My Protector

chapter eight

“I’m going to do this, slow and painfully. That is what I was instructed to do from Stephen,” Jon whispered close to my ear as I felt him reach his hand to his back pocket.

“Why don’t you get a life and stop being his little minion? He’s in jail and he wouldn’t know if you never hurt me! He can’t do anything to you or Ben if you both rebel against him!” I tried persuasion in any hopes of him stopping what he was doing. He had his knee pressed up against both of my legs, and he held my arms in front of me with one hand, his body leaned into mine. I was pressed against the shelves and there was nothing I could do to get out of this. If I screamed, he’d just get mad and maybe hurt or kill me before anyone even heard me. The music was so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts.

I felt Jon chuckle as he grabbed whatever he was reaching for and brought it to my collarbone. He had a small knife in his hand; I felt that it was about as long as my palm. I winced as the cold metal brushed against my bare skin and that made Jon laugh.

“I would never betray Stephen. He’s my friend and you humiliated him. Now you have to pay.”

I pressed my lips together as he dragged the dull side of the knife along my chest, teasing me and making me nervous. All the warm and fuzziness from my drinks were gone and instead replaced by a cold sick feeling. If I threw up on him would it give me enough time to try and bolt out the door? Or would that make him angrier and he’d juts stab me right then and there?

 My thoughts were interrupted as the knife dragging across my jawline was no longer on the dull side of the blade. I gasped and threw my head back in an attempt to get away, only doing worse by driving the knife farther across my neck.

I winced as a few tears sprung out of my eyes and I started to cry. I mean I really sobbed and the harder I cried the more Jon laughed. He kept laughing and as he did he’d find new places to cut me, such as my cheek, my arm, my stomach. I tried to shove him away but that only made him more aggressive.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and the door opened, revealing Jon’s face. He was crying silent tears as he stared at me, then at the person who had opened the door. Jon quickly wiped away his tears in an attempt to hide that he was crying and growled at him to get out.

“Sorry man I was just looking for some towels some dude spilled his…” Tommy stopped dead in his sentence as he noticed that this wasn’t just a make out session in the closet. His eyes saw my tears, my torn flesh, the blood, and Jon’s knife. His eyes grew huge and his mouth held open and he was at a loss for words to say. He took a few steps back and looked around.

“Who should I get Danielle?” Tommy yelled quickly before Jon tried to slam the door in his face. Tommy held the door open with one foot as he waited for my answer. Lilly couldn’t help me, and obviously Tommy couldn’t help me. If I said the police they’d get here too late. I said reluctantly the only person I could think of.

“Get Jake for me please,” I croaked as Tommy slid his foot out of the door as it slammed leaving me again in total darkness with Jon. I felt him lean away from me a little and I tried to push back, but he was too strong. He never let go of my hands, or released my legs from being pushed up against the shelves. I started crying again, the hot tears racing down my face and I didn’t know what to do. Another bright light filled the room and I was sad to say that I was relieved when I saw Jake’s concerned face turn to anger.  Right before Jake was about to pounce on Jon, a sharp pain burst through my stomach and filled my whole core with pain. Then Jon bolted. He ran out the door, past Jake and into the crowd to get lost. Jake looked at him once, but let him go. I grabbed onto the shelves for support as I was slowly getting weaker and weaker.

“Jake…” I started to say but he silenced me. He grabbed my back and laid me on the ground in the closet and gazed at my stomach back to my face, his eyes huge. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911, nodding his head and talking frantically. His voice started to sound like he was in a bubble and my vision started to blur. He hung up and grabbed both sides of my face.

“Danielle the police are on their way, okay? Can you hear me?” A few tears were leaking from his eyes and rolling onto his cheeks. I felt blood drip from the side of my mouth and I panicked. I grabbed onto his shirt sleeve and started to breathe heavily. My stomach felt like it was being torn open. I looked down and saw the black handle of Jon’s knife sticking straight out of my stomach. I winced and dropped my head back to the ground.

“The people I talked to on the phone said I have to apply pressure. I’m so sorry for this Danielle, but this will hurt.” I looked at him in fear as he grabbed a towel from the shelf and tried to set it on my stomach. Realizing that it was too big and bulky he tossed it behind him and hastily tore off his long sleeve from his shirt and lowered it to my stomach.

The pain from the pressure he had to put on my stomach brought on another dizzy spell and I looked up at him, moaning for him to stop. He looked at me with sad eyes, still crying and in the most pained voice he said, “I can’t Danielle. I need to stop the bleeding.”

I just stared at him after that. He kept trying to talk to me but I could no longer make out the words he was saying. He kept trying to keep me awake but I just couldn’t seem to hold consciousness. I mean here I am barely staying awake, when I’m the one at movies talking about how stupid people are who get shot to let themselves be weak and fall asleep.

Jake’s face slowly blurred into a black and the last thing I could remember was his warm, bloody hand on mine.