41. Reach

                                    

                                          

♟️





"Fuck, fuck, fuck."
Hollie rushes down the stairs of her old family home on her tiptoes. She tries not to make too much noise, but she still practically flies down the stairs and picks up her shoes on the way. Despite being in a panicked rush, Hollie made sure not to leave a single trace of herself back in her room.
Knowing that she doesn't have long before either her brother wakes up because of all the noise she is making, reads the news and escapes, effectively foiling Elena's plan- or before the police show up and force her to stay in the house to be questioned- Hollie runs to the front door and leaves into the cold morning air. She breathes out and quickly turns around, closing the door as carefully as she possibly can behind herself.
As soon as it's closed, Hollie runs down the driveway while trying to think of the fastest way to get out of there, all while the sun slowly peeks over the horizon and the sky turns into a yellowish, whitish blue. Her breath is up in her throat, harsh and burning and pressing up into her chest. She isn't wearing anything except the suit she wore to the board meeting yesterday, and in the cold summer morning, she feels shivers all up into her spine despite her panic.
A sudden loud noise cuts through the air when she's halfway down the driveway. At first, Hollie fears it might be the police she is hearing. But it's not the police. It's a singular, loud car, screeching up the driveway. Hollie gasps and takes a step back, but by that point the large and somewhat familiar black sports car has already stopped right in front of her, throwing up a cloud of dust in the air. Hollie coughs and waves the dust cloud away from her face as the tinted windows roll down.
"Get in."
Hollie snaps her head up with surprise. As the dust cloud slowly moves away, she sees the outlines of a frowning, worried Elena, sitting in the driver's seat of a black sports car that she owns, but barely uses. For a moment, Hollie is too shocked to move. How did she know to get here? Is this a dream? But her shocked expression only seems to make Elena more frustrated. "Get in! The cops will be here any minute!"
Hollie springs into action and runs up to the car. She opens the door and slides into the warmth of the expensive vehicle, and Elena races off from the driveway before she can even close the door, or put her seatbelt on. Hollie rushes to do just those things as Elena drives away from the gated community. Then, when Hollie has managed to slow her breathing down, she settles into the awkward silence that looms in the car. Hollie glances at Elena, but she doesn't look at her, or say anything at all.
They drive off from the smaller roads and out onto the motorway.
Once they've gotten far away enough, both mentally and physically, Elena finally turns to glance at her. Except this time, it's matched with a raised voice filled with stress. "What were you thinking!" She glances back at the road and picks up the speed easily, the sports car gliding smoothly ahead of the other cars. "You could've gotten caught in the middle of it all! You don't even like your father, or your brother! Why would you go there of all places? This is what I meant by being careful, do you have any idea how-"
Elena turns back around to look at Hollie, and the moment she does, her voice catches in her throat and she stops talking mid sentence. Hollie, who had been awkwardly sitting in the passenger seat and letting her speak, dares to glance at Elena with confusion when she suddenly isn't able to say anything. Elena's eyes have suddenly fallen into some softer emotion, and she stares both right at, and right through Hollie like she's thinking really deeply about something.
Suddenly, taking her off guard, Elena clears her throat and turns back to the road.
"I'm sorry for being mean to you."