An Urgent Need for Ruin (Full-length Novel Version)

Monday was uneventful. I couldn't even relax outside for fear of having to face Stranger Danger tomorrow. Why in the world would he offer to take me to school? That was the question I tried to avoid answering all day. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to know the inner working of his mind. I didn't want to know him. I wanted to move far away where his predator eyes couldn't track me. I wanted to sneak off to school for the rest of this year. I wanted to never go outside again.
It was inevitable, though. Whatever I figured, there was still no feasible way to avoid him completely. And Mom expected us to be friends. Again, I might add. Old friends or not, there was no way I was even attempting to communicate with him. Mom better be right about him never talking like me. He wasn't even getting a look from me.

Bear with me. You'll only have to endure a bit more of this. I had such a disgusting attitude back then. And even though I'd love to portray myself as a kind soul who accepted Frank right away, I need to be as true as possible, even if it doesn't make me look so good.
I feel it beneficial to tell you I'm currently in my late twenties while writing this. I look back on these adolescent years and realize what a snob I was and a poor judge of character (even though, in my defense, Frank continued to have that creepy aura the whole rest of his life.) Maybe I can skip just a bit, just to keep from boring you or offending you further. Maybe it'd just be better to skip to Tuesday morning. Are you all right with that?

This was it. This was the morning I would be stuck in a car with Stranger Danger. It wasn't a sarcastic nickname anymore: it was the very concept of him. I was 100% sure there'd be a search party out within the next 48 hours, scouring the swamps for my mangled body, while Frank would be nowhere to be found. I was that sure of who he really was. Childhood friend or not, I still knew nothing about who he was now.

Funny how those two kinds of things completely contradict each other. You're so sure of who you someone really is, but it's because you don't know them that makes you so sure. Following that train of thought can be so dizzying, but comes completely naturally to us humans and even animals. The unknown is foreign and therefore inherently evil. This was one of the many lessons about humanity that even simply Frank's existence taught me, and something I've lived much better from counteracting.

I got ready far too early and in a hurry, because I couldn't stand one more second memorizing my ceiling when I obviously wouldn't get back to sleep. I did everything but brush my teeth, and managed to do so slow enough that there was only an hour or so left before I would leave for school. So I ate my breakfast slowly as Jordan finally decided to come alive and creak open his door before stumbling into the bathroom. I would have laughed if I wasn't so scared.
Reviewing my options again, I quickly made myself some cereal and crunched on it almost mechanically. Was there anything, ANYTHING, I could do to avoid this? I could play sick... but 1) it was very unlike me to miss school 2) we had just come off a three-day weekend, and 3) both these things would make Mom and Dad skeptical. Okay... Option 2: I could sneak off to school before Fr---Stranger Danger could pick me up. Of course, this option would do me more harm than good. Either Stranger Danger would tell Mom or she would ask us both how it went. Option 3: I could just out-and-out avoid all of this by walking; just defy it to the end. That should work, right? Either way, it was really the only option.
Determined now, I threw my cereal bowl in the sink (an I mean that literally: I threw it in there. But I didn't hear crashing, so I guess that's good.) and raced up the stairs to get ready. I brushed my teeth like a madman and then took the stairs by twos back down. Swinging my hardly-full backpack on my shoulder, I marched confidently out the door.

I may have spent the last three years wondering how Stranger Danger was going to get me and every which way he could murder me, but I'd also somewhat gained more confidence. Even though it felt like there was no escape, there was no way I wasn't fighting 'til the end. He'd have to fight just as hard.
Confidence wasn't the only thing I had gained during these past years. I now had somewhat of a sense of style that didn't involve raiding the laundry or a fruity smell to cover up a funk. And, admittedly, I kind of prided myself on that change. It showed maturity and effort, at least in my eyes.
Speaking of maturity, I was much gaunter and more lanky than before. My face was basically stretched across my skull rather than having that girly chubbiness to it. My hair had also gotten lighter and longer. It was still very dull and thin, but now fair enough to almost be white. Sad frail curtain stretched down past my elbows and covered my face most of the time. It was easy to hide behind and, although I wasn't shy, I usually preferred to. If you looked unapproachable, people usually assumed you were and left you alone. I had also somewhat grown into my disproportionate feline features. My face had always been kind of disproportionate, or at least that's what I've been told. It's what happens when you inherit your dad's slender chin and small mouth and your mom's wide head and prominent cheekbones. All in all, I wasn't exactly ugly, but I wouldn't call myself gorgeous. I guess you could say there was some natural beauty hidden deep, deep in there somewhere. But you'd be overestimating me: I was just average. And I was okay with that.
I had already passed Fr---Stranger Danger's house and was strolling down the road without a care. Defiance never felt so good. I would literally do a happy dance if I made it all the way to the school, especially if I could see Stranger Danger's pissed-off face. That would definitely be something to celebrate.

My pride and happiness had just about boiled over. I was only about two miles from the school and I'd opted to taking a longer, more lonely path so I could enjoy my freedom without cars speeding past. It was nice, just to be able to think and relax after all the stress. And if I kept up this defiant act, maybe I could just keep walking to school or hitch a ride with Jordan's carpool and embarrass him. Mom would eventually give in when she figured out making me go with Frank -- Stranger Danger! Not Frank! -- was more trouble than it was worth. I did feel kind of bad for giving Mom trouble when she already had so much going on. but this wasn't a matter or pride, like she thought it was: I was saving her the death of a daughter in the long run.
I was about to the middle of this lonely stretch of road when I heard an engine puttering along behind me. Before I could figure out whether it was passing or turning in a driveway, it stopped. That's kinda strange, I thought, and before I could even think anything else, two arms crushed my waist from behind, pinning my arms to my sides.
I froze. I'm going to die I'm going to die, is all I kept thinking. My feet rose up from the pavement as my captor grunted with effort to lift me. It wasn't until I saw the truck he was about to stuff me in that my body finally woke up. I screeched, struggling, before realizing I was on a long, almost-empty road....by my own choice. You didn't think that maybe JUST MAYBE he might follow you? Why'd you pick an empty road?! is what I probably would have yelled at myself if I wasn't so busy thinking of how I was going to get away. As the passenger seat loomed closer, I finally thought to use the heels of my sneakers. My legs thrashed back and forth wildly, and on the backswing one heel managed to catch right under his knee while the other nailed his crotch. With a howl of pain he went down, but not before shoving me into the car. I dove out the car door, but he had already gotten back up. I was met with Frank's hand clenching my shoulder and his face in mine. Of course it was Frank; that didn't shock me at all. But it was a very good thing because then I could put the past three years of fear and anger into what I was about to do. Abruptly, I turned from his predator eyes and bit deep into his hand, possibly taking a chunk. But instead of this going how I planned, he poured his anger into almost slamming the door on my legs. By reflex, I pulled them in.
And then I was trapped.
Quickly, he walked around to his side, making sure the whole time that I wasn't unlocking the truck. I wasn't fast enough to lock his side and escape out of mine.
He climbed in the driver's seat, started the car and locked it, and grumbled under his breath, "GAWD, yer difficult."
And that was that.

Notes

So I ran this chapter through OpenOffice spellcheck since My Chemical Romance Fanfiction doesn't have one, so it should be free of typos.
Okay so this is the chapter when crap hits the fan. And you just thought this was a Twilight-y fic and Toni was just being dramatic... Nope!
I was originally going to have the kidnapping scene a bit longer, but I think I like how it is. Let me know what you think! Please!

xoxo ~Ash

If you want to know what a Cajun accent sounds like: https://www.facebook.com/Miltonpostweekly/videos/456020541243559/