Short Stories

2. Criminals

I stood there helplessly and watched Natalie struggle. I would try to help her, I really would but you see, my hand was tightly gripped by another intruder. Yes, there was more than one. Three to be exact. They barged in on a Sunday afternoon and terrorized all of us.

Let's start from the beginning. I have been living with my best friend Natalie in an apartment complex in Miami. Natalie's dad owned multiple businesses in the area who happened to love spoiling his one and only daughter. He bought this luxurious apartment and gifted it to her. I happened to be that lucky friend who got to be the roommate. Otherwise, my broke ass would be living in a sketchy part of the town.

We were living our best life. On Sunday, Natalie and I put on our favorite horror movie and popped some popcorn. This was going to be a nice and relaxing day. We worked our ass off for the upcoming midterm exam so we deserved a nice break dammit.

"I gotta go pee, don't play the movie yet!" Natalie announced.

"Yes, Ma'am! Hurry up please." I said as I chewed on a piece of popcorn.

Minutes went by and she didn't come back.

"Bitch where are you? I want to start the movie already!" I yelled but no answer.

I decided it was time to check on her. "Nat! Did you fall in the goddamn toile...." I couldn't finish my sentence as I saw the event that was taking place in front of me.

A man in a mask was holding Natalie tightly with his hand on her mouth to suppress her scream. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"What the hell is going on," I asked calmly. Staying level headed during an extremely traumatizing situation is a special talent of mine. I looked around and realized he was not alone. There were two others standing nearby, wearing masks as well. I quickly studied their features.

The one holding Natalie was about six feet tall and skinny with brown eyes. The one on his left was taller, maybe just above six feet with a well defined muscular body. His eyes were an intense shade of blue. Great, it would be easier to describe him to the cops when I get out of this mess. The third one was clearly a woman. I could tell she was trying to hide the fact by wearing loose clothing but her demeanor and curvy shape betrayed her disguise.

"Grab her before she screams," the blue eyes said with a deep husky voice.

"I wasn't planning on screaming," I said quickly as the woman grabbed my arm.

"Smart choice, what's your name?" Blue eyes asked.

"Emily," I answered.

"Well Emily, tonight is your lucky night because we won't be staying long. We just need to hide here for a few hours until the street is cleared off of cops then we will get out of your hair. Understood?" he said.

I nodded. "Good girl," he said and walked toward Natalie. "Now, I am gonna tell my little brother to move his hand from your mouth slowly. Do you promise not to scream?"

Natalie nodded. "Let go of me you animal!" Natalie cried at the intruder and tried to twist out of his grasp as soon as he let go. She failed miserably as he was too strong.

"You were told to behave bitch!" The woman barked out and grabbed Natalie's throat.

I cleared my throat. I had to say something before things escalated. "What do you guys want? We don't have anything valuable."

The woman glared at me. "You mean to say rich bitches like you don't have anything? I find that hard to believe."

"We don't want your money, just need to lay low for a while, so we are just going to borrow your place for a bit. Cool?" blue eyes said.