I only had seconds of energy, and I had no plans on wasting it. There was no Michael here, no grand protector. As his moan filled my mouth, I bit down as hard as I could. My arm swung up as forcefully as I could, the blow knocking Tristan off me entirely. The buckle from my purse was enough to slice open his eyebrow, and with the first sign of freedom, I lunged forward.
“Sabrina!”
Whatever excitement had pushed me off of the bench failed me by the time I stumbled down the stairs. My entire body crumbled when my foot caught on a rock in my walkway, but it was my cry of pain that finally pulled the woman from across the street. Pain ricocheted through my tired muscles, my chin scraping painfully against the stone, but when that sickly sweet perfume filled my lungs, I’d never felt more relief. Warm arms wrapped around me, and as the world started to grow dark, I could hear Sabrina repeating my name.
I could hardly understand his words as Sabrina rolled me over and sat me up. Tristan was in front of us, still nursing his bloodied brow and trying to spit out an excuse good enough. He told her he was a friend from my office, and when Sabrina spit out a sly remark, Tristan then tried to tell her he was just helping me into the house. My reality didn’t start to really come back until Sabrina looped my arm around her shoulder and growled for me to use my legs. With my head flopping to the side, I used whatever strength I had left to power myself back up, to stand on shaking ground. Her fingers dug into the back of my dress, and slowly, Sabrina pushed us forward.
“I’m trying to get her inside,” Tristan hissed from behind us.
When Sabrina snorted, my eyes blinked open. “Mission accomplished.”
“Thank you.”
My slurred words brought her attention over to me, and Sabrina led us onto the road. “Not done yet,” she hissed in annoyance. “Jessy will take care of you if we can make it inside. Can you get up the stairs?”
I was certain I promised her I would, that I could, but everything began to black out again as I heard a car behind us roar to life. When Sabrina knew better than to trust me, she led us through the door at the side of her house. The pair of us nearly collapsed when her dog jumped at my numb legs, but a quick scream for her daughter pulled us the rest of the way. It wasn’t until I found myself resting on her couch that I finally felt the world slip away completely.I was finally safe.
I could finally rest.
As I drifted off to sleep, the last thing I remembered saying was the one thing I wanted to forget. “Thank you, Michael.”