Tall, Dark and Dangerous

five

Here's Grumpy.
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I was frozen in fear and shock, and my heart seemed to skip a beat. The ringing of the gun through-out the forest probably alerted the other two where we were. I hadn't been shot, but it was just a centimetre beside my ear. I knew that this wasn't out of missing his target, he simply tried to scare me, and he did. He definitely scared me. My fingers were shaking, and my breathing was rapid with panic, and there was a look of fear in my orbs.

Slowly, I turned around, looking right into the furious eyes of Dom, who was only standing ten or eleven metres away. "Gabriella.." He growled in a cold tone that seemed to make me flinch. I wanted to dig myself a whole, and die a cold yet safe death. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I felt like the prey had finally been caught.

"Gabriella, Gabriella. What are we going to do with you?" I heard Sass-a-Frass ask, from behind me. Was I surrounded?

"I think we should kill her." Grumpy whispered, and his words cooled my bones, driving a shiver up my spine. "You always think that you should kill me." I whispered quietly, letting my carelessness come before my better judgement. He sounded as if he was right by my ear with what he said next.

"What did you say?"

Biting my tongue for the better of my health, I decided against repeating what I had to say. I was so scared that they were going to kill me that my bottom lip began to water. Trying to shake that simple thought out of my mind, I met my eyes with Dom. "Enough, let's go." Dom had grumbled, nodding his head forwards into the direction I'm assuming the car had been parked in. How far had I ran? Sass-a-frass and Grumpy glanced at eachother, before following, and soon enough, I did too. My legs, as well as my lungs ached from the running and I probably couldn't do it again. I didn't want to do it again. I'd be killed in seconds, and this, I knew.

Grimacing at the sight of my legs, I kept my eyes forwards, not looking to meet anybody's eye- if they had turned back of course. I had to admit to myself that it was good while it lasted. It was good to feel free again. Of course my freedom was short-lived but in the end it was still freedom.

The walk was long, painful. Ever so often I glanced down to my blood smudged legs, my scraped arms. Despite having a forty minute walk back to the car, I couldn't stop the trembling that went throughout my body. My eyes were damp, but I refused to cry, I refused to let them win but I was just so scared. Wiping my eyes with the palms of my hands, I managed to take control of my body just enough to stop any tears from ever falling.

I hadn't glanced up once, either, but the familiar gravelly substance beneath my shoes alerted me to being closer to the car than I had thought. Although, we were coming so that you could see the front of the car, I noticed. Eyes on the ground, a whole new wave of panic set upon me as the grey and brown gravelly texture I was walking on turned into a mucky red, seeping in the cracks of the earth beneath my feet. My breathing jumped, as my eyes looked up to see one of the bodies, eyes opened- glassed over. Blood smudged his lips, and a pool was beneath him which was almost identical to the other bodies.

"Oh- oh my.." My voice didn't even sound as my own as my footsteps stopped, and I just stared. Why did we come this way? Looking up, I noticed that neither of the men realized I had stopped, that was until Dom had turned around, and just for second, his eyebrows raised as he realized what had happened. But that small bit of concern disappeared as his cold demeanour came back just as fast as it had left. "Collateral damage, now come on Gabriella. Get in to the fucking car." Taking in a deep breath, I noticed that my hands were shaking faster now- practically vibrating. Closing my eyes, I stepped over the bloody arm, walking my way over to the car. The door was open, but luckily Sass-a-frass would be sitting next to me rather than Grumpy. Stepping up, the blood on my shoes smeared against the mat of the car, and I shuddered, glancing up so that I wouldn't have to look at it. I could have been that collateral damage. That was nearly me, and that's what my future could hold. Taking in a shaky breath, every time I closed my eyes I saw the eyes of the dead man. He could have had a family.