Chapter 4
I'd never run faster in my life than I did when I was fleeing from where that sick bastard had taken me captive. I thought my legs were going to burst into flames, but the adrenaline that rushed through my veins only made me run faster. I could hear footsteps pounding after me. They hit the concrete with a loud slap, sounding like thunder. I pushed harder across the pavement of the parking lot as I fled from my captor. He was still coming after me. I could feel myself slowing down, exhaustion overtaking every limb of my body. The footsteps behind me increased.
I had to keep going.
My life depended on it.
I could hear the loud clicks of a gun being reloaded. No, no no, I thought. Adrenaline renewed my energy and I picked up the pace as much as possible. I didn't dare look back at who was chasing me. I knew it was the man, coming back for me, trying to stop me from going to the police. Trying to stop me from exposing his horrible deeds.
Trying and succeeding.
"Get back here!" His screams sounded louder to me than they should've been. It sounded like they were too close to my body. Any moment I expected him to reach out and grab me, nothing to stop him this time. I could hear more bullets clinking into their places. Why hadn't he just shot me? He was close enough that one bullet would do. I pushed the thoughts away, not wanting to think about that. I glanced back over my shoulder for a brief second. He was only a few feet behind me now. He could easily grab me.
I started screaming again, as loud as I could.
It was just after dusk, surely someone would hear me. It was too quiet out, too dark. Where was everyone? I kept running past a few other short buildings, their white painted exteriors peeling away. They looked too old and unkempt to be inhabited. Were there even people around here? Where was I? I had only briefly glanced at the Maps app on my phone, and when I had, I hadn't been paying full attention. I had been much too worried about the man coming back before I could get out. Now the phone was of no use to me. The battery was entirely dead.
I looked around wildly as I began to finally put some distance between myself and the man, who was still giving chase, his breathing growing heavy and his footsteps beginning to slow behind me. Other than the few short buildings that I was running past, there was nothing around here. It was growing darker with every passing second, the moon not yet above the horizon.
I was in the middle of nowhere.
Nobody would find me here except the one person I didn't want to ever see again. I was certain of that. I could feel nausea hitting me in waves, washing over me as the full scope of the situation hit like a truck. What if this was the last place I would see before I died? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind, trying hard to focus on running. I could feel my heart pounding, and my head was beginning to throb. I ducked around the corner of the last building: a small, abandoned white house. The peeling paint had faint tints of green in some places, and vines sprouted out of the siding as they climbed into the sky. I looked around, searching for a door for a moment in the darkness. I felt along the wall, not able to see more than a few feet in front of my face. The blackness was beginning to suffocate me as I finally found a small screen door, and slid it open. The metal only scraped a few inches before stopping. I tried to push it farther, but the door didn't budge.
I could hear footsteps behind me in the darkness, only a few feet away now. I shoved myself through what little space I had before the man could reach me. I felt thick fingers tangle themselves in my hair. I yelped out of fright. I thought he'd been farther off than that. I strained hard against his grip, fighting to pull the rest of my head through the crack of the door. I struggled to keep calm, my heart racing in my chest, and my mind going even faster. Where was his gun? Why was he toying with me, and why didn't he just kill me already? I prayed for death, still fighting to get away from him, wishing that everything could just be over.
Please, God, I thought, If you can hear me, please, just make it stop. I felt his fingers slacken their grip on me, and I finally pulled free. I stumbled forward a few feet against the force of the release before regaining my balance. Staring into the blackness inside the house, I turned around to see the man glaring at me with piercing blue eyes. They seemed to glow in the darkness, as if somehow magically creating their own light. The back of my head burned like fire, and it was only then that I realized a giant wad of my dark brown hair was still entwined with his fingers. I could feel my left hand rubbing the back of my head, not quite comprehending what was happening. The man tried to force his way inside, but the opening was too narrow, and his large shoulders wouldn't fit through the small gap. I stood there watching in horror as he bent the door slightly, getting a little more of his shoulder into the house.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I begged him for an answer as he fought his way inside. "Why don't you just kill me already? I think we both know that's what you want to do." I could hear my voice crack as hot tears pricked at my eyes.
"If I let you go easy, it wouldn't be any fun, now would it?" His deep voice cooed, answering my questions with a question. I could almost make out a smirk on his face in the dark as the words came off of his lips. He forced harder against the small door. I didn't know how long the weak metal would hold up, and I didn't want to stick around and find out. I spun around and fled down the nearest staircase. I didn't have time to think of possible escape routes as the sound of creaking metal filled my ears.
I tried to block out the shrieking as the screen finally gave way, and the man forced his way inside. I could feel my blood pumping in my ears as my breaths came in short gasps. I reached the lower level only to find that I was essentially trapped. I wanted to scream, to just sit on the floor crying.
I wanted to give up.
Think, Kate, I screamed inside my own head. Where is the escape? I spun in circles scanning the walls for a way out. Loud, heavy banging echoed from upstairs as the man threw open doors and stomped around looking for me. I tried to calm myself down and steady my breathing. If he didn't know I was down here, there was no need to attract his attention by panicking. I slid along the nearest wall, brushing my fingers around looking for any kind of door as a deep silence engulfed the house. My fingers grazed the wall, finally running into a wooden door frame. Reaching down, I searched for a knob, only to find the front half of it missing. I could feel the hairs on my body starting to stand on end as adrenaline coursed through my veins. There were footsteps on the stairs.
Loud and heavy.
Every foot fall could be clearly heard throughout the house, the sound resonating as he clomped around. I waited for a moment, and they stopped again. I waited silently, wishing that I could just wake up, and have this be nothing but a bad dream. The footsteps resumed. I bent to the floor, hoping the other half of the doorknob would be lying around somewhere. My hands flailed wildly.
Come on, come on! Where is it! I thought, just as my fingertips slammed into what I prayed was the cold, rounded metal of the knob. I picked it up, only to find that it was instead, a large metal pipe that had apparently been cut into mid-length segments. Thank God for construction. I grabbed a good hold of the pipe and weilded it like a bat, swinging it in the air and tapping it on my hand for a moment. I slid my back up against the wall as quietly as possible while I tried to form a good plan of action. If I had to go back upstairs in order to flee, at least I had a weapon now.
I thought for a moment. If I inched my way up the stairs slowly, I might be able to get out of the house without him seeing me, but if he did, I'd smack him one with the pipe I was brandishing. That was when I realized that he still had the gun. All the blood drained from my face, and I could almost feel my heart skip a beat. I took two deep breaths, trying to clear my head and to think of a new plan. All the possible outcomes raced through my mind, and they all involved me getting shot again. This time, I wouldn't be able to overcome it. I had been lucky before, but there was a deep seated fear in the pit of my stomach that said I wouldn't be so lucky this time.
I refused to move from where I stood, and I didn't know how long I'd been standing that way. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for. If I had to die, shouldn't it be quick? What was the point in prolonging my fear? The thought of Harry crossed my mind. Had he gotten my message? Why wasn't he here with the police already? It seemed like it had been hours since I texted him. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. He's coming, I thought. He has to be.
I noticed I hadn't heard any movement from that man in a long time. Part of me was scared to go in search of him, but I knew that if I stayed down here, he'd find me eventually, and I'd never get away. I was determined not to let him get me again. I was determined to fight.
I was determined to win.