Secrets Among Strangers- Chapter 1

Secrets Amongst Strangers

"Are you all right?" she asked from a distance. The guy lying in front of the old gas station didn't look dangerous but still, Brenna wasn't getting too close. "Hello? Are you all right? "Still no response. She supposed she should call the police but her cell was on the fritz again and the nearest pay phone was two blocks away. She didn't want to think about what could happen to him in the time it would take for her to get there and back.

" Are you okay? " she asked one more time, this time louder, her voice showing her growing impatience and fear. Whoever he was he wasn't answering and she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not from where she was standing. The thought crossed her mind that it could be a trap. There were people out there who didn’t much like her. She'd been in traps before, if this was one she was sure she could deal.

He hadn't answered her that final time either and she knew she had to do something. She had only two options. She could leave him where he was and go call the police, leaving him in possible danger, or she could go over and see if he was all right. Leaving him alone, at night, in the neighborhood they were in, would be disastrous. Chances were he'd be in far worse shape by the time any help got there. She couldn't let that happen. She knew she would regret it later, but she didn’t have enough time to worry about that now. Walking quickly so as not to lose her nerve, she headed toward him. Kneeling by his side, but careful not to touch him, she tried to see if he was breathing or not. She couldn't tell. Cautiously she reached for his wrist to check his pulse. He was alive, but still unresponsive.

Carefully she leaned in to check his head for any obvious signs of injury. She felt his head for injuries but was so wrapped up in making sure he was okay that she missed the small movement of his eyes fluttering open.

He watched her. This stranger. A girl who should not have been there but yet was. He knew the people in this area and he knew that none had hair so black as hers. This was a country of light haired, light-skinned people, a people who knew nothing of the world outside and whose skin turned the color of ripe tomatoes if out in the sun too long. Yet here she was, with hair black as night and skin just barely tanned. He saw her pull her hand away from his head almost as if she'd been bitten. He closed his eyes quickly. He didn’t want to lose her, there were things he needed to know and questions he wanted to ask. He needed her help and if he scared her he was certain she would run.

She pulled her hand away from his head and saw that it was covered in blood. She knew she had to get him to a hospital, but how? She touched his shoulder, trying to wake him. If there was a way to get him conscious and standing she was sure she could support his weight long enough to get him help. His eyes opened so suddenly it made her jump. She hadn't actually expected him to wake up.

" Please, " He sat up quickly, too quickly, the pain shot through his head and he fell back groaning with the pain. " Please, " he tried again this time remaining on his back " don't go " he said. She stopped, and he knew she was wieghing her options. " Don't go, " he repeated, " I won't hurt you."

She knew he was being honest. Something in his voice told her he wouldn't hurt her. She walked over to him, "Can you stand? "

" I'm not sure "

" Willing to try? " And with that she put her hand around his arm and helped him attempt to stand. The try failed miserably as he fell to the ground in agony. " Let's try sitting up first. " She said, and helped him slowly into a sitting position. They sat there for a while, in silence, unsure of what to say to each other. Finally he told her he wanted to try to stand. She hooked her arms under his and lifted him to his feet. He staggered but did not fall. She was conscious of the heat of his body against hers, and of how tall he was. The men she knew were never much taller than she was, but this man was at least a half foot taller than her 5'7. She was tall for a woman, she knew, it was part of the reason she kept to herself, that and the fact that everyone else in the city was of fair hair and skin, she was an anomaly, something new and unexpected, and that scared people. She had learned over the years that people much preferred what they knew over the unexpected.


Slowly, all the while supporting him, she turned him so that they were facing each other. " I have to get you to the hospital. " She said. " You're bleeding and you're as pale as . . ." She trailed off and she looked into his eyes for the first time. They were the palest blue, the most amazing shade she had ever seen. Here the men all had eyes of brown. She had never seen anyone with blue eyes before. " Um, I, uh . . . " She shook herself out of it, there wasn't any time for this and though she could drown in his eyes there was no way she could allow herself to do that. " The hospital, we need to get you there now."

When she looked into his eyes he thought his heart would stop. Her eyes were emerald green, with little specks of gold in them. When she pulled her gaze away from his he felt as though he'd been punched. Then he remembered all of it. " No! " he yelled. " We can't go to the hospital "

" What are you talking about? " She asked " You need medical help, we have to go to the hospital. "

" We can't " he said again. " We can't go there. It's not safe. "

" Not safe? What do you mean ‘it's not safe'? "

" Just trust me, we can't go there "

" The police then, we'll call . . . " she started.

" No! " he cut in " not the police either, no one. No one."

The way he said that last ‘No one' sent chills down her spine. What had happened to him that he felt he couldn't go to anyone? Who was this stranger? Why did he look so afraid? She had to find out.

" My name is Brenna, " she said " what's yours? "

He looked at her for a moment before replying " Riley. “ He didn't know why he had given her his real name, he hadn't intended to, he didn't want her caught up in the mess he was in. Now that she knew his name it was only a matter of time before they caught up to her as well.

"Riley, ” she said thoughtfully " Riley, that's a great name. But we really should get you some help " She tried desperately to think of a place she could take him. Her apartment was only two blocks away but did she really want to take him there? She considered her options. There was only the one. " Think you can walk? " She asked him " We'll go to my place it's only two blocks from here. "

They made their way toward her apartment in silence. She had gotten his name out of him and that was enough for now. She knew what it was like to have a secret and she was content to leave him to his.

Walking the two blocks was slow and difficult. The sidewalk was cracked and there was trash on the ground making an obstacle course out of the path. Occasionally he would stumble and fall to his knees forcing her to use all of her strength to lift him back to his feet. It was hard going. The silence made it even more agonizing.

He looked at her. He wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence, but what? " Are . . . " he began.

" We're here. " she interrupted. As they made their way to the door she couldn't help wondering what it was he was about to say. I'm such an idiot! she thought. Why did I cut him off? Silently cursing herself she helped him up the stairs and into the building. The walk to the apartment had been easy compared to climbing the stairs. He didn't have the energy to take them all at once and they had to stop often for him to catch his breath. As they reached her door the thought entered her mind that she was getting herself in deeper than she knew, she quickly pushed it out of her head. She could handle herself

Her apartment was small but homey. The walls were painted a pale green which set off the green undertones in the carpet. There wasn't much furniture except for a coffee table, a few chairs here and there that looked old and worn out and an old love seat in the corner, it wasn't very big and it was slightly cluttered but it was sufficient for what she needed.

In the light of her apartment she was able to get a good look at him. She had been right about his height. He was a good 6 inches taller than she. He couldn't have weighed more than 170, he was tall and all muscle if the quick glance at his arms and shoulders was accurate.

" Here, sit here. " she said quickly, and led him toward the love seat , she cleared a space and helped him to sit. " I'll be right back " she said and headed toward the kitchen. She needed to find something to clean his wounds with, she hadn't lived there long and all she could find was a small, torn dish towel. It'd have to do. She grabbed the towel and a cup of water and headed back to the living room
.
He watched her walking toward him, she seemed to waver and blur in his vision. "I..." he started, before slipping once again into unconsciousness.

She saw him start to fall and ran to him. She wasn't in time and he hit the floor with a loud thud. " Dammit! " she said aloud. " Riley are you all right? Riley? " She shook him gently trying to wake him, but to no avail. Dammit, dammit, dammit! She silently cursed! What now? Should I call 911? He said not too but . . . he needs help! I can't just let him lie there hurt and maybe dying! I've got to call 911. She ran to the phone and called an ambulance, he'd just have to deal with it. She was sure he'd thank her later.

The ambulance came and they put him in the back, when she asked to go along they refused but she insisted and after a small argument they relented and she was allowed to go. She held his hand the whole way not wanting to let go of him, even though she hardly knew him. When they arrived at the hospital there was a rush of activity as people rushed to get him inside. She wasn't allowed into the ER but then she hadn't expected to be. She sat in the waiting room for two hours before she heard anything.

"Ms. Halloran? " The sound of her name drew her out of her reverie. " Brenna Halloran? " The voice repeated. It was a nurse. " That's me." she answered. She tried to remember telling the nurse her name, but couldn't and figured she must have forgotten that she told her during the jumble when Riley was brought in. " Is Riley OK? " she asked the nurse.

"Riley is doing just fine, he was awake a little while ago but the medication the doctor has him on made him drowsy and he's sleeping peacefully now. " replied the nurse.

"Oh, can I see him? " she asked hopefully

"I'm afraid not, only family is allowed and he's sleeping now anyway. "

"Please, I just want to make sure he's okay. I brought him in and I don't know if he has anyone else. "

The nurse hesitated. " I'm sorry, " she said at last "only family."

" But, " she tried to think of a plausible lie.

" But? " asked the nurse.

" I am family. " she lied " I'm his fiancé."

" Oh " the nurse said, the look on her face said she didn't believe Brenna but there was no way for her to know if she was being truthful or not. " All right " the nurse said at last "But only for a minute. He's sleeping and he needs his rest. "

The nurse led the way to the room Riley was in. He was sleeping peacefully but he looked dreadfully pale. She walked over to his bed and took his hand. His eyes opened and he stared into hers, the wide, frightened stare of a deer in the headlights of a car. Something was wrong. " Could you excuse us? " she asked the nurse. The nurse, Edna, as her name tag identified her, didn't look happy but she left anyway.

She leaned over him and he wanted to slap her.How could she? He told her not to call anyone and here he was, right back where he had started, back with Them. Women! He thought, why can't they just do what they're toldཀ He looked into her eyes and tried to speak. He tried to tell her to get out, that she'd done enough damage already and to just leave him there to die. The words wouldn't come. How could he send her away after she'd risked her life for him. She didn't have to show him where she lived, she didn't have to help him, but she had and for that he owed her. " We have to go. " he managed finally.

"Go? But, we can't. You're hurt and the hospital certainly won't let you leave. " she said.

She didn't understand and he didn't have the time to explain it to her. " Trust me " he said " We need to leave. Now. "

The way he said ‘Now.' made her shiver. At that moment she knew he wasn't kidding. He had a reason for wanting out, it didn't matter what it was, she knew she would help him no matter the risk. " What do we do? " she asked him. They couldn't just waltz out the door, there was no way anyone would let that happen, so how? How would they get out? There had to be a way. And she was sure he would know it.

" We go out the front door " he said.

Okay, she thought, so maybe he doesn't have a good idea, but the door is worth a shot.

She helped him unhook everything he was connected to, machinery, medications and all, and helped him to stand. He was a little unsteady on his feet but then he’d had a steady stream of meds. pumped into him for the last two hours, he was allowed to be a little off balance. She grabbed his thngs and helped him dress. She'd been through her fair share of escapes and knew that it was easier if all involved were fully clothed.

Once he was dressed they made thier way to the door.This was it, the moment of truth. She opened the door, to her surprise, and relief, the doorway was empty.

Slowly they started down the hall. This isn't right, he thought, where is everybody? The halls were empty and quiet, much too quiet, especially for the biggest hospital in the tri-county area. Something was seriously wrong. He just couldn't figure out what. And then, for the third time that night, pain shot through his head and he found himself on the ground.


It took Brenna a second to realize what was happening. The nurse who had shown her to Riley's room had come up on them from behind and had bashed Riley in the head with an IV stand, knocking him to the ground. Brenna tried to help him but the nurse turned her attention to her. There was no way out, she was backed into a corner and had no option but to fight back. Doing so would reveal things to Riley that she didn't want him knowing, but she had no other choice. She'd just have to deal with it later.

The nurse stared at her and started to advance, probably thinking Brenna would back down. She was wrong.

"Stay down!" She yelled to Riley.

A swift roundhouse the the head was all it took to knock the nurse out. Brenna was actuallya little suprised at how easy it was.

Amateur she thought. "Let's go," She said as she helped Riley back to his feet. They started down the hall. Walking quickly and keeping an eye out for more trouble.

"We need to get out of here. Now. Keep up and don't get in my way. I'll do what it takes to get us out of here."

"I..." he started.

"Not now, explanations later. If I'm getting involved in this I want to know everything. Got it? Good. Now move."


They made their way to the door encountering more people on the way. Each time the person tried to stop them and each time Brenna fought. None of them ever saw it coming. A right hook here, a sucker punch there. One minute they were in control and the next they were on the ground, in pain, wondering where things had gone so horribly wrong.

When at last they reached the door she heard Riley let out a sigh of relief. But they weren't safe yet. They had to hide but where? They knew where Brenna lived now, so her place wasn't safe, and she was sure they knew how to find Riley. There was only one option, they had to leave the city. " We can't go back you know. " she said quietly. " Not to my place, not to your place, wherever that is, not anywhere. We'll never be safe. "

" I know. " he replied. " I'm sorry I got you messed up in this. I didn't mean to. No one else was supposed to get involved."

" Don't be stupid. " she said. " I got myself into it. And trust me, I've been involved in worse. "

"But... " he began.

"No, I'm in this now. No excuses. I thought I could get away from this kind of thing, have a real life. But I was wrong. You can't outrun fate. This is just how things are. I can deal with that."


" I know a few places we can go. " he said "they aren't the best or the cleanest in the world but they're safe, sort of. "

She shook her head " No. " She said. " I know where we can go. There's a place I know just outside of the city. I have friends there, we'll be safe. At least for the night."

" Are you sure?" he asked. He realized for the first time that he didn't actually know who she was, all he really knew was that she was powerful, and really that's all that mattered to him right then.

"Yes. Of course I'm sure, you think I would have mentioned it if I wasn't? "she asked.

" Oh, " he said, feeling foolish, he hadn't been spoken to in that way since he was a little kid, he didn't like the feeling it instilled in him then and he sure didn't like how it felt now.

"Let's go. "she said. " We've got a long night ahead of us and it hasn't even begun."

He looked at her and for the second time that night he wondered just who exactly she was.