Odd Attraction | A Split Story

Stubborn

*****

It had been ten minutes since the captor's sudden attack and the girls were still trembling with nerves.

"We're going to be okay. Everything's okay. It's okay." Claire anxiously muttered to herself as she paced the room before she eventually decided to help Marcia clean herself up in the small bathroom on the right-hand side of the room.

Julianna gazed over at Casey who was slightly quivering, a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Casey, it's okay. I'm sure we'll find a way to get out. God this is a living nightmare..." Julianna remarked as she held her head tightly.

She felt the voices claw at her brain as if to try and manipulate her.

Worthless slut. Didn't even bother helping the girls.

"Not now, of all times why now?" Julianna mumbled to herself as she crossed her arms across her chest tightly before she paced the room stressed out.

He's going to kill you. All of you. You won't make it out alive.

The voice was mocking her, she felt like screaming but it was as if somebody had clogged her throat.

Julianna lay down on one of the rickety beds and shoved her face in one of the pillows, begging for the voice to depart.

Eventually, the voice began to fade away after some time.

By now, Claire and Marcia had left the bathroom still looking quite shaken up. The pair guided themselves to the bed opposite Julianna and sat down, taking a deep breath in and out in attempts to calm themselves down.

"He's going to come back in here any second now. We're not going to let him take any one of us out again." Claire stated as she got up off the bed and held her hands out as if to calm the girls down.

"We just cried and screamed. None of us hurt him because we were afraid to get him upset." Claire ranted as she moved her hands around in the air exasperatedly.

Marcia, Casey and Julianna looked down at the floor in defeat as Claire continued her ranting.

"God that's victim shit, Jesus!" Claire cursed as she held her hands to her head stressfully.

She slowly held her hands back dbefore glanced at all three of us suddenly with a sense of hope.

"We should fight him. We should drop a crazy-ass bomb on him." Claire blurted out, shaking her hands in emphasis.

Before she continued, Casey looked up at her with hopelessness.

"I saw him carry one of you and lay you on the bed like you weighed nothing," Casey replied calmly as she glanced over at Julianna wearily.

The room fell silent.

"One punch from him would knock one of us out." Casey finished as Julianna tore away from Casey's glance and looked up at Claire who remained glued to the spot in shock.

"I-I took six months of Kenpo karate class and you distract the assailant with pain." Claire stuttered out in a desperate attempt to maintain her plan.

Julianna's eyes shot back to meet Claire's and she sighed frustratedly.

"Everything is so easy for you guys. You do one thing and you can predict the next thing. It's not the way it's going to be in this situation." Julianna burst, clenching her fists up in a ball angrily.

She couldn't believe how stupid they were and that they were still onboard with the idea even after being informed with Casey's findings.

Casey looked over at Julianna with a silent nod of agreement as Claire's face fell in shock at the pair's lack of determination.

"We're not getting out of here. You're saying that you're not going to fight with everything in you?" Claire responded with a slight irritable tone as she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"You know the only chance...The only chance we have is if all four of us go crazy on this guy. We have to hurry." She trembled as she turned around to face away from the group, leaving her in a train wreck of thoughts, all mashed together like a one big complicated jigsaw puzzle.

As Claire stood trembling in the corner, Marcia suddenly got up off the bed and made her way towards the pair before crouching down in front of them.

"We need you guys. Claire's smart let's listen to her. I'll do it if you two are going to do it too." Marcia hushed, desperation glinting in her eyes.

Julianna felt a twang of guilt inside of her. As much as these girls wanted to go home, their unpractical plans of escape would not work or prevail to even help the slightest.

If anything, Julianna believed that Casey was right and Claire was in the wrong.

"We can win." Marcia finished in an attempt to try and sway the less devoted pair.

"He'll hurt us. No shut up, both of you." Casey interrupted her, sending harsh glares towards the girls.

"You're going to pick your miserable self up and help us. Let's get out of here." Claire shot back threateningly at Casey.

Julianna sent a harsh glare over towards Claire and stood up in front of Casey protectively.

She wasn't about to let Casey take this shit from her.

"No, I've had enough. Screw you and your six months of karate, that isn't going to get you anywhere!" Julianna shouted as Claire stumbled backwards
away from her.

"Listen to Casey, she's speaking the truth. We're too weak to do anything to that man and let that stick in your stubborn minds." Julianna finished as she sat back down, placing her head in her hands amidst the heat of rage.

Claire trembled in anger and fear and shook her head in disagreement.

"No! No, no, you can't do this today!" She pleaded the girls with desperation.

"Why do you do this? Why do you two act like this? Why do you act like you aren't one of us?" Claire fired out her questions that brewed up in her mind, one after another, only to leave Casey to stare into the distance with her lips slightly parted.

Julianna frowned as she glanced downwards in slight embarrassment.

It's because you're not normal and you never will be, you'll never fit in and you'll never be happy.

The voice echoed in Julianna's head, making her slightly dizzy.

She sat down next to Casey who seemed to be stuck in her own thoughts.

Slumping down onto her back, she closed her eyes and let the darkness and paranoia wash over her body.

*****