Grab N' Go [Robin Arellano]

41: Just a Girl

Stars continue to flood the sky with the moon continuing to loom over the world while the sun stays tucked away. The air is especially chilly this morning, making Valentina silently thankful she remembered to put on her jacket before heading out. She clutches the cuffs of the fabric, silently willing it to heat the rest of her body, though the wish of it seems futile as she continues to shiver with each step she takes.

Aside from the sounds of her own steps and the occasional loud exhale from being cold, there isn't really much noise out.

By now, she's far from her own house. Over 4 blocks away, still clutching her notebook, and scanning every address she passes to mark out page after page. Admittedly, she feels tired. However, she refuses to let sleep taken more time away from finding Finney.

If she could save Robin, she could save Finney.

So, gritting her teeth, she shakes away her sleepy mindset to focus on looking for any clues.

That's when a sudden sound fits through the quiet atmosphere.

"Help!"

The voice sounds distant, almost inaudible. At first, the word doesn't register in her mind- only the tone. She begins walking towards the direction of the noise, hesitantly. A car revving loudly, loud enough that you can tell they're going past the residential speed limit, causes her to quicken her steps towards the direction.

"HELP! THE GRABBER-"

The voice is cut off.

Finney!

She drops her pen and journal, sprinting in the direction of her friends screams. With the speed she's running, she can feel her chest burn every time inhales the cool air of the dark morning. She feels afraid. So afraid. Not really of anything she can quite place, just absolutely terrified.

However, as she turns the corner and her eyes focus on the disturbing scene before her, she knows for sure what she's afraid of now.

The man from before, sporting a creepy mask bent downward into a frown is stood over a shaken looking Finney Blake. In a split second, he is punching Finney so hard that it knocks him out and the next he is being tackled downward with the force of another body being flung into him.

Valentina, with all her force, has pummeled into the man, wrapping her hands tightly around the man's neck.

He stands up in a hurry, desperately swaying side to side in an attempt to throw her off his back. With every sway, she digs her knees further into sides of his spine causing him to grunt and groan in pain. She lets out her own yells, driving the man to work harder against her. Unfortunately, her small body is no match for his, and she finds herself being flung to the floor beside Finney.

Without thinking twice, she crawls over quickly to Finney, attempting to shake him awake.

"FINNEY! FINNEY WAKE UP!" She begs, holding onto the boys shoulders desperately.

However, this turns out as a fail as the man flings her back to the ground, causing a pained yelp to leave her lips as her shoulder blade collides with a rock. He quickly places a hand over her mouth, holding his knife to her throat.

While she can't see his face, she can tell from his eyes that he is seething with anger. She trembles at the evil glint behind his darkened pupils.

"You," he grumbles, pressing the tip of the blade further against her neck and causing her to whimper and shake in fear and discomfort. "You're a very bad little girl. Very bad. Why do you keep insisting on getting in the way?"

She glares up at him, unable to control her eyes from spilling over in tears.

She wants to scream at him. To tell him that it's him who is getting in the way of her life! He's the one who keeps taking people she loves! Though she wants to believe Vance is safe out there, she would be lying if she said the possibility of him taking the boy hadn't crossed her mind before.

She's afraid. So afraid.

"Why are you here? How are you here?" He rambles in a confused voice, almost panicked. "What're you? Who are you? How do you keep finding me? I thought maybe it was all a dream when you didn't call the cops, but here you are again!"

He stares down at her expectantly, but of course gets no answer because his hand is placed so tightly around her mouth it'll surely leave finger shaped bruises on her cheeks.

He shakes his head and lets out an airy, humored laugh, "no no, this is so silly! You're just a girl aren't you? A girl who always seems to be in my way. Why is that, I wonder? Well! Whatever the case, I would love to kill you right here and now, but you deserve a special send off. I'm going to crucify you like Jesus when I'm done with your friend here."

Her eyes widen, and she begins to squirm hard beneath him and yelp only for it to come out muffled. With a high pitched giggle, he pulls his fist back and hits her hard.

And then, everything is black.