WEIGHT OF THE WORLD ↠ Mazikeen [2]

14 | VULNERABLE

IZZY WANTED TO CRY, but her body wouldn't listen to her. She wanted to scream and kick and fight, but all she could do was sit against the fridge where Klumpsky had dragged her, her body positioned so she could see his next victim tied up to a dining chair, just as helpless as she was. She could move her eyes, but that was about it – everything else was only a dream, and she hated every second of it. She was painfully aware of everything, still able to think, but there was nothing she could do about the panic and horror inside her. She ached to tell the woman tied up in her own kitchen that it was going to be okay, that this wasn't going to be her end, but Klumpsky had made sure that wouldn't be possible.

"I've never had an audience before. How exciting!" Klumpsky thought out loud, standing right in front of Izzy with a calculating gaze. "You would have made a very pretty victim, too. Sadly, I only have flowers for one woman tonight", he tutted, and with a wave of nausea, Izzy yearned for a single punch to send him flying.

This reminded her of Michael all too much – she had been tied up, then, but helpless all the same, left for her captor to toy with. It was a sickening feeling she had never wanted to feel again, yet here she found herself again.

"Izzy?" Struggling an exhale of relief, the sound of Kai's voice brought Izzy indescribable comfort – although terror quickly washed it out, as the man entered the apartment and Klumpsky reached for a knife, circling around the other entrance to the kitchen to make his way behind Kai. And Izzy? Well, she couldn't do a single thing about it.

"Izzy, holy shit", Kai continued when she recognized the woman sitting on the floor, his gun holstered as he crouched down in front of her and cupped her face in both hands. Izzy's head rolled side to side in his grasp, and the man frowned at the hopeless state of his friend. "I'd ask if you're okay but something tells me you can't really confirm or deny right now, huh?" he added before giving her a smile. "It'll be okay, I gotchu, alright?"

Izzy's eyes moved over Kai's shoulder to see Klumpsky approaching with the knife, ready to stab, and she tried her very best to get Kai's attention by flicking her gaze back and forth, but it was no use. Just as he was about to meet his untimely demise, though, a gunshot rang through the apartment and Kai jumped, turning around to find the killer falling down on the floor and Chloe standing in the doorway. A surge of relief kicked Izzy in the stomach, even more so when Chloe proceeded to handcuff the killer, and turning to her once more, Kai sighed.

"See? I told you it'd be okay", he grinned, briefly caressing her red hair before getting up and helping Chloe get Klumpsky off of the floor.