trees // phan

bear (26)

phil braced himself for impact.
the man swung his fist and-
BING
-his meaty hand paused a centimetre before phil's nose.
someone had texted phil, and he hoped beyond hope that it wasn't something that would give him away.
the man snatched phil's phone out from his jacket and read it out loud:
"'i've found dan but we need the key'" the man's eyes glinted.
"you just thought this was an empty house, eh?" another man said, darkly.
as phil's eyes adjusted to the bright light, he looked closely at the group of men.
they were all wearing hoodies and he was sure he'd seen them before.
then he remembered:
standing on the outskirts was a group of men wearing hoodies, watching.
just watching.
they had their hoods drawn up and there was a black van behind them.
"you-you were there," phil's voice shook, "when dan jumped from that bridge-you were there"
the men chuckled amongst themselves.
"so," the man in front of phil said, "you want the key?"
out of his hoodie pocket, he pulled out several keys, joined together on one key ring.
"well sunshine," he sneered, "you won't ever get them, just like you won't ever save little daniel"
rage boiled inside phil and he screamed.
he screamed as loud as he could.
he screamed to release the fear and the pain he had felt since he had seen dan's bruised and bleeding face for the first time.
the man loosened his grip on the keys, shocked, and phil leapt up and grabbed them from his hand.
the men were rooted to the ground with evident surprise and phil took this chance to seize a chair and run from the room.
he pulled the door shut and was fumbling with the keys when he heard a yell from inside.
he had to hurry up.
he threw the chair under the door handle hastily and tried one key in the lock; it didn't fit.
the handle was jerking up and down and there was shouts and bangs on the other side.
he tried another and another until finally the key he slotted in turned and the door was locked.
the men were locked in.
and phil, though bruised, had the key.