Death In The Hills: A Revelation

Chapter 7: The Sudden Help

Laia shrieked as she had never done before in her life—a long, drawn-out screeching sound that immediately woke up Jai, who looked around bewildered as if there was a fire. 

The shrill sound of the shriek pierced the cold silence and rang out like a harsh bell disturbing the serenity of the night. When she finally stopped Jai had managed to rub the sleep out of his eyes and look at the object of Laia's fear. 

A man. 

A tall, broad-shouldered man with black shoulder-length hair and a thick beard wearing a long-sleeved chequered brown shirt and faded black jeans was standing right in front of the car. 

The orange glow of the lone street light only partially reached him but didn't fall on his face, thus making it impossible to see his expression, if there was even any.  

Laia immediately locked the doors and began hurriedly rummaging in her purse and the car to see if anything could be used as a weapon. Her pace increased when she saw the man walk slowly over to her side and then knock on the window. 

Seeing his face pressed so close to the window glass worsened her fear, and she jumped a little. C'mon Laia, why are you so distressed? You have been in far more dangerous situations; get yourself under control and remember how to disarm attackers, she chastised herself. 

Except, things had changed since that incident. If he was here, he wouldn't have let her get in this situation at all, Laia thought just as another knock came on the window.

She hesitated once and then looked at Jai, who indicated that she should roll down the window a little. 

The man's deep, husky voice floated in from the small gap, "Sorry for scaring you, but I noticed that your car seems to be broken. I can help."

Laia again looked back at Jai, and they silently communicated between themselves to not lower the window any further. 

"We have a flat tire, and our engine seems not to start as well," Laia said. 

"Do you have a spare tire? I can change it and look at the engine as well," his voice wafted in again. 

From the back, Laia heard Jai say, "I don't think we have a spare tire. I looked inside the car everywhere for it but didn't find any."

"Did you look under the car?" Came the simple reply. 

From Jai's silence, Laia understood that the answer was no. But she couldn't blame him entirely. He was new to the job and the workplace, and she hadn't thought about looking for it as well.  

The man immediately bent down and disappeared from Laia's view before propping back up to say, "Yes, just as I thought, it's under the car, towards the back." 

Then a beat passed, and upon receiving no reply from them, he said, "Look, lady and... guy... I am not gonna murder or kidnap you or anything like that. Both of you look like you need help so I stopped. If you guys are fine, I can go."

The thought of spending the entire cold night shivering and trapped in a car with no heating made Laia involuntarily tremble.

Without thinking of anything else, she opened the car door, stood in front of the large man, and said almost breathlessly in the cold, "Yeah, please, we would like your help."

She was standing so close to him that she could smell him. He smelled of the forest, like freshly uprooted soil and green leaves.

Even in the darkness, she could feel the coiled energy and strength that was present in his muscles. 

Then she looked up at his face, and as her eyes adjusted in the semi-darkness, she saw his black eyes staring directly at her. Laia saw no malice in them.