The Dawn

Chapter 12

I didn't like the way I was feeling.

Scared.

Fear creeping into my heart and numbing my senses. Fear holding my limbs in place.

But I wasn't going to let it show.

I slowly turned around and faced him.

Wasn't he supposed to be in jail?

He stood about 5 feet away from me, near the rusted elevator doors. He wore a brown coloured suit which looked like it could use a wash, and a yellow coloured shirt underneath. There was a nasty gash under his left eye filled with dried blood. His hair was all disheveled. In the dim light, his tall, dark figure could easily be mistaken for Slender Man.

But it wasn't his appearance that gripped my heart.

It was the madness in his eyes. Pure madness. He stared at me as if he was skinning me alive just with his eyes.

"Aren't you out so soon?" I asked, my voice coming out smoother than I thought.

Come on Ria, think! You have to escape fast.

He bared his teeth. "Thanks to your courtesy, I did spend the night in that cold cell."

I smirked. "You deserved it. But what do you want now? A permanent trip to prison?" I engaged him in talks, my eyes darting around the building, observing every chance I could possibly take to escape Parker's clutches. I spotted the door to the stairs in the corridor to my right. There was only one exit but he was blocking it so I had better take my chance with them.

"It's all your fault! If it hadn't been for you, I would've gotten what I wanted!" He shouted. "It's all your fault that my father beat me up this way!"

I winced at the loudness of his voice. It bounced off the walls of the empty building.

"It isn't." I insisted. "Your dad's behaviour doesn't justify what you did to Andrew. He was your best friend, Parker. Stealing what he achieved after so much hard work wasn't right. That's why I-"

"Shut up!" He screamed. "You're the b***h who ruined everything. My father disowned me! And now," he kneeled down and grabbed a broken brick from the floor, "you have to pay. You have to pay for everything you did, you crazy b***h!" He growled and flung the brick at me.

I darted to my right and barely missed it by an inch. Not waiting for a second more, I pushed the doors open and dashed up stairs. It was dark except the moonlight flooding in through the little gaps that were supposed to be windows. Behind me, I could hear Parker yelling obscenities and climbing up after me. While running up blindly, I estimated that I was a stairway ahead of him.

I need to slow him down.

Looking around as I reached another landing, I noticed a slab of marble lying on the floor. Behind me, Parker's voice and yelling drew closer to me. I grabbed it and waited for him to reach the foot of the stairs. As soon as he appeared, I flung it at him.

He tried to dodge but it hit him on the shoulder. "You crazy b***h!" He screamed, grabbing his bleeding shoulder. "Wait till I get my hands on you! I'll kill you!"

I ran upstairs faster this time. Landing after landing. My knees and legs ached so much that I was afraid they would fall off.

After about a minute, I reached near another set of doors. Pushing both open, I ran panting inside a room. It was empty with a pile of sand at just one corner and some wood lying around. There were windows carved out and I could see the night sky. I grabbed a plank of thick wood and stuck it into the handles.

I hope this will hold it for a bit.

I shoved my hands into my pocket to pull out my phone but it wasn't there. I frantically searched all over my body but I still couldn't find it.

Oh no! Maybe I dropped it when I was running away from him!

And finally, I let my fear take over. I crawled into a dark corner and hugged my knees to my chest. Tears brimmed into my eyes.

Maybe this was it. Maybe this was the ending.

Devon, Andrea, V, Andrew, anybody! Please come save me, please! I need you guys.

The pounding of Parker's feet startled me and I quickly pressed my hands to my mouth.

"You can run, sweetheart. But you cannot live!" He yelled, cackling at his own sick joke.

I heard his footsteps go further up. I sat absolutely still, not making a sound. I didn't even know how far up was I from the ground and how I was going to get back down. Everything was so dark and I was sweating profusely.

My stomach hurt from the tension that was gripping my entire existence. When I couldn't hear him anymore, I contemplated crawling out and running back down. Moving a bit sideways, I carefully looked around.

No sign of him.

I tried to move towards the door as quietly as possible. I was, like 3 feet away from the door, when it rattled with a loud 'bang' and a piece of wood broke free, striking me right across my right cheek.

Surprised, I yelped and grabbed my now bleeding face. Parker's menacing face appeared at the squares carved in the big doors as he stared at his prey with wild eyes. "I've got you now." He said in a taunting, sing-song voice and proceeded to hit his body against the door.

I stumbled backwards and quickly looked around for a potential weapon. I even contemplated jumping out the window but it was either death that way or by the crazy dude.

Seeing no other choice, I grabbed a stick of wood as my defense weapon and positioned myself to fight him.

Just remember what you learned during your training.

After his tenth kick, the plank gave out and he shoved the doors open. Smirking evily at me, he drew a dagger from behind him.

"Bye-bye, bitch." He snarled and lunged at me.

Dodging his aim, I struck him in the stomach. Before he could move, I kicked his behind, making him fall forward. He stuck his foot around my ankle and yanked it, throwing me on the floor. My face hit the ground and I tasted blood. He tried to strike me with the dagger again but I crawled out of the way.

Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough and I felt it's hard metal s***h the skin of my ankle. Yelling out of pain, I sat on the floor on my butt and faced him. He moved again and I tried to hit his face but he grabbed my stick and yanked it out of my hands. He threw it to the side and stood up on his feet. I slid backwards with every step he took forward.

My back hit the wall. There was no more room for me to escape. He had me cornered.

The bastard stepped on my slashed skin and pressed it.

Pain shot through my entire leg as I screamed, trying to pry his foot off with my fingers. He moved it away and aimed his knife at me.

I closed my eyes. Events that happened when I was little flashed before my eyes. My mother's lifeless body, pool of blood on the living room carpet, my father's bleeding body. I suddenly felt light headed.

But it never happened. The dagger never touched me. Moving my trembling hands away from my eyes, I saw Parker fighting a flash of black.

Rubbing the water away from my eyes, I tried to see who was it.

Andrew.

He's here!

Shock and relief washed over me at the same time. I tried to stand up but my leg was completely numb.

I stared helplessly as Andrew got many hits in on Parker. Parker wasn't even being able to fight back. Andrew looked extremely furious as he bashed Parker and flung him at the pile of sand.

"How dare you Parker?!" He yelled menacingly. "How dare you do this to her? If you were so gutsy, you should've lured me out!"

Parker retaliated and punched Andrew. He stumbled back from the sudden attack. But before he could get one more hit in, another person ran in and stood in between them, blocking Parker's hand mid-air.

Devon.

Since Devon was bulkier than Parker, with a lot more muscle, he was easily able to kick him down to the ground. Andrew ran over to me and leaned down.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice full of worry. There was fear in his eyes as he ran his eyes over my disheveled appearance.

I nodded. "I'm okay. It's just that, my ankle-" I winced from the pain. Andrew looked down and for the first time, I noticed that I was sitting in a pool of my own blood.

Huh, well that explains the light-headedness.

"Hey," he whispered gently, fishing a piece of cloth out of his black blazer pocket and pressing it against my wound. "It's okay. You'll be okay." He pulled me to him and gently stroked my hair. "I got you now. It's all over."

I buried my face in his chest, tears streaming down my face. My head felt so light and my eyelids felt like they weighed a ton.

Devon joined us after punching Parker unconscious.

"Oh God, Ria! You've lost a lot of blood! We've got to get you to the hospital." He said, worriedly.

The last thing I remember is hearing Andrew's soothing voice over the loud sirens.

I opened my eyes. Everything was a blur of white and grey. Squeezing them shut and opening them again, I tried to get better focus.

It was a hospital room, no surprises there, and I was lying in a comfortable white bed. The room was airy, though. I looked around and spotted Andrew sleeping next to me, his head resting near my hand. I admired his features. His hair looked so soft from here!

Come on Ria! You just came back after facing death and this is what you really want to think about?

I tried to sit up but the muscles around my neck were so stiff that I could barely shift my head. Plus, there was a huge cast on my leg, making it hard for me to move.

I gave a low groan. Andrew woke up with a jerk and quickly looked at me. "How are you feeling? Do you know who I am? Can you tell me your name?" He frantically asked questions, bringing his face closer to mine.

I rolled my eyes. "I know who you are and my name." I replied, slightly agitated and breathless from his closeness. "Help me up please. Body hurts from lying straight like this."

He nodded and pushed the button that lifted the bed up in a sitting position. I groaned as the feeling of being lifted up ran through my body.

Andrew heaved a sigh of relief and plopped back down on the stool. "You had us all so scared, Ria."

I rubbed my head, trying to brush away the dizziness. "What- how long have I been out?"

"Three days." He stated.

My eyes widened. "Wha-? Three days?" My voice came out squeaky.

He nodded. "The doctor said you lost a lot of blood. And the bank didn't have any so-"

He was cut off when the doors flung open quiet violently and Vienna's grandmother, Molly, stormed inside. "Ria! My baby!"

I watched in amusement as the short, slightly chubby, grey haired lady wearing a purple sundress, shoved Andrew away and sat next to me. Andrew stood off to a side, holding his, now practically bruised, shoulder.

She affectionately ran a hand over my head. "My child. Oh, look at what that $%&&, $^€£, #$^$, has done to you."

Andrew's eyes widened at Molly's colourful choice of words while I was finding it hard to stifle my laugh. "I'm okay, really."

"Grandma! How could you leave me behind to carry all this-" V grunted as she shoved the door open using her back. Her arms were loaded with baskets, drinks, bags and what not.

Molly turned to Andrew. "Hey sissy. Go help her." She barked.

Andrew stared at her for a moment before pointing to himself. "Me?"

"Yes you. Who else do you think looks like a man here?"

He nodded and quickly went over to help V. I laughed despite my stiff neck.

I'll never be bored with these people around me. And certainly not with those murderers around either.