The World As We Know It

Chapter Nine

I felt him before I heard him. A dark presence had entered my small apartment, and it lingered silently in my kitchen. Cosmo noticed it, too, and his hackles started to rise. I took a hold of his collar. It he attacked this intruder, he would die. The presence continued to linger in the kitchen, waiting patiently for the opportune moment to strike. He believed that he had the element of surprise, and I would let him continue to think that. My hand brushed against my small machete hidden between the cushion and arm of the couch. I would only have one chance to take him out, and I had to make it count.

I heard him step into the dining room through the pounding of my heart. It was loud enough that I feared he would hear it and would realize that I knew he was there. He took another step, moving towards me. Now his steps ended, most likely on the carpeted floor of the living room. I slowly counted to ten. At ten, Cosmo tensed and I wrapped my hand around the machete. I could hear him behind me now. He paused for a moment, most likely to ready a weapon. It was in that same moment I jumped up and swung my weapon in an arc towards him. A male voice cursed and my intruder stumbled back. From the light of the TV, I saw that he was a pale man around my age brandishing a gun equipped with a silencer. A thin line of blood bubbled near his electric violet eyes. Enraged, he backhanded me and sent me sprawling to the floor. Cosmo, in a surprising amount of strength, threw himself off the back of the couch and latched onto the guy's arm. The two fell to the ground in a fury of teeth, fur, and blood. For a moment, I thought Cosmo had won, but a sharp crack and a yelp said otherwise. Scrambling to my feet, I saw Cosmo slide into a wall, unmoving. Shrieking, I saw red and threw myself at the injured man, slashing aimlessly at him. He grunted under my assault, bleeding from a few deep wounds on his arms and shoulder. More agitated than fearful, he grabbed my wrist as I slashed his shoulder and squeezed. I tried to fight against it, but eventually my hand open and I dropped the machete. That only angered me more, and I scratched at his eyes with my free hand. I was backhanded again, and my vision blackened for just a second. Dazed, I lost my chance to free myself, and was lifted up by my wrist as my intruder rose. Cosmo had done a number to his arm. His dress shirt sleeve was shredded, as was the skin beneath it. His shoulder were bleeding from jagged cuts left by my machete. His short white hair was matted with blood from a cut above his ear. Yet, he seems unfazed by his wounds.

"You're a damn cunt, you know that?" he spat, grabbing a fistful of hair.

I simply glowered at him.

"I was going to give you an easy death, but fuck it."

He dragged me into the kitchen and kicked open my back door. I was thrown against the railing of the porch where I crumpled. My check throbbed from where he had hit me, but my terror outweighed my pain. The guy produced a study-looking rope from his belt that he fashioned into a noose. He tied it skillfully around the railing, his face expressionless. Shaking, I tried to weakly crawl away from him, but he simply kicked me repeatedly until I stopped. I was pretty sure he had broken my ribs. The noose was placed around my neck, despite how ferociously I fought. My hands were forced behind my back, and he kicked me when I bit him. Squirming did no good as he dug his knees into my stomach to keep me steady. The noose was ultimately placed around my neck and tightened. Sobbing, I resisted him when he pulled me to my feet, but he quickly lifted me up onto the railing where I sat watching my life flash before my eyes.

"You could have made this easy," he reminded me, ensuring the knots would hold.

I wanted to scream. If I could just do that, someone could hear me and I would be saved! The guy smirked, as if reading my mind.

"No one is coming. Not even your little pet Demon. I made sure of that."

He put an arm around me and gestured to all the darkened windows of the apartment building around me.