in the night | the weeknd

seventeen

1 week later

Jasmine

The fire starts to grow around me as I look around hastily, trying to find an exit.

An evil laugh starts to fill my ears. "There's nowhere for you to run to, bitch," Jamal snarls from behind me. "You're dying."

I shake my head violently, starting to cry. I can feel my chest becoming clogged from the fumes of the smoke, causing me to start gasping for air.

"Jasmine!" I hear Abel shout from the doorway.

"Abel!" I cry out in a strangled voice.

Abel comes into view and he holds out his hand. I try to grab it but I can't reach him.

Just when I'm about to grab his hand, I feel myself being pulled back. I try to kick and punch at Jamal, but he holds me firmly in his grip. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?" he screams into my ear as I continue to punch and kick at him - it's completely useless.

"Abel!" I scream. There's no response. "Abel!" He's not there anymore - I'm by myself.

"Shut the fuck up!" a voice that doesn't sound like Jamal snarls into my ear.

I twist my head to see who it is. My eyes widen when I see that it's Dre and I manage to free myself from his grasp. His face is twisted into a scowl and he stares at me with evil eyes. "You're going to pay for what you did to me, Laura!" Dre snaps.

My eyes widen when I notice the knife he's holding in his hand. Dre twists it and a cold smirk spreads across his lips as he starts to walk towards me.

I take a step back. "No," I whisper, almost choking. I start sobbing; knowing what's coming.

By now, the fire has grown and there's no way I'm escaping this - escaping him. There's nowhere to run or hide.

All of a sudden, I feel the knife plunge into my stomach.

I jolt up from sleep, dripping in sweat. That fire felt so real - I can still feel my skin burning from how hot it was.

"Jasmine?" Abel says from beside me in a panicked tone. I turn to look at him, realising that he's sitting up, just staring at me with worried eyes. "What's wrong?"

I burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Abel immediately wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer to his body. "It felt so real," I cry into his chest, causing his t-shirt to start to dampen. "H-he was th-there and he was . . . H-he was going t-to . . ." My chest starts to close and I start gasping for air.

Abel cradles my face. "Jasmine!" he shouts. "Jasmine, calm down!  Focus on my breathing, okay? Do exactly what I do." He starts breathing in and out slowly and I mimic his actions, starting to feel my chest open up again.

When my breathing is gone back to normal, I lie back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "It felt so real," I murmur to myself.

Abel wipes away the tears that I didn't even notice fell down my face. "But it's not," he tells me softly, stroking my cheek. "That bastard is gone. He can't do anything to you."