Chapter 14
"What was that?" Serena thought as her eyes caught on something by the roadside. Well, not exactly at the road but she had seen it. Just right there by the brush.
She had decidedly kept her mind free of any errant thought and jerked when she saw the fleeting movement. She almost convinced herself that it was a squirrel but she knew that the flash she had seen was bigger than any squirrel she had ever seen.
When she looked around, she realised that she had come farther than she intended. This part of the city was not where she was familiar.
"Keep going, girl" her subconscious whispered to her as she braked and reversed the car.
She ignored the impertinent voice and parked. She couldn't see much of anything now but she was sure she had seen something. She was mostly a homebody and don't go out much, so the area she was in looked a bit strange to her.
She knew it couldn't be that far from familiar terrain though. She couldn't have driven that far yet could she?
Serena crossed to the other side after checking the time on her phone when she realised that the sky had darkened more than it was before she started her drive.
8:27 pm? Well.
There was a little decline down the part where she was sure she had seen the movement. She wondered why she couldn't just keep going. She had enough on her plate to deal with. What on earth was she looking for?
"Time to turn back and go home. Enough of the adventure" her subconscious reared its head again.
Right before she felt a hand snaked around her leg and yanked.
"What? What on earth was that?" her momentary yelp was muffled as she felt herself land against a firm, taut torso.
What?
She tried to lift herself on her with her hands firmly planted against the hard ground but all she got for her trouble was a quick roll and she was pinned down.
"Bastard!" she heard in a slurring voice that came from the mass of muscle above her. It more of rumbled against her ear as her head was flattened against the ground. Pinned down by the mass that seemed to have no intention of lifting anytime soon.
Bastard? He had called her a bastard? What the hell?
She would show him "bastard," she thought as her anger rose. Well, she would show him right after she got up. Which can only be after he lifted himself off her. A metallic, familiar scent assaulted her nose, more cloying than the clean male scent that came from him. Who the hell is he?
"Get off me!" she shouted. Well. It did sound like a shout in her head and she was more infuriated that it came out garbled. Well, it was his fault. He wouldn't get up.
She mustered all the strength she could summon and pushed him off her.
"What was that?" she thought in panic when her hand came away drenched with something sticky. She looked around for her phone that had dropped off when he grabbed her leg.
What kind of idiot grabbed random people's legs in this near darkness? She thought as she crawled around looking for her phone.
She nearly hooted when her hand touched it.
There.
The backlight came on with a tap on the phone and she wondered briefly why the man; oh yes, he was a man alright. She wondered why he was still lying there. Was he drunk? That would explain why he tackled her and was still lying down as if he was in his bed.
She put on her phone's flashlight and moved cautiously towards the prone body.
"Mi…mister? What are you doing lying down like that?"
No answer.
Serena knew she should probably call the cops immediately. What if he was dead? What if he was a criminal?
He didn't seem dead to her the other time. He had grabbed her after all. Then rolled her over. She was not an expert on the dead but she was sure dead people don't go about grabbing people's legs. Or have a warm, firm torso.
"Sir?" she crouched closer to the man and prodded him with her hand.
No response.
She tried to turn him over then gasped as he grabbed her hand. The strength of his hold surprised her.
His grip sure was strong for someone who lay there like he was too weak to get up.
"Get lost" came the muffled grunt again.
"Well, how gracious" Serena muttered as her anger spurted again. She was half tempted to leave him there and turned back to go home.
To her problems of course. But at least they were familiar.
She fleetingly gave thanks to the heavens that Mathew had never taken to the bottle. Drunk men repulsed her and she was grateful that she was spared that at least.
"You need to get up and go home right now. It is getting darker, Mr. try to get yourself together and go home"
She heard what sounded like a scoff from the man who still had his face turned away.
She ignored his rudeness and tried again.
"Is there someone I could call for you?"
She felt a stillness from him. Not the dead kind of stillness, she thought then wondered why that word keep popping into her mind. He stilled.
Then he turned himself over with excruciating slowness.
"Phone. Your phone, let me have your phone"
Even as she registered how handsome he was, her eyes widened as she saw the hand he extended to her.
The flashlight from her phone showed the crimson on his hand in graphic detail. The blood seemed to leap off his skin in glee.
Serena swallowed hard as se remembered touching something sticky when she touched him. Her hand.
She turned the flash on her right and realised that it was filled with blood, caking already on her skin.
Her left hand was stained but not as much.
She bent closer to him without a second thought, if blood was on her hands. Then the chest she pushed had blood on it.
Was she saw when she got closer was more than she could have expected.
His tight polo shirt was drenched with blood. He had a kind of dark-coloured cloth on. Black? Navy Blue? She had no idea. She was sure of one thing though.
He had lost enough blood to make him pass out any moment soon.
It was a miracle that he was still awake. The hand he held out flopped back on his crooked legs.
"Sir, what happened to you?" she dropped her phone aside as she intended to do whatever she could to make him comfortable first before calling the hospital.
She had pushed him for God's sake.
On second thought, she picked the phone to call the hospital.
"Just give me the damn phone" he growled. Yes, she couldn't think of a better word. Even in his weakness, the man sounded fearsome.
She ignored him as she punched in the number "I need to call the hospital. You are losing lots of…".
He knocked the phone from her hand before she could dial it then swore as he sagged back to the floor.
"What is wrong with you?!" Serena shouted again, forgetting that he was a patient for a moment.
"Don't call the hospital. That is the first place they would look"
They? Who are they?