The Hit List

Chapter 5

With my skull banging on my bed frame, I leaped to my feet. 

I winced as a sharp ache went through my brain. My pulse accelerated and my vision became fuzzy. My lips dried up in terror when I tasted copper. 

I heard footfall on my wooden floor; they were light, almost imperceptible, like a child's. I forced myself to swallow my dread and hurried to slide beneath my bed as soundlessly as I could muster.

My thumb typed out the 3 digits, pressed the call button, willing the help to answer immediately, not putting me on hold like they were some clothing company and I was calling to complain about a shirt being the wrong shade.

However, no response came. My phone screen informed me that the call had failed to connect.  My signal was gone. My Wi-Fi as well. 

I felt bile hit my throat as I heard the door open. Hazel-colored shoes appeared in front of my bed, stopping their movement, the front of one crinkling slightly as he bent down to peek into my eyes. "Hi." He said simply, a slight smile lifting one side.

A scream began to bubble out of me, before he grabbed onto my left arm, pulling it forward to drag me from beneath my haven. My head grazed the bed frame once more as they hit each other, the pain unable to procure my full attention. He quickly wrapped my arm behind me, using his other hand to block noise from escaping.

I tried to kick out, but he deflected every blow so my socks just slid on the wood floor. His left arm shifted to accommodate both of mine. My tooth brushed my lip and I bit down on it out of habit as his left leg swung both of my feet out from under me and guided me to the ground with his arm.

I immediately tasted blood, my tongue licking the gash in my mouth, and my eyes watering from the sudden, intense agony in my brain. In an instant, his hand withdrew from my lips and replaced it with a rag. The air was leaving my lungs quicker than it was being replenished, and I was having trouble breathing through it.

"Breathe slowly." 

My eyes struggled to find him as my neck turned as far as his knee on my back and the floor would allow it. My glasses had fallen off somewhere during the fall, but I could see his blurry face as he bit through a piece of duct tape, wrapping it around my wrists. "I know your body's telling you to breathe through your mouth, but trust me, you'll get more air through your nose." He spoke easily, as though he were a shrink talking me through a panic attack. "Or you can just keep doing what you're doing. Pass out for a bit. Makes no difference to me."

Anger filled my bloodstream as air passed through my nose, the closest sound to a yell I could muster. My fingers wriggled, grabbing onto nothing but air, desperate to break the bindings tightly surrounding my wrists and hands. I kicked my feet up, hitting his lower back, a grunt coming out of his mouth.

"Come on, don't do that." His knee was now digging into my calves as he drove them down and held them firmly against the ground. 

I shifted my upper body slightly and observed him turning to take out another piece of duct tape from his brown cross-body bag. As his knee released its hold on my legs, I watched the opportunity slip away from me.

In an attempt to take him by surprise, and get a much-needed upper hand, I launched my head toward his using what little upper body strength I had left. It was all in vain, as I watched him shift to the left and drag his bag with him. My head struck the floor, hitting it like a rock with my entire weight.

I felt more tape enveloping my calves and encircling my ankles. My brain was pulsating and throbbing when I closed my eyes. My stomach turning. I was positive that by now, I would have choked on puke like a '70s rock star if I had more food in my system. Rather, I simply tasted fabric, my nose continuously sucking in air and expelling it again.