Harry's Girl

Escaping

*Erica's POV*

Harry and I hear feminine voices ringing through the condo. It's too muffled to be able make any sense of it. But, whatever they're saying sounds intense. 

"W-what do we do, Harry?" I whisper anxiously. He holds his index finger to my mouth, shushing me. I tiptoe over to him by the door, trying to figure out what's going on.

"Erica." He gives me a stern look, "I don't think we're safe here anymore, and if one of us may possibly get hurt. It's not going to be you." A phone starts vibrating insanely. It's Harry's. I look at him, our eyes widening at the same time. He quickly scrambles over to the phone, silencing it. Close call.

The once distance footsteps we heard start getting closer to us. Bang. Bang. They're pounding on the door to our room. There isn't much time. We only have one escape: the window. The knocking gets more excessive, and soon becomes kicking. I start hastily unlocking the large window that sits above Harry's bed. The late night wind is crazy; it's chilly out on the balcony. Harry soon accompanies me outside. "Our time is limited and we need climb down the side of this building." He points to the emergency fire escape latter. It's rickety and rusty, probably first installed when the building was created. Unsafe. I looked down at our destination, far below. The height bewildered me; I forgot we were 10 stories up.

There is no more time to goof off. I jump down to the floor below; the chase beings. Ladder after ladder, we race to the parking garage. I build up a steady pace and stealthily slide down ladders. I started off strong up for the first 7 ladders.  I stumble and do a shin slam down the entire ladder to the 3rd floor. Well there goes my "stealthiness". I land abruptly, hearing my ankle snap. Smooth. I'm stranded: Harry didn't see me fall behind, so he kept going. This game has to end now. We were so close to escaping too...Dammit. I can hear Harry calling out my name, but I'm in too much pain to reply. "Harry..."I gasp out for air, but I'm suffocated by discomfort. The world around me goes black.

*Harrys POV*

"Erica? ERIIIICAAA!!" I call out into the night. Now what do I? I ask myself. We were so close to getting away from these crazy people. I dash back to the ladder and begin to panic. My heart rate increases, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I've got to get to her... Before any uninvited guests do. There isn't much time before whoever broke in finds us. Safety is so close; yet, so far.

First floor... No. No one in sight. I hustle to the rusty brown ladder at the opposite end of the wall. It seems to drag on forever. I've got to get to her. 

Second floor? No one here either. No surprise. I'm running out of time.

Third floor.. There she is, passed out. I see her close-to-lifeless body collapsed on the floor; she's writhing on the ground, hand wrapped around her ankle. I hate to see her like this. She looks so helpless, like a deer that's just been hit by a car.