Chasing Sin

19

I feel a pair of arms wrap around me- one tightened around my neck and the other securing their grasp by linking their hands together on my shoulder.

"What the-" My words get caught in my throat as I realize. It's him.

I panic for a short moment, flashbacks from the last time I was in this position attempting to slow me down. Before my mind reacts, my body does.

I drop to a knee and get him to roll forward, getting the creep over my shoulder and onto the ground.

He doesn't let go at first, but his grip loosens significantly. I step on his stomach to try and yank my head away and put distance between us. He reaches up with one arm and throws a punch, nearly knocking me out.

My instincts kick in as I watch another fist come towards me, but my head is groggy from the first punch. I throw my forearm up in front of my face, blocking it, but it doesn't do me much good. He lands another punch, knocking me to the ground again.

I move back, but stay on the ground, and it's only now that I get a good look at my assailant.

It is him.

Before I can even get up, he steps on my wrist. Hard.

"Agh!" I cry out in pain, trying to pull his foot off with my other hand with no success.

He leans down to get closer to my face, my hand still prying away at his boot crushing my wrist. "The more you move, the more pain you'll feel, sweetheart," he sneers, his voice harsh and haughty.

"Jared, please," I begin to beg. My voice sounds different—hoarse and desperate.

I'm back in that parking lot, outside the restaurant, the hard, cold concrete underneath me.

I forget how to move. I forget all of the self defense maneuvers I've learned. Locking eyes with my ex-boyfriend, I forget everything except fear.

"You can't get away from me, Braya!" he shouts, spitting in my face as he does. His voice is cold and loud, cutting through the air like a dagger.

His dark, nearly black, eyes pierce mine, inciting that same fear it did six months ago.

"Please, Jared, please!" I beg, unable to do anything else as he inches closer and closer.

"You can't erase what we had!" He continues screaming at me. "You know I'll never give up. You know I won't stop until I find you!"

His voice makes my blood run cold.

The cold, rough concrete underneath me sings like summer compared to that voice.

"PLEASE, JARED," I scream as loud as I possibly can. I scream until my lungs hurt, doing anything I have to go get away.

"PLEASE!"

Then suddenly, I'm not in that parking lot.

I'm in my bed, matted hair falling in my face and sweat forming around my neck.

I breath heavily, trying to calm myself down from the nightmare I just had. My heart beats too fast, and I take some deep breaths to try and slow it.

He's not here, I tell myself. It was just a dream. He's not here.

But it felt so real...

I look over at the clock on my nightstand, seeing that it's already eleven AM.

I realize I forgot to turn my alarm on last night, after everything that happened. I overslept, but it's just as well. There's no way I could have gone to school and acted like everything was okay after last night, and after the dream I had this morning.