Simpler Things

Part 25: Scene.

Fear pinched inside of my stomach. He's doing this to her because of me. Thinking just made it worse. I stayed still as he back away, and started walking towards where he entered. I could see the knife he had no longer shined, but had a glossy sheen. I felt a scream inside my head as I realized it was blood. He was almost out of my vision, as I leaned against the wall. A slight crack of sound slipped through the old building. He stopped.
My heart stopped, and I held my breath. Please keep walking. Old buildings make sounds like that. Keep walking. He stood there silently. Adrenaline now replaced with icy fear. I wanted to run. I wanted to get away. I want-
A low rumbling voice broke my thoughts.
"Alyson?" I could almost hear my heart beating in the silent air. Still, I didn't breath.
             My eyes began to water, the little vision I had blurred. I felt warm tears slide down my cheeks. No. No, no, no, no. Please... please...
I heard a step, and another, coming towards my hiding spot. Eventually he was so close, I could hear him breath. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I couldn't even breathe. I needed to run, I needed to escape. Without thinking, I pushed the shelf. My back slammed against the old wall, but I kept pushing. The shelf fell. The man, who I assumed to be Dave Bradley, jumped to the side. I didn't look back to see if it caught him. I ran to the door, faster than I thought my shaking legs could carry me. I was almost at the door when I felt a pair of hands grab me and yank me back. I tried to scream, but one of his hands quickly slid to my mouth. I jumped and kicked, but he tightened his grasp. Before I knew it, he threw me to the ground. In seconds my head kicked back, and unconsciousness slowly claimed me.

            I woke to the same raspy voice, it still invoked fear.
"I hope you know why I'm doing this."
I rolled my head back and opened my eyes. I was tied to a post, about 6 feet from a girl with cuts and bruises all over her face. I recognized that it was Megan. My stomach clenched when I saw that one of her cuts was brand new, a trace of blood streamed down her face.
              I looked at the man, which now sat on an upside down bucket. His elbows on his knees, the same look as my father had when he sat on my porch, waiting for me. The memory felt as though it was from a time before all this, a time long ago.
"You know your father arrested me, I'm sure." He seemed eerily normal sounding. I felt my eyebrows come closer together as I nodded.
"He put me in jail, with a life time sentence," slowly his tone became more  rough and erratic, "extreme domestic violence. They thought I killed my wife." I let the information sink in, and watched how he reacted. His voice began to waver, his hands shot up to his face and rubbed his eyes. He stifled a sob. His vision soon snapped back to me.
"They don't know who really killed her, but I do. I told them, but they didn't believe me," he smiled, his eyes becoming more wild by the second. He continued, "It was your father, Alyson. Detective Winchester," He grabbed a cloth from his pocket and tied around my jaw. He wrapped my mouth, to act like a gag, silencing someone who was already silent. He got up and turned away, he didn't move for a couple seconds, before he spoke again, keeping his eyes averted, "like the gun." It came out low, each word rumbled lower and lower sending a shiver down my spine.
            I wanted to scream but all that came out was a mumble. I felt the pressure in my chest build as I reached down my back, arching my back to get closer the gun. Like the gun, he had said. He was going to kill us. He was going to kill Megan. I had to do something, he wa-
         Suddenly, steps sounded, breaking my train of thought, my vision snapped back to the entrance of the stair case. Dave walked in holding something in the back of his hand.
"I didn't do it." His voice was higher, like before. "My wife and I had just had a child, she was defenceless. I would never had sacrificed what I had." I felt pity drip into my other emotions, but pushed it back. "I haven't seen her since, and you I never thought I would."
"What do you mean?" I tried to say, though the sound was muffled. He understood and looked over at Megan.
"I didn't want to hurt her, but I had to." His voice broke, and in the little light, I could see him clenching his jaw. "She means more than anything to me, but your father took her away." His locked his eyes on me now. Anger filled his expression. He looked menacing. I felt down my back, straining my arm to reach in the waist of my jeans. I felt my fingertips graze the handle. I was so close. I bit at the gag, trying to get it off, he watched me struggle.
"That's why you did all this?" I tried to shout, "for revenge?"
"He took my entire life away. I couldn't torture him, but I could torment you." He spat at me. My fingers were so close, I could almost grab the gun. Flashlight berms shown through the door, making Dave jump. I saw Megan stir, as her eyes fluttered open. A new wave of adrenaline washed over me.
"Its too late." He mumbled, grabbing his gun and cocking it. I pulled down on my confinements, ignoring the pain and grasped the handle, pulling it out of my waist band. The door swung open. Dave began to fire at the empty door frame, before looking back at me, I could see the fear in his eyes. I twisted my body so my hands were congruent with him, time slowed down as I aimed and pulled the trigger. A loud bang silenced the heavy air, as the body of Dave Bradley hit the ground.