Shadows of the Night

Nine

Nathan

As I grow closer to the man with Sabrina, she suddenly falls limp in his arms. Just as he cradles her, I get to them on time, hollering, "Put her down! Now!"

The man freezes when he sees me and then dashes for the opposite direction.

"Fuck!" I mutter under my breath and chase after him.

I catch him by the back of his hoodie and tug hard, causing him to fall backward with Sabrina on top of him. She lays completely limp on top, unconscious. The man removes her off of him and begins swinging punches.

I dodge the first two and block the third with my forearm, then pull his arm over my shoulder, throwing his body hard onto the ground. He groans out loud and attempts to roll onto his side.

I stand over him, stopping him from moving and quickly grip the collar of his hoodie. I punch his face over and over again, releasing the fury of watching him almost kidnap her. The memory plays on repeat in my mind, causing me to keep punching viciously. Blood begins to drench his face until every facial bone is shattered, making his face unrecognizable. He hangs his head back as his body grows weaker.

Finally, I stop and growl, "Who sent you? Was it Keith?" I wait for his response, staring at his destroyed bloody face. His nose is practically gone and his cheeks are swelled up like large, purple balloons.

He turns his head to spit out blood, then spits out a couple of teeth. He can barely hold his head up anymore.

"Answer me!" I hold my fist by the side of my face, clenching my teeth together as my blood boils.

Finally, he nods weakly.

I exhale through my nose as the anger builds up all over again. I glance over at Sabrina, who lays limp on her back. I return my gaze to his, lowering my arm back down to my side. "Well, it's your lucky day. For your honesty, I won't kill you." I glance around the people watching in the distance. "Not with everyone watching at least. But if you ever touch her again . . . I will kill you." I release him, dropping his body back down to the ground.

I walk over to Sabrina quickly and drop to my knees. I turn her face toward me and examine her for a moment. Then I cradle her into my arms and walk her back to my car.

I'm gonna kill him.

. . .

Sabrina

I wake up with a foggy headache and a bitter taste in my mouth. Once I come to my senses, I notice I'm in Nathan's bedroom. It's dark out. I check the clock on the night stand, 9:32 pm.

Sitting up slowly, I try to recall how I got here. The last thing I remember was going for a jog this morning . . . I don't remember anything else. How did I get here? And why does my head hurt? Did I somehow manage to get blackout drunk? I wouldn't drink that early. Have I been asleep all day? I have so many questions.

Nathan steps into the room and is surprised to see I'm awake. He smiles as he walks toward me, holding a glass of water. "You're awake. I was just about to leave this on the nightstand for you." He gestures toward the water and hands it to me.

I take it slowly, still trying to remember what had all happened today.

"You probably need this." With his other hand, he hands me two large white pills. "It's Asprin. For the headache."

I take the pills and study them for a moment. Finally, I ask, "How did I end up back here? What happened?" I take the pills one at a time, following it with a swig of water.

He sighs, sliding his hands into the pockets of his gray sweatpants. "Keith hired someone to abduct you."

My eyes widen at him. Suddenly, I'm starting to remember a man grabbing me from behind with a rag to my face. After that, it was lights out.