Running out of Time by Christina Chorney (love letters to the dead txt) 📖

was already bent into the fridge poking for a fast meal to go.
She stood back and looked at her daughter. She had become a tall gangly teen with long brown hair, and her father’s beautiful amber eyes and stunning smile that could light up the room. She couldn’t understand how she went from being such a sweet little baby girl to this romping preteen. She sighed and determined either way; she has always been such a good girl to her. Ever since Paul had died, it had been much harder for Emily to cope and money got tighter as she had to put in longer hours at work to make ends meet. Emily said she’d help but, no. School was much more important right now. She could make due to keep her daughter happy.
Emily turned and smiled at her mother. She was a petite woman with short brown hair cut to just under her chin. Her blue eyes were deep and warm and full of love. Her rounded face gave her such a soft and gentle look. She is so strong though. Emily mused. She took it hard when dad died but the very next day went to work with her head high and shoulders straight and went to ask about working longer hours. Her boss Helen told her she could get more hours as needed but recommended her to at least take a few days to let her grieve. After quite a bit of brow beating, Helen managed to talk her mother into taking three days off after the funeral. During that small time she and her mom managed to bond closer to each other. She bounded over and engulfed her mother into a fierce hug.
“I love you mom, I just wanted to make sure you knew that.” She said giving a light squeeze.
Her mother returned the hold and patted her daughters back. Joy soared through her hearing her daughter’s wonderful words, nearly bringing her to tears. “I love you too sweetie, but you need to go to school.” She handed Emily an apple and a few dollars for lunch. Emily looked at her puzzled.
“I know I usually pack your lunch but I decided to save up so that you could at least have one school lunch. It is your last day and I want it to be your best day.” She said.
Emily smiled knowing how even a few bucks in this house was a lot to have.

She ran full speed up the sidewalk heading towards the bus-stop. She knew there was about ten minutes left before the bus got there. She arrived to the top and slumped up against the light post panting heavily. She jumped back slightly when a water bottle suddenly thrusted itself into her view. She looked up and saw her best friend Jenny standing there smirking at her. She gave her friend a sheepish grin before taking the water bottle from her and drank deeply. Jenny merely shook her head. Emily looked at her friend in puzzlement.

“What’s wrong Jenny?” She asked. She snorted before looking up the street to see if the bus was coming. “Emily, you’re late again. You said you’d be on time today, I’ve been up here waiting for you almost twenty minutes.” She replied. Emily looked down at her water bottle feeling guilty. “I’m sorry Jenny; I forgot to get up on time this morning.” She went over to her friend and leaned onto her with a huge puppy face and a pout. She looked over at her and began to smile. Nothing Emily ever did could stop her from making her best friend smile. They stood laughing and talking about the years they had at this school as the bus arrived for the final time to pick them up for school.
The school bus arrived at the school giving her and Jenny at least 30 minutes to relax in homeroom before class started. They went to the small café located by the cafeteria to get a couple of iced teas. Jenny leaned over to Emily holding a sly smile on her face. “So, you remember our plan for this weekend right?” She whispered. Emily looked at her and nodded. “I’ll have my stuff ready; mom knows I’m hanging out with you this weekend.” She replied back taking a sip of her tea.
What she had conveniently left out was that she and Jenny wouldn’t be staying at her house. They were planning to sneak out and go to the abandoned camp grounds just a few miles from Jenny’s house. Rumor was that the campground had been haunted for years due to someone having died in one of the cabins. Spending one night at the grounds would be an instant popularity boost for them for High school. Emily made sure to have her camera packed to capture proof that they were actually there. Shortly they left the café heading back to the classroom eagerly chatting about their plans.


Deerfield, South Carolina

Erik peered out the cafe window and watched idly as cars putted their way down Main Street. People strolled along the sidewalks some stopped in front of the stores across the street to look into the windows. It amused him how people can meander in their lives without even considering that a person walking just a few steps back could be a murderer. Ignorance is bliss he mused before looking across the booth table where Lena was quietly sipping at her steaming cup of herbal tea. He shook his head with a slight disgusted look on his face. “How the hell can you drink that shit?”
Lena looked up at him, eyes completely blank. “It relaxes me, plus it’s good for you.” She replied. He shook his head again and motioned for the waitress. She came over with a steaming pot of coffee to refill his cup. He thanked the waitress before once again returning his attention to Lena.
“Ben called me earlier this morning. He said it was important to talk to us.” He said. Lena put down her cup with a questioning look on her face. “Ben? I wonder what’s so important.” She said. He shrugged. Ben was a good friend to Erik. He was the only friend aside of Lena he actually had. He was recruited a few years ago into Michael’s troops. His job was similar to his, drug exchanges and whore exchanges. He mainly handled the sex trafficking unless he was with Erik. He never had to bring in anyone who was on Michael’s “chop list.” That what he and Lena were mainly hired for, the dirty work. Erik still didn’t understand why Michael had hired him in the first place. Ben would not be someone you would assume to be part of the bad guy’s recruits. He was rather short and pudgy with thick coke bottled frames making his dark brown eyes look twice their size. He tend to stutter when he got nervous and tended to waddle more when he walked from having a slightly wider girth from beer binging.
Erik merely shrugged. “I’m not sure what it is really, he sounded pretty nervous on the phone when he called me though.” He looked at Lena and she gave him a concerned look. “You think he’s okay?” She asked. Erik nodded. “Yeah, he would say if he was in trouble.” As if on cue, Ben walked into the café sweating from the intense heat. The café had a pleasant cool feel from the fans in the ceiling. He turned to where Erik and Lena were sitting and walked over to their table, a nervous smile on his face. They both looked at him before having motioned him to sit down. He slid down next to Lena, grabbing a napkin to mop off his soaked face. “Alright, you asked to meet us here. What’s up?” Erik asked. Ben took off his glasses, proceeding to clean off the sweat. “It’s Michael. I overheard a conversation he was having.” Ben said nervously. Both Erik and Lena leaned in as he dropped his voice just above a whisper. “I heard him talking about having us terminated. He’s moving his company out of the State and plans to dispose of anyone involved.” He said. Both Erik and Lena simply stared at him completely stunned. “The last exchange has caused a rift from having killed Enrique. Michael didn’t know there was another brother to the Virecrios clan.”
Erik leaned back into the seat cursing and raking a hand through his hair. It was officially a drug war now. It’s either fight or run. Michael has decided to take the option to run. Anyone involved is considered expendable. “Son of a bitch.” He cursed. Lena had leaned onto the table, her head in her hands. Ben shifted nervously before continuing. “There’s more, he has devised one last exchange that’s going to be the mother lode. “ He continued on about the mission Michael had planned before their fates would be sealed. Silence hung heavy in the air once he was finished. Ben flashed looks between his two friends waiting for a response. Lena’s head remained in her hands. Erik sat up straight, looked at the two of them.
“Fuck him.”
Both Lena and Ben looked in his direction gaping at his sudden remark. He looked back at them with a calm look, his eyes steeled over. “You heard me, fuck him. I’m not going down for his bullshit.” He said the steel hard in his voice. “What are we going to do then?” Lena asked. Erik smiled cold and calm. “We’re going to go through with the exchange.” He said. She bolted two inches from his face and hissed. “Are you fucking crazy?” her face contorted in obvious irritable exasperation. He merely smiled back at her.
“Trust me, I have a plan.”