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1
Grace
I’m so close to getting the promotion I’ve been itching for. Working my ass off for. Store manager, yes, so close that I can taste it. After another meeting with Gregory tonight I’m sure I’ve got it. I’m giddy with excitement on the outlook for my future. The only way to go is up.
With my keys already in my hand and my purse slung around my shoulder, I waltz across the parking lot and to my car with renewed pride. Two years of hard work. Two fucking years of getting up early, covering shifts for people that don’t give a fuck about me, and pretending to like my pig-headed boss. Two years and I’m finally heading in the right direction. I think I’ll celebrate tonight, maybe with a new book and a cup of hot chocolate. Reading is my favorite past time, the one thing that hasn’t changed about me in the last two years.
A big fat grin pulls at my lips. Even if I’m only smiling for myself, at least I’m smiling for something. I keep my eyes on my car as I walk slowly toward it, but not fast enough to draw attention to myself. The store isn’t in the best part of town. Not that it’s a horrible area, but that doesn’t mean that evil isn’t lurking just around the corner. I’ve seen evil first hand. I know it can hide in even the most inconspicuous places. Like the pastor who’s supposed to lend a helping hand. Or the parents who’re supposed to show you love and kindness.
Pfft, as if.
“Where’s the money, Murphy?” A man’s voice cuts through the air. The voice is menacing, cold as steel, and it grips me by the throat, practically choking me. I didn’t mean to turn my head toward the sound. I knew I shouldn’t have. I should’ve kept walking, but I couldn’t. Like I said, that voice, it gripped onto me with a vengeance. I turned more out of reflex than anything but doing so consequently became the biggest mistake of my life.
The shiny metal of a gun reflects in the light coming from the streetlamp above just a moment before I hear the shot being fired from it. Oh god. I lift my hands, bringing them to my mouth. My heart stops inside my chest, or at least it feels that way. When it starts beating again it’s in an unnatural rhythm. My lungs constrict as I gather enough oxygen to scream. I know it’s stupid, that it will only draw unwanted attention, but I can’t hold back the fear racing through me. It reminds me far too much of the past, far too much of him.
The scream rips from my throat, just as the lifeless body of the man called, Murphy collapses to the concrete. The man holding the gun turns, his head snapping up, those dark eyes finding mine even though I’m partially hidden in the shadows.
Fear slithers down my spine, and danger coats the air clogging my lungs, making it hard to breathe. Looking into the killer’s eyes, I’m taken back in time, remembering the last time I looked into a pair of eyes as cold as his. I barely survived that night I’ve seen Luke last, but that won’t happen here. I didn’t make it this far only to risk dying a second time.
I feel paralyzed, my muscles rigid with fear for a moment. Time stands still as we stare at each other, but as soon as I see him move, my body springs into action. I sprint toward my car, unlocking it as fast as possible, as soon as I get it unlocked, I rip the door open and throw myself into the driver’s seat.
Once inside, I put the key in the ignition with a shaking hand and start the thing. It turns over right away, the engine roaring to life in my ears. Thank god, it doesn’t choose tonight to be the night that it needs a jump. I glance toward my rearview mirror and see the guy running toward me, he lifts his gun as if he’s going to shoot me and without thinking I slump down in my seat and slam my foot on the gas. My stomach clenches, twisting, and tightening. With tires squealing I turn onto the road, running over the curb in the process.
Oh my god! What just happened?
I drive home completely on autopilot. My mind consumed with fear. The kind of fear I thought I had buried a long time ago. I grip onto the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles turn white. It’s been two long years since I witnessed something so gruesome, so violent, I guess I forgot that part of my life ever existed. I’ve grown so accustomed to my current peaceful life that I forgot there were bad people still lurking in this world.
