I Would Want To See You One Last Time.

Piece 19

       She doesn't say anything for a moment. Her mouth hangs slightly open. I can see her sharp extended canines but I look away and back to her eyes. 

       "I'm listening. You can stop if you want to, you can cry on me." I say carefully. She's in a heavily vulnerable state, I don't want her to overshare what she doesn't want to talk about.  She continues looking at me. 

       "He popped out again as I was entranced by the horrible sight of my dead friend. I," She pauses. "I looked into his eyes as he whispered 'Freeze.' " She whispered that as well. " With a fucking smile on his face. Then, I was paralyzed where I stood. I tried so hard to move or to blame the paralyzed part out of fear. But it wasn't, it felt like every muscle in my body was locked in place forcibly. Strained. I don't know how to describe it. I tried to calm down as he walked towards me. To slow my breathing. I met his gaze one more time and I could move again. I immediately knew I couldn't do anything but run. I ran out of the building towards the entrance where we came from. I knew he was following me though. Right before I got to the gate, he grabbed me. Threw me on the floor, on my back. Adrenaline pumping through my veins. I wanted to keep running but I couldn't. He just stared at me. He treated me like I was a bug under his shoe. A piece of fucking meat," She exclaims. Loud. Angry. Tired. 

       "What?" I yelled at him. The tall figure stared down at me like I was a piece of meat. "You killed her," Saying those words hurt, I knew she was dead. "Why do you want me as well?" I shouted at him. Hoping someone would come, but no one came. My helplessness only made him smile more. He slowly squatted down, not taking his eyes off of me. My heart is racing so fast, it feels like it will explode. My chest is swirling with pain. The air feels thick and hard to breathe, which isn't helping my racing heart. My muscles feel stiff again, my veins pulsing with each racing heartbeat. 

        "I could feel my heart pounding through my veins. If I had known it'd be the last time I'd ever be alive, let alone feel alive just by being able to feel my heartbeat, I would've acknowledged it more. I knew I was going to die that night, but I didn't want to believe it." She sniffles, hurt in her eyes.  "I had so many plans for my future, I knew exactly what I was going to do in my life and how to do it, but I didn't want to let it all go. I had a future."  She says, staring at me intensely while holding me by my shoulders. Tears are in her eyes but they don't fall. 

          I thought about looking for a rock, a branch, anything to fight him off. I felt around with my hands but there were only leaves, dirt, and twigs. I was on my ass, it would've been hard to get away. I slowly pulled myself away from him. 

        "You have a fortune of fight in you. It's remarkable. You did the only action you could do: Run." His accent was thick. French, I believe. "Now you can't run. You know your situation and, assumably, exactly what to do right now. But that won't work. Not with what I am. If I told you what powers I had, you'd look at me like I'm some maniac. An individual like you deserves to keep living with that fight. To have more power." He pulled out a blade, the silver part glistened in a nearby yellow streetlight. I glanced at it, at my friend's car which was so close but so far. I thought about trying to run again but it seems like he's quick. I looked back to the blade. A dagger with carvings on the handle's leather. A symbol of something I'd never seen. He cleaned it with a rag in his shirt pocket. The more my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see he was wearing a deep maroon button-up shirt. Black dress pants. A now crumbled-up black hanker chief in the pocket of his shirt. 

         "So what, are you going to kill me? Just like that and call it a fucking night?" I said demandingly. He looked up from his dagger to me.