She's Not Yours

"It's gonna be okay, babygirl. It's gonna be okay," Rhody wasn't sure if her panicked whispers were for the girl in her arms or for herself.

Girl was something of an understatement. Charlie was eighteen now. An adult, a woman by many standards.

But she was still her babygirl.

Rhody hurried down the decrepit hotel's hallways, trying to keep Charlie's head or legs from bumping into something. Charlie might have helped avoiding that as well had she been conscious. It was just as well. Rhody didn't want Charlie to see what was going on around her. Didn't want her to see what her aunt had done.

Blood still stuck to Rhody's hands. It made them slick, made her grip harder to maintain. Rhody stumbled, nearly falling. Her companion stopped to help her up. The man was older, grizzled, with a large scar along his neck. Rhody didn't know his name and she didn't care to. All she knew was that, for the moment, they were kindred spirits.

The man looked over his shoulder. The afternoon sun trickled in through he boarded up windows, throwing shadows of their pursuers across the walls.

"They're gaining on us. Hurry," the man urged her forward, giving her a shove. "The elevator is just at the end of this hall."

"You hear that? We're almost there," Rhody whispered, running awkwardly as the sounds of pounding feet crept up behind her.

They reached the elevator doors. The man hit the button and the ancient thing began rumbling. They turned around, watching the dancing shadows grow smaller as their casters drew near. The man pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed at the corner. He waited, his left arm holding his right steady. At the barest hint of a shape coming around the corner, he fired.

Panicked shouts sounded as their pursuers hastily retreated. That trick would only work once.

The elevator dinged and the doors noisily slid open. Rhody and her companion backed into the rather cramped compartment. Rhody had to more or less stand Charlie up to allow them all to fit. The man fired several more shots down the hall as the doors slowly closed. The last thing she saw before the sealed shut was a gun barrel poking around the corner.

The small elevator rumbled as it began its decent. Rhody was panting, her companion's breathing ragged.

"Hold this," he said, pressing the gun into one of her hands. He was hurriedly searching the pockets of his coat for something. Another magazine, probably.

"Where does this one go?" she asked, adjusting her hold on Charlie.

"The parking garage, underground," the man answered, pulling a fresh magazine from his pocket. "We should be able to find a car."

The elevator shuttered to a stop and dinged again as the doors opened. A gunshot echoed through the darkened parking garage. The man's head jerking to the side as blood sprayed over the back wall of the elevator.

Rhody jumped, her breath catching in her throat. This was it. The end. She had failed.

"Rhody?" a voice asked, familiar yet strange.

Rhody turned to look out the elevator doors. Charlene stood a few paces from the elevator, a small black pistol in her hands. It looked out of place.

"You? How can it be you?" Charlene demanded, slowly turning the gun to point at Rhody. "How the fuck did you find this place?"

"Doesn't matter," Rhody breathed, glancing at the man's body. He had fallen back, but his legs had slid out from the elevator. The doors couldn't close with him there. Rhody turned her gaze back to her sister. "Get out of my way, Charlene."

"Your way?" Charlene asked in a breathy voice, seemingly shocked by Rhody's word. "You're the only one in peoples' way, Rhody." Charlene made a point of aiming the gun at Rhody. "Now, let her go."

Rhody shook her head. "No,"

"Rhody," Charlene said in an almost whining tone. "Why do you always have to do this? Why do you have to butt in!" She sighed, the gun lowering just a tad. "Look, just let her go, and you get to walk away. I never saw you."

Rhody shook her head. "No, Charlene. I'm not leaving her."

Charlene snarled. "Why the fuck do you care, anyway? She's my daughter, not yours!"

"Now she's your daughter?!" Rhody shouted back. "You barely knew she existed! Where were you on her tenth birthday, her eleventh, her twelfth? You didn't want a daughter!"

"That's not fucking true!" Charlene gestured violently with the gun. "You took her. You came into my house, my home, and you took her and you ran away!"

"And it took you three fucking days to notice!" Rhody all but screamed back. "I took her, I raised her, far away from you! She more mine than she ever was yours!" Rhody's throat hurt and she was panting like she had just run a marathon. "Now, for once in your life Charlene. Make a good decision. Put the gun down, and walk away."

Charlene shook her head. "I can't. I need her. More than anyone in the world." Slowly, Charlene lowered her gun. She held in in one hand, raising both arms up in a clear sign of surrender. "I can't go back, Rhody. I need her. I need my daughter. Just give her to me."

Rhody hesitated, just for a moment. And then her eyes grew hard and cold as she subtlety shifted Charlie to the side.

Rhody turned, moving Charlie out of the way and lining up the gun in her hand with Charlene. They were close enough that proper aiming wasn't necessary. Rhody pulled the trigger, the gun jumping in her hands as a bullet punched into Charlene's gut. Rhody gasped, a rattling breath leaving her throat as Charlene crumpled to the ground without a word.

Rhody carefully made her way out of the elevator, keeping a firm grip on both Charlie and the gun. She stepped over the man's body and skirted around Charlene's motionless form. There was a large SUV with its lights on a stone's throw from the elevator. Rhody made a beeline for it. Thankfully, the doors were unlocked.

Rhody tossed the gun onto the car's floor and laid Charlie in the backseat as gently as she could. She fussed a little, making sure her legs were properly in the car and her arms weren't underneath her. Hesitantly, Rhody reached up and brushed a few strands of blonde hair from Charlie's face. She smiled. She just looked so... peaceful.

A strangled cry pulled Rhody from her reprieve. She growled, snatching up the gun and turning back towards the elevator. Charlene was crying and whimpering as she pulled herself along the ground, leaving a trail of blood. Rhody was about to just leave her when she saw the glint of a gun on the ground not far from Charlene.

Rhody hurried over as quickly as her tired and battered body could manage. Charlene's fingers were just brushing against the fallen pistol when Rhody kicked it away. Charlene gasped and hid her face as Rhody circled around her like a predator.

"Please," Charlene begged, tears in her eyes. "Please don't. I don't deserve this," Charlene let out a sob, clutching the wound in her side. "Please, Rhody, I'm begging you. Just let me go." Charlene looked up, blinking away tears. "Take her and leave me. Just go and forget about me. Just let me go."

Rhody watched her for a minute, watched Charlene lie whimpering on the ground, crying and shaking. A tremor worked its way through Rhody's body, the gun in her hand shaking. She spoke, her voice cold and hard.

"You don't even know her name."

Gunshots rang out through the parking garage, reverberating off the concrete walls a dozen times before fading into nothingness. A pistol clattered to the ground and footsteps echoed, followed by the sounds of a car door opening and closing. An engine rumbled to life and the SUV rolled out of the garage and into the dying afternoon light.

Rhody adjusted the rear-view mirror to watch the sleeping girl in her backseat. She paid no mind to the wreckage behind her.