The Unclaimed Human Luna
Chapter 19

El

By 7pm she was so tired that she had to replace a place to stay, found a hotel and booked herself in at Cordi’s order. She’d been pulled over on the side of the road, her concentration had been lacking and she’d nearly driven off the road, had been talking to Cordi at the time, who yelled at her about driving when tired.

Eliza had told her she just wanted to put as much distance between her and them before they knew she was missing was all. Cordi understood but reminded her crashing the car was not an option, so she found the nearest hotel and booked herself in for the night. Didn’t even have any clothes to change into, she was going to have to sleep in what she had on and wear them all day tomorrow as well.

Looked at her phone. It was nearly dead as well, flicked Cordi a message about her phone nearly dying and was going to switch it off to conserve the last of the battery for tomorrow till she could replace a place to by a new charger and then just crashed out for the night.

Slept like the dead for 10 solid hours, it was still dark outside, but she was up and awake, had already paid for the room, so could leave anytime she liked. She’d managed to drive all the way to Mesquite, Nevada yesterday. Only had a 5 hour or 6 hour drive to get home to Cordi’s place, with stops. Looked at her phone and wondered if she should turn it on at all or just leave it.

She didn’t have to pick up any calls or answer text messages, but wanted to be able to let Cordi know she was up and leaving already. It was only 5am and she would be there by lunchtime today. She also needed to know if they were looking for her, and had sent someone after her. Knew that control freak Logan would want to yell at her and tell her to get her butt back there, knew he would tell her if he sent someone to fetch her. Had told her that before, and she was certain he’d done it, so she understood that she was to return to his gated community. His bloody cult where he probably thought he owned her.

Turned that phone on and waited for it, for all the messages to come through, got nothing from her mum or Logan. She did get a few messages from Marlo, she half smiled, and sent a message back. “Sorry Marlo got in late went right to bed.”

Wondered if she should text her mother the same thing, left that alone if they didn’t know she hadn’t come home then she still had plenty of time to get all the way back to California. Got in her car and headed out. She stopped for breakfast an hour later and bought a charger stared at her mother’s text message.

“El, how was dinner? Will you come down and have breakfast with Logan and I?”

They didn’t know she wasn’t even there, bit her l*p and dared to answer it. “Morning mum, I’m really tired. I got in later than expected. Sorry I didn’t call or text but I’m home safe in my room. I’ll see you later on, okay.”

“Lunch then honey, we wanted to talk to you about university.”

“Lunch is good, see you at 1.” Closed her eyes, didn’t want to lie to her but had no choice in the matter. Wondered how long it was going to be, that she was getting away without Logan not knowing she’d not come home. He seemed to just know everything, let it go. Didn’t really care she was out and free and only a few hours from the safety of Cordi’s house.

It was nearly 10 in the morning when her phone rang and it was her mother, ignored it. It rang right back, then there were text messages. They finally knew she wasn’t there. Had lied to them and was not in that gated community at all. Got a call from Marlo a little while later and sighed, didn’t pick that up either.

It barely stopped ringing or dinging and when she did stop and finally answered it, at noon her mother sounded frantic and then furious at her. Yelled at her for lying about where she was, that they knew she wasn’t home, hadn’t even come home. Demanded her to get her butt back there and when she simply stated “No.” then her mother demanded to know where she was.

“I’m going to grandma’s. I’ll live with her.” she stated. It was another lie, but it would put them all off where she was headed. Her grandma lived in Seattle. It was well away from where she was going and would give her another day to get the hell away and hole up somewhere.

Her grandma would also never turn her away, would welcome her with open arms and she knew it, also knew that her mother would know this. “Don’t come and get me, Conner made it very clear I’m not welcome there. Will never fit in.” and she clicked the line closed.

Threw that man under the bus, wanted to hurt him like he had hurt her. She recalled his father telling him to play nice the day she arrived, that man knew Conner didn’t want her around. Now she would put him in the line of his father’s anger. She was gone and not coming back. Conner had been the one to tell her to leave and so she had. He could take the blame if his father was furious about it.

Though really, why would he be? Only her mother really wanted her there, no one else. Hoped they wouldn’t come looking for her.

Drove down Cordi’s street and parked the car out the front, saw Cordi coming, “You look like s**t El.”

“I feel like s**t to be honest.” El nodded and hugged her friend. “I’m just glad I’m out.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, your mother called me like an hour ago and asked if I’d heard from you.”

El sighed “I told her I was going to grandma’s.”

“Perhaps she called her.”

“It is likely, and I of course, had not called grandma to let her know I was coming.”

“Maybe you should, at least they’ll go there first. Come inside.”

She walked in and found Collin there. He smiled at her. “Free I see.”

“For now.” She nodded as her phone rang again, looked down at it and frowned, she didn’t know that number. Ignored it “Cordi can I shower and borrow some clothes.”

“Of course, El, you know where it is. Go clean up.”

El nodded and called her grandma on the way, “Honey where are you? Your mother is worried sick, said you’re missing and on your way here. Are you?”

“Yes, I am. I don’t want to live with her new family, they’re mean to me.” She told her, had gotten that bruised wrist from Logan, seen his temper and what could she say about Conner himself. He was just cruel to her at every opportunity.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were having trouble out there, your mother said you were still adjusting, but even I knew it would take time.”

“I don’t want to stay, grandma. That husband of hers, she gave him everything and he got my application to Bologna University cancelled. Didn’t even ask me, just did it. Told me I had to stay here and study.”

There was silence on the line for a long moment, then she heard her grandma sigh. “When will I expect you to get here?”

“A day or two I kind of just drove off without knowing where I was going, but now I’m headed your way.” Another lie, though she would probably actually end up there at some point, couldn’t live here at Cordi’s forever.

“Eliza Hunt?”

Bloody woman was a lie detector. “I will come there, but…not right away can you just tell mum I’ve called and told her I’m coming to you.”

“Are you actually coming?”

“I have nowhere else to go.”

“Fine take your time, be safe and call me. Where are you, El?”

“I’d rather not say grandma, if you don’t know…”

“Fine, you will call me every day, till you get here, do you understand?”

“Yes grandma.” She heard the line click off and sighed, had forgotten how difficult it was to lie to that woman, a human lie detector, nothing got by her at all. Showered and changed into a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a tee-shirt. Found Cori and Collin sitting on the lounge together as they always were, couldn’t separate them at all, they’d been together solidly for a year, and they were still such a lovey dovey couple.

“I called grandma, bloody woman smelled a lie even over the phone.”

Saw the pair of them laugh at her as she sat down, “So what happened to make you leave El? I know it was the plan to leave but you got out quicker than expected.” Cordi asked.

“Mm, I was granted permission to go and look at the local university, told them I would do it on my own, had a run in with Conner while there and he told me to leave, so I just did, realised I was out, and no one was watching me.”

“And they just didn’t notice you didn’t come back?” Collin frowned at her.

“Conner wouldn’t care, likely wouldn’t tell anyone.” Felt more pain touch her chest at that thought but knew it was true, he didn’t want her there. “I was supposed to be at the uni all day, I made up a lie about meeting some others that were going to study the same as me and we all decided to have dinner. Told her I’d made friends, which I knew she wanted me to do.”

“Your mother is gullible.”

“Got sucked into a cult, so yes, gullible is correct.”

“Well, you’re out now and you got that ticket to Italy already purchased. You just got to change the dates right.”

G*****d “I left unexpectedly; my passport is back there.”

“i***t, you should have been carrying it on you the whole time.”

“I know that now, I had a bad night and just wasn’t thinking to be honest.” It was the truth she had not had the brain power to think about anything at all that day.

“Anything to do with that mark on your neck.” Cordi pointed at it.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” she muttered.

“Conner?”

“Yes, I don’t understand it, Cordi. I don’t like him, he doesn’t like me.”

Saw her friend sigh and just nod her head, “Life is confusing at the best of times, sometimes people just attract for who the hell knows what reason.”

“Agreed. It’s stupid and I know he has a girlfriend. I saw her myself, yet I still couldn’t say no to him, Cordi.”

Heard Collin sigh “Perhaps there’s a weird a*s connection between the two of you, some sort of love-hate relationship.”

“You two are so weird.” She shook her head “All in love all the time, going to study at the same university, take all the same classes, don’t you want space of your own, time for yourselves?”

“No.” the pair of them chuckled.

“We’re going to do everything together.” Cordi smiled at him and he smiled right back at her.

“Well, seeing as I have some time, before they hunt me down, take me shopping I need clothes.”

Cordi smiled at her “Now you’re talking.”

They shopped and had a meal, and she ignored many calls and text messages from her mother and Logan, also from Marlo himself. Then she just turned her phone off altogether. She was sick of them all trying to talk to her and replace out where she was.

She wasn’t going back, and if they did make her go back then she had to organise another way out before then. She was going to get the hell away from all of them at some point, likely this was not a full out, she was going to need a better plan than to just run off to Cordi’s or her grandma’s. Needed a proper plan, she already had a ticket purchased in her name for Italy, Cordi was right. She just needed to get her passport, change the flight date and get on a flight out of the country without telling anyone where she was going. The question was, could she do that?

She had bought the ticket herself, hadn’t even told her mother about that, she’d been off with Logan getting married at the time. Not a care in the world for her daughter, so El had started sorting out her trip to Italy on her own, seeing as her mother hadn’t been around to do it with her.

But now she had to have that passport that was back there in her apartment inside Logan’s building, and she didn’t think he was just going to send it to her if she asked for it and she didn’t have the time to report it missing and get a new one issued before she was due to go to Italy either.

Spent the next day sitting planning what she needed to do, how to get out for more than a day, have a reason to leave and be on her own, come back here to California and spend some time here. There was only one she could see, one card to play. Was going to have to play it hard when it came time to do so. But surely it would work if not, that hellish swim across the lake it was going to be.

Either way, she was getting out and going to Italy for her studies.

She was getting her life back.