Grinded

chapter XXIV.

It all happened so quickly. 

One second Sophie was grabbing another bottle of beer, and the next, she, August, and Quentin began pointing fingers at each other, suspicions between the three of them at an all time high. None of that mattered in the end, as she and Quentin were chased mercilessly by the daunting figure, knife raised in the air.

She sprinted through one of the hallways, Quentin close behind her. Her eyes darted around desperately, frantic to find a way to escape. Her heart thundered in her chest as she ran. Adrenaline flooded through her body and took control over her. The only thing on her mind was escaping. Nothing else mattered in that moment. Not where her friends were. Not who the fuck was behind the mask.

But her survival.

"Sophie!" came Quentin's panicked shouts from behind her.

Glancing back over her shoulder, her pupils widening as the hairs on her back bristled. The figure had gained terrifying momentum, charging at the teens with brute, full force. Quentin grabbed her hand as he took the lead and yanked her along with him, forcing her to pick up her pace once again.

As she turned her head forward, she spied the living room ahead. More specifically, her sights were set on several empty bottles that littered the coffee table. If she could get her hands on one, at least she'd have a fighting fucking chance against their attacker.

But suddenly, Sophie felt the wind being knocked out of her as she was suddenly tackled from behind. In the blink of an eye, all Sophie could process was her head cracking against the wood floor, a warm trickle of what she suspected to be blood ran down the side of her face as she struggled to get her bearings together.

"Fuck!" Sophie heard Quentin shout, clutching where she'd hit her head, her hand wetting almost instantly, blood dripping through the cracks of her trembling fingers.

The pain-stricken teen peered up to find the intimidating figure looming over her, head titled as they observed her. There was a terrifying calmness to their demeanor, resembling a childlike curiosity that chilled Sophie to the core. She and Quentin were nothing more than toys for this psychopath, playing with them until they got bored and decided to find something new to terrorise.

Quentin jumped over Sophie, throwing himself into the figure. They both crashed into the wall behind them, the sound of glass shattering masking the muffled grunts of both Quentin and the killer as they viciously struggled.

Shaking her head, Sophie forced herself up as she locked her sights on the figure. The throbbing pain in her head was pushed to the back of her mind as she gritted her teeth and charged for the killer, tremors of fear ripping through her mercilessly.

She grabbed their attacker by the nape of their neck and tightened her grip, the veins on her hands pulsating as Sophie fought to free Quentin. But the person beneath the mask acted fast, surprising Sophie with a brutal blow to the nose with a gut-wrenching crack. 

Stumbling backwards, Sophie instictively clutched her nose that throbbed painfully. She could barely blink once and acknowledge her now-broken nose before she caught the figure grabbing a fistful of Quentin's hair with one hand, using the other to wrap around his pale neck with a deathly grip.

"Get the fuck off him!" Sophie spat out with desperation, a thick combination of blood and spit seeping from her mouth. 

The frightening figure slowly turned to look back over at her, titling their head with that same sick, childlike curiosity. Like all of this was just some fucking game.

Before she realised what was happening, Quentin seemed to take advantage of the sudden distraction. He threw his elbow back into the ribs of the cloaked figure, earning a muffled grunt from behind the mask. In a swift, and almost effortless, move, Quentin ducked out from under the killer's arms before quickly tackling them into a bookshelf behind them.