The Monster That Saved Me
1180 Words
Rain slid down the sharp lines of his face, soaking the dark coat draped over his broad shoulders. Water pooled beneath his boots as though even the storm refused to touch him. Those impossible eyes refused to leave the masked man holding me, the kind of stare that screams disaster.
For a second, I could have sworn that I saw wrongly but it was him in the most mysterious way ever. The man restraining me tightened his grip on my jacket.
“What are you waiting for?” another masked man barked. “Drug her!”
The one holding the syringe stared at the stranger as if trying to decide whether he was real. “Who the hell are you?”
The stranger said nothing, his expression remained unreadable. The street light shone directly on him. “Screw this.” The one with the syringe cursed under his breath.
Jeez, I held my head tightly as he lunged toward me again but… he couldn’t reach me. Something blurred across my vision. The syringe he held skidded across the wet pavement.
One second, the stranger stood feet away and the next– a deafening crack exploded through the alley.
The masked man beside me had disappeared, his body flew sideways like he had been struck by a speeding truck, smashing through a stack of metal garbage bins before crashing into the brick wall with a sickening thud.
Metal screamed across the pavement. What just happened? At this point my knee was buckling. This wasn’t possible, no one could have moved that fast.
The remaining men froze. “What the hell—” Before the sentence finished, another blur shot forward. A fist buried itself into someone’s stomach among the masked men. The impact lifted him completely off the ground.
He folded around the punch before crashing several meters away. My eyes popped open, I still couldn’t fathom what was happening. Everything unraveled too quickly like those martial tv shows.
The stranger wasn’t fighting, he was dismantling them. One after another, a baton swung towards his head.
He caught it effortlessly. The metal rod bent inside his hand. Like it was some sort of soft plastic. Did this man just drive his elbow into a man’s chest? I blinked. The man collapsed instantly right in front of me. I slowly moved backward until I stumbled against the wall. I stood there shivering, pondering whether to run or scream but I couldn’t do either.
He looked towards my direction and began to move closer, closing up the distance between us. What? Suddenly, realization hit me that I could be next.
“Please, they were trying to attack me. I swear I’m innocent.” I cried while begging for my dear life. I had always thought I was never going to give up without a fight, I thought if I was there when mum was abducted I could have saved her. But here I was, crying like a child in the midst of real danger.
One of the masked men out of nowhere staggered towards us and swung a knife at him. He caught the attacker’s wrist and twisted so hard, the unmistakable snap of breaking bone echoed through the rain.
The attacker’s scream ripped loudly through the alley, he clawed desperately at the stranger’s arm. His boots kicked helplessly in the air. The stranger’s face remained frighteningly calm. “Who sent you?” His voice was low.
The attacker only choked, no response.
“I asked you a question.” He repeated, “ Who sent you!” I shook at the sound of his raised voice. After an unsuccessful resolve to get him talking, he dropped him.
The attacker collapsed onto the pavement, coughing violently. The rest of the men were laying lifeless on the floor. He couldn’t possibly have killed all these men, could he?
The attacker shaking hands disappeared inside his jacket. Instinct screamed at me.” He is pulling out a gun!” I shouted.
The stranger spun but instead the attacker pulled a small black device, his thumb slammed against the button. For a second my heart pounded. I thought it was probably a timing bomb because of the random alarming tone that came from it.
The stranger’s expression changed for the first time. “No.” He crossed the distance instantly, kicking the device from the man’s hand before crushing it beneath his boot.
The attacker laughed. Blood dripped from beneath his mask.
“Too…” he coughed. “…late.” The stranger grabbed him by the collar.“What did you do?”
The man only smiled wider. “You can’t stop them.” His breathing became ragged. He had this strange confidence embedded in his voice. What? Ice spread through my veins.
The stranger tightened his grip. “Who?”
The man laughed again before either of us understood what he meant… He bit down hard, crunching a particle in his mouth. The sound was unmistakable. Immediately, his body began to convulse, violently.
Foam appeared around the edges of his mouth.
His eyes rolled backward. Within seconds, he stopped moving. I stared in horror. “Oh my God…” Moved closer to him and observed his pulse. “He just…” I staggered back. “Did he just kill himself…”
I opened his mouth slightly, the smell of cyanide filled the place. His mouth had a bright reddish coloration. “He chewed a suicide capsule!” My eyes widened.
“And how would you know that?” The stranger asked. I stared at him in disbelief, forgetting that it was definitely not general knowledge. I finally managed to mutter, “I’m a doctor, so I know.”
He didn’t respond, he just stood there expressionless, I couldn’t even vent my anger. He wasn’t the reason for my dilemma, he just saved my life.
I glanced at the body again, What kind of organization expected their own men to die rather than talk?
The rain felt colder. Then, headlights suddenly flooded the alley from the street entrance. Black SUVs were approaching, exactly like the one that had tried to abduct me. The stranger looked toward them and for the first time since I’d met him… I saw urgency.
“What… what the hell! There are still more?” My heartbeat raced, he didn’t respond. Instead, those impossible golden eyes settled on me. Then he crossed the distance between us in three long strides.
Before I could react, he caught my wrist, his hand was warm despite the rain and sure very strong. Every instinct told me to pull away. Yet, the moment he touched me…I lost all will power to fight back. The same impossible feeling from the elevator returned, as though some forgotten part of me recognized him before my mind ever could.
His eyes locked onto mine. “Listen to me.”
Then, without breaking eye contact, he spoke the words that set my adrenaline in motions.
“You need to run …” He tightened his grip around my hand. “…now.”
- Writer
