Chapter 15 - Life in slow motion

Phil heard a scream.

Mandy heard a scream.

It took about two minutes for them both to figure out that the scream wasn't part of their dreams.

"Keely!" Phil yelled, as he sat bolt upright.

Mandy was frozen staring at the glinting kitchen knife in the gloved hand.

Keely kept screaming.

"I expected the boyfriend to protect the girl, but you don't seem to be doing that. Do you Phil?"

Phil stopped. "How do you know me? My name?"

The man laughed. At least they presumed it was a man. The mask that covered the whole of their face didn't give away whether it was a woman or a man.

"My dream…" Keely whispered. "My dream…"

Phil ran over to Keely and grabbed her arm. "Keely, don't worry. It'll all be okay."

"On the contrary, it won't be. Your father…Keely? Your father owes me some money. Except, well, he won't exactly be able to give me it now, will he?"

Keely couldn't think. Her mind was blank. All she could think of, was her dream. Phil and her mom lying lifeless on the floor, and the knife about to stab her.

"So I'm afraid there's some debt to be repaid," the man said, advancing.

Mandy whimpered.

"Shut up!"

Phil tried to think of what to do. Why couldn't he think of a way to save them? He had to save them.

"You see, Keely, your father bought drugs from me. Lots and lots of drugs. But instead of paying me for them, he told me that he'd send me the money. I waited years for that money. But it never came. And then when I saw you… I was waiting outside H.G Wells school one day. Best place to sell drugs really, schools. And I saw you and your boyfriend here, walking out, laughing and joking. You were the spitting image of your father. And I knew that I had found him. I traced your calls, followed you. Hospital? Yep, I was there. That's how I killed him. With a pillow. Told him the score. Well, actually, I told him that if he died, I wouldn't come after his family. But he won't know, will he? He's dead. I couldn't let him get away with it."

Keely looked at Phil, begging him to do something. But he didn't know what to do.

"Did you get scared Keely? You saw the light on. I watched you turn it off. Did it scare you? And then you looked out of the window. And you saw nothing. The police car isn't there. It pays, to have friends in the police force. They volunteered, and then scampered off when I needed in. And the TV didn't work did it? I cut the wire. You looked really cute when you were sleeping. You lying with your boyfriend here."

"He's not my boyfriend," Keely croaked, finding her voice at last. She had to buy time. Time was all she needed. The sun was rising, and the police had said they'd be back in the early morning.

"Right. Well, I don't care, because he's going to be killed first. I want to see you suffer," the man laughed. Keely was pretty sure it was a man now.

"Why? It wasn't me that bought the drugs. I didn't even know about it all until today. Why do you want me to suffer?" Keely asked, trying not to let on how she'd feel if Phil really was killed.

The man moved a step forward, and Keely moved a step back. "Because, Keely, it's in your blood. That robber is in your blood, and I want to eliminate all of his blood. His pathetic excuse of a wife can stay alive. You however, can't."

"So why kill Phil?" Keely asked, her voice cracking. She was scared. But she didn't dare let on that she was.

The man shrugged. "Don't know. Just feel like it."

"Please don't kill him," Keely reduced herself to begging.

The man smiled, as if he knew that she would eventually beg. "But if he's not your boyfriend, why would you care?"

"Because he's my best friend," Keely said, feeling her eyes prick.

"Aaw…is that all? Am I supposed to take one look at your crying face, and then do whatever you say?"

Keely sniffed. "Kill me then. Just please don't kill Phil. Please…"

"Why not though? You haven't given me a reasonable excuse yet," the man tutted. Keely knew that he was playing around with her. He was trying to get her to beg, and then he'd kill her. But she needed time.

"Because…" Keely tried to think of something to say. And then she realised. If she was going to die, she wanted Phil to know how she actually felt.

Phil looked over at Keely, and almost burst into tears. She knew that this was nearing the end. And the murderer was standing in his way. He couldn't reach out and save her.

Their eyes locked, and in that second, the world around them was in slow motion. They knew what each other was thinking. They knew how each other felt.

"Because I love him. And I never told him, and now that you're planning on killing me, I wish I had before. Amazing how the end of your life makes you confess things that you wouldn't have otherwise. Phil, I love you!" Keely yelled, trying to show Phil that she refused to be afraid. But there was something in her voice that gave her away. He had to help her. But how?

Something on the couch where they had been sleeping, only ten minutes ago caught his eye. It shone in the bit of sunlight that was leaking in through the windows. Phil felt like laughing. Why hadn't he thought of it before? "I love you too Keels!"

"That's so sweet. It's like a movie. They confess their love for each other just before she dies!"

Phil edged over to the couch, and Keely wrinkled her nose. What was he doing? Going for another sleep while she got cut into bite sized chunks?

He knew that he was risking a lot, but he'd rather Mandy knew, than have Keely killed right in front of him. Picking it up slowly, he hid it behind his back. He had to wait until the exact moment.

Keely saw what Phil had picked up, and she felt like jumping for joy.

"Well, Miss Teslow. Any last words?"

Keely looked at Phil, and then at her mother, who was crying on the couch. "Yeah. Actually, I do have some last words. I think you're sick. You go around killing totally innocent people, because you don't get what you want. I hope you rot in jail. Because that's where you're going. You can't run forever."

"Actually, I can. And I have been for ten years. And I have never been caught…" the man started.

Phil knew that this was time. But he had a matter of seconds. If this went wrong…

Keely watched, as he swung the knife over his head. This was it. If Phil didn't save her now, then she'd be gone.

Mandy let out a scream as she watched the knife swing over his head. "Keely!"

The scream echoed around the room.

A blue beam erupted from the Wizrd, and hit the man square in the back.

He wavered, for a few seconds, and then crashed to the floor; the knife creating a long scratch down Keely's arm, but nothing more.

The scream faded out.

Keely's sobs as she clutched her arm were the only sound, as the three of them stood frozen.

"Is he dead?" Keely whispered.

Phil shook his head. "No. But he should be out for about three hours."

"Phil!" she sobbed, and ran into his arms. It was just beginning to sink in. She had just escaped death. By about three seconds. "Thank you so much. You saved my life. Literally."

Mandy ran up to them, and hugged Keely, crying hysterically. "My baby. He was going to kill you. My baby…"

The nightmare was over.

Okay, this still isn't a finished story. Not really anyway. Wow, that totally flowed out. I mean, in my head I had planned it, but this is like, totally different to how I planned.

I do have the first draft, so if any of you want to read what it would have been like if the ramblings in my head had made it, then say so in your review. I'll send you it, easily.