Deeper Down

Chapter 1: Among Strangers

Bang! Bang!

My breath got caught in my throat choking back a shriek. I felt something sink into the left of my chest then another through the right of my stomach. A ringing sound filled my ears. I heard screams--- a struggling then more gun shots. I heard someone call my name.

"Hazel!"

I felt my head hit something hard when I fell. I couldn't move. The pain's so excruciating.

Am I going to die? Am I going to miss my wedding and not be able to call Henry Wales, my boyfriend for two years, 'husband'? Am I going to miss the opportunity to become a model in Ms. Phintz's agency? Will my family and friends miss me? Will I go to hell for what I have done?

I still have so many questions popping up in my head. But I know answers will never come.

Everything got screwed up just when I felt that I'm finally close to fulfilling my dreams. Wait. When was I ever close to it? There are many missing pieces. Every time I find some and try putting it together, it never matches. Nothing matches. Nothing matches because they were never mine in the first place.

My vision blurred. No! I need to stay awake! Stay awake! I need to find someone...someone who will take away this hollow pure darkness engulfing me.

Please... someone... Save me... I beg of you, save me!

                                                                                               ***

A young woman whimpered in the darkness of a room filled with sketches of men, women and children varying in ages. Her face was streaked with sweat. The agony painted on her face matched the expressions of the horror stricken drawings that seemed to have died violently. She gasped for air, tilting her head with her eyes wide open. The vision she saw didn't bode well like the ones she saw before it. Someone's going to die again from the hands of an unforgiving man. Her current vision made it very difficult for her to breathe. She shrieked as tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked in horror as the spilled ink spread to the picture she drew before she dozed off on her work table. The ink made a macabre image, making the woman on the picture looked like she was tinting the floor with her blood. She moved away from it dizzy and nauseous. She heard faint sounds leading towards her.

"Faye? Are you up---Shit!"

Hands quickly reached for her before she fell hard on the floor. She looked up at him weakly as he patted her face to keep her conscious.

"Grant... Something bad is going to happen her... something bad is going to happen.... We need to make sure—safe...!" her voice trailed off and was replaced with a scream.

She felt a sudden pain, like a link inside her was being pulled forcefully until it snaps. She kept on retching until finally throwing up something. 

Grant came to the aid of his wife, rubbing the woman's back gently. He went downstairs towards the kitchen to get her a glass of water.