My Waitress (NOT EDITED)

Chapter 31

The door bursts open with a bang.

I feel Ethan's hand releasing my neck, and I immediately gasp for air. The coughing and wheezing starts and I fall on the edge of my bed, gently holding my neck. The taste of blood still settles in my mouth as I cough more.

"What are you doing here—argh!!" Ethan gets cut off by something... more like someone. It sounds like he was punched. From the corner of my eyes I see his legs stumbling backwards.

And another pair of legs are walking toward him.

Ethan falls back first on the wooden floor in front of me. He's furious. He tries to get up, but the other guy lands on top of him and pins him down to the floor.

"Get off of me!" Ethan growls. Before he can say anything else, the other guy curls his hand into a fist, and swings it directly into the side of Ethan's face.

He doesn't let Ethan breathe. After the first punch he dives into the second one, and after that one he swings another one. And another one... another...

He doesn't stop.

Moonlight shines on his dark brown hair. I narrow my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. He's focusing on beating Ethan to a pulp. Who is this guy? I don't see anyone else on this floor... Who else knows where I live...

I realize.

Ethan's hands search around the floor. His hand finds something. A glass shard from the picture frame.

In a quick motion he swings the shard at the Malachi's face, just below his eye. A cut forms there. He yells out and stops his punch midway. Ethan gets up, taking Malachi with him. He lunges forward slams him into the wall, causing the pictures on the wall to shake. Before Malachi get can a hold of himself, Ethan blows a hard punch in his face once, twice, three times in a row. He grabs Malachi's neck like how he did to me, this time with both hands. Malachi's still conscious. He presses his hands in Ethan's jacked up face, trying to pull him away. But Ethan has the advantage.

Nicole, get a hold of yourself! I have to stop Ethan. I check the floors for another big glass shard. I find one by my feet. I pick it up and grip it firmly. I stand up and without hesitation I dive the shard into Ethan's shoulder.

He howls and lets go of Malachi's neck. He yanks out the shard, now half of it covered in his blood, and drops it on the floor. A tiny deep red pool appears and grows more on his shoulder, staining his shirt. "You bitch!" He hisses. My legs shake and I fall back on the bed again.

I look and see Ethan about to pounce on me, but with one arm Malachi catches him and throws him on the ground.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her." He walks over to the fallen Ethan. He lifts his foot and stomps it into his stomach. "Ever." He grunts.

Ethan holds his gut and coughs up a bloody storm. Malachi backs up to me as he and I watch the guy I once called my best friend struggle to stand back up.

Ethan pants. Blood trails from his mouth. He walks out the door and turns around, pointing directly at me. He applies pressure to his shoulder wound with his other hand. "I'm watching you, Nicole." My heart pounds out of my chest in fear. I still can't breathe normally. I watch him back away slowly. "We are watching you..." his arm descends to his side. "And we're coming for you." He disappears into the hallway.

Every part of me is shaking to the bone. My heart is racing and so is my mind with what just happened. My life was on the line, and was almost taken by someone I trusted for years...

I felt my eyes closing for the last time, everything fading into darkness. If no one knew where I was and the situation I was in, I would be dead. Naomi, Ashton, Ashley, Jace, Emily, Noah... Chloe and Mr. Matthew... they wouldn't know that I went missing. How many missed calls, unread text messages, and school absences would it take to realize that something was wrong? I would just disappear...