Sagesse ☾ Derek Hale {2}

twenty one; bathroom pit stops

"Oh, uh-sorry," I bend down to grab the envelope from the floor, but Matt beats me to it. I hesitate before taking it from his hands. I feel his clammy skin rub against mine as I quickly pull my hand away and back down to my side. "I didn't see you there."

"We always seem to be bumping into each other," He laughs lightly and adjusts the camera strap around his neck nervously. I force a smile and nod my head silently before moving to continue down the hallway. I tense when I feel his hand grip my arm, harder than one would expect. I look down at his hand and he quickly removes it, "I was just uh, wondering if maybe, we could hang out sometime?"

I feel my heart rate race slightly at his words. Turning somebody down has never been an issue for me before, yet something about this made my nerves increase quickly.

I let a sigh and look down at the tan envelope in my hands distractedly, "Listen, Matt, you seem like a great guy and all, but I'm really not looking for anything-"

I jump when he takes a quite large and fast step towards me, "No, of course. I meant as friends, you know? Just hanging out. Whenever you're free. Anytime."

I watch his hands nervously fold in front of him and try to not let his persistence throw me off.

Friends? Really?

I just let out a slow nod and take a step away, "Yeah, of course. Totally. I'll let you know when I can."

His eyes light up at my words and unfortunately he meets my step away, with a step closer of his own, "That sounds great. Seriously, I'm free whenever. Just let me know."

Again, I take a step away and let a forced smile fall across my face. I turn away quickly and speed walk down the hallway, trying to reach the front office as quickly as possible.

I keep walking until I push through the door to the office and make my way to the front desk. The first thing I notice is a woman, wearing a way too bright pantsuit, smiling in my direction. I ignore the way her outfit forces my eyes to squint slightly and walk towards her.

"Uh, this is something from Mr. Harris." I explain handing over the envelope and I see her shiny pink painted fingers wrap around it.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart. Have a wonderful day!" My eyes widen at her high-pitched and cheery voice before nodding quickly and leaving the office.

How people can be so cheery is mind blowing to me. It must be exhausting.

I stop walking down the empty hallway when I pass the bathroom before deciding to make a quick pit stop there.

I can't be expected to save lives with a full bladder.

I smile when I see all three stales are empty and pick the nearest one before doing my business. I quickly stand and flush the toilet before walking over to the sink. While rinsing my hands under the warm water, I tense when the sound of a stall door behind me slowly creeks open. I reach out and turn the water off quickly and grab a paper towel to dry off my hands.

I turn slowly and wait for somebody to walk out from the stall, but no one ever comes. I slowly walk forward to the door that opened and push it the rest of the way with my breathe held tight in my chest.

I let out a relieved sigh when I see nothing but an empty stall.

"Okay Abby, you're starting to go crazy," I mumble to myself as I laugh lightly and turn back to toss my paper towel into the trash can near me. I grasp the bathroom door handle to leave, but my hand automatically jerks back when I feel some type of liquid covering it.

My heart drops into my stomach when I see a familiar clear goo coating my fingers. I take a step back as I realize what could possibly be in the room with me in this minute. Ignoring the panic inside me, I jump forward and yank the door open, but it refuses to budge.

No.

I continue to pull the door with all my might, but it doesn't move an inch. I take yet another step back, but when I feel a light breath brush against the back of my neck a sound of fear leaves my lips.

Before I can even think, I feel a sharp pain erupt across my arm as claws dig into my skin and yanks my body back. I fall to the hard bathroom floor and wince as my wrist begins to burn after catching myself.

I look up, but see nothing in front of me. I back away until my back hits the wall and I continue to watch every inch of the bathroom, but again my eyes catch nothing out of the ordinary.

I look down and see the deep gashed on my arm starting to close before my eyes

What the hell is happening?

I move my hand to the floor next to me to push myself up, but when I hear a faint, but familiar whisper, I completely freeze.

'J 37'