Comatose

Night Terrors

Chapter 14

Angelica stood in front of the dark mass. It seemed to emit a vibration that thrummed through her whole body. Goosebumps rose on her flesh and her hair stood on end. Rubbing her arms, she took a deep breath before stepping forward into the dark. Unlike the other memories where she had been a mere spectator to the events in her life, she now had a front seat view. Instead of viewing it she was now the star of it. Glancing around she watched as the rain fell pattering on the pavement of the empty parking lot. She was reliving the night she had been attacked. Her heartbeat raced erratically as she began to panic. Angelica tried to will herself to stop but her body wouldn't listen. Apparently, she could freeze a scene, but she couldn't change the events.

She walked calmly to her vehicle where it sat like a beacon in the night. Outside she was no different than she had appeared that night. On the inside however Angelica was a mess. She wanted to run away. To leave the memory and never come back. She watched in horror as she had almost come to the place where her life changed forever. From her peripheral vision she could see a shadow slink away and separate from the rest of the darkness. It was the man who attacked her. She could hear his light footsteps padding across the pavement in nearly an echoed sound of her own. The soft sound moved down her spine like ice through a vein.

The cool metal of her keys sat in her hand as she reached out to unlock her car. Her eyes lifted to the passenger window seeing her attacker in the image reflected there. Turning around his body slammed into hers knocking her to the ground as her keys flew across the parking lot. The tinkling sound of them hitting the ground met her ears. Angelica gasped for air as her attacker sat atop her. She raged on the inside screaming at herself to crawl away. Instead she cried out for help causing the man to hit her in the face. Instead of practically knocking her out this time though, Angelica found that her mind was clear. There would be no blacking out in this rendition since she wasn't actually suffering any of the physical damage she could feel happening to her.

Her attacker roughly turned her over resetting himself just below her sternum. Just like before her body swung her arms aimlessly flailing in an attempt to connect with the man on top of her. With her mind clear headed this time she could see the folly in her fruitless actions that night. Instead of trying to attack him she should have been trying to get away. There was loose gravel mixed in the puddles within arms reach of her prone body. She should have grabbed a handful to throw in his face and then shoved him away. She understood that she had been in a blind panic that night. If she had thought to take some kind of self-defense class in the past, she could have helped herself. Anytime the opportunity had come up though Kevin would berate her for wanting to do it. Saying that Cooper was more then enough protection for her. She had been an idiot to believe him. Angelica wished she had gone against him then and done it anyway.

Once again, her attacker gained control of her arms pinning them to her sides. Angelica was so angry with herself for having been so helpless. She had done so many things wrong that night. Her body struggled to get free, but it had been a waste of precious energy. Her shoulder joints screamed, her face throbbed, and her foot burned. The injuries made themselves known more to her now then they had that night. Without the copious amounts of adrenaline pouring through her blood stream Angelica could feel everything she should have then. The bite of the rough pavement as she was pressed into it. The cold raindrops as they caressed her skin on contact. The chill of the breeze as it brushed against her wet clothing. A hot burning in her joints as if they were collecting acid with every pull. The tickling of the strands of hair as he stroked them free of the caked blood. The heat from his breath as it danced along her skin as he was trying to calm her. The moisture his breath created that clung to the small hairs across her cheek and down the shell of her ear. The almost familiar weight of his body pressed to hers. If Angelica would have felt this all that night, she would have been physically ill.

She stared at his face as he sat himself back up. The hood of his sweatshirt was pulled low in a way that made his face hide in darkness. She was sure she should have been able to make it out though as she could see his eyes staring at her. Even though the depths of the hood made them darker from the shadows, it did not make them featureless as it did to the rest of his face. Something niggled in her mind in the midst of her fear. Try as she might she just couldn't grasp the thought before it slipped beyond her reach. His eyes sparkled with a sadistic glee as he produced the knife from the back of his pants. Angelica watched the dim streetlights glint off of the blade when it caught the weak rays as he turned it. She watched her reflection caught in the blade transform from panic to pure horror. Raising the knife up she watched in slow motion as the weapon came down embedding itself in her shoulder. She could feel the ripping and tearing of her flesh as the sharp object separated it on its path through her body. She could feel as the serrated edge snagged against her bones before tearing past them. A scream burst from her throat searing it in its fight to break free. His hand connected with her already wounded flesh of her face cutting the sound she had made.

The tang of her blood ravaged her taste buds while teeth that had been knocked out bounced around the cavity of her mouth. Gagging on the taste Angelica turned her head half spitting half dry heaving the contents onto the ground. Her molars bobbed in the pool of blood that leached together with the puddle left behind from the rain. The heavier liquid oozed forward swirling with the water before sinking into it. Her face turned back to the figure above her as he wrenched the blade free from her body. A manic giggle poured from his lips traipsing softly on the breeze. Lifting the knife Angelica watched her blood run along the metal in rivulets forming macabre rivers that met at the tip. Droplets of dark red fell to her clothing as if the blade cried tears of crimson for her. The sleeve of his dark hoodie pulled away from the glove that he wore revealing an almost olive complexion. If Angelica had to guess she would say his skin was tan in color, but the night made things appear darker then they seemed. His breathing was a harsh pant and the only thing she could hear in the stillness that had fallen since the rain had come to a stop. It was obscene in sound as if he were getting overly excited by pain he was inflicting. Her own breath fell in punitive gasps fighting against the pressure on her diaphragm. She saw the light glint off the blade once again as he held it up priming it for another blow. Angelica whimpered pathetically just before the knife fell once again.