Captive Witch

Chapter Five

The plane ride was overnight, allowing me to get some much-needed rest. Nox was not at all pleased with being restrained inside a cat carrier for an entire night, I was going to have to get him an entire truck load of fish to make up for this. We left the airport as soon as we could, I hailed a taxi. "The nearest bus station please." It was only a short ten-minute ride.

"Here we are, that will be twenty-five dollars." I handed him two twenty-dollar bills and left the taxi, heading inside the bus station. Even though I knew I couldn't be tracked, I still felt as if I couldn't stop moving until I found somewhere safe. Movies and books had not quite prepared me for the outside world, it was louder and more crowded then I expected, but that seemed to change with each place I went.

I got in line and looked at the board as I was waiting to get to the booth. "How can I help you?" I looked at the worker and smiled brightly, trying not to seem like this was my first time being in a bus station.

"Can I get a ticket to Seattle, Washington please?" She nods and prints out the ticket.

"Sixty-five dollars." I hand her four twenties, this time waiting for the change, I couldn't afford to be wasting money anymore, I didn't know when the next time I'd be able to get some more would be.

I take the ticket and then head toward the numbered sign indicated on the ticket, luckily the bus is there already, even though it wasn't leaving for another hour. I was hungry, plane food had not hit the spot at all and Nox was probably starving, having refused any of the food I had offered him on the plane.

"Is there anywhere I can get some food?" The driver looks at me with a raised eyebrow, obviously expecting me to know. "I just got off a plane, I'm going to visit my relatives." He nods like my question suddenly makes sense.

"Yeah, sure kid. There are some vending machines over there. Just don't make a mess and be back here before we leave." I was most definitely going to be back quickly, because all I was doing was going to buy some food and get right back on the bus, I had seen too may movies where the people missed their buses because they were distracted. Thankfully, there is quite a selection, having four different vending machines to choose from. I first buy three bottles of water, then take a longer time looking over the other three vending machines that were full of food. I buy a bag of pretzels, two bags of apple slices, now I needed something for Nox. My shoulders sag in relief when I see beef jerky. "There is beef jerky, Nox. That will have to do for now."

"Well, it's no salmon, but I guess it will do, for now." I buy the remaining four bags in the vending machine before running back to the bus as if I had been gone for forty minutes instead of ten.

There wasn't even anyone else on the bus, allowing me to return to my original chosen seat. I open one of the beef jerky bags and shove it inside my pocket, jerking lightly as Nox turns ravenous and begins to devour the dried meat. I crack a water bottle and drink some, knowing Nox won't want any until he has at least finished that bag of beef jerky, I eat through half my apples, savouring their taste even if they were slightly stale. "More meat." I sigh and stop my eating to take away the empty bag from my pocket and shove a new one in there. By the time I am finished through one bag of apples, Nox is finishing off his second bag of beef jerky. "Water." Well, he wasn't feeling very talkative right now, but I understood, being on the run was rough, even if we had only been on the run for just over a day now. I grab my empty apple slice bag and pour water inside of it. Nox sticks his head out of my pocket to drink from the bag of water, and I try to turn my body so that I'm shielding him from view from the other passengers.

Once he is satisfied, I drink the remaining water in the bag, knowing I won't be able to put it anywhere. My bus ticket allows me to use the same ticket to catch multiple buses to get to my destination, we go from the bus station to another one in Butte, Montana, only taking about an hour to get there. Where I catch another bus to Spokane Washington, which takes five and a half hours, before catching another one to Everett Station in Seattle Washington, which dropped me off a whole thirteen hours after I left Montana. Meaning it was nighttime, I catch another bus for an hour and a half to get to the central bus station in Seattle. I was tired and hungry, but I felt as if I couldn't afford to stop. The option was where to go next, I look over the large board tiredly.