Hour Of Darkness

CH 9 - "Thief In The Night"

9...Thief In The Night...

Someone's in the room.

Jonathon's eyes snapped open. He laid perfectly still. Beside him, Clarice slept soundly. No nightmares, just peaceful sleep. Her warm body was cuddled up close to his and felt increasingly good. But he couldn't think about that now because they weren't alone in the room.

Very slowly, he reached up beneath his pillow and withdrew the 9 mm handgun. A shadow moved across the far side of the room. He heard a low rustling like someone digging through the sports bag. Jonathon relaxed a bit. A petty thief. He slowly returned the handgun to its place beneath his pillow. He didn't need a weapon to deal with this level of a threat.

The thief stepped into the bathroom and Jonathon could hear him rifling through the cabinet above the sink. No doubt looking for drugs.

Jonathon quickly pulled on his jeans and quick stepped to the bathroom door. He leaned against the wall to the side of the door and waited. When the thief came out of the bathroom, Jonathon grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arm around the thief's neck in a rear naked choke. The thief gasped, startled, and flailed against Jonathon's hold but couldn't break loose.

The knife seemed to come out of nowhere and Jonathon saw it too late. The thief slashed his arm then swung down to stab him in the side. Jonathon released him and dodged backwards. Blood drained down his arm and hand and dripped onto the carpet, but he ignored the wound and kept his eyes on the intruder.

The thief was clearly young and inexperienced. He faced Jonathon and held up the knife.

“Bad idea, kid.” Jonathon warned in a low, dangerous voice. “I'm telling you now, just walk away. I don't want to hurt you.”

The thief moved the knife back and forth, but his fear was evident in the unsteadiness of his hand. Still, he was a kid and kids wanted to sound tough. “I got the knife, mister.”

Jonathon's hand shot forward and plucked the knife from the kid, tossing it into a dark corner of the room, then before the kid could blink, Jonathon once again had him in a rear naked choke. “Don't be stupid, kid.” Jonathon hissed in the kid's ear. “I could kill you right now.”

“Jonathon?” Clarice was suddenly awake and sitting forward in the bed, the blanket pulled up over her chest. When her mind cleared of sleep and she registered the situation, alarm filled her voice. “Jonathon! What's happening?”

“It's okay.” He said. “Our guest here was just leaving.” He leaned close to the kid's ear. “Weren't you?”

The kid's eyes bulged in his head as Jonathon's tight grip on his throat steadily cut off his oxygen. He nodded vigorously as his hands tried to pull Jonathon's arm away. Jonathon released him suddenly and shoved him towards the door. The kid stumbled forward, grabbed the door handle and fled the room.

Clarice grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it on quickly then hurried to Jonathon. She touched his arm them jerked her hand back when she felt the blood. “Oh god.” She rushed to the bed and turned on the lamp. The sight of Jonathon's arms drenched in blood filled her with panic. “Oh my god, you're bleeding!”

“I'll be fine.” he said. “Hand me the bandage wrap. It's just a flesh wound.”

Clarice quickly retrieved the bandage wrap. “Let me do it.” She said, but he shook his head and took the wrap.

“I told you, it's just a flesh wound.” He moved towards the bathroom. “I can take care of it.” she started to follow when he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He went to the sink and turned on the cold water then stuck his arm beneath the stream. He scrubbed away the blood and looked at his forearm where the kid had cut him deep. His skin was smooth, flawless. The deep gash was gone. Healed.