Michaelishious - Vol. 2022

Dec. 7th: The Nightingale (pt. 2)

The sound of a bird made Becca gasp for air. She was probably dreaming, but it felt brutally real, as did the pain in her leg and forehead. She'd rather sleep on and wake up some other time when she wasn't in pain anymore, but the familiar birdsong kept getting stronger until it was the only thing she heard over the drumming rain.

"Becca?"

The voice sounded distant, but it made her feel alert and tense. She groaned and forced her eyes open, and the birdsong grew in intensity until she wanted to cover her ears. But she knew why. Someone was trying to help her, and it wasn't the man who was calling her name. Someone was trying to wake her up and make a run for her life. For her baby's life.

"You'll be safe, little one," she whispered and stroked her hand over her little treasure. She had no idea how far they fell or how badly she was injured, but the airbag and the seat belt had protected the most important parts of her body. Her stomach and chest. But the ripping pain from her leg when she tried to move and the sticky patch on her pants told her she was bleeding. She was also bleeding from a cut above her eye, and her earring had sliced the tip of her ear in two. But she didn't feel any of it. The only thing on her mind was to get away from the man who kept calling her name, and he was getting closer by the second.

"BECCA?"

The car lights were still on, but the engine was dead, and she could smell gas leaking out of it. The fear of an explosion was one thing, but the fact that Werner could see exactly where her car was, gave her absolutely no moment to waste. Injured leg or not, she had to get out, and it seemed like the passenger window was the quickest way out as her own door didn't open.

"BECCA!"

"Please, God. Somebody. Help me," she cried silently while she climbed out of the car wreck, that she discovered was partially resting up against a broken tree. It was probably the treetops that had taken most of the impact from the crash. Otherwise, she'd been dead by now. And if she didn't hurry, she'd be dead either way in the hands of her fiancé.

She fell down on the ground with a groan and looked around to see where she was. Everything was pitch black except for the light from the car, and when the rain washed the blood from her cut into her eye, it stung and made it even harder to see.

She got up and stumbled in the opposite direction of the male voice, and it was like the bird song tried to lead her through the woods to safety. The problem was that because she was limping; she wasn't able to keep the distance from the man following her, and as soon as Werner had checked the car wreck and discovered that she wasn't there, he managed to track her down way too fast.

Suddenly, she saw something move in the corner of her eye and she almost screamed, believing it was Werner. But it was a lot smaller than a human. It was the bird, a Nightingale, and it called for her with its beautiful voice and told her to follow. Maybe it was her dad watching over her? Or maybe her mom? It didn't matter. The only thing she knew was that the man who was trying to kill her would catch up with her within moments if she didn't do anything.

The bird kept singing and flew from branch to branch until it disappeared into the darkness of a large root from an old tree. The song quietened down but didn't disappear, and Becca was terrified if it would reveal her hiding spot. Croaked down on the dirty ground, barely shielded by the root, she heard heavy footsteps running through the bushes exactly where she'd been seconds ago. And the hatred in the man's voice was like knives scraping across her skin.

"BECCA! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" he yelled, followed by: "I'm gonna murder you, fucking bitch!"

The footsteps disappeared, but she wasn't sure if it was because he'd stopped to listen or if it was because he'd continued further into the forest. The rain made it hard to locate the sounds. There was no use to look for him either, because of the darkness and the bushes. How she'd been able to see the bird was something she couldn't explain.