Chapter 4: The Escape

Chapter 4 of my story called "The Third Night".

4

 

Gradually we both started recovering from what had just happened. I had kind of lost my sense of time. As if Chris had been reading my thoughts, he shot a quick look at the brown, analogue watch tied to his wrist. His eyes suddenly widened for a yet unknown reason.

 

“9:45 am already?!” he said panicky. “Why is that a prob…” “Sorry Alex, I have to go now, see you later!” he interrupted me, while suddenly running off. I watched him as he was gradually turning smaller and smaller, and he eventually disappeared from my sight. Before I was even able to say goodbye or understand what was going on he had already moved too far away. I was left standing in the middle of the playground, not really knowing what to do but stare in front of myself. I shook off the weird things that just happened and decided to set sail for home.

 

The only thing I just couldn’t stop thinking about were those boys, Tyler and Josh if I remember correctly. I had been wondering from beginning to end how they were related to Chris, as they already knew his name. They didn’t really seem to be close friends, that was kind of an obvious observation. What was more, as I looked into Tyler’s eyes, I was sure I had seen a glimpse of insecurity and a painful history, something you wouldn’t expect from such a person. Well, that’s usually the cause of someone becoming a bully, as they try to hide their fears and insecurities. Unfortunately for him, I’m not stupid. I can see right through his rebelling behavior.

 

I was suddenly woken up from my thoughts by a loud, masculine voice. I was wondering whether the voice was calling for me. I shot a quick look in every direction, and as I looked behind me, I recognized an awfully familiar face: Tyler and his companion had been following me!

 

“Hey, you! Come back here!” I had to act quickly as they were only about 100 meter removed from me. My heart was struck by a dose of adrenaline, keeping my fear under control. I decided to make a run for it since just standing here would make matters even worse.

 

My legs were swinging wildly, my heart was pounding rapidly. My forehead was flooded with sweat. I was making my way across the streets as fast as I could. I glanced over my shoulder: Tyler was surprisingly athletic, as the distance between us was getting smaller and smaller. I had to lose him, as I was unable to win this race the orthodox way.

 

My survival instincts took control of me: look for cover, distract the predator, hide. I scanned my environment. My eyes fell on the perfect place to hide: a crowded park. Without any feeling of hesitation I jumped over the fence which corralled the park and dodged all the people I came across, making up for a great distraction.

 

I decided to reconsider my plans and kneel down to get some rest behind the safe cover of some bushes. I didn’t know and I didn’t want to know whether Tyler had seen me or not. I was just waiting him out, waiting for a sign of him.

 

It didn’t take long for that sign to come, as the sound of his voice reached my ears. “I know you’re here somewhere. Josh, you’re on watch, I’ll look for him.” Apparently Josh had still caught up on Tyler, for an unexplainable reason. What I did know was that I had to think of a plan really quickly, as I wasn’t safe anymore at this place.

 

My eyes were scanning my surroundings for an escape route, which didn’t take long, as I noticed a bus arriving at the bus stop at only 50 meters away from me. I had no idea where the bus was heading, but it was my only reliable chance to escape a painful confrontation.

 

One last, deep breath before I started running. I focused my eyes on the bus, almost ready to leave. My legs were ready for this decisive, final run. This almost felt like a movie, the moment when the hero barely escapes from the bad guys, but in the end, the hero defeats them. Hopefully I will end up the same as the hero in the movie; not dead.

 

I quickly stood up from my kneeling position and commanded my legs to run as fast as they could. Not much later I heard Tyler yelling at me. “Come back here! We’re not done with you yet!”

 

The intensity of the moment was real. I’d never felt so scared, yet so thrilled in my entire life. It was a weird mixture of feelings which I couldn’t really put my finger on. Most of the actions I took seemed to come out of nowhere in my head, as if it happened automatically.

 

As I was getting closer and closer to the bus, so was Tyler to me. I glanced over my shoulder: the anger on his face was now clearly visible, but I had to stay focused.

 

The last few meters to the bus. I sprinted through the door opening and took a seat as if nothing had just happened. I looked out of the window, Tyler had given up on following me. A feeling of victory went through my body. A devious smile appeared on my face as I looked Tyler into his eyes. “Take that”, I whispered.  

 

But the smile soon disappeared. The sound of the rumbling engines reached my ears. I was struck by panic and despair. The bus was leaving my small, remote village.

Author's Note

Can you feel the thrill?
Please let me know what you think :)

Reviews

[Zyle Christian William ..]

What a rush of a chapter! I could envision the adrenaline coursing through Alex's veins as he tried to escape! This is a very nice escape scene. This is nice!

[Lavorther]

Great chapter. It helps to deviate from the main plot every now and then to give the reader some breathing time in between the main plot points. It was a pretty exciting chapter too, with the chase. Well done!

[monkeyS]

I could sure feel the thrill, much more than in your previous story.
You can really pull someone in the story, until the end. Really like that.
I'm already looking forward to the next chapter!