AVA POV
My heart was pounding loudly in my chest as I tried to stay as quiet as possible. It's cold. I'm blind. I'm starving. I'm injured. And lastly, I'm trying to stay hidden from that psychotic bastard that decided playing Hide and Seek would be a great game to pass the time. Of course, he's the It and I'm hiding in the corner of the building behind some type of vehicle.
From what he told me, we're in a warehouse that no one would think to look in.
"Ava," he sang out a few feet away.
I froze, holding my breath. Should I go somewhere else? What if he sees me? No, what if he already sees me but he's just messing with me?
I gritted my teeth in frustration. This is one of the rare moments where I hated being blind. I never expected to be in this type of situation but of course, an overconfident idiot like me would think she can rule the world even with a gun pointed at my head. Fucking idiot.
I was half focused on cursing at myself that I was almost a little late to notice him close to me. I immediately duck down and punched forward.
He grunted and fell a few steps back before laughing, menacingly. "I found you."
"Fuck this," I cursed, finally fed up and pissed. "Come at me, you son of a bitch. I'm sick and tired of being scared of you."
His laughter boomed all throughout the building. "I could just shoot you, little girl."
"Yeah, well, I couldn't give two shits about what you could do. You could shoot me or stab me, I still won't give in without a fight."
"Oh?" He said mockingly. "You'll die trying? Is that what you're trying to say?"
I shrugged. "Well, hopefully it won't get to that point but whatever."
"Huh, okay." I head something drop to the floor and I got ready to defend myself.
"Don't worry, I'm just tossing aside my gun. It wouldn't be fun if I shot you and you bled to death. I'd rather watch you slowly lose hope as you realize that no one cares enough about you to even find you."
I tilted my head. "Was that supposed to break me down or something? Seriously? You know what, just shoot me. At least I won't have to hear you talk anym-"
I leaned back and felt a breeze against my face as he tried to land a hit. I quickly kicked my leg up, just to feel it connect.
Crack!
"Ahh!" He screamed. "You fucken bitch!"
I winced as I quickly straightened myself. I'm assuming that was his leg that I broke. I silently rejoiced as I stayed alert.
He rushed at me and I tried to dodge, just to have the wind knocked out of me as he landed a blow to my chest. A rib or two were cracked, which made it difficult to breathe but I knew that today will be my last day if I didn't fight back.
We exchanged punches and kicks until I was finally knocked onto my back. I tried to get back up but I was slammed back down with a hands tight around my neck. I tried to get his hands to loosen up but it wouldn't budge. I tried to kick him off me but he straddled my waist, making it hard for me to do so. I couldn't even reach his face.
I was desperately trying to gasp for air as I struggled to get out of his grip.
"I had fun, little girl." I heard him say behind the pounding in my head. "Now it's time to end this game and say goodbye."
Just when I felt him put more pressure onto my neck, I heard a loud bang and the pressure disappeared. My ears were ringing from whatever the loud sound was so I pretty much couldn't hear anything else.
Suddenly I felt someone grab me so I quickly threw a punch. I assumed it was Ramiro again so I tried to stay alert, which was hard to do when I could only hear the ringing in my ears. Great, now I feel like Helen Keller.
"...a..."
"...va, can you... me?"
My hearing was slowly turning back to normal.
"Ava! Can you hear me?!"
I winced. "Uncle Dave? Why are you shouting? You're right in front of me."
He sighed in relief, gathering me slowly into his arms as I bit back the urge to scream in pain. "I got here just in time, kiddo."
"David, she's in pain, let her go so they could check her." Mary said.
I smiled. "You're here too? Actually, how did you find me?"
Before they could answer, another familiar voice spoke up. "Damn, kid! Even after nearly being killer, you still got strength. You nearly broke my nose!"
I tilted my head. "Uncle... Xyrus?"
"Yeah, kid. It's great to see you again, even in these circumstances. We'll talk more later okay?"
I nodded as a person started checking up on me. Now that I was safe from danger, the adrenaline that I felt earlier had disappeared and I was left with nothing but the immense pain.
"She's got three broken ribs, burn woulda, slashes and cuts around her body along with multitudes of bruises. She needs to be checked into the hospital and get her ribs patched before anything more serious happens. She also needs to take a rape kit-"
"I wasn't raped." I cut in.
"You still suggest you take it, just in case okay?"
I reluctantly agreed before he continued on with his report. Not long after, he gathered his stuff and left. I was taken away by the paramedics and placed into the ambulance. They put a mask on me and seconds later, I knocked out.
***
I slowly woke up to voices whispering beside me. From what I could smell and feel, I was in the hospital and placed in one of the rooms.
"She needs to rest for at least two weeks due to her broken ribs. She can't do anything that'll strain her ribs or it might not heal as quickly. She will be staying here for a few more days just to be sure nothing else is wrong. Like I said a few days ago, her situation isn't so good."
"She's been asleep for three days, doc. Are you sure she's not-" Uncle Dave said.
"Her brain scans came out normal." The doctor cut in. "It's not surprising that she's been sleeping for this long, considering the fact that she hasn't been getting enough rest for a whole week. That's if she got any in her situation but it's another reason why I am keeping her for a few more days. I'm guessing she might wake up tonight or tomorrow morning so don't worry."
"Thanks, doc."
"No problem, I'll be back in two hours to check on her again. Good night."
Once the doctor left, I shifted, trying not to groan.
"Ace?" Uncle Dave rushed to my side. "How you doing, champ?"
I laughed, then coughed, wincing from the pain shooting up all throughout my body and head. Soon after, my head was slightly raised before a cup of water was placed against my lips. I eagerly sipped the water, feeling it sooth my dry throat before answering. "Well, I feel like I jumped off a building just to be run over by a bunch of cars during rush hour. I feel great."
He chuckled. "Well, it looks like it since you still have your sense of humor."
He went silent for a moment before grasping my hand, tightly. It was then that I could feel him trembling "Uncle Da-"
"Do you know how worried I've been?" His voice was raw with emotion, like he was trying not to cry. "I thought... I thought I wouldn't find you in time. All I could think of after we found you was 'what if we came a minute later? What if we got there a minute later and you were dead?' I couldn't..."
I stayed silent as I felt the tears falling onto my hand. I took a deep breath as I tried not to cry along with him. I waited as he cried silently with my hand grasped tightly between his.
After a few minutes went by, he took a deep breath. "But I'm glad that we did get to you in time."
"What..." I wanted to ask before changing my mind.
"What happened to Ramiro? Xyrus shot him. When we got there and found him on top of you, it didn't take him a second before he grabbed his gun and fired the shot. I just wish he didn't shoot him in the head. I would've loved to beat that son of a-"
"Okay, I get it." I cut in and decided to change the topic. "Where's Mary?"
"She's at home, getting me a change of clothes and possibly preparing some food to bring over."
"I thought outside food wasnt-"
"It's not but I got a lot of money." He simply said.
I smiled. "Don't make me laugh, Uncle Dave. Please. It hurts."
"Oh please. Enjoy this level of pain, Ace because once you're all healed up, we are upping your training. I swear all that training I gave you..." He stopped, sighing in disappointment. "Unbelievable. I feel like crying. I can't believe you made my training seem like child's play just by the fact that you easily got tak-"
"Heeey," I protested. "I was not feeling well that day, I had a-"
"Uh huh, yeah, okay, whatever."
I giggled before groaning. "Uncle Dave."
He chuckled at my misery before turning serious. "Seriously, kid. How are you feeling? You know you could talk to me, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I know. When I do feel like talking, I'll let you know, I promise."
"Okay." He leaned over and placed a kiss on my head before moving back. "Get more rest, kid. You're not leaving any time soon."
"Okay. You too, Uncle Dave."
Not long after, I fell asleep once again. I wish I didn't.
***
A/N: If none of you has tried watching the movie about Helen Keller, you should totally watch it. I watched it when I was a kid and man, it was nice. I cried like a baby.