In Cold Blood [Ash Lynx] - Banana Fish

Fourteen - What Are You So Scared Of?

Lying on the floor on the apartment hall, blood gushing from her nose, eyes streaming from the impact, Tora spits blood onto the tiled floor. Her vision blurs, adding to her panic.

She glances over her shoulder to see him holding onto her ankle. A cut to his forehead and wounded shoulder, he grabs the knife from the floor with her spike stuck into his side.

Kicking her leg out, his fingernails dig into her ankle and she hisses. Panting, he groans and his grip loosens. Tora swings an arm around, sending a blow to his head and knocking him off balance.

He staggers back and she frees her leg, trying to stand up as he wheezes. But before she can, she's pulled back down. She yelps, throwing her arms around herself to protect her face from any more knocks.

"Get off me!" She cries out, thrashing.

His hand a vice-like clamp around her left ankle, he pulls harshly. She attempts to jerk out of his clasp when he jams the knife into the sole of her right foot and she shrieks.

Pushing the knife further into her foot, he cackles and she sobs. She has to do something quickly or he'll do something worse.

Her head spins and a lump forms in her throat —either that or bile rising from her stomach.

But just as she yanks her foot away, she feels an excruciating pain up the back of her leg, as if it's being cut off.

Peering down at her ankle in horror, she whimpers at the sight of the laceration as blood pours out.

He slashed at her Achilles tendon.

Writhing in pain, she pushes it aside and lunges out with her right foot and kicks his jaw.

The force and placement of the kick throws him off balance and he staggers back and his body goes limp. Tripping over his feet and losing consciousness, his body topples to the floor. She hears the knife clatter to the floor back inside the apartment and she groans.

Clutching her throbbing ankle, she attempts to stand up but her foot slips out from under her and she crashes back down.

Thrashing her arms around, she grabs her purse and fumbles with the zip —her hands trembling. Panic rises through her stomach as he stirs from the floor.

Tora sobs, pulling herself up and grabbing onto the metal railing of the staircase with one arm. She drags her left ankle behind herself, grasping onto the bar as she stumbles down the steps.

Reaching the first floor down from his apartment, Tora rubs her eyes of tears in an attempt to gain back her vision. She rummages through the purse, wailing in pain as she crawls along the floor.

Gasping for breath, Tora clenches her teeth as she hears him grunting from two floors up. She grabs the magazine from her purse and inserts it back into the gun with a click.

If I miss this first shot and he comes closer, I'm done for.

Mustering up all the power she can, Tora limps down the last flight of stairs. She reaches the building entrance hall, where she slumps down against the wall and sobs. She tastes the salty tears on her lips, mixed with blood, and squeezes her bloody ankle through her hisses.

Her panting catches in her throat when she glances to the top of the flight of stairs.

Standing with the knife in his shaking hand, he stumbles and his eyes widen, shaking his head. "No...no...no..."

Holding up the gun tightly in her shaking hands, she aims it at his head. She clicks off the safety guard and pulls the trigger.

He howls in pain and Tora looks back at him squeezing a hand to his wounded shoulder, crashing down to the floor.