Just Out of Reach (Norminah)

"It appears that I have the upper hand."

Lauren slowly got down on her knees to look under the bed. The feeling of a cold hand on her lower back caused her to shriek loudly as she slowly turned around.......

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"Shit, Keh. You can't just sneak up on me like that." Lauren held her hand over her chest as her heart pounded in her ears.

"You okay?" Her eyes trailed over Kehlani's face as she watched the girl stare blankly back at her. "Keh?" She waved her hand in front of her face.

"I'm fine." Kehlani's voice came out in a slow, broken whisper. Without another word, she turned and exited the room.

"That was weird." Lauren mumbled to herself as she too left the room to return to the living room, not even noticing that Kehlani had no feet, and floated....not walked out of the room.

....

Normani's eyes fluttered open and surprisingly, she felt fine. It just felt as if she had fallen asleep in a way. Then the events from earlier hit her like a ton of bricks. The kidnapping, the woman, the foul stench, the entity...everything came flooding back and Normani took several breaths to calm herself down. The stench returned to the room for a moment and Normani tried to look around but something kept her head still. No matter how hard she tried to move, she just couldn't.

She knew that the entity had returned but why wouldn't she let her see her? The handcuffs came apart with a snap and Normani immediately started to massage her wrists as she was able to sit up slowly. Feeling her son's sudden movement in her tummy....she felt the need to pee, it was almost unbearable. Once again, he was pressing on her bladder. A flash of Dinah's smile the morning before she passed filtered through her mind and disappeared almost as quickly as it came. The stench from earlier had disappeared and the room was no longer ice cold but instead was replaced with a warm and comfortable feeling.

Normani smiled to herself as she allowed her body to relax further, the feeling of comfort and serenity covered her as she pushed herself down from the table to exit the room.

She found herself in a hallway with multiple doors, none of them had a name, number, or any small window to look into or out of. The hallway was half lit thanks to a light in the ceiling that kept swaying back and forth - a soft creak sounding after each movement of the light - Small shadows being casted on the walls. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Normani rubbed her tummy gently. "Okay, little guy. Can you hold off until Mama reaches a bathroom?" She spoke softly with a small smile as she began her descent down the narrow hallway.

Halfway down the hall Normani couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. Halting her movements, Normani turned to look behind her but thankfully, there was no one there. She turned back around and proceeded further down the hallway.

"Mani." She could faintly hear the sound of someone calling her name.

She immediately sped up her steps, walking to the end of the hall then stopping in front of a big metal door. The handle looked as if it had been bent out of shape and the moment Normani grabbed the handle it broke completely off.

"Fuck." Normani released a deep breath as she stared at the broken handle in the palm of her hand.

"Mani."

The voice sounded muffled, like someone was gargling water as they called her name. Then the floor began to rumble under Normani's feet and she quickly pushed the sharp end of the handle into its previous spot and the door opened with a click.

"Normani!" The voice growled as the building began to shake wildly and Normani could hear the sound of someone banging against the wall.

She swiftly pushed the door open and bolted into the cool air of the night. She didn't know where she was or where she was headed, all she knew was that she wouldn't stop running until she saw people or lights....whichever came first. She kept running even when something sharp pierced her foot and with every step she could feel and almost hear the sound of her flesh being split as she ran and the pain became more intense.