Holding My Breath [Wattys 2016]

2 1 ~ A n n a

                 

Flashback ~ December 29, 2010

My second encounter with the man comes about five minutes later. None of the officers notice me. Everything is outside of my reach while I wait for the sun to rise on this long night. Nobody in the world knows where I am.

Except him.

The only noise in the dark comes from the crime scene across the street. Radios and quiet, muffled words drift through the winter air as the scene calms down. New cop cars come. Other ones leave.

I don't move when it happens.

I don't speak.

Ring.

I had been in a state of calm. My heart had begun to slow down, and I had been able to breathe again. I had ignored my injuries and just sat there, watching.

Ring.

A single tear rolls down my cheek. I wipe it away and looked at the pay phone next to the bench. The shrill sound pauses for a moment, but catches me off guard once more as it screams back at me.

Ring.

I take a shaky breath. I thought that pay phone was broken, but now it was--

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

I stand up, moving towards the noise. If it doesn't stop soon, the cops are going to look over. They are going to notice me, the girl with blood on her face next to the scene of the murder.

Pay phones aren't supposed to ring, are they? That's not what they do. You use it to call people but they don't call you.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

I let out a dry sob, covering my mouth with my hand and squeezing my eyes shut. I don't know why, but I guess, somewhere inside me, I know it is him.

I pick up the phone before it can ring again. Slowly, I bring it up to my ear, my arm shaking.

"H...hell...hello?"

Then I can feel my heart stop at the voice on the other end of the line, the owner of the soft, even breathing I had heard as soon as I began listening. The same deep voice that spoken so loudly with such little words.

"Anna, I believe?" I open my eyes and look around me. Where is he? How does he know I'm here?

No. This can't be happening. It can't. It's not possible.

That man couldn't possibly know my name.

No.

"Ah, I thought so." His low voice pauses. "My name is Caesar. And I believe you took my money."