Eyes closed, back collided with the cold floor, dry tears on my cheeks, heart skipping beats. My status was horrible. I felt like if I stayed there, lying on the floor, I would easily die, out of cold, hunger, but mostly; pain.
I heard his footsteps coming closer to my room, informing me that he'll start torturing me in a matter of seconds. As much as I tried to convince myself that I would be fine, that I might still stand a chance to survive, a part of me was complaining to stop lying to myself.
But I wasn't completely lying. I felt like there was a chance I could go through this. The frustrated part of me was covering the feeling of hope that started slowly to rose inside of me and it only frustrated me more.
The door swung open with a crack, confirming my thought that he qas coming to me. I could feel his eyes on me so I slowly opened mine and looked at him. He was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, staring at me with a poker face.
“Got some sleep?” he asked, even though I knew he didn't care to know the answer.
“A little.” I murmured and sat up, stretching my hands and arms.
“Hmm.” he hummed and watched me as I stood up and removed the dirt from my already dirty clothes.
“Found something in your backbag.” he said in a low voice, making me shake with fear.
He narrowed slightly his eyes, studying my reaction at his words. I was speechless and anxious, waiting for him to say that my phone was in the backbag.
“Change quickly.” he said flatly, turned on his heel and walked back to his room.
What was he talking about? Change quickly? Change what? I didn't have anything to chan—
“Here.” he appeared in the doorway and threw some clothes to me.
I grabbed them quickly before they fell on the floor and looked at them. They were the clothes I had in my backbag in case I spilled juice on them or was too sweaty.
“I'm waiting downstairs.” he said and left the room.
I walked there and closed the door, letting a sigh of relief as I let the doorhandle. At least he didn't watch me getting dressed or forced me to do it in front of him. I quickly changed into my new clothes, a black tank top and deep red shorts. I wore my boots and took a deep breath before I opened the door and walked down the hall, heading downstairs.
He was leaning against a wall, his hands playing with the same small knife I saw last night. I flinched at the sight of it and slowed my pace. He looked up at me with his black eyes, wich travelled down my body before they landed on my face again.
His gaze seemed as if his eyes could see through my clothes and that made me feel as if I'm naked. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, trying to cover my chest and gain somehow confiedence.
“Let's go.” he nodded towards the door and walked towards it.
I followed him outside and smelled the summer air, filling my lungs with oxygen. I closed my eyes for a couple of seconds, enjoying the summer breeze hitting my skin and pushing my hair back. I opened my eyes and felt my stomach twisting when I saw him staring at me intently, his eyebrows raised.
“What?” I asked quietly.
“Nothing.” he responded and turned around to walk away.
“Okay.” I whispered and followed, my hands pulling down the hem of my tank top.
“We're going to the river for a while.” he informed, surprising me for giving me informations when he never did before.
“Why?”
“Don't ask. Just do what I say.” he demanded, his voice deeper now.
“Fine.” I sighed.
He looked weird today. He wasn't that harsh nor softer either. But it looked like something changed with him since last night.
Last night..
It was all so confusing. I stayed at least 2 hours awake, staring at the empty bed and up at the ceiling, trying to find something that showed that everything I saw was real. But there was nothing. I started to think it was all a nightmare, but the bruises on my wrists from the guy's grip proved me otherwise.
I heard something moving through the bush next to me and jumped a little, my eyes staring at it with fear. When I saw that nothing appeared, I continued walking, my eyes fixed on the ground.
My tracks came to a halt when I bumped on his back. I looked up at him to find him glancing at me from his shoulder, emmidiately feeling ashamed.
“Sorry.” I mumbled and looked in front of him to see the river.
“You'll fill the cans with water and I'll get firewood. Don't mess it up.” he instructed sharply and dissapeared through the trees.
I looked at the tree he used to sit by and saw two big cans. I sighed and walked towards it, my hands placed on it's sides and slowly pulling it up from the ground. I walked closer to the river and managed to fill the can with water. I walked back to the tree to take the other one and fill it too. When I was over, I stood up and smiled at myself, satisfied I didn't mess it up.
I heard a voice talking in distance, not too far away but not to close either. My heart stoped and hope rose inside me when I heard the voice again and realized it wasn't him. It was someone else.
He could save me, I could escape, I thought and looked at the direction he dissapeared a couple of minutes ago. When I saw that he wasn't coming, I heard the voice coming closer to me again.
“...hello? Can you–uh great, it's dead now. Shit, this forest is hell.” I heard the voice cursing and a mix of relief and hapiness took over me.
A guy appeared from behind a tree with–to my surprise–green hair and a brow piercing. He was carrying a backbag and had a phone in his hands, his forehead covered with sweat. His eyes locked with mine and a small appeared on my lips, the first smile since I got caught as a hostage for the last 4 days.
“Finally, a human in the woods.” he sighed and gave me a small smile.
“What are you doing here?” I asked and took a step closer.
“Exploring. Shitty idea, I know.” he rolled his eyes, making me chuckle lightly.
“Do you know where you came from? Do you have a car?” I rushed the words, moving my hands in the air.
“Uhh, yes?” he rubbed the back of his neck and I let out a deep sigh before I looked up at the sky.
“Thank God!” I breathed, placing my palm on my chest.
“I'm lost, can you show me a way to leave?” he asked and I shook my head.
“No. But I know that we have to leave, right now.” I demanded and walked towards him, reaching for his hand.
“And go where exactly?” the familiar deep voice echoed through my ears and I froze, my blood turned cold.
Shit.
“Who's that?” the guy next to me asked and I hesitentaly turned my head to look at the guy that's torturing me for 4 days.
His arms were filled with firewood, his black eyes were glaring at the guy's direction and his nostrils were flaring. My heart started racing, my hands were shaking except the one that was in the guy's hand.
“Dude..your eyes.” the guy next to me said, making me feel a little frustrated for talking too much.
“My eyes what?!” he yelled back at him, making me flinch.
The guy next to me jumped a little and looked at me with a bewildered look, quietly questioning me a lot of questions I couldn't answer.
“You want to find a way to leave?” he asked through gritted teeth, sending chills down my spine.
“Y-yes.” the guy next to me stammered.
“I can show you a way to leave,” he threw the firewood on the ground, causing a loud noise, and took some steps closer. “And never come back.” he smirked evily, a sign that he was about to do something bad.
“Fuck,” the guy next to me cursed. “We have to run.” he whispered to my ear, his grip on my hand tightening.
“You can run as much as you want,” the guy said cooly. “But she stays.” he nodded towards me, making me gasp.
The fact that I didn't know their names made me slightly frustrated and scared at the same time. The guy next to me tightened even more his grip on my hand, showing me how brave of a man he is.
“Let go of her hand.” the guy warned through clenched teeth, making me shiver.
“No.” the guy next to me pushed further into his buttons.
“If you don't do it then I'll have to make you.” he growled.
“I said no–” the guy was interrupted by the other guy that came and stood in front of us like a flash, wrapping his hand around his throat and lifting him from the ground.
“No! Please!” I begged and tears were now forming in my eyes as the guy struggled to breath.
“You're still holding her hand I see.” the guy with the black eyes muttered.
“Please don't kill him! He didn't do anything!” I cried, my voice escalating.
“You little frat boys with dyed hair are such dickheads.” the guy spit, tightening his grip around the other guy's throat, turning his knuckles white.
“Please.” the guy gasped for air, making me feel guilty for not being able to help him.
His eyes widened and all the colour was slowly drown from his face, making my insides to twist and my heart to come up to my throat.
I let go of the guy's hand and grabbed the curly one's arm, trying to pull him back but fail miserably as I was much more powerless, unlike him. He looked down at me for a second and then back at the guy before he threw him against a tree, a cracking sound echoing in my ears.
“No!” I yelled and tried to walk towards him but I was soon dragged behind from the murderer's tight grip on my forearm.
I looked at him scared as he glared down at me, quietly demanding me to stay put. He clenched his jaw and let go of my forearm before he walked towards the guy that was lying on the floor, groaning in pain.
“No, please don't hurt him!” I begged, my knees were weak and my hands were shaking uncontrolably.
My stomach twisted as he crouched down and took the small knife from behind his waistband. My hands came up to cover my mouth as fear and worry took over me, guilt already washing through me for not helping.
He grabbed roughly his green hair and tilted his head up so he was facing him. I could see pure fear and pain on the victim's face, making me feel even worse than before.
“Enjoy your days in hell.” the murderer snapped, his words giving me goose bumps.
The green-haired boy shook his head slowly, pleading him quietly not to hurt him, but I knew that it was pointless. The guy brought the knife closer to his chest and scratched his skin, a thin line of blood escaping the wound.
“No!” the green-haired guy screamed, making my heart to break.
“Don't kill him! He didn't do anything!” I cried, my hands throwing in the air.
My feet froze, I couldn't move as I kept staring at him scratching his collarbones and created a messy cut up to his neck, blood running like river. The boy screamed again, the sound was like knifes that were dugged into my ears. It hurt watching someone that was about to support me dying and I couldn't do anything.
“Run!” he screamed, his pained and widened eyes now staring at me with concern.
I shook my head slightly. gaining a glare from him. He took a deep breath and hissed as the guy scratched another wound on his arm, sending pain through his entire body.
“Fuck, run!” he yelled at me and my heart started beating again.
Without hesitation, I turned on my heel and started running as fast as I could, the beat of my heart fastening just like my pace. My hands were moving in front of me, moving branches of trees and bushes out of the way, my feet hit the ground and mud hard. Anxiety and nervousness creaped up inside me, bringing knots into my muscles.
The guy's screams seemed forever as they echoed through the cold breeze inside the trees I past by, making me feel like I was running in circles. I knew I was quiet far but still not too far to escape. My head was dizzy and the sun that burned my skin and brought sweat on my forehead didn't help me either. All of my power was now used to run as fast as I could, the adrenaline rising inside me.
The tears didn't stop running down my eyes but that didn't stop me from running any further. I knew that my insides were now twisted so tightly that I might had lost my stomach, but all I could think about was that I could finally escape, run away from that serial killer, feel free again. That's all I could think about, my home, my warm bed, college, the small restaurant I used to work to. Everything from my old life seemed to flash behind my eyes, sending a bolt of hapiness through me.
“I can't stop.” I muttered to myself when I felt my legs hurting.
I jumped over a bush and accidentaly tripped on my feet, falling down on the ground. I groaned in pain but managed to stand up and started running again, only a little slower. Sweat was running down the sides of my head, mixing with my salty tears that fell from the corner of my eyes.
“You can run as much as you want, but she stays.” his words echoed in my mind.
What does he want from me? Why does he like torturing me like that? Why does he want to keep me here with him?
I hated that small part in me that reminded me that there's a chance he still has a heart. How could a person like him have a heart? After everything he did to me, my friends and that poor guy? He couldn't be kind, there was no hope.
The memory of us both too close to each other, in the river, his breath against my lips flashed behind my eyes, making my heart to flutter. I sucked in a breath as I remembered his words “it matters to me”. Why would he say that if he didn't care? The part of me believing there's chance he has good inside him started to rose as his other words came up to my mind.
“I'm sorry, Louis.”
Would he ever say that? Would ever a really bad guy apologize? That confused me more and my heart came up to my throat at the thought of him apologizing to me. If he did it once, he could do it again...right? There was moments when I saw softness behind his eyes and maybe...maybe he needed help. But I wasn't going to be the one that would give it to him as I continued pushing branches out of my way as I kept running away from him.
I had to escape, but I had to admit, I wasn't really sure if I would make it.
(A/N: Yes, the guy was Michael Clifford, don't hate me for killing him too, please. I saw some covers u guys made and they're amazing, I loved them all! I really don't know wich to use so I'll need time. Let me know what u think of this chapter :) I might be updating next week since it's my sisters engangement party this Friday! Love you all!!)