Laney
Please be another dream,I silently begged the universe. But I already knew it wasn’t.
My eyes had adjusted to the darkness now, and I could see exactly what the man was wearing. Black hoodie, black pants, and a hockey mask. He was around six-feet-two, maybe even a little taller, and I could tell he was powerfully-built beneath the baggy clothes.
An inky chill trickled through me, sinking cold and deep in my guts. Even though the man must’ve seen me stir and sit up, he hadn’t moved at all. He was just standing there, staring down at me.
“Who are you?” I managed to choke out.
No response.
“Please,” I whispered, holding my trembling arms in front of my chest in a defensive stance. “Just… just get out. I won’t tell anyone.”
He let out a low, humorless chuckle and tipped his head to one side. “We both know that’s not true,” he muttered. His deep voice was muffled by the mask, so I couldn’t tell who it was, or if I even knew him.
“What do you want?” I asked. My whole body was shaking now, and I could taste bitter adrenaline in my mouth.
For a moment, the man was silent again. Watching. Waiting. Then he lunged forward and jumped onto the end of the bed.
I screamed and dodged sideways as he moved up to me, but I wasn’t fast enough to get away. He put one hand over my mouth to silence my cries, using the other to roughly pin me to the mattress.
I kicked and clawed, trying to get him off me, but he was too strong. He let out a throaty, sadistic chuckle at my efforts and moved the hand on my face farther up until it covered both my mouth and nose.
I started thrashing even harder, desperate for air.
My attacker laughed again and moved his hand away from my nose. Then he lowered his masked head to my right ear. “Look how easily I could kill you,” he whispered.
I tried to beg and plead for mercy, but my voice was still muffled by his hand.
“You know you deserve it, right?” he went on. I moaned into his hand, furiously shaking my head. I didn’t deserve any of this.
Another rush of adrenaline flooded through me, lending me extra strength, and I managed to knee my attacker in the stomach before rolling out from under him. I fell onto the floor with a painful thump, but I refused to let myself take even one second to recover from the blow. I couldn’t risk it.
I got right up, grabbed my keycard from my nightstand and ran into my bathroom.
I slammed the door shut behind me and locked it. Then I turned the light on and whipped my head around in search for something I could use as a weapon in case my attacker managed to break the door down.
My eyes almost bulged out of my head at the sight of my bathroom walls, and my chest began to heave.
The white surfaces were covered in huge black letters, spelling out various threats and insults. Oily little rivulets dripped down from each letter, making the whole display look like something from a horror movie.
LEAVE.
BITCH.
LEAVE NOW.
GET OUT BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE, WHORE.
GO HOME BEFORE WE MAKE YOU REGRET IT.
My eyes brimmed with hot tears, and I sank to the ground by the vanity and curled into a ball, wrapping my arms around my belly. Please stop, please stop, please stop, I chanted in my mind, willing the universe to help me out of the dire situation. I usually didn’t believe in magical thinking, but right now I was so desperate I’d try anything.
This wasn’t just the hallway bullying that I’d grown accustomed to. It was pure torture, and I was literally scared for my life.
There was a soft tap at the bathroom door, followed by three more insistent ones. “C’mon, Laney,” the man said in a deadly-soft tone. “Let me in…”
“Get out!” I screamed. “Leave me alone!”