So here is part...I think 6??? of Sniper. :) I hope you all enjoy it, because it took me a crap load of time to write. :)
Haha here you go. :)
Sniper, part 6???
Anabelle wandered into the kitchen to get them both some food and something to drink.
When she got to the table, she saw a neatly folded piece of paper. She snatched it up and unfolded it.
I take it he told you why you are here.
I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you. His leg looks fine.
-JS
Smiling, she folded it and replaced it on the table, so she could get their meal.
+
“Now gently lift me-argh!”
Anabelle smothered a laugh with her fist at his expression. “Sorry.”
He gasped and laughed with her. “It’s alright. Now slowly lift my leg, and put the cloth underneath. That’s it. Now dribble some of that alcohol on it.” She did as she was told and he gritted his teeth against the pain. New fresh blood oozed from the cut.
“There. Good. That’s good, see? The blood means any infection is out of the way.” He ran his fingers through his messy hair, “See, I told you you’d be good at this.”
“Yeah.” she said, laughing, “Next time, we’ll move to the more difficult things like amputating your arm.”
A mock-worried look crossed his features. “Maybe keep you on the little things for now, like...stab wounds...and poisons…”
Anabelle smiled, then looked around, unoccupied for the moment. “What is there to do around here?”
“Boring you, am I?”
Anabelle held her pointer and thumb an inch apart. “Only a little.”
He laughed and then put on a thoughtful face. “Hmm...well, I have a few books...somewhere.”
She made a face at him. “Got a violin?”
“Haha yeah, I’ll just go grab one from storage.” a breathy laugh. “No, I never really got into instruments. Music, yes, but...other peoples’ not my own. My mother used to play piano, and before he passed, my father would play guitar for their duets. Mom could do anything she set her mind to.” his fond smile vanished. “James says she doesn’t play anymore, though. A result of my absence, no doubt.”
Anabelle’s brown knit.”She doesn’t know where you are?”
Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know where we are. I had James bring me here. Whenever I go back to the city, I have him blindfold me.
“I told my mother I was in some trouble and I had to leave, and that was that. James brought me here, and I’ve lived here ever since. I only ever went back to watch you perform”
A smile kissed the corner of her mouth. “You watched me perform?”
“Of course! I had to keep you safe. Your father’s bravery saved hundreds, but after he left Blüd Enterprise, he didn’t have the money to keep you safe. So I did it for him.”
“Which of my performances did you go to?”
“All of them.”
Anabelle gaped.
“And for the record, that guy you dated a few months ago-he was a total jerk. I approve of the breakup.”
Anabelle gasped. “All those times, you were there and I didn’t even know it.” She frowned. “Has Blüd tried to get me before now?”
Alex shifted nervously and chose to look at his hands rather than answer the question.
Anabelle scoffed. “How many times? Two? Three?”
“Five, but the third time, James took all the heat. I had the flu, and he wouldn’t let me help. I convinced him to let me see you play, but when I tried to protect you, he threatened to tie me up if I tried to help.”
“All those times.” she whispered. Her lip was going to split if she kept gnawing on it like this. She swept a hand across her face. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why protect me? And my dad! You don’t even know us!”
Alex looked at her for a long time before answering. “Anabelle, what Simon did...he had the courage to do what I could not. What I was too scared to do. If I had told everyone, Anabelle, I would have had the money to protect myself from Blüd. But your father...with nothing to speak of but a cheap house and a ten year old daughter...he did it anyway, and there is” he paused, taking a breath, “no describing how much I admire that. How much I regret not telling.” he slid his hand onto her cheek. “So...since there was no way for me to protect your father-he insisted on living a normal life- I had to protect the thing that meant to most to him and make it mean the most to me.” he cleared away Anabelle’s sudden tears with his thumb. “otherwise...my conscience would tear me up.”
She raised her hand to his on her cheek and said, “But you’ve saved me five times now, Alex. You don’t have to do it anymore.”
He withdrew his hand from her face. “Maybe. But in my mind, I can never truly repay your father.” he took her hand and rubbed her knuckles, studying them. “Besides…” he said, looking up at her eyes, “I kind of like having you here. So you may be stuck with me.”
Anabelle laughed a little and opened her mouth to speak when a nearby crash caused her to turn her head.
“What was that? Get a whole lot of visitors out here?” she asked, smiling.
“No...only James.”
“I’m sure something just fell like a pot or something. I’ll go see what it is.” she rose to leave, and felt Alex’s fingers close around her wrist. She looked back.
“Here.” he whispered, handing her the kitchen knife. “Just in case.”
“Ha-ha.” she whispered sarcastically, taking the knife and moving to the doorway. She quietly stepped into the hall, and looked into the kitchen cautiously, holding her hair back so as not to allow it to swing into view.
Heavy footsteps alerted her to another’s presence nearby. Three men stood in the kitchen, and another knelt on the ground, teeth gritted in pain. James.
Anabelle gasped and ducked back behind the wall. When no one made notice of her sound, she glanced again. There was a tall man and two short men. The tall man had blood-red eyes and a jagged scar going down the length of his face.
She had seen enough. She carefully returned to Alex. When she their eyes met, her face told him everything.
“Help me up.” he whispered, urgently. She slipped an arm under his shoulder, and lifted him to a standing position. He nodded his head at the closet. “There.” Anabelle helped him to the doors which she slid open, doing her best to be quiet.
“To the left, there’s a handle on the floor. Lift it up. There’s a trap door where we can hide.
When she lifted the door, blackness roared up at them. They descended. Anabelle hated the dark, and when they both sat with relative comfort on the dirt floor, she gripped Alex’s fingers tightly.
“The water!” she said, looking frantically at where she knew him to be. “If he feels that it is still hot, he will know we are here!” she pulled herself away from him despite his protests. “It will only take a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Unable to move unaided, he said “Anabelle?” she turned. “Be careful.” she nodded and smiled confidently at him before leaving silently. She closed the hatch behind her.
+
Once topside, she snuck to the table where the bowl was. She carried it to the doorway where she searched the hall for the intruders. Once assured it was clear, she passed into the kitchen where she proceeded to dump the liquid.
She hurried about her job, glancing up every few seconds for her own safety. A shout alerted her to a predator. She dropped the bowl, shattering it, and took off down the hallway. She could hear the man in pursuit, his heavy boots thudding on the wooden panels beneath their feet.
She swerved unexpectedly around a corner and then another, finally finding herself lost among the maze of hallways. She sunk to the floor, gripping the knife tightly to her chest. A trickle of blood popped from her lip as her teeth dug into it, causing her to swallow the scream that welled up inside her throat. Then she heard him.
“Anabelle…” she shuddered and her breathing grew faster as she began to panic. That voice.
“Come back to me, my dear.” Tears rolled from her eyes, adding to the nervous swear that already drenched her face. Her dream came back to her mind, unbidden as she shivered spasmodically.
“Anabelle…” it was him all over again. He was getting closer. She could tell-she could hear him. “If you come out now, we won’t kill you.” he laughed, sending goosebumps cascading over her clammy skin. “We might hurt you, but I promise, it won’t kill you. Not just yet.”
Anabelle tried hard to hold back her sobs. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block him out.
“But what about poor James here?”
They came back open. Wide open.
“Here’s a new deal: If you come out now, we won’t hurt James.”
“No, Anabelle! Run!” James’s voice shot into her ears.
“If I were you, I would hurry. My men are a bit anxious to remove some of James’s fingers.” he was closer. “So I” closer “would” closer “hurry up” he was so so close. “if I were you.”
Anabelle plunged the knife behind her, around the corner, and as she tried to draw it back, found her hand clamped in place by another person’s fingers.
“Missed me.” As she turned, she saw that Blüd’s smiling face was mere inches from hers. She screamed as she struggled to get free, but his fingers-like the blood in her nightmare-would not be pushed away. Something heavy struck the back of her head, and just before her eyes shut, she thought she heard Alex screaming her name. He’s stuck. He can’t move, she thought, I have to help him out!
Then the black again.
Thanks sososososososo much for reading!!!! Thank you everyone! Haha It took me a while to write today's so I hope you all enjoyed it. The suspense is going to kill me, and I already know what happens!!! Haha I hope you all liked it!!!
Have a great night, and Lord willing, I will see you tomorrow!!!
Blessings <3 :)
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