Love Amongst Destruction

“Hey Chance.” I called to him, breaking his deep attention to the football game that was currently being broadcasted on one of the many tvs in the mall.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“I’ve been trying to call my mom now for 10 minutes and the second it goes through, it ends. I think we should head back to the house. Afterall, I think I’ve got enough clothes to at least last me a year.” I chuckled, holding up the many of bags I had, all to his insisting.
“There’s a million reasons she could not be answering her phone Bella, don’t jump to conclusions yet, but we’ll go and head back, ok?” Chance offered me, coming to my side.
“Ok.” I promised him, holding his hand once more and making our way back to the car.
The car whisked us back down the highways towards the house, and I jumped from my seat as soon as we pulled into the driveway, instantly yelling for my mom.
“What’s wrong?” She gasped, running to meet me in the doorway.
“Oh thank god you’re ok.” I panted out.
“I was just getting worried when you didn’t answer your phone.” I further explained, stepping into the house as Chance finished grabbing everything from the car.
“I’m sorry sweetheart, I was just busy decorating and I must’ve turned the ringer off.” She apologized, giving me a quick hug.
“Technology has a mind of its own.” I muttered, helping Chance through the door by grabbing a few of the clothes filled bags.
“Did you find some good stuff?” My mom asked.
“Yeah, I think it made Chance a little sad though.” I chuckled, knowing about what happened before we drove to the stores.
“I’ve made it through a lot worse.” He stated, coming up behind me and giving him a hug.
I found my way to the entrance once more, slipped my heels off, and adjusted the doormat so that it was perfectly straight, a silly little trait I had.
Do you ever get that ‘something feels fishy’ feeling?
I couldn’t help but sense that feeling right now.
First off, my mother never, and I mean NEVER, had her phone on silence.
A couple of pissed off moviegoers would vouch on that note.
Secondly, I KNOW I turned her volume all the way up before I left.
There was no reason it would have been silenced, and not even a deaf person could miss a phone call that many times.
Something was up.
What was an excuse that would give me some space to quickly investigate a bit?
Ah, got it.
“I’m going to quickly run and take a shower. I’ll be down in a little bit.” I announced, grabbing a couple of the bags of clothes and making my way upstairs.
“Ok, enjoy.” My mom said.
I passed Chance extra close and he whispered to me “Something’s up.”
“I know, that’s why I’m “Taking a Shower” “ I said, hinting at my true intentions.
Slipping past him I made my way to the master bathroom upstairs, setting everything down.
My first task was to turn on the water, but as soon as it was on I ran back to the bedroom and started my search.
Everything seemed to be in pretty natural order.
The bed was made all neat and tidy, all clothes were folded nicely in the dresser, literally nothing was out of order.
However, there was one extra something in the room that was not there before I left earlier in the day.
A phone.
Fuck.
Phones were never good news.
Soon enough I found myself being drawn right to the phone, needing answers.
Right as I got there, the screen light up with a little display message.
New Message: From Unknown #
What the hell….you only live once, right?
Swiping right, I instantly regretted it.
The first message quickly sprung onto the screen.

What a lovely blue dress you’re wearing.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Taking a quick glance down at the blue dress I was wearing, I damn near felt my heart stop.
Well….maybe this message was from before, they couldn’t possibly see me in the house now.
I swiftly sat on the bed and typed back - It’s done- it’s over- I’ve won, stop interfering with my family.
Ping - within seconds there was a new message waiting for me.

Is that what I’m seeing, a winner?
Pardon me if I’m wrong but sitting worriedly on a bed, tears about to cascade down those lovely pale cheeks of yours is not the face of a winner.

Shit.
I ran to the windows frantically, shutting every single blind, and making sure the locks to every window was closed.
I was sick and done with playing their games, I wouldn’t cave in anymore, I refused to reply.
They knew the inside workings of my brain more than I knew them myself, it was all a bluff.
One more message interrupted my train of thoughts.

Where do the bad guys hide?

My heart sank, as I realized I was standing right in front of the closet.
Within a split second my body turned itself around and I started to sprint to the door, my one way to safety.
Just as my skin brushed the door handle, two extremely recognizable hands shot out in front of me and slammed the door shut.
I shut my eyes.
This wasn’t happening.
It couldn’t be.
I was having a bad dream.
I didn’t dare look behind me, but I raised one hand to my other arm and tightly pinched the skin on the back of my hand.
Only when I felt the hot, sticky blood dripping down my pale skin, creating a grotesque contrast did I stop.
A pair of lips met the skin of my ear and he whispered: “Don’t bother...this isn’t a dream, you are awake...and this is most definitely happening.”
That voice….it was fingernails on chalkboards, it was the booming of a mic, it was any noise that stopped your heart, scratched your soul and shook your body to the core.
It was a nightmare personified, correction, it was MY nightmare personified.
“Chance and Abby are downstairs, Chris. You can’t get away with anything.” I whimpered.
“You’d be amazed by what I can get away with, even with those two around. Your mother for starters is so naive it hurts me…..just like you. And Chance…..hell, even Vinny could take him down.” His devilish voice hissed in my ear.
He was distracted, now was my time.
My wrist shot out for the door knob, managed to get one twist in, but my wrist was quickly snatched and slammed against the door.
I let out a howl of pain as I felt my wrist just about crumble from the insurmountable pressure had on my frail wrist.
“Example A……..Just know I feel a tad bit bad doing this.” Chris chuckled.
“Bella?” Chance suddenly screamed from downstairs.
Before I could even think to get my lips moving to respond back, my head had already been slammed into the solid door.
My body slipped to the floor in a pathetic manner, as the world around me became blurry.
As the sound of rushing feet was heard trampling up the stairs, I raised my non-injured hand to my head and felt even more of that sticky dark red liquid coming from my forehead.
“I’ll be seeing you later, love. Oh, and Tyler says hi.” Chris said, malice coating every word.
The vision I had, slowly became blurrier and fuzzy, until the only thing I could make out was the back of Chris’s suit, black as his heart, heading out onto the balcony.
He turned around once more to face me, and he kissed his palm and blew it in my direction.

It was as if it was the kiss of death, all I saw after it was black.

Maybe this was how my story was meant to end all this time.

With death.

My death.

Notes

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Dun, dun, dun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!