[TRIGGER WARNING]
Some parts of the chapter contain mild graphic scenes. I sincerely apologize for this.
{e x t e n d e d v e r s i o n}
-11-
Jinyoung retrieved something from his jacket. When he flicked his wrist, a blade came out, the sharp edge glistening. He still held it at his side, yet Jisoo could already taste danger in her tongue.
Acting on instincts alone, she put a hand on her stomach and slowly backed away. Jisoo realized too late that it was a wrong move. She unintentionally invited the monster inside the house. "Please don't..."
Jinyoung's smirk grew wider as he finally had the chance to close the door behind him. "Too late."
Heart pumping restlessly against her chest, she directed a glance at her phone to call her husband on the Favorites menu. But Jinyoung must have anticipated it as he roughly collided her arm with his, sending the phone a few meters away. A yelp escaped from her lips without warning.
There was no time to second-guess everything. She knew she was on her own. Gears shifted quickly in her head, thinking of ways to outsmart her attacker. Running away wasn't an option given her pregnant state. She knew if she did that, he'd catch up with her in a matter of seconds. Then what should I do?
Jisoo took a deep breathe in. As much as she wouldn't like to, her nerves were fraying, her mind coming up with a blank. At this point, it was just so easy to be irrational and run away. Panicking wasn't the least of her options though. Struggling to keep her tone steady, she nervously asked, "W – What do you want?"
"Isn't that hard to understand?" Licking the blade with his tongue, his eyes turned dark, his hallowed cheeks rising to show his teeth. "I'm here to finish you."
She felt her world dizzying, flashbacks of the past long buried deep in her mind rising like bubbles on the surface. But no. She had to be safe. She had to keep her baby safe.
Vase. That was it. It was on top of the end table beside the couch. Jisoo was still forced to back away as he matched her strides forward. Any closer now...
"How – how did you even get out?" she stammered.
"I have my ways. Now, stop moving and—"
Having been close enough to reach for it, Jisoo grabbed the neck of the vase and hurled it at his direction, hitting him square on the face. The object fell on the floor with a crash, the glass particles immediately breaking upon contact. Fake flowers were scattered too on the floor mixed with the shards. Jinyoung stopped for a moment in shock, blood dripping from his forehead. With his other hand, he massaged his head and cursed under his breath.
"You've been naughty, Jisoo." Stepping forward, he created crunching sounds under his worn-out rubber shoes because of the scattered glass. "I'm sorry but this is going to hurt, very bad."
Run, her mind screamed. RUN. And so she did. She forced her legs that felt like being weighed by tonnes to run, only to be dragged back by the hair. Jisoo accidentally slipped, shocked at the sudden change of balance on her feet. Her scalp felt like burning with the way he was pulling her. Helpless, she placed her hands around the handful he grabbed to lessen the pain, but it was futile since his grip was a lot stronger. Screaming was what she could do right now, hoping the neighbors could hear but immediately stopped as she felt the tip of the knife being pointed at her throat.
"Stop, or I'll kill you," he hissed. Him being so close to her made her whimper. Gathering all her strength, she struggled under him and threw punches on his side, hoping that it could somehow damage him. It felt like it did when one punch thrown at his middle part made him double back in pain. In the process, he let go of Jisoo, making her drop on her back on the floor. A part of her neck hurt all of the sudden but having no time to think about it, Jisoo planted her elbows on the floor as leverage to try to stand up when she caught sight of her phone. The woman reached out for it, only to get dragged away again, this time by the feet. She struggled yet again, aimlessly throwing kicks at his abdomen. None of those ever damaged him as much as she'd like to because of his steel-like grip around her ankles.
"For someone who's pregnant, you sure has a lot of fighting spirit," he said in between pants. "But you know I'm going to kill you and your precious baby somehow."
The way he smiled creeped the hell out of her, so much that it sent a trail of goosebumps on her skin. Jisoo was getting tired from all the action she went to get away from this man but at the same time, if she gave up, it would be over for her and her child. Honestly, all the power she was mustering right now was coming from the fact that she needed to protect the child in her womb. Jisoo lost everything once, no way was she going to let that happen twice. So with one last spurt of strength, she kicked the man on his stomach. This time, on a pure work of adrenaline maybe, it worked, sending him to step back and drop his hold.
Thinking fast, she crouched her way on the floor to grab the phone, immediately unlocking it using her fingerprint. She pressed the first name that appeared on her Favorites menu which was her husband's, and the phone automatically dialed it. As it rang, Jisoo could only think, please pick it up. Please. Pleasepleaseplease. Jiwon please...
However, before it could be answered, her stalker's daunting figure hovered over her. He seemed more intimidating on that angle, enforcing the fact that Jisoo at the moment, was indeed powerless.
Jinyoung pressed a foot over her hand holding the phone, exerting so much effort that it sent her crying in pain. The phone slid out of her grasp. Using the attacker's other foot, he crushed it with so much force for cracks to appear until the call screen turned to black. Glass shards still stuck on his soles and some pierced the back of her palm, blood slowly oozing out. Jisoo's mind went on a dizzying spiral, pain taking reign over her senses. It felt like the surface of her hand was being punctured by a saw, the rough and sharp edges going through it. She screamed for the pain to stop, but the man as always, was a sadistic bastard.
Jinyoung lifted his foot crushing her hand to flip her so that she leaned on her back. Jisoo couldn't do anything but catch her breath. The attack rendered her so weak. Her hand pulsed with excruciating pain but she was too tired for screams to escape from her mouth. Jisoo couldn't bring herself to worry about those things though, now that her child was exposed for her attacker to see, the knife hanging loosely on his fingers, dictating the line between life and death.
The man planted one knee on the floor, an arm leaning on top of the other. The monster even had the audacity to caress Jisoo's cheek, which she responded by instinctively inching away.
"It's over. Let's stop playing games, shall we?"
-11-
Jiwon just passed their neighborhood's gigantic gates when he felt his phone buzzing against his thigh. When he took it out, his wife's caller ID appeared. Before he could answer it, a boy chasing after a ball quickly passed by in a blur, causing Jiwon to hit the brake pedal. The tires screeched, along with his body getting hurled in front, stopped only by the seatbelt strapped to his torso. The impact hurt his chest nonetheless.
"Sejun-ah!" a woman around her thirties shouted, going after the boy who was now on the sidewalk, seemingly unaware of what just happened around him as he played with the ball he chased after.
Jiwon raked a hand through his hair, his breathing labored. That was a close call. To check the condition of the boy himself, he got out of the car.
"Mommy!" the boy cried and clung to the woman currently checking him for any signs of bruises.
"I'm sorry, is he alright?" Jiwon worriedly asked her.
The woman bowed, causing him to bow too. "Oh no... I should be the one saying sorry. Sejun!" she called sternly. "You shouldn't go running around like that! You almost caused an accident!"
"I'm sorry..." Sejun mumbled as he brought his head down. Jiwon couldn't help but smile at that. Honestly, the Sejun boy was just too cute to get mad at. He had doe-like eyes that sparkled with innocence and chubby cheeks that Jiwon had to resist taking a pinch. It may be just Jiwon, but nowadays, he found children really cute.
"You should be saying that to this man here. If he didn't see you on-time, you would've been in the hospital, you know that?"
Sejun bowed and briefly looked at Jiwon in the eye. "I'm sorry too..."
Jiwon chuckled in embarrassment and waved his hand. "No, it's alright." Crouching so that he was eye-level with the kid, he continued, "Just be careful next time, okay?"
He nodded timidly.
After everything was sorted out with the mother, he went back to his car. Jiwon watched the mother and son duo walking on the sidewalk, with the mother clearly reprimanding her son. A little smile appeared on his lips as he imagined his wife being like that too. It felt like the future was just at the tip of his fingers.
Securely putting his seatbelt on, he felt like he was missing something. Wincing, he recalled and picked up the phone he discarded on the passenger seat in sheer panic. "Oh, that's right... Jisoo."
One missed call from her... Jiwon called her back to check what was up, but in a woman's automated voice, it said that the subscriber cannot be reached. Finding it weird, he called again as he restarted the engine but only got the same result. By the third time he rang, something on the radio caught his attention.
"A man convicted of first-degree murder, rape, attempted rape, pseudocide, and fraud named Park Jinyoung, aged 28, has escaped from Yongin Mental Institution around nine o'clock in the morning. Two hours before his escape, it has been reported that he was scheduled for a doctor's appointment regarding his breathing difficulties. It is suspected that he escaped using an escort pretending to be his doctor. The authorities are currently looking for the suspect..."
Park Jinyoung... There was no time to make sense of things. Only hearing his name could make Jiwon go mad. Without thinking of anything else, he sharply maneuvered his car for a u-turn and hit the accelerator hard. I swear, if something happens to her again...
-11-
Jinyoung brought out a duct tape from his jacket. He swiftly pulled it to a length and dug his teeth on the tape to cut it. As he prepared to stick it on her mouth, Jisoo mumbled something under her breath.
"I'm sorry, what's that Jisoo?" He chuckled humorlessly. "Are you begging me to spare your life?" Tapping her cheek, his dark eyes bore through hers, carrying a certain intensity to it that could send chills through one's spine. "Speak clearly if you want that then."
In between pants, Jisoo breathed, "I said... it's... not... over..."
"What?"
With all the strength she had right now, she grabbed a sharp glass from the shattered vase on top of her head and struck it through Jinyoung's leg, dragging it downwards to inflict more damage. The sound of his jeans tearing mixed with his cries of agony. Jisoo struck again, this time on his thigh. She felt the glass getting imbedded on her hand too but she didn't care now. Survival only dominated her mind. Deadly provoked right now, the man raised his hand holding the knife and brought it down to her stomach. A gasp escaped from her lips, shock electrifying her to the core. No... no no no this can't be happening.
He proceeded to stick the knife out to strike again but Jisoo, foreseeing this, used all her might to prevent him from doing so. She pushed him away after, his weakened state greatly contributing to her success. Using the couch arm for leverage, Jisoo struggled to get up on her feet. As the pain grew in her stomach, rage stormed over her mind. Adrenaline pumped her veins like there was no tomorrow and for sure, she was going to bring vengeance to the man who dared to harm her baby. With her uninjured hand, Jisoo grabbed one leg of their end table and threw it at her stalker who brought nothing but nightmares in her life. He was in the middle of standing up so when the table hit him, he stepped back and fumbled around, his eyes coming into contact with hers showing his disbelief, until he tripped and hit his head on the elevated kitchen stair.
Jisoo didn't have time to check if he was still unconscious or just dead as she felt a gush on her legs. When she looked down, it was blood.
"Oh please.... no, no no no..." she cried as she tenderly held her stomach, staining her dress with her bloodied hands. "Please don't..."
Feeling woozy all of a sudden, she leaned on the back of the couch. Fatigue slowly hit her entire body. Jisoo slid down on the floor as her legs gave up. At this point, it felt like hope was slipping out of her fingers.
"Help..." she rasped in between labored breathing. "Someone... please... help..."
This isn't good... Jisoo thought as she felt her consciousness drifting away. Darkness was threatening to consume her entire being, rendering her helpless. But with sheer determination to find if her baby was still alive, she forced herself to stay awake.
"Help!" she cried, a little louder this time. "Please..."
Rest, her mind whispered. Rest...
Jisoo shook her head, although she didn't have anyone to answer to. If she followed what her mind wanted, she knew she would put her baby in danger. What was important right now was the condition of her baby, not hers.
"Help!" Jisoo repeated and attempted to say it louder, hoping someone out there could hear it. "HELP!!!"
Something warm puddled on her legs. Looking down, she saw the same thing that kept haunting her, bright-red blood staining the lower part of her dress. This is too much to bear... If the same thing happened again, her heart will disintegrate little by little, until she knew, there would be no more left to love. So no, this couldn't end like this, not when she felt whole again. Her baby gave her a chance to forgive herself, gave herself something to look forward to everyday... a new beginning. Jisoo knew happy endings doesn't happen in life, but for once, just once, she desperately wanted one for herself.
"Please..." she whispered as she gingerly carressed her stomach. "Please hang in there... please... for mommy..."
As if the heavens heard her cry for help, someone pounded on the door. Jisoo was too out of it for the shouts to become corrigible in her ears. The pounding stopped for some time, the doorknob rattling after, revealing numerous figures of people dressed in black. The harsh burst of light outside obstructed Jisoo's sight so she couldn't recognize them anymore. However, among them, someone stood out the most. She couldn't see his face clearly, but the outline of his figure, the color of his clothes... all of those were familiar in her eyes somehow.
"Jiwon..." was the last thing that came out of her lips before her lids finally surrendered to exhaustion. Her body dropped on the floor, finding it hard to keep sitting upright anymore, as everything faded to black.
"JISOO!!!"
-to be continued-