“Alone in the Dark”

Abby stuffed the cell phone into her pocket and quickly dashed out of Dwayne’s office. She’d managed to get in touch with Alex Ross, the last person she ever thought she’d have to rely on in a situation like this. Kind of ironic, she thought to herself, as she headed into back guestroom.

She and Ross hadn’t exactly hit it off and here she was waiting in the dark for him to come rescue her. But if what Dwayne had told her was true about what he’d told the sheriff about her then Ross was her last hope. She’d heard rumors that he’d been a marine and had been in the war. If that was true, he’d been more than qualified to handle Dwayne if the situation called for it. Now all she had to do was sit here and wait until he arrived, not an easy task considering Dwayne could be home at any second and catch her.

Wringing her hands together, Abby couldn’t help but think about Colin. Even if he had answered his phone he wouldn’t have been much use against Dwayne with his leg in a cast. She secretly was relieved that he hadn’t taken her call; at least she’d know he’d be safe, even if he didn’t want anything more to do with her.

The minutes ticked by – seeming like an eternity to Abby. Her mind was in a fog from the meds, her head pounding and her vision becoming more and more blurry. Nervously, she tiptoed to the front room, checking to see if there were any sign of Ross yet. That’s when she heard it – the car door slam. Peeking through the cracked curtains she could see Dwayne approaching.

Horrified that Dwayne would find out what she’d been up to, Abby ran to the kitchen, looking for anything she might be able to use as a weapon. Finally, in the back of one of the drawers, she found a small paring knife and tucked it into her pocket. Panicking, she ran as quickly as she could back into the guest room and crawled into the little hidden storage space in the back of the closet.

Sweat poured from her forehead and her heart pounded. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the little knife, clutching it so hard her knuckles turned white. Footsteps! Shit, she heard footsteps creeping near the closet door! As quietly as she could, Abby inched her way to the farthest corner of the little crawl space – the knife raised in front of her.

Just then, she heard the closet door slowly open, then close again. She waited, holding her breath, then nearly screamed when the tiny door to the crawl space began to crack open. A hand was holding a tiny penlight – aiming it directly into her eyes. Blindly, Abby lashed out at – stabbing the intruder in the chest with the carving knife she’d been clutching.

“Abby, no!” he said, as the knife plunged into him and he fell back out of the closet and hit the floor - blood beginning to spread across the white of his shirt.

Abby sat shaking in the dark, looking down at her blood-covered hands. She had to look, had to know if he was dead or not. She still held onto the knife, so if he was still alive... if he tried to grab hold of her when she was checking his pulse, she’d still be able to defend herself.

She crept slowly out of the crawl space, then hesitantly made her way out of the closet. Still on her hands and knees, she crawled over to look at what she’d done.

“Oh my God! No!” Abby cried, dropping the knife by her side. “Not him!”

Sprawled on the floor in front of her was the body of Alex Ross – his eyes closed and blood oozing from the knife wound on his upper chest.

(picture modified by Stacey)

TBC...