Chapter 37: Chapter 37

"Hey Woody, can you pass me the bag with my clothes in them? There's a draft in here," I shiver under the blanket. He nods and rummages around in the back, handing me a plastic bag with my bloodied clothes in them. I take them out slowly, realising my top is stained with my own blood beyond repair. I grimace and hesitate, passing the fabric between my hands —

"Here, take this." Woody says softly, pulling his grey hoody over his head. He's only wearing a short sleeved shirt underneath and I shake my head, instantly feeling guilty.

"I can't take that, you'll freeze to death without it." I respond. Beside me, Uncle Tobias flickers his eyes over Woody and I, shooting me a knowing look.

"Take it, you need clean clothes. The boy will live," Uncle Tobias says firmly. I eventually nod my head, knowing I don't have much of a choice. I pull my jeans out of the bag and breathe a sigh of relief, only spotting a few patches of blood here and there on the fabric.

"Thanks Cowboy, you're a real gentlemen." I tell him, turning to give him a smile. He leans back in the seat, resting his hands above his head. The muscles in his arms tense and my eyebrows shoot up, wondering whether he staged that just for me.

"Woody, close your eyes." Tobias interrupts my little staring contest. Woody frowns, dark eyes flickering over to Tobias —

"Why?"

"Because Ruby needs to get changed." Tobias responds, stating his response as if it should be obvious. Woody rolls his eyes, releasing a heavy sigh. I bite back a giggle and remove the blanket from me, dropping it by my feet. I turn to Uncle Tobias —

"You too." I tell him. He looks back at me like I'm crazy, his eyebrows raised high.

"I'm driving Ruby, I'll kill us all if I close my eyes." He tells me firmly. I stare at him harder, my expression never once faltering. Eventually he sighs heavily, placing a hand next to his eyes to create a wall so he can't see me. I nod in satisfaction, slowly taking the hospital gown off.

"You know when you were a toddler, you hated wearing clothes. You'd run around naked all over the house and Emily would go crazy trying to dress you. As soon as she got you dressed, they'd be off within seconds. It's like you were allergic to clothes," Tobias laughs fondly. Behind me, Woody joins in.

"She'd make me wear pink frilly dresses with matching hats and socks. I've seen the pictures. . . No wonder I didn't want to wear them. Hideous." I shudder, pulling Woody's hoody over my head. The fabric feels warm and his scent wraps around me completely.

Taking his hoody was definitely a good choice.

I climb into my jeans next, shuffling them up as best as I can. It feels good to be back in clothes again and not have to worry about the entire country seeing my naked behind. As perky as it is, nobody wants to see that.

"I need to see pictures of you in a pink frilly dress. That's golden content right there." Woody chuckles, his eyes still firmly closed. I shake my head despite him not being able to see me, buttoning up my jeans and tossing the gown into the bag.

"Not going to happen. My baby pictures are buried deep and will never re-surface. I'm finished by the way," I tell them both.

"Damn it," Woody says disappointed, opening his eyes. Beside me, Uncle Tobias lowers his hand and picks his phone up, throwing it back to Woody.

"Scroll up in my photo's. There's plenty of pictures of her in adorable dresses." He says smugly. I gasp and turn around, trying to reach for the phone.

"Give me that back Cowboy!" I yell. He's too quick for me though and grabs the phone, holding it in the air away from me. I flap around like a fish out of water, struggling to reach him whilst he laughs like a maniac.

"I've found one! Damn Melvin, you're rocking those pretty pink flowers." Woody laughs, his deep rumble filling the car. I give up and flop backwards into the seat, crossing my arms over my chest like a punished toddler. Uncle Tobias turns to give me a smirk and I glare at him, knowing it's his way of getting me back for winding him up previously.

"Jerk," I mutter under my breath. He leans over and grabs my cheek, pinching it playfully —

"You'll always be a little girl in my eyes." Tobias tells me, dark eyes filling with love. I decide I can't possibly be mad at him but still resist the urge to smile. "Whatever," I mumble lightly, the shadows of a smile twitching at my lips. Tobias smiles at me knowingly before paying his attention back to the road.

"We're almost there. Are you ready?" He says seriously, his tone switching to meaning business. I nod my head and sit up straighter in my seat, glancing out of the windows.

"Ready since the moment they were taken." I mumble under my breath. The car comes to a slow stop, the GPS signalling we've arrived. I narrow my eyes and frown, searching the area.

"There's nothing here," I say quietly, my eyes wondering over the patch of vast fields that seem to go on forever. Disappointment and frustration settles inside my stomach. Beside me, Uncle Tobias slams his hands down on the steering wheel in anger.

"I've had enough of this game of cat and mouse." He snaps, swinging his door open and climbing out of the car. I unbuckle my seatbelt and Woody does the same, both of us giving each other a worried glance. As I leave the car, my eyes land on Tobias who's dragging a cuffed Jasmine out of the back seat of Ivory's car. I watch, eyes wide as he slams her against it, placing an arm over her throat.

With his other hand, he raises a gun, pointing it at her temple. Her eyes widen in fear, appearing like two ocean blue saucers.

"Stop! Please don't kill me! Don't do it!" Jasmine begs him, appearing like a victim. It's hard to believe this is the same person who tortured me and tried to kill me hours ago. I shuffle uncomfortably on my feet before Woody appears by my side, snaking his hand in mine. I clutch it tightly, unable to tear my eyes away from the scene in front of me.

"Tell me where they are right now otherwise I'm going to blow your brains out, family or not!" Tobias roars in her face, his shoulders squared defensively. His voice echoes through the dark night and I've never seen him look so furious. Jasmine whimpers, squeezing her eyes shut tightly —

"Just kill her. I can track the GPS on her phone to see her whereabouts for the past few days. It'll take some time but it's bound to lead us to Jake and Emily eventually." Ivory says casually, sounding bored. She's hanging out of the drivers side of her car, inspecting her nails as if a murder isn't about to go down.

In that moment, I realise just how crazy my family are. I swallow the lump in my throat, taking a step back. Despite hating Jasmine for what she did to me, I don't really want to see her brains splattered all over the floor in front of me.

"Tell me!" Uncle Tobias screams again, twisting the gun towards her temple. She screams when it touches her skin, her body shaking in terror —

"Okay, okay! Just don't kill me, I don't want to die!" Jasmine yells back. Uncle Tobias scoffs, his words dripping with danger.

"You were seconds away from killing my niece and you honestly believe I'm going to let you live? Not a chance. Now tell me where they are." He spits in fury. Jasmine glares back at him, her eyes flickering with fear.

"Only if you keep me alive." She bargains, her voice wavering. Woody squeezes my hand in reassurance and I lean against him slightly, grateful for his presence. Uncle Tobias stills, his jaw clenched tightly as he stares her down —

"Fine."

"I have them at Peggy's old apartment." Jasmine reveals. Tobias raises the gun again, inching it closer to her.

"What's the address?" He says darkly, sounding like he's seconds away from losing his cool all over again. Jasmine sighs heavily, pausing dramatically before revealing the address word for word.

Uncle Tobias drags her around and pushes her back inside the car, slamming the door shut. His chest rises and falls heavily as he breathes, storming towards the direction of his car. As he passes Woody and I, he gestures at us with a nod of his head —

"Get in.”