That's when I remembered the security that patrolled the area at night time- there had been a huge robbery not long ago on my street and so each night there was a security patrol car that went up and down our road until 4am. I didn't entirely know what I was going to do once seeing them but I knew I had a balcony in my room, there was no way I'd get cause waving my arms around on my balcony before security could see me. I just hoped nobody was upstairs.

I took a deep breath before I rushed up the stairs, ignoring all the pain running through my body because I know if I focused on it, it would only make me more panicked and focused on the wrong thing.

I looked both ways before I ran to my bedroom, holding down the handle before slowly opening it, praying in my head that nobody was in here. They were here for me, they'd be checking all the places I'd most likely be but since I believed none of them were inside, it was a safe bet to get to the balcony before they got in.

These people were definitely trained because I didn't hear a single thing.

I ran up to my balcony, shaking the door handles only to realise it was locked. I always kept the key in the door lock itself and so when I looked down to unlock the door and realised it was gone, I only panicked more. I began searching the floor, I had possibly let it drop on to the floor which would make sense since I was clumsy but as I continued to look, I realised it was just wasting time.

I might have sounded so dumb, going upstairs to get somebodies attention and not just calling the cops but in all honesty, I was so panicked. I was terrified that if I called the cops it would infiltrate Jason whereas the local security for our community wouldn't proceed with charges unless the owner persisted on it. Unless of course there was murder or bodily harm involved. Which I was praying was not going to be involved.

I don't know, I was just thinking like a crazy person, I didn't know what the right decision was but I also knew I couldn't just stay in my bedroom; the first place they'd be looking in once they realised I was home.

I tried Jason's phone once again, realising he wasn't going to pick up I frustratedly threw it at my bed not realising it could have possibly made a noise; which it did. My eyes widened as I heard noises down below, I mentally kicked myself for being so stupid and letting my frustration get the better of me. Again, I couldn't just stand here. I plucked up the courage to leave my room, the noises were from down below so all I needed to do was stay above them, somewhere safe, somewhere they'd never look and eventually they'd leave. Again, I didn't know if these people were after me or just simply robbers- but my guess was it was no coincidence that a couple hours after my encounter with Samuel who said he would come back again, I had men in my house.

I left my room, limping past the stairs only to be thrown off by the footsteps that followed up the stairs, they were heavy which sent my adrenaline pumping through my body. I didn't even look back, I just ran. I ran towards one of the guest rooms but it was no use, the person behind me had caught up in lighting speed before he grabbed my, pulling me away from the door handle before picking my body up. I struggled to get up, kicking and screaming for him to release me but it was no use , yet again.

He threw my body against the banister and as I winced in pain, he wasted no time in picking me up again.

"Yo! Up here!" As he yelled out for the rest to join him, I elbowed him as hard as possible in his abdomen- it wasn't the best move but it made him double over in pain, groaning.

"Stupid bitch!" He screamed as I ran away from him. I turned back stupidly to see where he was and if he was close but as soon as I turned around, I felt the hold of somebody else stopping me from running. He gripped on to my forearms tightly enough to definitely leave a mark as he glared at me.

"Where you think you goin, pretty thing?" He asked, his voice sounded aggressive compared to his words, which included 'pretty things'. I was very much not interested in his body language and aggressiveness as I struggled in his grip.

I backed away, but he didn't let go. I just walked backwards in hope of him letting go off me eventually but I felt my foot slip, I screamed out as I felt my body fall back. My body hit the stairs, banging off the marble flooring before I rolled down the rest of the stairs.

I felt my head spin, my brain banging against my skull as I hit the ground. I looked up at the ceiling, trying my hardest to keep my eyes open as my body throbbed. But my head threw me completely off, nothing compared to the throbbing in my mind, as if I was being hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer.

But it wasn't over.

The man who was holding me at the top of the stairs ran down the stairs towards me, I tried to focus my vision on him but I was seeing double, my head was spinning and my vision was blurred. It felt like I was dying. As I raised my hand to hold my head, laying flat on the ground, I felt my hands feel wet and I didn't have to look at them to know it was blood.

"Is she dead?" Another man asked as him, the guy from the stairs and another man stood above me, staring at me as if was some kind of animal in a cage.

"Not yet, she gonna bleed out, ain't nobody gonna come here till mornin so she dead" The man from the stairs said as he leaned down, grabbing my face as he made me look at him, probably trying to figure out if my eyes were looking at him or just genuinely rolling to the back of my head.

They were rolling to the back of my head.

"Aight, let's get outta here" One of the men said before him and the second man walked away. But the man who stopped me from running to the stairs, who pushed me so that I'd fall back and well, in their dream reality, die, he stayed.

"Imma be out in a minute, let me have some fun with McCann's prized possession first" I couldn't open my eyes for longer than 2 seconds but in between, I could see the disgusting look on his face.

"She's fuckin dead Donte, you gonna fuck a corpse?" The man spoke up making the guy above me, who's name I caught was Donte, chuckle. "She ain't dead yet, this bitch gonna feel every single thing. McCann bouta find his girl dead and fucked" He laughed, he laughed aloud as if he told a joke that was deserving of applause and laughter.

No one else laughed, other than Donte himself and as a tear rolled down my face, I knew this was it.

The men left and their footsteps that followed them made me even more aware of what was going on. They were going to leave me here to die, I knew I was bleeding from my head and they were right, I had no energy to move, I wouldn't make it through the night and that's all they wanted. On top of that, this filthy man wanted more from me, and I couldn't even fight back. So, as I felt his hands on my limp body, the ripping sounds of my clothes as he tore them off my body leaving me on in my undergarments, I forcefully closed my eyes.

I wished for death so that I didn't have to endure this.

"Fuck! I can't wait to fuck the shit outta you baby girl! McCann damn lucky" he was screaming like an insane person, out of his mind as he literally danced in front of me, a near to death body, he was dancing and singing on top of.

The pain was almost non existent anymore, it was like I had switched off and I was waiting for this to be over, for my eyes to close for the final time and as I begged in my mind for him to let me go, as I whispered out a chorus of 'no's' that he probably couldn't hear because of how quiet and lifeless they were, it was like all of the pain I was enduring as I fell down the stairs came back to my body as his body fell directly on top of me.

Blood oozing out of him, my eyes closed.

All Around Me | Jason McCann |Where stories live. Discover now