The bells sang their deafening high pitched song, relentless and unforgiving in making his presence known. He tore through the hallway, desperately searching for something- he wasn't sure what himself, but he knew he'd know once he found it. On the wall ahead was a corkboard with several sets of keys dangling on the ends of tacks. He stopped for a moment to grab the only set that stood out- the ones he knew he needed- and immediately took up his original pace, this tie towards the glass double door exit.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJhnO7a248
Just outside, the bells could be heard clearly, even with the doors shut. In front of them was a single police car, whose keys he had somehow recognized. As soon as the car started the radio chatter began its cacophony of sounds, like a nearly incomprehensible blend of an acapella rainstorm and TV static: the message clearly urging everyone to raise the bridges and trap him on the isle. He sped down the empty plaza, reminiscent of St. Peter's Square, desperately looking for a bridge that hadn't been raised. One after another, he saw the marble archways darken with the newly erected bridge-walls. Finally, he saw one that had been left down and raced across, entering a suburban-style neighborhood lined on either side with Sycamore trees rustling gently in the breeze, a haze of green leaves floating down gently yet he continued to race down the empty road; the radio chatter abruptly stopped as soon as he crossed the threshold of the Vatican-esque isle, leaving only the quiet purr of the engine and his own breathing in the car yet he anxiously turned it off. Both his hands on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, but his mind was somewhere else entirely, despite the picturesque beauty of the day before him. A single though plagued his mind, invoking an endless amount of deep and primal terror:
"To prove my innocence, I'll have to see her..."
It was night now- I knew it was despite not knowing what had happened since my escape. I sat with perfect posture and composure- back straight, hands on my knees, head and eyes pointed forwards- like a statue carved by one of the old masters. To my right was a large window covered in a thick drape and, despite it being night, gave the room a slightly red hue. In front of me were piles of clothes and other miscellaneous rubbish, and a slightly cracked closet with an oily black interior. On my left was her, sprawled on my side and kissing my neck passionately, an arm around my neck. Attractive and sultry, yet by virtue of her existence I felt nothing but anxiety and a primal fear one might feel when being hunted down by an angry pack of starving wolves. I did not move nor stir as she had her fun. She leant forward, her soft warm lips brushing my ear and whispered:476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvSl270qHr
"Let me get into something more comfortable..."476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjtY62Od5E
With a quick but sensuous lick of my earlobe she retreated through the door on my left and slammed it behind her. I heard her footsteps on the wooden floor thud their way to another room, and again swing open and slam shut.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68kcA5O74z
As soon as I heard the second door slam, the fear i was hiding truly settled in, starting from my stomach and spreading across my entire body in a wave. Instantly, my anxiety and apprehension turned into a sense of terror and urgency that I can only describe with the phrase, Escape or commit suicide.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRemEkPV36K
I sprung from the bed and quickly stepped outside, knowing well it doesn't matter how much noise I make since it knows where I am, so long as I'm inside. I stepped forth to a dark walkway overlooking a first floor, with a darker and longer hallway on my right, stairs down to my immediate left, and an extension to the second floor walkway hugging the stairs further left. At the end of that path was the room she entered, with nothing but silence and darkness pouring from underneath its door.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOTPQXRXNH
I immediately ran down the stairs.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnoxNdVNWZ
Just as my head sunk below the second floor's floor, I heard the door to the room she had gone inside of swing open roughly and abruptly, without a squeak.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIdbsshw7c
I did not dare to look inside.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0kAJRg15W
I continued down with the same overwhelming terror, and a self-preservative clarity of what I had to do.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IU4nZPGlN
In front of me were windows that looked as though their glass were replaced with a thick layer of oil. Behind me to the right was more house: an empty and eerie dining table sat almost as though they were painted on a wall, made to look real. I heard footsteps slowly thudding on the wood floor from the room she had entered, the sound you might hear if someone curled their toes under their feet and marched. It accelerated slightly with every step. I looked right and saw a very dim ceiling light over a front door and sprinted towards it. It was at the top of the stairs when I reached the door.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdki5cQqww
From up close, the door had at least a dozen locks on it, some needing keys and others not. I pulled the doorknob and the door rattled with futility, and I immediately turned back, looking for another way out. I saw a door at the base of the stairs, slightly ajar but dark inside. In my periphery I saw nothing on the stairs but I knew it was there; I could hear it. With every passing moment its footsteps seemed to gradually accelerate from a slow march to a crazed sprint, sounding to be within arms length by the time i bashed through the door I was aimed at, to find myself in an nondescript garage, with the vertical garage door completely open but the same inky black curtain at the threshold where the door would have been.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHih8VzzNH3
Driven by sheer fear, I ran through it and suddenly found myself in a familiar suburban neighborhood, on the wrong side of an extensive and fortified police barricade, lined with officers and SWAT, trained on the house. One officer beckoned me towards me with his arm and my sprint carried me towards him. I knew I was safe from it. The officer's hand landed on my back and pulled me to his side of the barricade.
I awoke with tears welled in my eyes, shaking, and ready to cry out desperately- even to an enemy- for human contact and comfort.
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