I Knew You Once

Chapter 5

I am dreaming. It is the day Mason and I took that photo on Mason's phone. We are eating ice cream.

"You're so beautiful." He pulls my chin to face me towards him.

"Why thank you, you're not too bad your self." I lean in for a kiss. So does Mason. As he gets closer, I shove my ice cream in his face. "Oops!" I smile and stick out my tongue. I start to laugh.

"I'm gonna get you." Mason starts to chase me.

I keep running and running. Mason runs faster and faster. He catches up to me and grabs me by the waist.

We fall to the ground. "Please, spare me!" I joke around.

"Not a chance." He looks into my eyes.

I look into his eyes back. "What's my punishment?"

"I want a real kiss from the most beautiful girl in the world." We are on the ground and he is holding me in his arms. I feel so happy, loved.

"Well, that's kind of hard to do. But I'll try." I come close for a kiss.

Mason smashes his ice cream in my face. He still kisses me. "Yum, tasty. So sweet." He starts to smile.

I push his shoulder and get up from the ground. "My butt hurts."

"It's pretty stylish too." He looks at my butt. "I like it." Mason starts to laugh.

"Shut up! And what are you talking about?" I look at my jeans, there's mud all over it.

Mason starts to laugh. "Let's get you home and wash up."

Mason drives me to my house. "I call the shower first!" I run upstairs to the bathroom.

"Oh no you don't." We both run into the bathroom.

I turn on the water and Mason grabs my waist. We both fall into the bath tub. The water runs and gets Mason's shirt wet.

"You know I can't." I see the look in Mason's eyes.

"I know. No matter how much I want to, I respect that. But one day we will." Mason kisses my forehead.

The water turns cold, I'm freezing, and I can't breathe. I wake up. Bryan poured water on my face. I gasp for air.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?" I see Bryan.

"I loved you." Bryan's voice is raspy, his eyes are red and low, and he looks drunk. He is holding a bottle of liquor and he's swaying side to side.

"Love me? You don't even know me!" I screamed at Bryan with anger.

"You don't need to know someone to love them, Julia."

"Who are those girls?" I change the subject.

"The ones I used to love. They didn't love me back though."

"Not every girl can love you!"

"No! But you can! You can love me if you just let me show you how..."

"I will never love you!" I spit on him.

He slaps me with the back of his hand. "Don't do that to me. You ought to respect me if you want to live any longer."

Out of breath and changing the subject again. "What do the dates mean?"

"It is the day I stop hurting and find a new person to love."

"Why did you pick me?"

"You're so beautiful and so gentle." He takes a sip of the liquor. "I really thought we'd have a chance."

"Why were there red marks on the photos?"

"It means their gone, I've taken care of them. I've got a picture of you too you know." He drinks the liquor and starts to sway. "I see you at school and I take pictures of your pretty face." He pulls a photo out of his pocket. "I picked this one, it's the most beautiful one."

I ignore the picture. "Please tell me what happens to the girls on their date."

"They die." He finishes the bottle and throws it on the floor. I hear the bottle hitting the floor, it shatters into millions of pieces.

A tear drops from my eye. All I can think about is Mason. I'm so sorry. Bryan opens a closet door. In the closet are hundreds of bags hanging on a wall.

"What's in the bag, what are those?"

"Once they're gone I will always remember them." Bryan comes to me with a knife, he grabs my hair. "I'd like to keep a lock of your hair so I can remember your pretty face." He brings the knife up to my hair.

I start to look around. It's a basement! I'm in a basement! There's always a window in a basement. I remember. Back at the motel, I took Mason's pocket knife when I hugged him. It was for protection from Bryan. My hands and feet are tied to the chair I'm sitting on. I can cut the rope!

"Wait!" He pulls away from my hair. "My date is for tomorrow, it's only 11:58."

"Clever, you saved your self some time. Well, a little." Bryan sits down and puts his head in his lap.

The remaining two minutes gave me time to get the pocket knife out of my pocket. I cut the rope tied around my hands.

"Times up!" He comes to me with the knife. He grabs my hair. I throw my hand up and stab him in the shoulder. Bryan falls back and drops his knife.

I grab the knife, find the window, and broke it with the handle. I try to squeeze through. Bryan holds a grip on my leg and pulls me from the window.

"Come here!" Bryan yells and keeps dragging me.

"Let go of me! You're crazy!" I slice his face with the knife and kick him off of me. I climb out of the window and run outside. I see Sophia.

"Come here." Sophia calls me over. Should I go? "Hurry!" I walk over slowly. "Come on!" I run to her.

"Thank you for helping me."

"No small talk, we gotta go."

She was right, I was slowing her down. We run and keep running. Sophia leads me into the woods. I can't see anything. "Where are we going? Where are you taking me?"

"Don't worry, you'll see, you'll be safe." She hands me a flashlight. "Here, go in front of me. You'll be safer this way." She turns on the flashlight for me. "Keep going straight, don't stop running." I look at her and pause. "Go." She points the direction.

I start to run as fast as I can. Then,I hear a gunshot. I stop running. I can't move. I can't think. My mind is blank. All my surroundings start to blurr and a single hot tear slips from my eye.