The same night,Stan's house
Jade's point of view
I clasped a hand on my mouth to stiffle the rising scream.
The blood was dripping from the dead rat which a cat was holding in it's mouth.The head of the rat was bitten off.
The blood on my hand had been dripping from it.
I retched but tried to hold it down,ducking out of the way of the blood.
The doorbell rang.I heard heavy footsteps above me.
I thought about making a run for it while he answered the door but as soon as I came infront of the staircase,the basement door's knob turned.I quickly shrank back and crouched under the dining table,dragging my bag close to me.The door creaked open and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
My heart was pounding so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest any moment.
I breathed deeply and nearly choked when I saw a pair of legs stop infront of me.
They stood still for a minute then moved a few steps away.I shrank back further,praying he won't turn on the lights.
Pictures of the dead students flashed in my mind.I shook my head trying to stop thinking about their badly bruised tortured bodies.
What would he do to me if he found out I was here?
Remembering the dead rat I had just witnessed,the image made the gorge rise inside me.
I put my head between my knees to stop it from it rising.
I didn't hear anything for five minutes and guessed he had gone back up.I crawled forward,pulling my head out for a second,listening intently for any sound.
There was none.With a sigh of relief I grabbed my bag,crawled out from there, scrambled up and turned to my left.I was going to make my escape from the basement window.I noticed it was painted black just like the kids had mentioned.I hoped it was open.
I tried to hike myself up by stepping on a carton when I lost balance and nearly fell down but two strong hands hoisted me back up.
I opened my mouth to scream but a hand clamped on my mouth and I was being pulled back down away from the window.I jerked my head against the strong chest and thrashed around wildly trying to get free from his iron grip.
"Shh! It's me.Calm down."he said.
I whirled around at the voice and found out it wasn't Stan.
It was Jace!
I turned around in his hold and threw my arms around him with force.He staggered back and we fell on the floor with me on top of him.
For a minute I had thought it was Stan.
It had been the scariest and longest minute of my life.
"Shh! It's okay.I'm here now.I'm going to get you out."he said in a soothing voice,while I fought back my tears and sobs.
"Come on we don't have much time.Kate can't keep him out forever."he said slowly pulling me up and leading me to the stairs.I followed him but held his hand tightly as we climbed up the stairs.I was pretty sure my nails were digging deep into his palm but he didn't say anything.
My heart was still pounding in my chest.
He went out first then motioned for me to follow.I saw the front door was slightly ajar.I followed Jace as he opened the same window through which I had entered.
