Chapter Text
Her heart raced, it was now or never. This life, whatever the hell it could be called, she couldn’t stand it a second more. The beatings, the abuse, and the helplessness. This was not her, this was not the life that she had envisioned for herself. Cassandra Byrne breathed heavily as she made sure to dress in clothes that were not her style, to keep her hidden. Derek had eyes everywhere, no doubt watching her every move. She was finally able to slip away, after so much time of planning, constructing back up plans she could escape. She had smashed her phone before leaving the house, making sure there were only pieces. Derek would not track her anymore, she refused to be under his control anymore. The sun was setting and she made her way to the seedier side of town, the places she knew Derek’s stuck up ass would never visit. She entered the first pawn shop and looked at the man behind the counter, he seemed sleazy but she didn’t have a choice. “Well little lady, what can I do for you?” His voice made her fair skin crawl. She placed several pieces of jewelry before him. She faced the man while wearing special tinted glasses to help sharpen night time vision and lessen the glow of car headlights, as well as to conceal her eyes. “I need to sell these. I need the most I can get.” The man looked at her with curiosity and a hint of suspicion. “Did you steal these?”
She scoffed as she removed her glasses revealing her eyes. They were a rich hazel green but the beautiful colors were tainted by the hues of black and blue from a blackened eye that was healing from Derek’s “discipline”. “They’re from an asshole husband and my dead mother. Can you give me something for them or not?” The man looked down in discomfort at seeing her eye. He focused on the jewelry and proceeded to check them, all the while Cassandra nervously kept looking over her shoulder making sure she wasn’t followed. She brushed away locks of dark mahogany hair from her face, then she looked at the man. “Well?”
“I can give you $900 for it all.”
“Fine. That’ll work. Thanks.” She looked back at the doors and back to the counter as the man took the jewelry and bagged them then got her information, although she hated it but had to be done. The man went to the register and counted out the money and counted it out to her and she immediately put it in her side bag clutching it like a lifeline. “Hey lady….sorry about accusing you before. Good luck.” His words actually sounded genuine and she gave a nod of thanks before quickly going out the door. Looking around frantically she walked quickly towards the bus transport station that was nearby. She came up to the counter to the female attendant who was present. “Ticket to wherever is furthest away from here.” The attendant blinked in surprise but complied as she quickly typed in information. “We have a bus going to Montana.” “I’ll take it.” She quickly took out a couple of bills to pay for the ticket and waited for the change. The screech of a bus could be heard and she turned to look at the source as a bus pulled up. “That’s the bus now, you’re lucky, we didn’t expect it for another half hour.” “Good. I need luck.” Cassandra muttered under her breath. Finally getting her change she thanked the attendant and hurried to the bus getting on after showing her pass. She took a seat in the middle making sure to keep an eye out the window. Her body shuddered as she felt her heart racing what felt like miles per hour. Then her blood froze as she saw a couple of men dressed in suits walk up to the station. Dammit! A soft whimper left her lips as she ducked down in her seat to not be seen. Her breathing quickened as her heart seemed to leap in her throat. No no no no, please don’t let them see me. Don’t let them get on. Dread filled her entire being as she heard steps enter the bus. Then she heard a gruff voice.
“Hey, bus ain’t ready yet. You two are gonna have to wait out there on the benches.”
Another voice answered, one that was cold and hard as steel. “Did you see a woman get on here?”
“Look man, I told you, bus ain’t ready, ain’t no one on here. I wouldn’t have let anyone on here. Look around, there ain’t no one on here!”
“She is a criminal sir, we need to take her in for investigation.”
“Yea? Well you’re shit outter luck, because ain’t no woman on here. She probably got on the bus that was before me to Virginia. It just left five minutes ago.”
Cassandra was biting her hand as she heard cursing from the cold voice and angry footsteps were heard getting off the bus. Relief hit her so hard her knees wobbled and she stayed in her position not daring to move. There were no more sounds of footsteps or voices and she felt the bus jerk as it began to move. She glanced to the window to see they were leaving the station and a voice made her look up.
“It’s okay ma'am….we’re away from them. You can come out now.” The voice wasn’t as gruff as before and she exhaled shakily as she stood up. Looking around there was no one else around. She cautiously went up to the front towards the driver who was a man in his late 40’s, thinning hair, slightly overweight with tanned skin that had seen its fair share of labor.
“T-thank you….you...you helped me. Not..to sound ungrateful...but why?”
There was a silence before the driver spoke again. “I had a sister, about twenty years ago. She was escaping an abusive husband...much like I reckon you are. She wasn’t lucky….he found her before she could escape fully and before my family and I could help her. He beat her within an inch of her life….she didn’t make it.”
She could hear a tightness in his voice as he kept driving but talking still. “I promised if I could help it...I wouldn’t let another woman meet her fate. I saw you get on here, the way you moved, how you’re dressed. You are a woman escaping a terrible husband. Those men wanted you right?” “Y-yeah.” “I thought so. I didn’t buy the criminal bullshit. By the way, my name is Rob.” “I’m..Cassandra.” “Pretty name. When we get to Montana, switch to another bus to get away from there as soon as possible. Get your name changed, do whatever you have to do to change your routine and lifestyle. Got it?” “Yeah. Thanks Rob.” “You’re welcome. Get some rest, it’ll be a long trip.” Cassandra felt the weight of fatigue as the adrenaline wore off and she sat down in a chair and leaned it back to get some sleep. Soon they had arrived in Montana and Rob gave her some contacts he had in Seattle that could help her, and she soon made her way to Seattle, to start a new life.