The Grabber

Working Man

Andrea awoke with the sound of the lights flicking on. She slowly rose to notice. As soon as she became aware of her surroundings and situation again, she looked towards the door and jumped back.
"Wakey, wakey," a voice sang.
"How long have you been standing there?" Andrea asked in shock. Al adjusted his tool box in his hand as he shrugged.
"Oh, just long enough to see how cute you are when you're sleeping," he giggled. Andrea didn't say a word. He stepped into the light as Andrea pushed herself back further away from him. "Just came to fix that hole." Andrea looked over his new mask. Instead of the one she had seen earlier, he had the bottom part of the mask with a big smile. He looked over to the broken wall, then back to the door. "Stay right there," he said as he turned to walk back up the steps. Andrea moved just enough to watch him walk up the stairs. She could see just a small part of his kitchen as he had left the door open. She heard something move from upstairs. She stood slowly to walk closer to the door. As she heard his footsteps coming closer, she took a few quick steps back. Al walked down the stairs with a bucket in one hand and his toolbox in the other. When he reached the bottom, he looked at Andrea, noticing she had moved. "I thought I said not to move?" He asked. Andrea didn't move her gaze from his.
"I didn't leave the area," she clarified. "I didn't move up the stairs." He stared for just a moment before pushing the door close to the wall, but not enough for it to lock.
"Just sit tight." Andrea slowly sat on the bed as she watched Al set the small bucket of what appeared to be cement. Al looked over at Andrea and nodded towards the wall. "Sit closer so I can keep an eye on you. You better not try anything." Andrea did as she was told and sat closer to the edge by the wall. She watched carefully as Al worked in silence. Andrea looked at Al's mask as he tried to fill the broken wall. She couldn't help but slowly glance up to his eyes. They were focused on his work. Al suddenly looked over at Andrea. He caught her looking. She looked away quickly.
"You like the mask?" He asked as he looked back to what he was doing. Andrea stared at her shoes.
"I thought you were overcoming the whole not-showing-face thing," Andrea spoke. Al looked at her as he paused what he was doing. Andrea looked up as she noticed his silence.
"That was Al," he said softly. "I told you." He shook his head as he scooped another glob of cement. "He was just a cover."
"So everything you ever said or did was fake?" She asked as she looked at him. He was facing away from her as he paused. "Even you caring about me?"
"Everything except for what I said about your plan," he said softly. He took a deep breath as he smoothed the wet cement. "You knew too much. I thought I could just make you think it was too dumb or too dangerous. I thought you would be smart and decide to trash the idea."
"That's why you tried so hard to talk me out of it," she assumed gently. He slowly nodded.
"I hoped you would think it would never work or I could scare you enough. Kinda thought you'd choose your life rather than poking around in shit that isn't your problem." When he finished fixing the wall, he placed the tools he used back into his toolbox. He locked it and grabbed the bucket as he turned to Andrea. "Don't touch that spot. I'll be back in just a second." Andrea watched as Al walked towards the door. He opened it more with his foot so he could head upstairs to put away his tools and bucket. It only took a second before he came back down the stairs. Al didn't look at her as he came to sit close by her side. She quickly pushed herself away, pulling her knees to her chest while keeping an eye on Al. He sighed as he spoke towards the floor.
"Do you remember when you were telling your friend your plan for the first time?" Andrea nodded, though she knew he wasn't looking. "I was there. That's how I knew you felt differently about... me. My original plan was to take you because you knew too much, but then you said you saw me take Robin." He shook his head as he took a moment to think of his words. "Then you just tried to find out more. You just don't know when to quit."
"I had to know," Andrea said softly. Al turned to look at her. She recoiled at his sudden turn.
"You didn't have to know anything," he growled. "Look where you are. Is this how you thought it would be? Did you think you would have a good time?" Andrea slowly shook her head. She froze at the raise in his voice. He shook his head as well. "No," he answered for her. "You just thought you could help the Grabber. Fix him, like he's some kind of fucking wound," he raged as he made one swift motion to grab his pocket knife and make a cut into Andrea's leg. She winced at the pain. She reached to her leg, where the blood started to come through the torn fabric of her pants. Al pushed Andrea down by her shoulder as he stood, coming close to her face. "Well, guess what?" He spoke softly as Andrea breathed heavily from pain and fear. She looked into his unforgiving eyes. "You can't fix every wound." He touched her thigh with the hand that held the knife, where the blood leaked. Andrea winced at the touch. As the blood was on his hand, he looked at Andrea, showing it and the stained knife. "Sometimes the wounds are too bad to fix." As Andrea stared in fear, the Grabber slowly raised himself from her, keeping his gaze strong. He finally glanced to her cut as he turned to walk away. "Hope you're smart enough to fix that yourself. I don't have anything for it," he said as he grabbed the door handle to close the door. Andrea sat up, wincing at the pain in her thigh. She looked at it for a minute, noting the bleeding. She tried to tell how deep the cut was. She looked at her shirt, remembering she wore a tank top underneath. Slowly, she decided to slip off her shirt and fold it in a way to act as a bandage wrap. She carefully wrapped it around her leg, being sure to have it tight enough to apply pressure, but not tight enough to cut off circulation. As she tied the sleeves together, she slowly let her leg relax, wincing a bit as she did. She finally laid on her back, trying to calm herself from what had happened.

...

The phone rang through the quiet house. It was starting to get dark out. James walked out of the music library as he heard the phone ring for a second time. He ruffled his hair as he picked it up.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Is Andrea there?" A voice asked. James' eyes grew wide as he froze.
"Uh, yes, she's here," he said finally.
"Do you think we could speak with her?" James looked around his home as he knew Andrea was gone. Luckily, he remembered what Andrea had suggested as he saw the bathroom door.
"Well, she's actually in the bathroom right now, then she's going to head to bed."
"This early?"
"Yes, she... has a headache," he lied. He could hear talking on the other side of the phone, but couldn't make out what was being said. He pursed his lips as he grew more nervous.
"Okay," the man said. "Well, please tell her we said goodnight and we hope she feels better soon. Also let her know we don't want her to stay too long."
"I will let her know," James nodded.
"Thank you. And thank you for taking care of her. Goodbye," he said. James nodded as he said goodbye as well and hung up the phone. He took a sigh as he looked outside.
"I hope you're okay, Andrea," he whispered to himself. "It's been a while. Please be okay."

...

Andrea checked the bandage that wrapped around her leg. Just as she was used to, the blood acted as an adhesive; sticking the shirt to her pants, which stuck to her skin. She winced as she tried to pry each away, only causing more blood to arise. She sighed in frustration. She was finally dragged out of thought as she was jolted back to reality by the sound of the lights flicking on. She looked up at the door, but didn't move away. As the door opened, she saw Al wearing a full mask with a smile. He held a tray that contained a plate and a bottle.
"I made you some breakfast," he finally said softly.
"What is it?" Andrea asked as Al stepped closer to set the tray on the floor in front of her. She moved back just a bit as he did.
"Eggs," he said as he stood and took a few steps back. "Lemon-Lime." Andrea glanced at the food on the tray.
"What did you do to it?" She asked.
"You just dont trust me, do you?" He chuckled.
"I did once." Al stared in silence for a moment as Andrea watched his wandering eyes.
"How old are you?" Al finally asked.
"Why does it matter?" She asked.
"Well, I'm just curious, is all. I usually find out everything I would ever want to know in the paper, but since your plan involved keeping this secret, I won't get to find anything out. If I want to know anything, I have to ask." Andrea looked down as she debated. She knew lying wasn't the smartest move, considering this is the same man that kidnapped and killed the others. She didn't want the same fate, so she knew the truth was all she could say. In the end, what did it matter if he knew her age? She was already here. She wouldn't be able to get out of anything. Her fate was sealed.
"Seventeen," she finally said. Al tilted his head.
"When is your birthday?" He asked. "Maybe we could celebrate it if it's close. Since you're here." It was moments like these that confused Andrea the most. Why did Al seem so nice some times, then scary the next? She wondered if this was part of a plot. Was he like this with his other victims?
"It's... the 13th," she said. She couldn't remember what today was, so she wasn't sure how close her birthday was. All she remembered was that it was November. She hoped she wouldn't be here for her birthday. She didn't want to stay here for very long. She wanted to get the answers she wanted and get out. So far, it seemed like Al was a tough case to crack.
"Hm," he simply responded. He finally took a breath as he looked at her leg that was wrapped. "I guess you were smart enough to know what to do," he nodded. "Does it hurt?" Andrea moved it a bit. She nodded as she felt the pain again. Their gazes suddenly raised to the phone from upstairs. "I'll bet that's Max," he said to himself. He looked back to Andrea with his hand on the handle. "Keep that in mind if you think about trying anything else," he pointed at her wound. "Just because you're a girl doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you." He turned as he closed the door behind him. Andrea breathed for a moment as she took in those last words of his that seemed to frighten her. She didn't remember doing anything to trigger his anger that caused him to cut her. She would have to tread lightly. Even then, that didn't guarantee her safety.