Underneath This Skin - 8. Hitchhiking and... Latin?

Somewhere along the lines of that day, I had managed to circle back to my apartment, grab my gear, and jet. It was all in one big haze. You know when you remove yourself from a situation completely? Like an out of body experience, sort of.

Now I stood at the side of the highway, with a wad of 20's in my back pocket. Sure, it was supposed to be for my rent, but it didn't look like I was going back there anytime soon. I had pitched my thumb towards the sky a while back – now all I had to do was wait. Someone would pull over soon. Someone would feel bad for the kid who looked like he had decided to run away from his insignificant problems. No one would guess mine. God, I couldn't even guess mine. All I knew was that I was one big fat mess.

After a few minutes of standing, albeit uncomfortably, shifting the weight of the pack on my shoulders from side to side, a car pulled over to the side of the road, and rolled the window down. I stared warily into the window.

It was a man who looked to be in his twenties, sporting a scraggly beard and long hair.

"Hey kid, need a lift?" he asked unnecessarily, as I bit my lip roughly. No, people just stood at the side of the road giving the traffic a thumbs up, because they want to wish them luck. Inwardly, I chuckled. Outwardly, my lip twitched slightly, giving the man in front of me a distorted frown of sorts. I nodded to his question, before opening the passenger door, and slipping in.

Luckily, it looked like the man was going travelling. He had a map spread out which I had to lift off my seat, and everything. Looking closely at it, I could see the big red circle around 'NEW ORLEANS'. I shrugged to myself. I could go there. It wasn't like there was anywhere actually safe for me, anyway.

"Where to?" he asked, as he watched me look at his map. I pointed to the red circle, and he nodded. "Looks like we'll be together for a bit then, kid." He grinned, but I was already off in my own little world.

If I had of been paying more attention, I would have noticed that something seemed off with his eyes. They seemed... knowledgeable.

I hadn't even noticed when he had locked the doors. Though, after a few moments of driving, I did notice when he pulled off the highway. Narrowing my eyes at the man, I tried for the door lock, unbuckling my seat belt as subtly as I could. He noticed though, looking over at me with a toothy grin.

"Going somewhere?" he asked smugly. I scowled, still feeling for the door lock. He seemed to notice what I was doing because he grinned devishly, and chuckled a bit. "Nice try kid, but the locks are only controllable from my side."

I froze.

He laughed some, before letting it dwindle out slowly. All the meanwhile a sinking feeling was making its way into the deepest pits of my stomach. I felt sick. "Nothin' against ya', kid. Boss just wants you." he commented, looking pitifully at me. Through my glare, I managed to cock an eyebrow.

Who the fuck was his boss?

"Damon." he provided, causing me to frown deeper. What was with me and finding people who wanted to keep me as some... possession? I shivered slightly, hugging myself. I didn't like it. Not at all.

The next five minutes of the ride were silent. I kept glaring at the world from behind my scraggly black hair, and the man who was driving kept his eyes on the road, his lips set in a thin, serious line. As we pulled into the now familiar bar's driveway, my lovely chauffer decided to unlock only his door and get out of the car, after cutting the ignition, and bringing the keys with him. No chances, I guess.

Fuck. I needed a chance.

He unlocked the car as soon as he was outside of my door. Though as I went to dive for the driver's side door, to escape, I heard the voice I had been running from. One of them, anyway.

"Going somewhere, Caden?" the deep, familiar voice questioned. I turned to see Damon standing where the other man once was, causing me to look around to find him. He was already guarding the driver's side door. I gulped slightly, causing Damon to chuckle.

"You're not to leave my site, boy," he commanded, leaving me speechless.

Well.

I was already speechless, but you know what I mean.

Dumbfounded?

Yeah, that's it.

What the hell, man? Did he think he was some kind of old man who had some authorative power over me? Really. Boy? He was in the same grade as me! I gritted my teeth some, and crossed my arms. I guess it disrupted my usual display of emotionlessness, but it didn't matter to me at the moment. I was pissed. And I wasn't going anywhere.

Damon chuckled once more. "Fine, have it your way." he said, before ducking into the car and pulling me out of it, heaving me over his shoulder.

I struggled. I mean, I really struggled. But it wasn't working. I couldn't understand the strength that this man had. I mean... it was almost... unhuman.

Damon walked back into the back doors of the bar, and cleared the staircase in no time. Walking into the bedroom I was staying in earlier (his, I think), he threw me onto the bed, and slammed the door. I shivered slightly.

The facade he must have been keeping up out there was gone completely now. He wasn't calm and collected. He looked pissed. He stomped over to the bed and pushed me down on it, trapping my arms above my head with one hand, and my legs due to the fact he was practically straddling me.

I felt indecent, so I blushed, and looked away.

Big mistake.

"Look at me!" he growled, pulling on my chin with his free hand to force me to look his way. I gulped slightly, and looked up at the angry man on top of me.

Hah... never thought that would happen.

Again.

"Why did you run?" he seethed, causing me to flinch slightly, at every syllable that flew out of his mouth.

"You're not allowed to leave." he commanded. I felt the familiar heat of anger and fear filling my veins. I struggled against him, trying to escape his hold. I felt so angry; I felt like yelling out in frusteration.

But somehow, I didn't. Somehow, I managed self control, as Damon constricted me further, as he sighed, calming visibally.

"Carus Deus. Succurro mihi tracto forsit" he mumbled under his breath.

Wait. What?

What kind of language was that?