Bitter Heart √

Twenty Six

"I locked it," I whispered in panic. "I locked that door."

Caden sent me a quick glance before pushing me behind him ever so slightly, all the while his gaze fixated on the backdoor that had just opened.

"Go and hide somewhere. Do not get out until I say so." He whispered just as quietly.

I didn't want to leave him. But I didn't want to stay here either.

I didn't get to choose between my conflicting thoughts, however, when something came flying in our direction. I didn't even get to react to it when Caden gripped my arm once again and pushed both of us down. I closed my eyes shut and felt the floor meeting me, hitting my back, feeling Caden's strong arm around my waist.

The object hit the wall behind me and clattered down, making a small wince escape from my lips. Twisting my neck to look at it, I noticed it was a very familiar knife.

From my own kitchen.

"I'm going to be sick," I confessed just as quick because really, I could feel the bile rising up my throat at the mere sight of that sharp knife (which might've just impaled me, now that I thought about it).

Caden looked down at me with a small frown before pulling  himself off of me. I barely managed to sit up when I saw the hooded guy rushing towards us. Caden handled it just as quick, throwing a punch on his hooded face before he could've lunged for us.

I felt my insides lurch at that and I started scrambling backwards, my heart pounding a bit feverishly this time. This was surely not normal.

Why was this happening to me?

Unfortunately, the hooded guy was a good fighter too and that worsened the problem. He punched Caden in the stomach, making him fall back and crash the glass vase in the process.

I was left stunned at the mess when I saw that same hooded guy advancing towards me. I stood up abruptly and tried to snatch the candlestand a few feet away from me right as he lunged at me, gripping both of my arms in a deadly grip and pinning me against the wall behind me.

I let out a terrified scream which got muffled when his face loomed dangerously close towards mine. I didn't have to actually see the expression behind that black ski mask to know the underlying threat. His gloved hands tightened their grip around my wrists in a painful way as I struggled. I could not believe this was happening all over again, and it was horrifying. Beyond horrifying.

"The locker. Tell me where it is." He hissed the words in my face.

I momentarily stopped struggling in dread when he somehow managed to pick up a broken piece of the shattered vase, bringing it near my neck. My terrified eyes flickered over to Caden who was about to advance towards him from behind. But almost as if the guy with the black hood knew, he turned around instantly, pulling me in front of him with the glass shard on my neck as a clear warning. Caden stopped when he noticed it and I saw his eyes widening in alarm.

And then I felt the nausea rolling in.

I was going to throw up and be dead in no time.

"Tell me where's the locker." The hooded guy leaned dangerously close towards my ear, whispering out the words with the obvious threat in his raspy voice.

The locker, I thought. My parents knew where it was. I didn't.

The feel of that shard against my throat felt surreal. I was going to die for not answering--not because I didn't want to, but because I couldn't. I couldn't let down my mom. I couldn't when I didn't even know where the locker was.