Raven's Song

Nightmare Night

I didn't see anyone as I sprayed the bottle as quickly as I could. I stepped forward to be closer to the door. I didn't step in front of the door. Hugging the wall, I looked in the mirror to see where the man was. He wasn't right in front of the door or to the side as far as I could see. The toppled dresser lay on the floor with light spilling into the room from the hall.

I didn't move. The man had to have been breathing hard after breaking through two barricaded doors, but I heard nothing except my pounding heart. Taking a slow, deep breath, I stepped forward. I switched to a new bottle, keeping my eye on the door, and stepped into the room.

It was empty.

I was all too aware that my phone was still in my pocket with Tylor on the line. I should have pulled it out to tell him I was okay, but I didn't want to risk being caught off guard.

I looked in the closet and under the bed, keeping an eye on the door, before I turned toward the door. I didn't want to step out there. It was more space to defend, and my squirt bottle wasn't going to do a hell of a lot against someone without the window of surprise.

There wasn't anything immediately visible that I could use as a weapon. I would have to stay with my bottle.

I stepped forward to the knocked-over dresser. Standing it back up wouldn't do anything. I couldn't reclose the door without making too much noise. Then they'd be tipped off and I'd be unable to defend myself.

I looked through the door from the right side and saw nothing but an empty hallway. I slowly moved to the right side. I held my breath as I peered around the corner. Right into the man's eyes.

I screamed as he lurched over the dresser and knocked me to the ground. The spray bottle flew under the bed. The man pushed a gun against my forehead, cocking the trigger. I didn't dare move.

His chest heaved as he stared down at me. "You're scrappier than you seem."

"There are people who know where I am," I spat out. "On their way right now."

"Really?" the man asked with a smirk. "I think your boyfriend should have been here by now."

"My dad knows. My friends."

"Don't kid yourself, girl," he said with a cruel laugh. "You're going to wish you hadn't lied to them."

"No, don't–"

Pain filled my head as his fist connected. With the second hit, everything went black.

x.x.x

My mouth tasted like metal. My head pounded. I groaned as I forced my eyes open. I sat on a cold concrete floor. My hands cuffed behind my back. There was nothing in the room but a single, bare lightbulb above me.

No one was in the room, but I could hear voices in the hallway. Shouting. My eyes drifted shut before I forced them open again. Maybe I shouldn't fight against sleep. It was probably nicer than whatever was going to happen.

But I wanted to be able to say what happened. I wanted to be able to get whoever had taken me.

I shifted on the floor more to get comfortable than anything. I wasn't going to be able to get free. I knew that.

Maybe it was all just karma. If I hadn't lied to my dad about the woods in the first place, I probably wouldn't have been in the situation I was in. He could have found the people who did it and it would have been over. I never would have befriended Tylor. I never would have ended up at the cabin.