Guardians

Mystery Man

"Shit!" Gabriel shouted as she smashed her fists against the steering wheel. "How could this night possibly get any worst?" she thought. Sitting in the car frustrated complaining about her day she barely noticed a shadow move in the alleyway beside her

She opened the car door and stepped outside into the pouring rain. "Who is there?" she asked trying to sound as brave as possible. Then she suddenly remembered a movie she had seen about people being kidnapped in dark alleyways, so she quickly got back into her car and closed the doors.
Apart from not getting the dress she wanted, being stuck in the middle of the street, and going to turn up late from her own birthday party, why not add going crazy to the list,  she thought to herself.

The wrecker service she had called earlier before her battery died were taking forever to arrive, so Gabby decided to get comfortable. She jumped out of her nap, head turning side to side, eyes wide on full alert. When she finally calmed herself she noticed something interesting, name of the street she was on.
It read "18 Dove Drive"....

"But..... that's impossible, I was nowhere near home when I fell asleep."
Reluctantly she got out the car and ran past the final two houses to her house. When she arrived and opened the door she was greeted by all her family and friends who shouted a excited 'Happy eighteenth Birthday!!!'....
Despite the bad luck and the strange arrival at home she was happy to be with her family and friends.

Gabrielle awoke the next Morning feeling properly rested and eager for the day ahead of her. The only challenge she had to face now, was finding a dress to wear.
"Hmmmm" she thought as she absently considered all the dresses she had. None of them appealed to her anymore. It took her a good thirty minutes more to register the beautiful dress that was laid on her bed.

She went frantic when she say it. And her eyes nearly popped out when she realized it was the same exact dress she wanted and never got. She quickly had a shower and floated downstairs.
"Good morning Mom & Dad, and thank you"
Her father just waved as usual so her mother Sheryl answered for both of them.
"Good Morning Dear, and what is the thank you for?"
Gabby laughed, "the dress ofcourse"
"We didn't get you that dear"
Gabby rolled her eyes and ate her breakfast. Then she returned to her room to get her cellphone. When she was about to leave she noticed a note on her bed where the dress had been.

She picked it up and read it aloud.
"You are Welcome"..... "that's strange" she thought.
But hurried down the stairs once more. As she was about to open her car door she saw a strange figure round the corner at the end of her street. She hurried around the corner, but there was no one there.
"Definitely crazy" she thought to herself.

Gabby thought about the strange sightings while driving to her summer job, so much that she neatly hit a bum who was crossing the road. Luckily she did not, but taking a second look at the bum there was definitely something off about him. Gabby considered it for a while but then dismissed it as just paranoia.

Work was long and boring as usual, and Gabby was playing with her pen and watching the clock in anticipation of quiting hour. As soon as it struck four o'clock she dashed through the door as fast as a Jamaican sprinter. Finally she could relax and unwind from a long stressful day.

"Not again" Gabby complained as she saw a piece of paper on her windshield.
"Why do I always get tickets?"

Unfolding the piece of paper to see what was the charge, her heart back flipped inside her chest. She had to read the words three times to ensure she was not seeing things. "MEET ME" was all was written aside from a scribbled address. Gabby got into her car and quickly drove to the destination.

On her arrival she realized it was an old abandoned building on you bad side of town.
The place was quiet and still. And there was no life around her, she half expected zombies to crawl out of the ground at any moment. She began to wonder if she was in the right place. And then the old door slowly creaked open.

Gabby stared wide eyed at the apparent invitation. She felt a cold chill run up her spine but she slowly took the first step forward. Putting one foot after the other until she was inside the building.

BLAM!!!!! The door slammed shut behind Gabby, and no matter how hard she tried she could not get it open again. The room was dark and she could barely see her hands in front of her. And what light did enter the room was obscured by some old piece of furniture that cast weird shadow figures around the room. Gabby wondered if it was her mind playing tricks on her, as the room slowly began to get colder and she had to wrap her hands around herself to keep warm.
There were no more doors on the ground level of the building, so there was only one way to go....up.

The old boards in the stairs creaked under her feet with every step she took and that just added to the anxiety in her legs. She wanted to run and scream but where would she go? And who would hear her. So she just kept going up, until she arrived at the second floor. She stood in the hallway which stretched out before her and also behind her. Wondering where to go to next. And that's when she heard it.

It was light, but there was no mistake about it. There were footsteps approaching from behind her. A swear broke out on Gabby's forehead and her muscles tightened. When the footsteps were only a few feet away Gabby spun around suddenly. But all she was greeted by was a empty hallway. Relief flooded Gabby, and she exhaled deeply, relieved that she was still alone.

Then suddenly hands covered her mouth and she could not fight the shock that rushed through her body. He eyes were wide open as she was dragged away by an unknown person in the dark. She was certain she was going to die, no matter how hard she kicked and clawed at the person it was hopeless. There was no escaping this, but she still struggled to find a way of escaping her captor. The last thing she saw was a door close in front of her before everything went dark.

Gabby woke to find herself tied up on a chair and and gagged. She struggled against the rope that bounded her butcher efforts proved futile. She examined the room she was in. She couldn't see much except a dark figure sitting in a corner. All the dread returned to Gabby as the gravity of her situation hit her hard in the head. Almost making her black out again.

"Who are you?" she asked between tears, "What do you want from me"
The figure slowly rose and came close but close enough for her to see a face in the darkness. And then he it spoke, in a weird accent she had never heard.
"Who I am does not matter" he said "All that matters is who are princess Gabrielle. And as for what I want..... i want you to stop breathing"

Gabby's eyes were now falling out of their sockets. He was actually going to kill her, she was going to die. That reality sunk deep into her sound and she was terrified. But what even puzzled her more, was why he called her 'princess'.