Chapter 8: Things That Go *Bump* In The Night
Nottingham had managed to sneak past most of the guards and had made his way quietly down to the second story. He walked slowly down a long hall keeping a lookout for guards. His feet made no sound; it was like he was walking on air. A door opened out into the hall and a large guard stepped out and turned down the hall. His eyes grew wide when he saw Ian. Ian stood in the middle of the hall, looking the man straight in the eyes. The guard pressed a button on his collar, "Everyone knows that you're here now." Ian cocked his head to the side and ran towards the guard, taking him out before he could even retaliate. More guards piled out of the doors and ran towards Ian. The fight was on. Fist flew toward Nottingham only to be slammed into other guard's faces. Men were thrown through the air banging against the walls and pounding against the ground unconscious. The men began to panic. It was as though they were fighting a demon. They all dog piled on him; Ian squeezed out from under the pile and walked calmly to the window. The men beat at the nonexistent prisoner.
Ian opened the second story window and climbed onto the ledge. This was going to be the tallest jump he had ever made but he had to make it. He turned towards the men, "Goodbye boys." He said smiling. The men stopped punching and turned just in time to see Nottingham leap from the ledge. One of the men ran to the window. He saw a man dressed in a black trenchcoat running into the shadows of the night. The guards sighed, he was going to get a lot of crap for this one; Nottingham had escaped.
Sara left Constance to get her another cup of tea. As she lifted the pot she absentmindedly looked at her watch, it was almost 6:00pm!! Sara dropped the pot on the stove spilling water all over her counter and partially on herself. "Dang it!!" She was brushing the water off her sweater, cursing under her breath when Constance reached over and touched her shoulder. "Spilled water on myself." Sara half spoke to herself.
"What else is wrong, Sara?" Constance seemed to have a way of seeing through Sara.
Sara walked over to her closet and pulled her leather jacket off the hanger, "I'm late for a meeting. I was supposed to be there two minutes ago!" She walked quickly to the door, "Just make yourself at home, okay? I'll be back soon, if Ian drops by, like he always does, just ignore him and he'll go away. That is if you don't want to talk to him. I'm sorry I have to run out on you."
Constance smiled at her and pushed her out the door, "Go, I'll be fine."
An hour had passed and Sara was not back yet, Constance had made herself comfortable and was reclining in Sara's Lazy Boy. She had never felt so alive. She was able to tell Sara things she had never told another living soul. She had opened her heart to someone and it hadn't been ripped out and stomped on. With Sara, all of her past would be avenged and she would finally regain her "son". She was feeling very happy. As she laid her head back against the couch the phone rang, startling her out of the bliss she was feeling. She figured she might as well answer it for Sara, so she walked over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" She panicked when she heard the voice on the other end.
"Hello, Constance. It's been a very long time..."
Constance slammed the phone down, grabbed her coat and ran to the window. Somehow Irons had found her. She knew that she was dead if she stayed in Sara's apartment. She figured that she had a better chance escaping through the alley. She climbed out of the window and down the stairs. There was no moon tonight and Constance bumped into and tripped over everything in her path. Her breathing was labored as she turned the corner of the alley. A bus pulled up to the sidewalk and she made a mad dash towards it looking behind her as she ran. Then all of the sudden she smacked into a soft body. She screamed as two arms wrapped around her. A large hand covered her mouth, and all was silent.
Earlier that evening: Sara climbed off of her motorcycle and walked quickly into the old subway. "Hello? Anybody here?" Sara's voice and footsteps echoed off of the cement walls. She walked slowly toward the tracks and stopped abruptly. Two footsteps fell after she had stopped walking; her skin crawled with chills. She took two more steps and stopped again as the sound of footsteps hit her ears again. When she started to move this time she pulled her gun and turned around quickly. She saw a figure duck behind a beam right after she had turned. "All right! Whoever you are, you better step out from behind that beam slowly with your hands in the air!" A large man walked slowly out from behind the beam. He had his hands raised high above his head. "Come on keep moving!" She waved her gun telling him to move towards her. The man stood three feet away from her, when she finally saw his face. He was a very big man; he had to be at least seven feet tall and over 300lbs. His face was scarred and pockmarked. Tiny black eyes peered through his stringy black hair. "Why were you following me?" She kept her gun trained on his head. He just blinked at her stupidly. "Answer!" She lifted her gun to his head poking it between his eyes. Before she could react he had grabbed her arm that was holding the gun and twisted it behind her back. She struggled against his iron grip, yelling at the Witchblade to help her. He picked her up and threw her against a large cement beam, she heard her ribs crack as she rolled across the ground. The large man straddled her and pinned her arms to the ground. Sara kicked him over and over, fighting for all she was worth. The man looked at her right wrist and noticed the bracelet that gleamed on her arm. He pulled it off her wrist, put it in his pocket and smacked her across the face. She reached her head towards his arm and bit it, noticing that his hand had no fingers, she recoiled in disgust. His face filled with an evil grin as he pinned both her hands underneath her leaving his hand with fingers free to roam. She gritted her teeth as his hand groped her leg and moved towards her chest. There was a loud *THUMP* and his large body fell limp on top of her. "Get him off of me, someone help me please!!!" Her voice echoed around the room. She felt the body being rolled off of her; she saw a figure above her.
"You're okay now, Miss." The voice was familiar. Sara's eye started to focus. The man standing above her had dirty blonde hair and sunken in eyes. She had seen him before, in fact she had seen him everywhere she went, she had always thought he was just some strange homeless guy. "Miss, you gotta come with me. It ain't safe here no more. That guy ain't gonna stay asleep for good." He helped Sara to her feet; she leaned against him and limped with him towards the exit of the subway. She felt her head spinning; she probably had a concussion. She cursed and looked back at the large man. His body started to move. "He's awake, we need to run, now!" Sara looked at the blonde man in surprise; he hadn't even turned around to see the man moving. He started running, half-dragging Sara behind him. She stumbled along, her body felt weak. They ran up a dark alley and the man made a sharp turn towards the wall. Sara held up her arms preparing for the impact of the wall, to her surprise they pasted through the wall and into a small dimly lit room. A brick covered door closed behind them. The man covered Sara's mouth as the sound of large footsteps sounded outside the hidden room. They stopped right in front of the wall. Sara's heart leaped up into her throat. She felt like screaming, but she held it in as the man yelled in the alley. His voice boomed and bounced off the walls. "I've got the Witchblade, Sara. You've got to come out sometime. There's an old abandoned warehouse on Hope Street. Be there, tomorrow night, if you want the Witchblade back and bring Constance!!" They heard the sound of his footsteps again; they grew quieter as he left the alley. The man released her and he laid her gently against the cold brick wall. Sara watched as her vision blurred and went black.
