Stay Away

Chapter 19 - He's Listening

Stephanie woke with a start, wrestling the air bag. She had a small cut on her forhead, but that was it. The windshield however, was completely cracked. In the middle, there was the gunshot hole. Steph turned around and looked into the backseat. The bullet was lodged in the backseat. She turned to face the front windshield   before gasping. There was another hole in the windshield.

And Mark's body had been thrown through it.

Stephanie screamed. She jumped out of the car, taking a close look at Mark's body. He was dead, without a doubt. How did this even happen? She just met the guy, now he was dead. Someone had tried to kill him.

She noticed his suitcase, thrown from the car. She ran over to it, noticing a suspicious bulge in the lining. She ripped it open, to see a tiny chip, taped onto the top. Someone was listening. They bugged his suitcase. They only shot when he was about to say his... my husband's name. Then something struck her.

Wait, they stopped him from saying my husband's name. Why don't they want me to know who he is? Is he behind this? Then she thought back to her hallucination. No, that's not possible. He was so kind. That personality had to come from somewhere.

Her thoughts were cut off my another gunshot. Right next to her. She jumped up, only for another bullet to land in her foot. She fell back down. Someone's trying to kill me now! She thought in a panic. She dragged herself into the woods, under the cover of the trees, or so she thought.

The gunshots returned quickly. She couldn't go any further. She was as good as dead. Then the gunshots stopped. She waited for a second. Then, a cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose. She was caught completely by suprise. She slowly started to fade away, into unconsciousness.

Later...

Steph woke up in a dark room, laying on a cement floor. She ran for the door, but it wouldn't budge. Locked. She thought.

"It's blocked off." Said a voice in the darkness.

Steph jumped back, cornering herself against a pile of rubble as the figure made its way to her. "Stay away!" She yelled.

The man's face came into view. He grabbed her shoulders.

"Stephanie, Stephanie! Shh! It's me! Wait, you can't remember. Calm down!" He yelled.

"Who are you?" She asked, standing up.

"A friend. I just accidentally helped the wrong person. I've been hiding here until he... the one in charge... left." He stood up to meet her face. "You don't remember me, but my name is Chris."