Secrets of Adeline (Book 2)

Chapter 5: Alley

I awoke to strange surroundings I had never seen before. Scanning the area, I noticed that I was in an alley. The walls held many spray painted graffiti doodles and hidden messages and gang signs. It was night time, surrounded by brick walls with spray paint. Random trash was scattered across the damp alley floor. I bit my lip with unison, taking a step back. A shadowy figure appeared from around the corner.

I breathed heavily as the figure grew closer. And closer. And closer. I turned calmly, quietly speed walking in the other direction. I had to play it smooth, I didn't want the stranger to know I was on the run. Footsteps thudded behind me, every step like thunder to my ears. Every last sound bounced off the walls and echoed into my ears. I quickened my pace, breaking into a quick jog. I glanced behind me, only to see a wider woman, whom I have never seen before, gaining on me. She was practically on my heels now, her arms being thrust out onto me, slamming me against the brick wall. Air escaped my lungs, a scream inching up my throat but all that came out was my crackling quiet voice. I struggled, wiggling and kicking with all my might, muscles burning, vision clouding, voice cracking. What does she want with me?

The stranger was almost a foot taller than me on flat foot and almost a mile wider than me. "What do you want?"I croaked. "I just want to have some fun." She cackled, her voice melting into my brain. Suddenly, a flash of metal caught my eye. The next thing I knew, her arm was around my shoulder, a glistening knife scratching at my throat. Every breath caused my neck to brush against the sharp blade. I breathed slowly and calmly.

"Keep walking." She bellowed, shoving me from behind. I stumbled but regained my balance quickly in case of touching the knife. Seconds ticked by, we walked deeper into the alley. "Why are you doing this?" I pleaded. "For fun." She whispered, her hot breath scorching the hairs on the back of my neck. I swallowed hard. I had to think of something. How would people react if all of a sudden I was just gone? Dead. No. I wasn't going to let that happen. At Least not without a fight.

As every passing second ticked by, I thought harder and harder as to how I was going to make it out of this. My hands were clasped around her wrist tightly, in case of a sudden knife strike to the throat. In a flash, my elbow was rammed into her gut, a wheeze burned into my ears. I slipped from her grip, turning and pinning her against the wall, the blade still in her hand but touching her throat with my force. She laughed wickedly. My muscles felt like they were on fire, all I wanted was to crumble to the floor.

In an instant, I was slammed against the brick wall once more, wheezing from the impact. Pain creeped up my spine now. The glistening blade shot out, piercing my lower stomach. I screamed with pain, tears now rolling down my warm cheeks. My hands wrapped around the blade within my flesh. Pain pierced up my side. I coughed and sputtered, everything began to turn red. Red. My shirt, red. The filter of my vision, red. Fluid rose from my mouth, splashing onto the ground. More red. I wiped my mouth, a streak of blood was left on my sleeve. This was it. It was over and I was dying. I desperately tried to pull the blade from my stomach, my shirt now stained red with blood.

Fingers trembling, I gripped the knife. The slightest movement could end it all. It was half way out now, my screams of pain piercing the air. I had almost got the knife completely out when a hand shot out, wrapping around it. The knife was shoved back into my stomach with force, now being turned in every direction. She was twisting it quickly. I whined and screamed more, my throat burning. I looked back into the eyes of the attacker, but now they were different. They were brown, and the face wasn't the same. It was more familiar. I tried to focus out the cloudiness blocking my vision. The person whose hand was holding the knife was now Jake, the stranger had completely vanished. "Jake?" I whispered, all of my strength leaving me. His innocent eyes reached into mine, sucking the life out of them. Everything went black as I felt my body collapse to the floor. The sound of my surroundings suddenly faded away. Silence. I was dead now.

The silence was interrupted by birds chirping from every direction. I shot up, my eyes moistened with tears. I wiped them on my sleeve, scanning the area. I wasn't dead. I sighed with relief. It was just another nightmare. I was in the woods, surrounded by my peacefully sleeping friends. I gently rested my head back onto my blanket, staring up into the clear blue sky. Leaves swayed with the calming wind, every breath healing my deprived lungs.

My peace was interrupted by a faint voice coming from the distance. It was Todd. A few trees away, I spotted him writing on a notepad. He was spitting rhymes like it was nothing. Wrapping the blanket around me, I made my way over to him. He instantly stopped when he seen me. I sat intently on the log across from him. "Don't stop, keep going." I nodded. "But-" he mumbled. I cut him off. "Seriously. I'm not even here." I shrugged, leaving his eyes. He sighed, flipping a few pages in the notepad. We sat in silence for a few more moments. I heard him gulp. "Well...?" I whispered with curiosity. And with that, he began. He read the lyrics he had written down on the paper at a steady pace the entire time. Once he had finished, I walked over to his log, swiftly grabbing the notepad. "Not bad." I nodded, scanning the words penciled onto the page. "Thanks." He mumbled. "I'm being serious. You could really go places with these." I said, handing him the notepad back. "You really think so?" He looked hopeful. "You'll never know until you try." I glanced at him. "Yeah, maybe." He considered. "Okay well, you got talent I'm not gonna lie. Yeah, you could use some work but all in all, it sounds really great." I reassured him. I left him to think so I could take a stroll in the woods.