had a hell of a few days and would just like to sleep in a bed that isn't on wheels. Capiche?"
The man nodded shakily, going red, "We really don't have two rooms left though...but we have one."
"We'll take it." I snapped, too caught up in my rant to realise that meant Brent and I would have to share.
I stood back, folding my arms as Brent paid, giving his name and taking the keys, grabbing my elbow and dragging me away from the desk.
"See what I meant about rudeness being a good thing?"
"Fuck off." I snarled, shaking my head, "Sorry. Still caught up in the emotions."
Brent snorted but said nothing, unlocking our door and gesturing for me to lead the way inside.
"For fucks sake!"
The room was tiny, with one teeny window, an ensuite that nearly smelled worse than the car and the worst part of all...one twin sized bed in the centre of it all. I groaned, smacking a hand against my face as Brent tossed the backpacks onto the bed, lying back onto it and putting his face into his hands.
"There's not even a couch. I'll sleep on the floor." He muttered.
"There's not even a second blanket, you are not sleeping on the floor."
"Well what do you propose? We share?"
"Obviously." I folded my arms, "I'm a lesbian and you're an asshole, I'm sure we can manage a few hours in a bed without fucking each other."
Brent flushed, "That's not what I-I don't even-you're-"
"If you comment on my attractiveness in any way shape or form I will throw you off the Canyon myself."
Brent nodded, sitting up and looking at me warily, "So what do we do here?"
"We are going to get some pancakes from that diner down the street. Then we are going to come back here and nap until nightfall, in the same bed like adults. Then we are going to throw a body over the Canyon. Whether it's Charles' or yours is completely up to you."
"Aye, aye captain!" Brent saluted, standing and moving back towards the still open door.
We walked to the diner, sliding into a back corner booth, keeping our heads down. We ordered obscenely big plates of pancakes and scoffed them down in silence, the only sounds being chewing and obscenely loud breathing. It was absolutely disgusting but exactly what I needed at that moment. Once they were gone we stared at each other in silence, cups of coffee warming our hands.
"I have a really bad feeling about this." Brent said, eyes clouded over, "I don't know why, but I can't shake it."
"You just have to ignore it." I sighed, "We've done all we can. Whatever happens from here on out, happens."
"If something happens to me...can you give this to my brother?" He passed over a small envelope, "Don't even think about opening it."
I nodded stiffly, glancing and seeing the name Isaac scrawled across it before shoving it into my jacket pocket, "Okay. I promise."
"Thank you."
"You seem...resigned to something."
"Maybe I am." He shrugged, "You don't need to know, though."
"Noted." I frowned.
We paid and left in silence, walking side by side, our arms brushing every so often. There was a heavy tension between us that I couldn't decipher, as if Brent was thinking about something heavily. Maybe he was planning to throw me off the Canyon...I wouldn't have been surprised. We climbed into the bed side by side, backs to each other, stiff. I felt a strange wave of guilt wash over me, making me unable to sleep and I couldn't place why it was affecting me so much.
I realised that maybe I felt a small shred of affection towards this man, despite everything and maybe I didn't want him to die or be sent to prison. Or maybe it was just because of his younger brother who clearly needed him...that's why I didn't want anything to happen to Brent.
This could have been my last night alive and I was lying side by side with Brent in a tiny motel bed. If someone had told me that a week ago I would have laughed in their face, then probably vomited.
"Kiara?" Brent asked softly, shifting slightly.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you a weird question?"
"Of course." I kept staring at the wall, trying to keep my breathing even.
"Could you...spoon me?"
"Excuse me?"
"Not in that way!" He said defensively, "Ew. Just that...I don't want to feel alone on what could be my last night alive, you know?"
My heart ached at the innocence in his voice, from a boy who probably just missed his family. Who never got the chance to say goodbye.
"Fine. But don't make this weird. And never tell anyone."
"I swear!" I could hear the stupid grin in his stupid voice.
I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see and flipped around on my side to face his back. He wiggled his body at me and I snorted, slapping his back gently. I curled up close, wrapping my arm around his waist and tucking my face into his back.
"Violet was right." He mumbled, "You're good at that."
"Thanks." I said quietly, "Goodnight Brent. Or good afternoon or whatever."
"Good afternoon, Kiara."
And despite the midday sun blaring through the thin curtains, I swiftly drifted to sleep for what could have been the last time.
—
August 5th: 19:10
The blaring of the bedside phone jolted me awake, causing me to smack further into Brent's back and sending him spiralling off the bed.
"What the fuck?"
"The phone!" I breathed, staring at it, "Who would be calling?"
"Just answer it! For Christ's sake!"
So I did, "Hello?"
"Kiara?" The voice crackled down the phone line.
"Elvis? Is that you?"
"Oh thank fuck!" Elvis laughed shakily down the phone, "We have spent the last five hours calling every hotel in town. Of course you'd end up in the shittiest one there is."
"What's going on? Why didn't you call my cell?"
"I tried to call you from Violet's phone but the calls wouldn't go through. I think you have no signal out there."
"Fuck." I swore, then realised, "Wait, you're with Violet? Are you okay?"
"Ki...things are bad...really bad."
"W-what do you mean?" I stuttered, feeling Brent sidle up beside me, attempting to listen in.
"They got Dixon and Pearl." His voice shook on Dixon's name, "And they sent Jeffrey after me and Cassie. We're okay!" He reassured me quickly as I went to interrupt him, "But they knew our plan all along. They've been tracking us."
"What does that mean?"
"It means they planned all of this. They sent Jeffrey after me and Cassie and Marcus went after the others. Now Richard is coming for you. You cannot go to the Canyon, it's what he wants."
"But the body-"
"Forget the body, Kiara, he's going to kill you!" Elvis snapped, making me hold the receiver away from my ear.
Stamping down the bout of frustration bubbling up and attempting to overflow, I took a deep breath, "So what do we do?"
"Wait, wherever you are. We have Violet's FBI agent with us...he's already called for backup to meet us at the Canyon. We've been driving for hours already, we should get there by night."
"Wait, he knows? He knows we're carting around a corpse? Are you kidding me right now?"
"What choice did we have, Kiara?" Elvis snapped, "That man is hellbent on killing you two. Did you just want us to let it happen? We'll take prison time in exchange for your life. Jesus Christ."
"I'm sorry...I'm just..."
"I know. Me too."
"I'm glad you're okay."
"Please be careful." Elvis sniffed, "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."
"Me neither."
"I love you, Ki. Both of you please be careful. We'll be there soon."
"We will. Love you too."
I went to hang up when a soft voice called through the phone, "Kiara?"
"Cassie?" I breathed, clutching the phone tighter, "Are you okay?"
"We're okay." She said softly, "We're in Fitz' car right now. We're only about an hour and a half away from you."
"Good." I smiled, "I miss you." I could practically feel Brent's eyeroll next to me, but I chose to ignore him.
"I miss you too. Stay alive, okay? And I'll show you how much."
"Oh I like the sound of that." I smirked, my heart tugging as she laughed down the line.
"Kiara...I-"
I couldn't even comprehend the rest of her sentence as the door to the room smacked open, banging sharply off the wall, the sound reverberating throughout the room.
"What the fuck!" Brent yelled, jumping to his feet, "Get back!"
"Kiara!" Cassie's voice wailed in my ear, but I was too shaken to reply.
Because there in the doorway, sharply dressed in a suit, was Richard fucking Price.