Danger Lurks in the Shadows
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Chapter 7: Anger knows no boundaries
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Abby stared hard at the man in front of her. Her face showed mixed expression of shock, disbelief, fear, anger, and dread. The one man she feared would never come back had again resurfaced. She felt queasy as she looked into the eye of her former tormentor. Questions began to form in her mind. 'It was him? The messages, the phone calls, it was him?'
Brian smirked at her expression. "Not too happy see me, are you?" He continued to pin her on the wall. They were inches apart, and he stood there as menacing as ever.
Abby slightly cowered at his voice. Everything about Brian's demeanor told her that he was beyond reason. A knot was slowly forming in her gut, and her throat ran dry.
He leaned closer, and Abby closed her eyes. She could feel his hot breath even in the freezing night. He was breathing down her neck. "Cat got your tongue?" he whispered at her ear. A chill went down her spine at the nearness of his voice.
She tried to struggle, but he still had her pinned. She swallowed hard. "What do you want?" She jutted her chin and looked defiantly at him.
He looked at her in disbelief. "What?"
"I said what do you want?" She repeated, this time more forceful.
Brian just stood there and glared at her with pure rage in his eyes. "You're asking what I want?!" he shouted at her. Abby couldn't help but tremble in fright. "What I want is revenge!" he spat with pure hatred.
Brian couldn't hold his anger anymore. His mind went blank, as his hands quickly snaked around Abby's neck. Her expression was pure horror as she realized what he was about to do. But before she could even open her mouth, his hands had already started squeezing.
Abby tried to struggle but it was no use. Brian was far stronger that she is. She attempted to suck in a breath, but Brian had her in a death grip. Her hands tried desperately to release his grip, but to no avail.
He looked at her with his wild eyes. "You're the reason why Joyce left me." He shouted at her. "She was all I got, Abby. And you took her away from me!" his voice boomed. "When she divorced me, I vowed that I would kill the person that took her away from me. Guess who that was?"
Abby struggled hard to breath. She felt her lungs burn and her pulse race from lack of oxygen. Her mind was slowly beginning to go blank. She was aware that if she didn't act now, within minutes, or even seconds, her life would be over. Her eyes glanced wildly around. Blackness was slowly eating her vision.
He smiled like a maniac at her. "No one is here to save you. Not even that stupid foreign boyfriend of yours." He announced triumphantly, referring to Luka.
Without warning, Abby's knee suddenly jerked upward, and caught him in the stomach with a force that surprised him. He quickly released her and clutched his stomach.
As soon as he released her, Abby coughed and took a quick intake of breath. She clutched her neck, which was sore from Brian's hold. Her vision was filled with spots, and her knees were like jelly. Then, she desperately tried to run, but her legs wouldn't cooperate. She trudged, her hand grasping the wall for support. Help!" she tried to shout, but her voice came out hoarse. "Someone, help me!" she tried again frantically.
Behind her, Brian regained his bearings and quickly went after her. "You bitch!" he exclaimed as he grabbed hold of her. He slammed her forcefully on the wall again. Brian then punched her on the chest with brute force. "You think you could get away?! Well think again!"
She felt like her chest was on fire, and found it painful and difficult to breath. Abby knew what has happened, even as she felt something hot trickle down on the back of her head. 'This is it. I'm going to die.' She thought listlessly. Tears that had been slowly forming in her eyes began to fall. Never, in her entire life did she felt hopeless.
Brian again smiled at her, as he heard a slight hissing as she took a breath. "What, did I hurt you?" he taunted.
Abby's vision slowly dimmed, and she couldn't see anymore. She heard Brian's voice taunting her, but it sounded like it was coming from a tunnel.
He smiled triumphantly as he noticed Abby's eyes beginning to droop. He was so absorbed at his seeming victory that he failed to notice the tall man that had turned up around the corner.
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Luka stood by his car and looked around. It was conveniently near the El station. He glanced anxiously at his watch. It was already a few minutes past midnight.
"Maybe I missed her," he muttered under his breath. He was about to open the front door of his car when he heard a faint sound. His eyes scanned the surroundings.
His brows furrowed. "That's strange." He said. He was about to dismiss it, but he heard it again. This time, it sounded like a faint cry for help.
Luka quickly shoved his keys into his pocket and started running near the corner of the street. He glanced around again, and in the distance her saw two forms. He squinted, and saw that one of them was pinning the other to the wall. He paused for a second, before deciding not to call his attention. Instead, he quickly walked over, as quietly as possible, to accost the man.
Luka strode over as a feeling of uneasiness washed over him. There was something wrong, terribly wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was. He was almost ten feet away when he realized why he was feeling uneasy. His face contorted with anger. He was blinded in rage, as he recognized Brian, and a badly beaten Abby.
Like a raging bull, he broke into a furious run. "You son of a bitch!" he shouted.
Brian was surprised, and looked up in time see Luka running after him. His confident expression soon turned into alarm, and then fear. Quickly, she released his hold on Abby, who slumped on the ground.
He quickly turned around and tried to run for it, but Luka was quick, and tackled him. Both men fell to the ground with a loud thud. Once, twice, Luka punched him mercilessly in the face. The sound of a fist hitting flesh resounded.
"No. Please, don't kill me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Brian tearfully begged.
Luka just looked at him, deathly calm. "I warned you, remember? I told you I would kill you." He calmly stated.
Tears were streaming down Brian's face. "Please, man, I'm sorry. I won't do it again. Have me locked up in prison forever, I don't care. Just please, don't kill me." He pleaded like a little child.
Luka glared at him. "Too late." He simply said. He started again started punching the man all over his body.
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Abby was fairly surprised as she felt Brian quickly released his grip. Unable to support herself, she slumped to the ground, her eyes barely open. She shivered as she felt the cold pavement touch her face. She could hear two men arguing, their voices sounded like it was from far away.
She strained her ears and tried to listen to them. Right away she realized that one of them was Brian. Despite her condition, she was able to smile inwardly, as she heard him. He sounded like he was begging to someone. Again, she listened to them.
"Luka?" she whispered inaudibly. There was no doubt about it. The voice, the accent, the other man was indeed Luka. Again, questions began to form on her mind, but she pushed it all aside. Her head was already pounding, and it made it much worse.
'Oh no,' she thought, as she remembered the quite similar event from last year. A mugger had attacked them on their first date, and in anger, Luka had beaten him to death. After that, Luka had undergone an emotional turmoil from the guilt he felt. 'I can't let him go through that again.'
Abby struggled to open her eyes, and she found Luka kneeling over Brian. She tried to reach out her hand, but everything about her body felt as heavy as lead. All this time, the pain in her chest was consuming her, and she could barely breathe. With her last ounce of strength, she called out to him.
"Luka," she said. Her voice was faint. "Luka, stop," she called out again. Her vision soon faded just in time to see Luka heed her plea.
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As soon as he heard her plea, Luka quickly stopped. He released his grip on Brian, and glanced back towards Abby. The feeling of anger was quickly replaced with concern. He stared at his bloody hands, and on the man on the pavement. He was washed with a feeling of remorse as he realized what he has done. He silently cursed himself, and briefly checked Brian for a pulse. He heaved a sigh of release as he found a fairly strong one.
Then, he swiftly moved over towards Abby, and kneeled in front of her. A feeling of dread and desperation overcame him as he dialed his phone. He checked for a pulse, and found a faint one.
He grasped her hand and held it in his face. Tears were slowly trickling down his cheek. "Everything's okay. Just please, hold on, Abby." He whispered to her.
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There, that's chapter seven for you guys. I'm really sorry about the violence. I guess my dark side has taken over again. I assure you, it doesn't happen too often. ^_^ Anyway, I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who gave their reviews. You guys rock! ^_^ Shout outs to CARBYfan, who never seems to fail to write a review. Merci! ^_^