Indigo Ch. 2

Sam was on the run for eighteen months. With nowhere left to turn, she is convinced to live in an isolated community with others that have been shunned from society. Healed by an organization called I

Sam unwrapped herself from the twisted mass of sheets and blanket that were strewn across the bed. Not only had she managed to sleep through the night, but also she had managed to sleep well past nine. The driving must have been much more draining than even she had known.

She slipped into her jeans and a black t-shirt. On her slight frame, the clothes seemed unnaturally loose. She pulled back her long brown hair, and looked into the mirror. Though the face was her own, there was something completely unrecognizable about it. Every freckle was in the correct spot. She had the same steel-blue eyes. But now there were significant dark circles underneath them, and her once full cheeks were beginning to shallow. The last eighteen months had been hard on her.

Sam felt a slight grumbling in her stomach, and was reminded that her last meal was in Albuquerque. That was over twenty-four hours ago. If the sight of herself in the mirror was any indication, she needed to start paying attention to meal times. Unfortunately, the free breakfast was long gone and she had exactly $5.27 left after paying the hotel bill for the week. Hoping that there were some remnants of breakfast leftover from the morning, she grabbed her room key and backpack, then headed out. Across the hall, a second door opened. A woman in her late thirties in a black pantsuit rushed out without even taking a look around her. Sam felt a rush of grief wash over her as the lady hurried down the hall. She knew what it was like to lose those close to you and could sense that in others. It wasn't a good state to be in.

The woman turned right at the end of the short hallway to head out the main door to the parking lot. She passed by the receptionist's desk where Sam had been strangely embraced by the redhead. Sam turned left at the lobby in hopes of finding something to eat. Much to her pleasure, there were still some plastic wrapped pastries and fruit left from breakfast. She grabbed a banana and a blueberry muffin and sat down in a flimsy plastic chair that would hardly even qualify as porch furniture. There were three small, round tables seated in the lobby near a television showing a twenty-four hour news station. Apparently the rest of the guests had deserted earlier in the morning, and it was just Sam and the silent, invisible staff of the hotel.

As Sam ate, she wondered what had happened to the receptionist. Obviously her shift would be over by now, so Sam guessed she would have to go at the job hunt alone. She slipped a bottle of water, two apples, and some danishes into her bag and stared at the television screen. A story about an overnight shooting had briefly caught her attention. Sam watched the grim coverage for a few minutes, but realized that the longer she avoided the world the sooner she would run out of funds. It was one of the first crimes this year. How he had come into possession of the weapon was still a mystery to peace enforcement.

As she pulled the main door open, she was nearly trampled by a frantic mess of curls and running mascara. Amanda ran past Sam, through the lobby, and back behind the "Staff Only" door. A hint of alcohol, smoke, and perfume trailed behind her. Sam could sense a night gone wrong from the other side of the door. Unable to ignore the girl's distress, or perhaps desperately wanting to know someone in town, she knocked slightly on the door. Hearing the sobs but getting no response, she turned the handle and opened the door just enough to poke her head through. Amanda was sitting on the floor against the farthest wall. Her legs were bent and her head was buried between her hair and knees.

"Looks like it was a rough night?" Sam said, half statement and half question as she pushed open the door further.

Startled, Amanda jerked her head toward the intruder. Seeming to have missed that she had nearly mowed Sam over just moments before, she scowled and said, "What do you want?"

"You just looked a little upset, and seeing as you almost killed me back there, I thought I would do some community service while I was in town and make sure you were no longer a threat to others."

Amanda let a grin slip, before she settled back on a frown. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Sam walked across the small staff lounge and crouched beside Amanda. She quickly took in the sight before her. Amanda had decided to go out after their brief encounter. She had replaced the tan Magnolia Inn polo and black slacks for a white t-shirt, high-waisted black pants, suspenders, and pair of patent leather heels. Though slightly disheveled now, it was apparent that she had planned to steal the heart of, or get into the pants of, someone last evening. Sam was sensing that it was a decent mixture of both, but that somehow the plan had changed.

"Well that is great, because I really didn't want the gory details. Like I said, I am really just protecting the next innocent bystander."

Amanda, now starting to compose herself, turned her face toward Sam's. Her green eyes were bloodshot from crying, but she had managed to wipe away most of the running mascara. She looked at Sam, who had just sounded so cold, and saw a slight smile. Sam had been joking after all.

Sam, feeling the mood start to lighten, stood back up. She knew a distraction was one of the best ways to help a girl recover from a terrible night. "Since you seem to be free," the sarcasm did seem to work after all "I could use a bit of help finding some temporary work. You seem like a girl who knows her way around this place. I don't have a lot of cash, but it might help you forget last night's disaster."

"Girl? What are you, like 16?"

"18, actually."

"I have a few years on you, you know?" Amanda asked as she stood, using the wall behind her for support. She had already started to forget the disaster that was this morning. As she gained her balance, she noticed Sam take a significant step away from her. "I had a rough morning and am in desperate need of a shower. I am not sure what good I am to you today."

"I have been around much worse." Sam was still smiling, and intentionally keeping the conversation playful. She really didn't want to know what had happened last night. She just knew that this girl needed a friend now, and she needed to find some work. The faster she could come up with some cash, the faster she could move on.

The drive through town was anything but quiet. Amanda offered up tidbits about the area, stories about her own adventures in Memphis, and what it was like to grow up in the area. Sam, however, was only barely listening. It was rare for her to be a passenger. She enjoyed taking in the scenery and having no obligation to those around her.

"You weren't listening to anything I said were you?" Amanda questioned, as they pulled past a run down apartment complex.

"No, not really." Sam was still absorbing the scenery, processing her dreams from last night, and worrying about where her next influx of funds would come from. The whole mood of the car had turned eerily quiet. Amanda continued to drive, but was now accelerating too quickly and braking abruptly.

"I am really sorry." Sam said quietly. "I really have gotten used to being on my own the last bit. I wasn't trying to be rude. It was just nice to let someone else take the wheel."

Amanda visibly relaxed. Apparently a quick apology was all that was needed and she was back to herself. She continued by discussing potential places of short-term employment.

"I am sorry, did you just recommend that I work as a dancer?" Sam said with a laugh.

"Okay. It is one of the few places, outside of anything illegal, that I could think of that wouldn't ask too many questions and would pay you in cash."

"Though that would be something new for me, I would like to steer clear of that. And you are right, I don't want to draw attention to myself or potentially get into any trouble."

The car came to a stop outside a local diner. This place looked promising.

"I used to work here for a while when I was still in high school." Amanda said. "The tips aren't great, but the owner is pretty cool. He doesn't ask a lot of questions, and just expects you to do your job. What do you think?"

Sam didn't like working as a waitress. It was often noisy and crowded, and quite overwhelming. However, she needed the money desperately and maybe they would get lucky. If the owner could get her in tonight, she could start saving up for the next leg of this journey. Wherever that happened to be.

The girls both started to open the car doors, when someone through the glass window caught Sam's eye. Her breaths became shallow, and her chest felt as if it were about to cave in. An overwhelming sense of panic started to consume her. She had to get away. Sam's mind flooded with questions. How did she find her here? With the size of this whole country, how did she end up here? In this state? In this town? In this diner? She couldn't go back. This could not be happening. Not after eighteen months.

Sam seemed frozen in place. Standing between the car and door, her right knuckles white from the tight grip on the door. Noticing that there was a problem, Amanda grabbed Sam's arm and pulled her back inside. Unconsciously Sam slammed the door. The car tires squealed as they pulled away from the restaurant. Both the blonde and young man turned. Neither realizing how close they were to what they wanted.

"What the hell was that back there?" was the last thing Sam heard before everything went black.

When Sam woke up, she was sitting in the passenger seat of Amanda's car. It took her a moment to realize where she was. She was outside of the Magnolia Inn hotel. She was in the car of a girl she barely knew. Her nightmare had now become her reality. How stupid and careless had she become over the past few months?

"I am going to repeat, what the hell was that back there?" Amanda said. Her voice sounded stern, but she was also deeply disturbed and scared.

"I just… She…" despite her best effort, nothing coherent was coming out. Sam just broke down into a sob. All of the emotions that she had suppressed and avoided suddenly came to the surface. She could not have reached the end of the journey. That was just impossible.

"Let's go. We need to get inside. Do you think you can do that?" Amanda suggested as she opened the passenger door and started to help Sam out of the car.

Sam just nodded her head and allowed herself to be led back into the hotel room. She had just seen her biggest fear and felt like her world had just stopped spinning. She had been found. It was so improbable, but the blonde had finally caught up to her.

Upon entering the room, all of Sam's primal instincts kicked in. She started to hurriedly pack the rest of her few possessions into her backpack on top of the snacks she had stored from earlier. Silently, she went about the room, checking every corner for the last of her belongings. She had to leave. She had to get out of this town.

"What are you doing?"

There was no reply. Sam kept checking corners for belongings and started to head for the door.

"WHAT are you doing?" Amanda shouted as she stepped in between Sam and the door to freedom.

"I have to go."

"What happened to getting a temporary job?"

"I have to go." Sam repeated. Her gaze was dark and distant. Her eyes appeared as if the spirit that use to occupy them was gone and only the shell of the human remained.

"I know that you don't know me very well. But you need to let me know what is going on."

"You're right. I don't know you. Now let me go!" Sam tried to push through her arms, but ended up collapsing into them. The feelings of terror began to quickly mix with determination, fear of rejection, regret, and infatuation. The string of them didn't make any sense. Sam felt herself slowly becoming less terrified but more confused by what she was feeling. Nothing about Sam's feelings had ever made any sense. They were irrational, unpredictable, and rarely linked to what was going on in her life. This was the same now. It was the very thing that caused her problems in the first place. If only she could regain control.

Sam felt a small pinch on her left arm. Then she fell asleep. For a moment Amanda sat on the floor holding Sam to her chest. Something weird had definitely happened. At first, Sam had thought about fighting her. Upon her touch though, Sam had collapsed and went completely limp. Amanda had also used the tiny injection of sedative that Edward had given her a few days ago. It didn't look like any needle that she had ever seen. It was a small, flat disk. Pressing the disc caused a small dose of medication to be administered into Sam's arm. The effect was instantaneous.

Amanda pulled Sam over to the bed. She took off Sam's jacket and placed it into the chair by the bed. She then moved Sam's backpack away from the door and placed it into the chair. As she looked at the girl lying on the bed, she felt an overwhelming sense of pity. Sam looked so slight, small, and broken. Her arms covered in scars. It was easy to imagine that this was someone who Edward needed to save. But the word he had used was 'special', and all Amanda could see was 'fragile.'

Amanda took out her phone and sent a brief text: She is asleep.