Terrifier: Splatter

12

Climbing over a fence with handcuffs on was harder than it sounds, and it already does sound difficult. She landed on the other side of the fence, and began running. She was right, she was in a backyard shed, which meant she had been stuck in the shed of a random person's house that Art had killed.

Thankfully, she's out of there. Captivity was not fun. For a moment, she wondered what would've happened if she hadn't escaped, Art was likely inside the house thinking up the most violent death for her.

She was now walking around, looking for any source of food. Her stomach had been a pit of emptiness, she hadn't eaten in who knows how long, and knew she couldn't last without a meal. As she wandered, she saw a TV inside of a building playing the news, and almost passed by it until she heard her name being said. She stopped, looking at it. Her face had been plastered on the television screen, along with a 'Missing' tag at the bottom.

Next, they showed a blurry image of Art, and said that the police had been trying to catch him for a while. The reporter notified everyone watching that they believe she got captured by him, after a few neighbors reported seeing him leave her house during a fire five days ago. The reporter goes on to tell people that he is a murderer, and extremely dangerous. "Don't I know it..." she muttered to herself, and walked past the building.

Mallory saw a café sign, and sighed in relief, running over to it.

She went inside, the bell above her that was attached to the door jingling before closing. "Hey, welcome in!" a man that looked around her age spoke in a cheerful tone, wiping the counters with a cloth. There were a few people eating at the tables around the café, already having their meals.

Mallory slowly stepped up to the counters, getting the guy's attention as he walked over to the cash register. Wait... cash. She hadn't thought this through. The food has a price. She seemed to just see a café across the street and think 'Food!' without any idea on how she was going to obtain said food. Her eyes move to his nametag, Danny, before they awkwardly shift back to his face.

"Um... do you... happen to have any free food? I don't have any money and I'm really hungry." She was a little nervous, knowing she was likely to get rejected, then what? She would starve to death on the street... or worse, Art would find her and take her back to wherever that house was and keep her tied to an even stronger desk that she cannot break!

The man stared at her for a moment, unsure of how to respond. He cleared his throat, "No, ma'am. I'm sorry." She was getting ready to leave, when he spoke in a hushed tone, leaning in a bit. "Stay nearby until we close... I can give you any scraps we have."

"Okay." she responded quietly, before taking a step back. "Well, thanks anyway." she sighed, speaking in her normal tone and doing her best to look disappointed as she walked out of the café, going to sit outside of it.

The clock ticked by, and with each hour her stomach growled from the emptiness inside of it. She glanced inside to look at the time, it was almost closing. Since there were no more customers coming in, it looked like they were closing it early, Danny walked over to the door and flipped the sign from 'Open' to 'Closed'.

She got up, and made her way to the back of the café. She barely had any energy, as she had consumed no food to gather it from. Mallory stood near the dumpsters, and after waiting some minutes, the worker came out of the restaurant, holding a clear to-go bag that had bowls in it. The bag and bowls would come out of his paycheck, which to him would cost almost nothing, he didn't want her to starve if he could help it.

"Here you go." he hands her the bag, which she eagerly accepts. "Thank you so much." She couldn't stop the tears that began to form in her eyes, she thought she would die from hunger, but he prevented that.

It was weird, but there, he realized she was the prettiest person he had ever seen. Even with her teary eyes, messy hair, and sickly thin frame. He could tell that she had been through so much, but he would be willing to help her. A small smile formed on his face, he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Of course. Do you need a place to stay? I have-"

She stopped him before he could finish offering. "No, thank you." she said in a gentle tone. This guy is nice, really nice. "It wouldn't be a problem." he stated, but she shook her head.

"It would be... there's someone after me." she responded. He would not want to get involved with this. By now, she knew he would die, whoever got into close contact with her would die. It was hopeless making any friends. He seemed to think about what she said, and she was going to walk away, when he spoke. "My offer still stands."

Her mind split into two. One side wanted her to leave, never go near this guy again, she would only cause trouble in his life. His kindness deserved to be rewarded, not punished. The other side wanted her to do this, accept his offer, stay a while. She had been very observant, if Art was following her, she would've known, but he wasn't. If she went to stay at his house, he would have no idea where she was.

One of the sides fought and won over the other. Danny walked to the front of the café, and went to his car. She started to go after him.