chapter sixteen
Back home in Holby
Jasmine groaned as she slammed her hand down on the alarm clock and wrapped herself up in her duvet. It was just gone seven and she knew she had to get up now otherwise she'd never get to school on time.
She sat up, pulled the duvet off her and got out of bed. Making her way over to the door, she took her dressing gown that was hanging on the back of the door and put it on. Tightening it around her body, she opened the door and left the bedroom.
The house was quite which was unusual and Jasmine felt a bit uneasy, like something wasn't right. She tip-toed to the top of the stairs and slowly made her way down them.
"Dad?" She called as she heard a glass break in the kitchen, "Lauren?"
She got down the stairs and went into the kitchen. There was a figure standing over another on the floor and Jasmine froze in fear. The figure walked towards her and it was then that he brought the knife into view.
"Your step-mum is gonna wish she never messed with me!"
He hissed and pressed the knife into Jasmine's throat, "Me and you were going to have some fun."
And he dragged her by her hair into the living room. All Blake could do was drag himself to the phone and call for help and pray it came before the monster attacked his daughter. Holding the phone with blood stained hands, he dialled nine-nine-nine and pressed the phone to his ear.
"Hello, what service do you require?"
"I need an ambulance.." He whispered, taking deep breaths.
"Okay."
The phone rang for a second when another operator answered and asked what his emergency was. Blake replied that he had been stabbed and that the man was still in the house and was with his daughter. He told them the address and told them to hurry.
He could feel himself getting tired and losing consciousness but he knew he couldn't. He had to stay alive for Jasmine and Lauren. It was only then when he was thinking of Lauren that he realised she didn't come home last night.
He dragged himself to the kitchen door before he heard the gentle sobs of his daughter. He closed his eyes and prayed that the monster hadn't touched her. She came back out of the living room, covered in blood and holding the knife in her hands.
"Daddy.." She whispered as she knelt down beside him. He opened his eyes and smiled a little at his daughter. He knew himself he didn't have much time last.
"Jas—I—love you—tell—Lauren—love—her—too." He whispered, closing his eyes.
"Daddy, I love you two. Your not going to die, I won't let you die."
"Be—good—for—Lauren. She's—not—all—bad." He whispered again and took one last deep breath. She knew he wasn't breathing after that as she stared at his chest, hoping for it to rise and fall but it never did.
Colchester
I woke up in a bed, in a strange house. Initially I thought I had been taken by Malick again but the memories off last night came back to me. The rape, the train journey and ending up here. I sat up in bed, the duvet wrapped around me and I looked at the clock.
It was only gone seven but it felt much later and I got out of bed and straightened myself out. I held one end of the duvet and made the bed, proping the pillows up. I was about to make a phone call home when I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in." I called. The door opened and Duffy walked in.
"Sleep well?" She asked and I shrugged my shoulders, "It was alright."
She nodded. She understood what I meant. I smiled a little and she asked if I was doing anything today. I told her I was probably going to ring home and let them know I was safe and spend the rest of the day wondering what to do.
"Nobody knows your here?"
"Yeah. I—I couldn't.." I answered and chewed her lower lip a little. It felt wrong not to inform them that I was going away for a few days but to be fair, letting them know wasn't top of my list last night.
"I think you should talk to someone, someone who understands—"
"You understand." I replied and made eye contact with her.
"Your right, I do understand what your going through but please, just talk to someone."
I promised her I'd talk to someone. She told me I'd feel better once I had. She left me alone after that. I lay down on the bed and looked at the clock. It had just gone fifteen minutes past seven so I decided to ring home.
Picking up my phone off the bedside table, I went through my contacts finding the house number. Pressing the call button, I pressed my phone to my ear. It rang for ages and ages before the answering machine came on.
"Hi, you've reached Lauren, Blake and Jasmine. We're not in at the moment, leave a message and we'll get back to you. Bye."
I had an uneasy feeling. It was unusual for Blake or Jasmine never to answer the phone but I left a message anyway, "It's Lauren. Sorry I didn't come back last night, I stayed at a friends house. I'll be back in a—"
The message was suddenly cut short and the phone was answered, "L—Lauren, it's—it's dad."
I recognised the voice as Jasmine and I wondered what was happening, "Jas? What's the matter?"
"Dad's—been—hurt. A—m—m—man, stabbed him. Laur—he—he.."
She trailed off and I had a feeling I knew who was behind it, "Jasmine darling, have you called an ambulance?"
She said that she had and that they were here. I asked her to ask what hospital they were taking him too and she said Holby. I told her that I'd be there as soon as I could and that I loved her and everything would be okay.
The line went dead and I looked at my phone and hated myself.
He had hurt my family, he'd gone through with his threat and this was all my fault.
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