Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

— jewelry —

April 10th, 2019

GISELLE WAS SO enthralled in the book she was reading on her phone that the sound of knocking on her door made her jump up in fright. Once she pressed a palm to her rapidly beating heart and calmed herself, she told Selene to come in.

"I'm about to leave to pick up Hester from Jo's," she informed her, the light from the hallway splashing across Giselle's face. "Why's it so dark in here?" Selene commented. "Do you want me to turn your light on?"

"No, I like the dark," Giselle answered back. "It's calming."

Selene shook her head. "You're a weird girl," is all she heard her mutter before she closed the door and turned off the hallway light.

Giselle rolled back over in bed, getting back into her book as she heard the telltale signs of Selene locking up the house and driving off.

It was about ten minutes later when she sat up, goosebumps breaking out along her arms as pressure built up in her chest.

It was time for her to leave.

Giselle sighed, sending a text to Selene that she was leaving before she abandoned her phone headed downstairs to get her suitcase.

The living room was pitch black when she entered. She crossed the room, her hand coming to hover over the light switch when a dark figure darted across the room and grabbed her. She screamed instinctually, the primal urge to fight kicking in. She bucked and writhed beneath the hands that held her, earning a swift punch to the side of her head for all her hard work.

While she was dazed from the hit, a gloved hand slapped over her mouth as another one held something at her throat.

"You're not supposed to be here," her captor hissed, his voice undoubtedly male and spoken at an octave that didn't seem natural to him. She tried to commit every part of him to her memory, just in case she made it out alive and had to talk to the police.

The only notable thing about him was that he was dressed exactly how she thought a robber should be. Black hoodie and pants to hide easily in the shadows, gloves to prevent the transfer of fingerprints, and a black piece of cloth around the bottom half of his face to hide any features. The only physical feature she noted was that he was about her height and was very bulky.

The object at her neck pressed deeper into her flesh. "You scream, and I'll slit your throat, got it?" he ultimated. She offered a small nod in acknowledgment, cautious of the blade at her neck. "Tell me where any valuables would be. Jewelry. Money. Small stuff. Things I can carry easily. If you don't . . ." he dug the knife in her skin to finish the sentence. "Now, tell me."

She took a few shallow breaths before speaking. "T-the door behind you. That's my aunt's room."

He glanced over his shoulder and then pulled her in front of him, her back pressed against his front as he held the knife to her neck. "This the lady that just left?"

"Y-Yes," she lied impulsively.

He said nothing more, moving them towards the door.

A prayer went on repeat in her head.

Please don't let me die, Lord. Not like this.

The words eventually began to jumble together, tears pooling in her eyes as the man opened the bedroom door and ushered her inside. She felt him shuffle behind her before he pulled out a flashlight and powered it on.

"Where now?" he asked.

"There's a jewelry box on her dresser," she told him. "To the right."

The beam of his flashlight cut through the dark room and landed on the cherrywood box sitting atop the dresser. He walked them toward it, then started to rifle through it with his other hand, trying to hold his flashlight and look through the jewels at the same time as he continued to hold the knife at Giselle's throat.

While he did that, her head started to clear, rational thinking presenting itself as her self-preservation instinct began to kick in, drowning out some of her fear. 

She started to take in her surroundings, trying to find some way to get out of this mess. He left the door to the room open, she noticed, which would make it easier to run if she managed to break free from him.

She stuck to that idea, thinking past the bedroom. If she could make it out of the room, she could turn the corner and run to the back door. If she made it there, she might have a second delay unlocking it, but she believed she could do it. He was bigger than her, but he was the same height. She might just have an advantage over him in speed.

She threw in more variables and hypotheses, trying to concoct the best plan of survival.

Her stomach turned at the word. Survival. She was in a position where she might die.

Her heart weighed heavily in her chest, her thoughts going to Will. She might die without ever truly being with him.

"Hold this," the man said to her, roughly shoving his small flashlight into her stomach. "Shine it where I look," he demanded, pressing the blade closer to her neck to show her what he would do if she disobeyed.

She clutched the flashlight with shaky hands, doing as he said. She watched as he grabbed at anything and everything shiny, tucking the pieces of jewelry into his back pockets hastily. He eventually moved on to the next drawer, then the next. Finally, he got to the bottom one, but it didn't budge when he tried to open it.

"Is this locked?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she told him. She had no idea if it truly was or not, but she saw the opportunity to save her skin slowly approaching. "The key is in the bottom drawer of her dresser underneath her clothes."

He didn't question her, leaning down to open the drawer, the knife slipping away from her neck momentarily. He moved it to press the tip into her thigh as he crouched down to sift through the drawer's contents.

With the knife at her thigh, she could breathe a bit easier, and allowed herself one deep breath before she threw all caution to the wind and made a run for it, throwing the flashlight over her should in hopes of it hitting him.

She followed the plan she had in her head, running toward the back door. She heard the man's footsteps from behind her as she ate up the distance between her and the door. She unlocked it as fast as she could, throwing open the door and bursting out into the night air.

She felt the tree drawing her forward as she flew off the porch and onto the damp grass. A fresh wave of adrenaline shot through her once she broke into the forest, knowing the familiar path to the tree like it was the back of her hand.

She paid no attention to the sharp rocks and twigs that bit into the bare skin at her feet, pushing forward like it was life or death. Because it was.

As soon as she passed the angel statue, she began to feel the tendrils of relief starting to ease down her spine, running through her veins and calming her anxiety. With one last burst of energy, she threw herself at the tree, her palm slapping against it.

The inky darkness began to overtake her, and she welcomed it happily.

•   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •   •

Words: 1,280.

Question: What is the biggest book you've ever read?

The biggest book I've ever read was the Bible, which is typically around 1,000 pages.

Honestly, reading the Bible was kind of a crazy experience. I was so surprised by some of the things I read in there. Like, did you know that there's a talking donkey in it? Yeah, God literally gives a donkey the ability to speak and complain to the guy riding it.

Aside from talking donkeys, it has a lot of really good advice and suggestions, especially in Proverbs and Psalms. I highly recommend, but don't let the first couple of books scare you off!

PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT TO MAKE ME SMILE!!!