Torment In Time

Chapter 3

Morning had arrived. Parker lay on the bed to which felt like a haven for her. The room was quite basic and run down, which resembled how she was feeling at this time. She sat up and rested her head on the headboard of the bed. Was she ready to go home? Would she be able to face Chuck so soon? These were questions that she honestly couldn't be sure of right now, but she felt guilty in one sense for just walking out.

"What am I supposed to do, I have no where else to go" Parker said aloud as though she would get a reply. Oddly there came a subtle knock at the door which broke her train of thought.

"Miss Parker" called out a woman's voice.

"It's housekeeping."

She dragged her fragile body out of bed, put her clothes on which were still damp from yesterdays weather and looked through the peep hole in the door. Standing impatiently on the other side of the door was the same Hispanic woman from reception. She thought about opening the door but realized she would have to leave to let the woman do her job. The thought of getting back into her car was sickening.

"Em, you know what could you do it later" Parker shouted through the door.

"Si Miss Parker" the woman called back in the same volume and tone.

She kept her eye at the peep hole and watched the woman as she rolled her eyes and then continued walking down the hall. Parker then turned and walked towards the bathroom in desperate need of a shower. From the moment she walked into the bathroom she immediately bewailed her decision to refuse housekeeping. The bathroom was limited with tiled walls which were covered by a layer of grime as well as the sink. At this point she tried to see past the grime and turned on the shower. Parker waited for a few minutes to let the water heat up, but like everything else in the room all she got was disappointment and barely luke warm water. Once again she put up with it an climbed in. The water though only barely warm felt exquisite on her skin, and for just one moment she felt completely relaxed and stress free in comparison to how she had felt fifteen minutes ago. It was as if the flowing water had dissolved all her problems from her mind and washed them down the drain. That's when she noticed how much the water was rising at her feet. As she reached down her finger had just slightly touched off an unusual substance that made her shiver. Parker looked down to investigate when she seen the bundle of thick black hair that was clogging the drain. The sound of her shrieking filled the room as she rushed out of the shower. That one perfect moment turned sour fast she thought.

After drying and putting her clothes on once again she decided to watch some basic cable TV that surprisingly the room provided. The news was nearly over so it played the weather forecast. It wasn't looking good. Apparently snow was to fall today but she didn't see that as likely. The news finished and Parker sat dazed due to what she had just heard from the TV.

"From all of us here at Metro News thank you and have a merry Christmas" the blonde and almost plastic woman on the screen said through her fake smile.

Parker couldn't believe it. Had she really been so preoccupied by her problems that she had forgotten about her favorite holiday of all; Christmas? This was not like her at all and she knew it. This time last year she was back with her family living in Ireland, but that all changed when she met Chuck. It was love at first sight even though she didn't believe in that sort of thing and within only four months she made the terrifying choice to leave everything she had ever known and go with him to Georgia. Now she had realized where she was and that she missed Chuck. Parker walked over two the one large window in the room and yanked open the curtains. She was amazed to see the snow falling from the heavens which also reminded her of Ireland and its extreme weather. Alex pushed opened the window and reached out her arm. Hundreds of microscopic frozen crystals spiraling through the sky began to settle with ease on her cold and discolored now blue hands. Parker just stared at them, and watched as their uniqueness faded away and all that was left was a drop of pure water. It was time to go back to Chuck. No one should spend Christmas alone and she couldn't imagine how he'd be feeling right now. Suddenly there was a firm knock at the door which startled her.

"Yeah i'm coming" Parker said aloud as she pulled her arm in and shook off the water while walking towards door.

"This place needs to be cleaned badly and i'm not gonna say no this time" she murmured to herself as she swung open the door.

Parker screamed at the top of her voice as she saw what was laid outside the door. The Hispanic woman was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. She was trembling and in unbelievable agony. Her pleading eyes stared up into Parkers. Alex knelt down close to the dying woman looking for the source of her bleeding, which she found in her upper abdomen. It looked like a bullet hole. She pressed down trying to keep pressure on it to stop the bleeding, but it was ineffective. Parker watched as the gushing blood began smothering her hands. She became entranced by the smooth deep red sticky liquid that was glistening on her skin. Remarkably the woman began to mutter some words but it was to muffled to be understood. The woman tried again.

"I, i'm sorry I can't understand you" Parker said terrified and in shock.

The woman felt cold, stiff and was shaking when she swallowed deeply and took her last breath.

"He's behind you" she said as her voice faded away and her body slumped back.

Parker stood up quickly, but before she had time to turn around she felt a cold blade over her throat. She became faint and couldn't breath. His other hand was holding a gun to her lower back. Parker could feel his cold steady breath on the back of her neck. Finally before she passed out she heard him whisper in her ear.

"Good to have back Alex"

Then everything went black.