Act 2
Kelsie's POV
I had left Nanna's flat early that morning and headed into the city centre. Heart To Heart has been quite busy lately. Everyone has problems and hopefully we can fix them. I eat my breakfast on the way to the underground. I have to take the train for a couple of stops. I head through the barriers and board the train.
The coach is quiet and I sit down, relaxing against the not so comfy seats. My body feels so tired recently but I haven't been able to sleep. Lately I've felt quite nervous and my nightmares are getting worse. The night Mum and Dad died is playing on repeat in my mind. I got so used to feeling worthless and the panic attacks just seem to appear like a tidal wave.
Even now as I sit on the train, trying not to have a full blown panic attack I can feel my control slipping and I blush. How embaressing and I glance around the coach. There are a few others on the train and I glance at my phone in my lap. Its nearly twelve thirty. I sigh and peer up again. Across from me is an elderly couple, deep in conversation; across from them is a young man with his headphones in, a murmur of noise emantes from his head phones.
I glance directly opposite and see a young man across from me. His skin is pale, ghastly and two blue eyes stare out at the people around the coach. He has beautiful long fingers and is wearing a black pinstripe suit. His black hair is slicked back and he sees me looking. Despite being handsome he levels a glare at me and I can't help but stare at my shoes.
I happen to look up again and he's smirking at my obvious discomfort. The train grinds to a halt and I realise this is my stop. I hastily get off and decide to look back. He's watching me and I snap my head back round, avoiding that penetrating stare.
When I get above ground I'm glad to be away from him. His eyes were blue but evil and I shudder in discomfort. Heart To Heart is only a short walk away and I round the corner and climb the porch steps, heading inside. My friend, Anita is at the front desk. She's chatting on the phone; her eyes light up and she waves at me.
I stroll through the nearest door and into the changing rooms. My locker is the one closest to the door. I open it and pull out my work top. The Heart logo on the front makes me smile. I look at myself in the mirror on the interior of my locker. My hair is a mess so I keep it in a side ponytail. I smile a little at my reflection. I'm petite and clumsy but despite everything I feel happy.
Heart To Heart is a charity and it allows people with depression and other forms of mental illness to discuss their problems with our listeners. They can talk about anything and we find this helps them with their problems. We are also an anti suicide charity and campaign to get people to open up about their issues. Last year we managed to help a lot of people.
We often have fundraisers and events. Sometimes we hand out flyers about what we do. We have cake sales and it seems like we make a difference. I slip my top on and exit the locker room. My friend, Kay is waiting for me and her smile brightens when she sees me. We talk breifly about our weekend and I listen as she describes everything she's done in detail.
Kay is bright and lively. To demonstrate her brightness she dyed her hair red and has continued doing so for the past year. She's vivacious and witty. People gravitate towards her and she makes friends so quickly.
We are interupted by Anita, who comes round the corner rather quickly. She looks flushed and nervous. We both stop and look at her.
"What's wrong, Nita?" Kay seems concerned and I feel the nerves in the pit of my tummy do a back flip.
"I was watching the news. Do either of you remember Daniel?" She glances between us. We both pause to think for a minute. Kay's eyes light up in recognition. I'm still trying to think and then I remember Daniel; he was was small man with hardly any hair. He lived with his wife but she had left him and he had started coming to us.
"Well he's standing on top of one of the buildings down the street. He's threatening to jump." Her voice becomes shriller and we both pale.
"We have to stop him," Kay is quick to act and she grabs my hand, guding me towards the door. I am filled with worry as I remember Daniel. We were really helping him, he seemed happier and lived in his own flat. We rush to the far end of the street. A crowd has gathered and everyone is peering skywards.
Kay starts trying to talk to people to establish how long he's been up there. Daniel is really close to the edge now and if we don't act then he will most assuredly jump. I run through the crowd and into the building. Its an old building and at this point its mostly empty, save for a few office supplies that have seen better days.
I run up the stairs and it seems to go on forever. My legs feel as though they are giving way. I finally get to the top and open the door to the roof. Sure enough Daniel is still here and has not jumped. He's merely staring out across the city, like a king surveying his surroundings. I inch closer but I soon realise he's not alone.
Next to Daniel is someone very familiar; pinstripe suit guy is here in all his handsome glory. He sees me before Daniel does and he smirks at me, keeping his eyes on me he leans in and whispers in Daniel's ear. Whatever he said has an effect as Daniel shuffles on the ledge and I leap forward, determined to protect Daniel.
My feeble mind soon realises that this evil looking man has some sort of hold on Daniel and his words are like a hypnotist controlling his victim. I need to think and fast but my mind forms a blank and then like a bolt out of the blue it hits me. No one would miss me and Daniel is working out his problems. I'm still struggling to control my anxiety attacks so I walk forward with a different motive this time.
"Please take your hold off him and...um...take me instead," my voice wobbles as pinstripe man observes me. He turns to face me and clicks his fingers, causing Daniel to collapse.
"You would sacrifice yourself for him?" His voice is harsh and lyrical all at once. "You barely know him and yet you would put yourself in danger." He laughs, its a cruel sound and it makes my skin crawl.
"I don't want to die but I will gladly lay down my life," I'm so scared and it shows. He's approaching me, oh god pinstripe man is coming towards me and he's right in front of me. He's stunning and it takes all my strength to look in his eyes.
"So you won't let me kill you but you are offering your life to me in exchange for him to be allowed to live. Am I correct?" He meets my eyes with an evil look. I nod and let a few tears fall and he grins. He seems to be enjoying my pain as I throw myself at his mercy. Pinstripe man sighs as if this is all a great effort.
"Fine. You are my prisoner and you will come with me." That's it and I obediantly follow him. We leave through the fire exit and walk through the back alleys. I keep my head down as we walk and try not to meet those cold blue eyes. How can someone so handsome be so beastly?
Pinstripe man sighs again and it makes me glance up. He smirks at me and the look scares me so much. He's truely terrifying.
"Introductions are in order. My name is Pyro and you are...?" He leaves the question hanging and I realise he's expecting an answer.
"Kelsie. My name is Kelsie Mayfair." I dare to look at him as we walk. He laughs again and the sound terrifies me. I am torn between finding him scary but also disliking him immensly.
"Age?" He asks rather bluntly.
"Well I'm 17," my heart thuds nervously.
"So young. I suppose my age now would be over 100 but I'm stuck at 24." He chuckles and the sound is pleasant compared to his evil laugh.
I nod and we walk in silence after that. We seem to walk forever until we get to an old house and Pyro opens the creaky gate, allowing me to enter.
The house is rather run down but we still enter and he slams the door shut behind us. This is it. I'm here and at his mercy. He grabs my hand and leads me round the property. Finally he stops at a door.
"This is my room. Under no circumstances will you enter. Are we of an understanding?" He smirks when i nod.
He guides me along again and opens another door. There is a small bedroom inside with a children's bed in the corner. Its old and the teddy faces on the headboard have all but faded.
"This is your room," with that being said he slams my door and leaves me to my scattered thoughts. I sit on my new bed and my body shakes. I cry fresh tears as all this sinks in. I've given my life to save Daniel and at this point I should feel resentful but my body is so tired and I feel pleased that I was able to save someone else.
I lay my head down and allow myself to fall into a troubled sleep. This situation is worse than the nightmares.
