Forever yours

Chapter 17 - Thomas

An angry, frustrated groan echoed through the police station, followed by loud crashing noises from random flying objects. The skeleton ghost marched in angry steps towards the holding room where he found two empty cells. One of which Thomas knew was standing open in an almost mocking way.

"No!" The words vibrated through the empty police station. "Where is she?!" The skeleton ghost yelled, clearly not giving a care of how loud he was being.

Was he so certain about his play that he didn't care about being found out? Somehow that made Thomas' nerves prickle even more.

He was trying not to move in his hiding place behind one of the desks, but his fear was not working along with that plan. His hands were trembling and his heart was racing, making him feel uncomfortable and jumpy. So, keeping still was getting harder by the minute. He pulled his knees against his chest and tried to breath through his nose and mouth, the way his father taught him during their self defence lessons.

On the other hand, his blood was boiling to dangerous temperatures. The man he had been hating for the past month was standing right there. Right there! What was he waiting for?

He didn't know, something kept him from taking action. Maybe it was the fear, although he wasn't sure it was. That fear only seemed to spike the adrenaline that coursed through his veins.

Another series of objects smacking against the ground made Thomas shriek in surprise. Just in time, he covered his mouth, but nonetheless he made a muffled sound.

The skeleton ghost went quiet. Thomas realised he was suddenly standing much closer to him than before. Only one desk stood between him and that hellish character. For a single moment he contemplated running away, saving himself from probable doom. That moment lasted only so long as it took his mind to form an image of Esmeralda laying dead on their floor, in a puddle of her own blood.

Thomas jumped from behind his desk and grabbed the first object he could find there. When he realised that he couldn't do anything useful with a stapler in a fight, he simply threw it to his opponent's head.

Still in surprise, the masked man reacted too slowly and got hit by it. The skeleton ghost rubbed his shoulder, to then look up at Thomas. Unfortunately, Thomas didn't seem to be the best thrower in stressful situations.

The black holes in the mask sent chills through Thomas. Everything about this man kept throwing him back into the past, to that one moment that changed his life so completely. Seeing this figure from his nightmares standing in front of him, caused him to feel everything once again. His chest seemed to cave in, his mind came to a halt as the faded image of that day became clearer once more. He remembered details that he hadn't before. His breath hitched.

The skeleton ghost slid over the now clean desk and with angry steps he walked over to where Thomas was standing. His fist already preparing to strike.

The closing danger was like a cold bucket of water poured over Thomas' head, his mind cleared from emotions and his attention funnelled in on his opponent. His head felt more clear than it had in weeks.

This wasn't the first time he experienced this kind of inner calmness. He used to get it during training sessions with his father after school. It was his dad that taught him that in a fight, there could only be one thing on your mind: the fight. Everything else was background noise that distracted you from your goal. All his feelings of anger and pain and revenge didn't matter anymore. It was simply about winning this fight and getting out of there safely.

The masked man attacked with a right cross going in the direction of Thomas's jaw. Without heaving his hands in a defensive position, he took a step backwards. Once the masked man's fist passed his face, he took a step forwards and hit his opponents open flank. The man stumbled backwards because of the force behind the punch.