“You,” I whisper, my fear levels rising by the moment. “It’s you. You’re here.”
I can see him now, knife in hand, plunging it into that guy then waving it at us. I don’t notice any blade with him now, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got it. I’m sure that he wouldn’t come to me without intent to kill.
“I sure am here,” he replies smugly, knowing that he has me in a corner. “And it seems like so are you. Alone.” He gets closer to me;I can almost feel his breath on my face. “Now, isn’t that interesting.”
“What do you want?” I try to demand, but it comes out like more of a whimper.
He laughs loudly and nastily. “Now, isn’t that a question. What do I want? Hmm…” He taps his chin in mock thought. “I guess what I want is for you to keep your stupid mouth shut about what you saw.”
“I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I try to bluff my way out of it.
“Oh, I think we both know that you did. You and your little boyfriend.”
I chew down on my bottom lip, unsure of what he wants me to say. “Okay, so… so I’ll say nothing.”
He slams his fist into my shoulder, sending a burning hot radiating agony all the way through me, coming from both sides since it hits backwards as well, smashing back against the wall. It’s so shocking that I gasp out in pain. He did that to show that he means business. The message is well received.
“You will say nothing, and so will your little boyfriend. You will keep well away from the police and you won’t tell anyone else either. Not a soul, do you hear me?” I nod, which makes him scream right in my face. “Do you hear me? Because I don’t think that you get it, bitch. I don’t think you get it at all.”
“I do, I do.” My cheeks stain with wetness. Now I’m a crying, blubbering mess. “I get it.”
“Have you told anyone else?” I shake my head, lying out of necessity. “You better not have.”
“I haven’t told a soul.”
“You haven’t been to the police? Because I can get Bessie… just in case you don’t get to understand what I mean by that, Bessie is my little blade, the one which killed that asshole.”
Something cold presses against my stomach. I daren’t look down in case it’s the blade. I don’t know if he’d be crazy enough to pull the murder weapon out here, but he has just admitted it aloud, so who the fuck knows anymore? I don’t know if I can stick this out until Carter gets here. I need to escape.
“I won’t tell anyone. Please, just let me go. If I haven’t told anyone yet, I’m not going to.”
He grabs me around the throat, his fingers growing tighter as he smirks at me. I try to gulp, I try to breathe, but I can’t do anything. He holds me tighter, and tighter. So tight that I can’t really fight him off anymore. I claw at his fingers desperately, my survival instinct screaming at me, but my vision is slipping, sliding away.
I’m dying, my brain thinks hazily. I’m actually going to die here.
My life races through my mind with clarity, the people who are important to me, and I can’t help but wonder what they will do without me. How will they go on after I’m gone, knowing that it happened in such a terrible way? Will Carter go as well, or will my death be enough of a warning according to these guys?
I am panicking, but there’s a surprising amount of calm as well, considering. It’s almost like accepting the end of my life is making it
so much easier to just experience. My body is ready to just shut down.
Ring, ring… Ring, ring..
The dull sound of his cell phone gives me a moment of relief. His fingers loosen just the tiniest bit; I can see a moment of panic cross his face. It makes me wonder if his heart is as in this as it first seemed.
Who is this guy? Why did he kill someone else? Was it an initiation? Maybe he didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Perhaps he’s in over his head and this isn’t something that he wants to do.
Maybe I can survive this. A bolt of hope races through me, bringing some strength with it. A strength that I thought had long gone, the moment his hands grabbed my throat. Perhaps I’m not going to die now.
“Fuck.” He doesn’t know what to do, I can see it in his eyes. “Fucking, fuck.”
His fingers slip a little more. The uncertainty regarding this phone call is everything. I just need to work out how I can use it. If this really is an organized crime thing, then he might be low down on the chain, needing to answer to the higher ups. I stare at him desperately, trying to silently communicate with him that he needs to pick it up. I want to add to the pressure that’s clearly racing through his system.
“Fucking hell, I need to just…” I can breathe. I can actually breathe. “One minute. I just have to…”
I use this. My body flips, shocking him and myself. Only moment before I was about ready to give up, to cave to the shade of darkness that wanted to overcome me, but now I’m attacking like nothing else.
“Fucking hell, who the fuck is calling me now? Don’t they know that…”