Abigail

---10---

It's hard to describe how one feels when there's a knife pressed to their throat, its one of those things you have to go through to understand. So I suppose most people would rather not know, but now I know.

The cold stone of the house behind me, reminded me that I was still alive, I was still feeling things. The cold air raised goosebumps on my skin, a reminder that my blood was still warm. The sharp, cold metal of the knife that pressed itself into my neck, reminded me of the fact, that no matter how alive I seemed, it would soon all be over for me.

I have imagined my death many times before, and I always thought that it would be terrifying, particularly if it was at the hand of another, but the man that had a firm grip on my arm, and double edged blade to my neck didn't scare me anymore. I suppose I didn't believe it quite yet, the fear had settled and these last few minutes were taking so long to pass that I had enough time to recount every memory of my life.

He pushed the knife a little deeper, I watched the man as his eyes calculated how deep to slit, like I was meat on the butchers table. The fear started to shift now, rising up from the depths of my bones where it had begun to settle in the remaining minutes. It flooded through my veins, strangling my blood and making its way to my heart, it fulled every ounce of me. The man had a smile on his face, it was menacing, it was evil, and it was the last face I was ever going to see. I felt the tears slip down my cheeks now, he wiggled the knife, settling it into my skin for the final time.

"Abigail?" A voice called, it was far away, but it would be too much of a coincidence for them to be calling for me, the man noticed, his attention leaving me, but his eyes, and his knife still very much on  me. The silence settled over White Chapel, and I unfortunately gained all his attention again, I felt a sharp twitch, the knife cutting me ever so slightly, like a scratch.

"Abigail?" The voice called again, it was louder and closer this time. The man turned to look in the direction of the voice, he looked a little nervous now, the knife relived some of its pressure. My breathing got shallower and then, I screamed. The man looked at me, eyes wide.

"Abigail?"  Footsteps followed, the person was closer than I thought, their figure appeared at the top of the alleyway. He paused before walking forward a little, igniting a fear in the man who had a knife at my throat, he pulled away quickly, fear in his eyes as he disappeared into the darkness.

I slipped down the wall, shaking in relief that I was in fact not going to die tonight.

My saving grace walked towards me, kneeling down.

"Abigail?" The voice was soft and deep, I looked up at them, the darkness hid the detail, but I knew who it was.

Mr Ridley was knelt in front of me, I don't know how he got here, why he had come to White Chapel in the middle of the night, my life was saved by the kind of coincidence that only exists in teen movies. His hand reached out for mine, helping me to stand.

"You saved me, he was going to -" I said quietly, running my fingers over the skin on my neck.

"You're okay now. " He said, taking my hand and leading me out of the alley. I held onto him tightly, but just until I knew I was safe. We walked in silence for a while, until we came across a horse tied up to a railing. He dropped my hand and started to untie the reins, he looked at me.

"Why did you come here?" He asked, he didn't sound cross, or grumpy, he just sounded curious.

"I wanted to make sure she got back safely." He nodded, looking at me.

"You may have to rip your dress a little, we both have to straddle this horse, and you can't do that in a night gown. He looked down at me, his eyes trailed over the thin material before looking away and staring off into the distance. I picked up the hem of my night gown and tugged, it ripped and I tore the fabric, stopping when the rip reached my thigh, strands of material fell in wisps, tickling my leg.