Hello Phoebe

Chapter 2: A run turns into a run for life

From beneath my sheets, I poke my head up to have some air, I see that my room is filled with rays of light seeping through the crack of blinds. Slowly reaching to the window, I pull away the blinds to fill my dark cold room with warm light. The sunrise is barely visible through my bedroom windows as they are covered in morning fog. A thought ran through my head:

    It is truly the beginning of Winter.

Covering myself with warm clothes and a thick blanket, I open the window and stand watching as the sun rise. Although my room was getting warmer, it was still cold, the layers of socks wasn't nearly enough to keep my toes from turning into frostbites.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a person, as I turned my head, it turned out to be a sleepy Theo. I waved and whispered,

    "Morning."

Theo nodded and stared with me at the sunrise. I haven't seen him for an entire first week of the holidays, he must have been busy. As he was mesmerized  by the colors of the sunrise, I looked at him, his hair swaying with the wind, his collarbone visible from his unbuttoned top, the bracelet on his wrist from when I was ten - I gave to him as a birthday gift. Then again, without realizing, I looked up and saw Theo. So many thoughts rushed past:

    "Oh no! How long has he been staring at me?!"

My face turns red. I give a quick wave and leave the window.

But I return later to see if Theo had left his window, and yes, so I went and shut my blinds so that I could change into active wear.

I usually go for a run with my dog on Saturday mornings, but today, I didn't have the energy, so I just walked around the neighborhood. In the early morning, there aren't much people awake so it's more quiet and the road is clear of cars and buses, and the atmosphere feels fresher. A small habit of bringing loose change to buy a loaf of bread from the local bakery always give joy to the owner, she really love my presence, we'd talk for hours if we had the time.

Before I entered the bakery, I noticed a tall man have been following me for the past several minutes, didn't think it was much of a problem until I left the bakery, he stood across the road from by a few meters. Good thing I was still holding my small purse, I thoughtit would be a good idea to tell the owner that a suspicious man is following, so I peeped inside the store and pretended that I had forgotten to give the spare change that I thought I didn't have from before. 

    "Hey Fiona, there's a strange man in black in front of the bakery and I think I am being followed, if you see come pass, I want to let you know I would be hiding in alleyway." I left before it became suspicious. 

There's only one alleyway in this neighborhood, only the people who lives in this area know it exist, it's very small and cannot be seen if you pass it once. Basically, the alleyway is between two houses, many can mistake it to be part of the front yard, it is covered in two tall large bushes, you can enter by parting the center.

First I walked my dog around a few blocks to see if he was actually following me, I kept my pace light, making sure the only sound I could hear was my dog and his footsteps. Later I started to jog, I tried to take a longer route to divert him from stalking me to my house. My dog also sensed danger and started to jog faster, so I began light sprinting. I didn't carry my phone but luckily I knew the road really well, I crossed a few paths, a detour and quickly turned into the alleyway and hid behind a large bush.  We waited until it was safe enough to leave, holding my dog close to me I whispered,

    "Shhh, don't make a sound. You did a good job, I don't think I need to take you on another run for another 3 days." 

We waited a solid 20 minutes and stood and left the bush. Oh boy was I wrong. The man was standing just across me, he must have known the neighborhood well to know that there was a small alleyway between two houses. The tall man was covered all in black, the only thing visible was his eyes, his eyes hunger for me. In one of his hand was a knife, a small knife, sharp enough to slice me dead. He was very muscular, it was obvious he worked out and very athletic.

Why is he carrying a knife and chasing after me?  

There's a chance that he is mentally ill. His pants doesn't fully cover his ankles and the blood can be seen soaking the tape, his shoes are old and ripped. Could he be a gang member? 

My dog had ran away seeking for help. An adrenaline started to beat inside me. 

In a split second I bolted and ran back to the bakery but in another route I made while sprinting away from him, the man was incredibly fast. And luckily I was also quite atheletic, as I ran to the bakery, I saw a blurry site of Angela, I am certain she will see a man dressed in all black chasing me with a knife.

I jumped several fences, but tripped costing me seconds. Yet, I arrived at the bakery quickly enough to tell her I was being chased by the man I mentioned before. While I thought I was safe, a minute later the man barged in, he stepped foot into the bakery, and his panting was long and loud, he didn't look happy at all, he looked CRAZY!

I was stuck frozen in fear as the man approached closer, his hand reaching out to me. He spoke in a strong Mexican accent, he was inches away from me when he said,

    "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."

It was clearly a lie. I stepped back pushing against the owner, cornered, the owner scrambled away while I ducked and swayed from his hand with the knife. The man became furious that he wasn't able to strike, so he unexpectedly kicked my leg and I stumbled forward and WHAM! 

The man took a blow to my head, while I was trying to re-focus, the wind around us changed, he had lifted his knife into the air, and swung down, cutting my shoulder. Blood splatted on both of us and the rest dripped from the wound to the ground. I try to stop his arm from swinging his knife but I was weak and lost the strength and the knife hit me again.

I hear the bakery owner scream in horror. Fiona was dialing the cops, when the man approached her and threatened to kill her if she didn't hang up. He grabbed the phone and threw it against the glass window, cracking the screen where it had the most impact.

I was bleeding and in shock. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn't budge. I wanted to scream but my mouth was sealed shut. He gave another blow to my head, and I staggered.

- The bakery door bell rings - 

- Heavy footsteps rush into the bakery - 

My vision began to blur, the tall black figure fell to the ground, someone must have knocked him out. I heard him scream out for help and begging for his life. Before I lost conscious, I felt someone lifting me up and my dog barking nearby.