BACK TO HOLLY'S POINT OF VIEW...ONWARDS!
Oh God. Oh God. This wasn't right. What the hell was going on? I was frozen. My body locked in place. Only my eyes, darting from Amber's unconscious form to Jared still leaning in the doorway, were moving. My gaze never lingered on either for too long. I was scared something would happen when I wasn't looking. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to crawl into the tub and make sure Amber would be ok. I stood silently, paralysed with fear.
'Wh-wha-what hap-' I began. My heart was beating so loud; under normal circumstances I would've been embarrassed. My palms were clammy, I felt like a rabbit staring at a fox.
'She'll live don't worry,' He murmured, as though he was informing me of the weather. He absently examined his nails, not even bothering to look at Amber. As soon as his eyes weren't on me I backed away, inch by inch until my calves hit the side of the tub. I risked a quick glance at Amber, not prepared to take Jared's chillingly calm diagnosis. Oh God. Blood. It trickled down her face leaving deep crimson splashes against the white tub. She looked pale, but she was breathing.
'It really was an accident Holly,' Jared met my gaze with a reproachful look, 'You understand that, right?' He muttered, eyebrows pulling together.
I didn't know what to say. He did this? JARED did this? Maybe she'd fallen down the stairs. Maybe he just panicked. No. His calm, detached demeanour never wavered. He wasn't scared; he didn't even seem bothered by Amber's injuries. How long had she been here? What about her parents? I took a deep breath trying to steady myself. He was not right. He was so, so wrong. Disturbed. Nobody was there to help us. Nobody was coming to help us. I tried to keep calm; he wasn't hurting anybody at the moment. I somehow needed to get both Amber and I out unharmed. Oh lord; I'm not the type of person who can come up with ingenious plans. I couldn't do this.
'She was just getting in the way. She was supposed to be going to hospital with her Dad. Then again he was supposed to get more then just a broken arm...' He was mumbling to himself. This made no sense. I chanced another glance at Amber. It looked like the bleeding was slowing a little. Then again, for all I knew it had gotten faster. She needed to get out of here.
'What do you want?' I tried to sound loud and confident. I tried to keep the blind panic and fear that was building inside me out of my voice. I tried not to break down in tears right there. I really tried.
'What do I want?' He repeated, frowning disapprovingly. 'Well I thought it was obvious.' I shook my head at him, and he flashed me that old kind smile. The same one that had captured Amber's interest. Probably the same one she'd seen right before he smashed her on the head and left her to bleed out.
'You,' He answered, blushing slightly. I gaped, open mouthed at him. Me? What about me? Sweat was plastering my fringe to my forehead. I wanted to sweep it out of my eyes, but my hands wouldn't obey me. I'd always laughed at those people in films who froze when faced with some sort of danger. I mean, come on. I know it's supposed to be a reflex but seriously, who does that? You'd run right? I had a feeling I wouldn't be mocking those movies again. They say people in danger instinctively do one of two things. Fight or flight. For me, flight all the way. Problem was, only one way out, and he was blocking it.
'Come on Holly. Really, you have no idea what I'm talking about?' He chuckled, amused at my naivety on his evil plans. I didn't even know real people actually created evil plots, let alone teenage boys with crushes. I was starting to get dizzy. Things weren't adding up. Maybe I'd wake up on Sunday morning. Sweat drenched and shaking, but otherwise ok. Hopefully I'd managed not to wet the bed but, one can only hope.
'Holly, Alex...he's not...he can't...I'm the...' Jared closed his eyes taking deep breaths. His hands curled into fists and a muscle leapt in his jaw. I used this as an opportunity to check how Amber was doing. Still breathing. The bleeding had definitely slowed. The rest of her looked unharmed. At least that was something...
