The Gold, the missing things we look for insistently. We need them to adorn our soul, to light up the hazy days. A beautiful spin through the garden of youth, and the roses have dried blood on their thorns.
The Forest, the trek deeper into the mind...
The phone was left on mute. Vivi shook under the table, her own hand pressed tightly against her mouth as she heard footsteps pad into the house. She had called 911 but couldn't say anything after her phone clattered out of her hand when the man shot the door lock. She hoped that whoever was managing the call on the other end had gotten the message.
She wondered when Carl was coming back. He had heard something in the back of the house and ran over.
Shortly after that, the door was shot and the chair proved futile against the heavy slam that the man delivered on the door.
He was in the house.
She heard shuffling around from him, and her feet went cold.
He's looking for the light switch.
Flick. She heard something turning off in the back of the house. The man cursed loudly, kicking over another chair. He fumbled around, and she could see his feet coming closer. She then saw another pair of shoes, moving more quietly than the man.
Another bang shook the air around them.
There was a hiss of pain. Carl stomped on the man's foot, with enough force to paralyze the man with pain from the foot up. She heard his breath stagger. A short blade clattered to the floor and slid under the table. Carl grabbed the man's hands and shoved the gun up under the chin with a hard slam, and the man fell backward, the gun clattering to the floor.
Carl fell to the floor, blood soaking his shirt as he panted in pain.
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Vivi pulled him to her, under the table. She touched him where he was bleeding, near his right shoulder and he gasped in pain. She flinched and quickly glanced at her hand, wet with his blood. She was going to start hyperventilating but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She picked up the phone, unmuting it.
"Hello?" The operator at the other end finally spoke.
"Se— Send medical help, please." Vivi cried. "My— My friend... He got shot, and—"
Carl reached up to touch her face, and she stopped talking. The phone buzzed with noise, but she couldn't hear anything but his voice.
"Get out..." His voice was raw with pain.
Her eyes widened.
"No!" Her eyes squeezed out hot tears, splashing down onto his face.
"I won't listen to you."
"Run—" He winced. "Vivien."
The man started getting up. Carl made a grab for the gun and held it up with his shaking hand.
