Chapter Two: Encounter

It's pretty damn short, which I'm not too happy about. Hopefully that will change in future versions.

 

The night remained black and cold without rain or snow. As I lay there, I started to find it amusing that this had happened to me. Of course it had. I couldn’t have a day where I was actually happy, right? I couldn’t simply enjoy myself without some sort of catastrophe happening. After a while it stopped being funny. I began to lose all hope for anything, like the care was seeping out of my veins with the blood.

Sleep wasn’t an option, as the pain in my ankle was keeping me awake in a somewhat dreamy state. But I decided it didn’t matter, as the cold outside was only a little worse than the cold in my apartment.

Suddenly I heard the sound of bare feet on the pavement. Perhaps if I had been more on the conscious side, I would’ve found that strange. But at this point I could not process information, only receive it.

The sound came closer, and then the feet came into my line of vision. They were cut, scraped, and bleeding. The edge of light blue, torn and bloody pants hung above them. The person crouched down to look at me.

His shirt was made of the same light blue fabric as his pants. It was also torn and bloody. I noticed he had dirt on him in some places, as if he’d fallen down. He had light brown hair, softly curved lips, a slender nose and big, black eyes that were filled with concern. Concern for me, I realized.

The only assumption my tired mind could make at the moment was that he was a passerby who had noticed I was hurt. I didn’t consider that it was around four in the morning…or that he was walking barefoot in December.

He swallowed and took my face in one of his hands. He knelt and put his other hand on the other side of my face.

I looked into his eyes with curiosity. Tears were welling in their black depths.

“Elizabeth Meridian,” he whispered. He brushed away my tears with his thumb. I hadn’t realized I’d started crying. What was it from? The cold? The pain?

I tried to recall how to ask how he knew me, but the words wouldn’t come.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to say your beautiful name,” he said. He smiled slightly, and then the tears that had been welling in his eyes spilled over. “Oh, God, what did she do to you?” he asked with pain in his voice. He pulled me to him and cradled me in his arms for a few minutes. It was warm there.

When at last he laid me back down on the sidewalk, his eyes were sparkling. “I’ve got it,” he mumbled to himself. He put one hand on my chest.

For a moment I looked at him in confusion, but then a feeling like an electric current passed through my body. I was left feeling vividly conscious. All the pain was gone.

“I promise you, I will not stop protecting you because of this. I never will. Never,” he whispered. “Be safe,” he added, stroking the side of my face.

“Who are you?” I finally was able to ask.

He looked back, and he seemed confused at the question. I waited for him to speak, but when he did, he didn’t answer. “Go home now, and sleep.” Before I could answer, he was up and walking away.

 

…

 

I was in a state of shock from the time he left until I arrived at my apartment. When I was home, I closed the door behind me and stood still. “What the hell just happened?” I asked nobody. The silence pressed in on me, and I deliberately breathed heavily so I would have something to listen to.

After a few minutes I was able to move. I mechanically dressed for bed and climbed under the covers that didn’t provide enough warmth. The questions in my head kept me awake until I was too exhausted to think anymore.

“Get away!” I cried once again, uselessly. Seeing the wrecked apartment around me was not helping – I envisioned myself, wrecked as well, in the very near future. The predicament was utterly hopeless. A vague sense of Déjà vu hit me, but I pushed it away – it mattered not at the moment. He lunged for me, but he missed. By all logical reason he shouldn’t have, but he did. He fell to the floor and didn’t move. I lay there, still terrified. I waited for him to get up, to finish what he’d started, but he didn’t. He just laid there.

Eventually I found my feet again. Though I ached all over, I was not fully broken. I was able to stand, and then walk, and then run. I finally had the strength to run. I didn’t question it.

I sat up in bed, grabbing at the air. I breathed heavily for many moments, tense, and then fell back against the pillows. “Ugh,” I mumbled, shivering, though I wasn’t cold anymore.

I looked out my apartment window. It was early morning, from what I could tell. I stumbled out of bed and to my cell phone to check. It was 8:30AM. I put the phone back and stood still for a long time. I thought of the black eyes and the electric current…I looked down at my ankle. It was fully healed, as if it hadn’t snapped at all last night. I was confused and frustrated at this. Did I dream of being assaulted? Did I dream him up?

“What the hell happened?” I repeated to myself. Nobody answered. After a few minutes, I sighed, giving up on the question for now. “Hey, I can have electricity,” I suddenly realized. I set out to pay the electric bill, but still the thought of the previous night would not leave me alone.

Reviews

[Forist.johnston]

Love how the mystery man swoops in and saves the day. =] I don't think the chapter is that short, and I love the descriptions. Off to Chapter 3!

[KEi]

EVERYBODY STOP!
I KNOW WHO THE MAN WAS!

He was Jesus, wasn't he?
Seriously, don't pretend you weren't thinking it.

;)

Love this chapter. It's not that short.
Okay, maybe in comparison with the first.
But in comparison with mine....
It's long. :O!
Not short.

If it got any shorter, I'd be dogging your footsteps right into hell.
But.. no, It's a decent length.
Not too long, not too short.
Good to read, when, like me, you're reading in a ten minute break between writing your own stuff.
:)

Keep up the good work.
And I shall love you for eternity.

K. E. King

[Wolfwind Words]

Oh, man, what a strange twist with this new man who seemed like an angel out of nowhere to make sure she was ok. Even stranger was the state of dress that this man was in??? hmmm, perhaps i shall someday find out.

[Alexanne Dauntless]

WOW that's REALLY interesting. Now I really want to know who the mystery guy is. Great job. I'm hooked! =]]