Don't Derail The Plot

1. Don't Come Home

A/N: This is going to be a short, violent and kinda emotional chapter...I hope

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The sound of wood splintering against the wall echoed in the apartment. Heavy boots kicked at objects in obvious anger.

Tanzu's breath shuddered as she tried not to draw the mad man's attention. Every breath she stifled her punctured chest.

Why is this happening to me?

She had lost track of how many times she asked herself that question in the past few minutes that seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

The sound of shattered plates made Tanzu flinch. Every violent crash hammered dread into Tanzu's heart as she lay helplessly on her sister's living room floor, dyeing the hardwood floor in her blood.

A buzzing cellphone lit up the darkened living room. Her night blindness caused the brightness to be particularly sharp against the pitch black darkness of the room. Tanzu wanted to cry out in joy. She had thought she left it in the bedroom.

Tanzu mustered all her strength to drag her wounded self towards that light.
A metallic taste rose up to her when she stretched out her had towards the phone, but she pushed. Her hands desperately grappled over the sofa her fingers brushed against the familiar glass screen.

The pacing of the man in the other room stopped, and Tanzu's heart nearly followed in suit. Without caring to see who was calling, she immediately picked up the call. Her sister's warm voice flooded into her ears.

"Hey! Sorry I'm running late. You won't believe who I ran into-"

The sound of her sister's voice evoked a sob from Tanzu. She hugged the phone in her trembling fingers.

"Zu?"

Tanzu did not think she would be this emotional from hearing her voice. Was it because she knew she was going to die?

"Are you-"

When she heard his steps in the hallway, a shot of adrenaline unlocked her vocal cords.

"Mera...call...police." Tanzu choked, she could not tell if it was from her emotions or the blood spilling out of her throat. Every word stabbed her burning chest.

"Don't...come...home."

Suddenly a kick was aimed at Tanzu's head. Her vision spun out of control from the blow. The shattered remnants of the coffee table cut into her face.

The crunch of the glass shards beside her filled with dread.

"Even now..." The gruff voice of her attacker loomed above her head

Tanzu muffled the whimper that wanted to escape when he pulled her up by her hair. Maybe it was because she knew she was going to die, and she did not want her murderer to have the satisfaction of getting what he wanted. Tanzu firmly closed her eyes willed herself not to make a sound no matter what happened.

Her scalp received a sharp tug.

"You won't even look at me!"

White hot pain struck her.

"Why. won't. you. focus. on. me. even now!" Every word was punctuated by an excruciating stab.

At some point he let go of her hair and she fell back to the ground with a dull thud. More blood spilled out of her mouth, her chest spasming as she chocked. Everything hurt, breathing hurt.

She could not believe she was still awake. She just wanted the pain to go away. The kitchen knife clattered right next to her. From the heavy breaking, the man must have exhausted himself.

If this was a movie, I would grab that knife and take him sudden with me, She thought bitterly.

But this was not a movie. She was paralyzed by the pain.

Still, she took consolation in knowing that she warned her sister. Her last conscious thought was a wish that her sister didn't come home.

Please, don't come home.

She repeated the words like a mantra in her mind, until the crushing fatigue robbed her of her thoughts.

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Under the sofa, a cracked cellphone lay face down on the ground.

The initial caller had long since had her phone wrenched out of her hand, replaced by another's urgent shouts. Had the voice not been muffled by the floor, the desperation that radiated from every word spoken would be clear. It was unfortunate the recipient would never hear them.

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...

Error. Pathway Interrupted

Rebooting...

Expanding Soul Search...

Compatible Soul Found. Seeking Administrative Permissions to Contact...

Loading...

Initiating contact

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A/N: Yikes, that took a lot of brain cells. Thank you for reading my very first chapter. Future chapters will be at least a thousand words longer than this. Please hit that vote button so that I know that someone other than me, myself, and I actually cares about this story and wants to know what's going to happen next. Nice comments will make me smile and mean comments will probably kill my courage to publish more.