Sophia’s Point of View
I wasn’t fast enough and faster than I could run, the second man in black easily caught up with me yanking me to a stop and into a nearby alley with his vise grip on my arm.
His accomplice closed the distance between us with no sense of worry. And they had everything to worry about, the streets were desolate and quite a distance from any residence, the alley even more so.
“Here,” I said, holding out my purse to the thieves ‘”This is all I’ve got. Here, have it.”
The man in front of me didn’t even look at the purse, that creepy smile from earlier now stable on his face.
“We aren’t here for your money.” He said then he pulled out a small rope that vaguely resembled a garrote.
Cold fear raced through my veins as I realized what this man intended to do. He wanted to strangle me. Kill me.
I took a step back then another as though there was a chance I could escape from this. Maybe if I could distract them, I could bolt.
“Who are you?” I asked, shuffling back once more.
The second man in black was shorter than the first up close.
“You overheard something you shouldn’t have, Mrs Prescott.” He said, his voice laced with dark amusement.
I overheard something I shouldn’t have? What on earth could I have overheard that was worth ending my life over? Nothing came to my head except-
My train of thought cut off as I recalled Kate’s threat to the person she had been talking to over the phone.
She had been ready to kill whoever that was to keep her secret. If she found out that I knew as well then there was no doubt what she would do to me in a bid to keep her secret.
But she hadn’t seen me that day. Had she?
“Did Kate send you?” I questioned. My voice harsher than I had intended it to be. “Whatever she’s paying you, I assure you that I can double it.”
The men exchanged a glance and in that moment, I saw a way out of the alley. If I could race out back and then double back to hide in another alley after picking up my phone to call the cops, then I would be safe.
The first man’s smile broadened and for a moment I felt he was going to take up my offer only for him to say something else entirely.
“Kate said to give you her regards.”
They were going to kill me.
I ran past reeking garbage cans and the semi cluttered alley hoping to reach the other side before they caught me.
One of my attackers slammed me into the side of the building stopping me from my race midstep.
My vision shook and before I could recover, I felt something fall over my head to my chest like a necklace.
A necklace that began to tighten around my neck every second despite my efforts to claw at the person who held my wrists.
The rope bit into my neck cutting off my airflow and leaving me gasping for breath, my vision narrowing.
I struggled and struggled more but it was ineffective and all around me, the edges of the world was fading out. Sometimes the moment you realize something, it’s too late to do anything. All you can do is face your eventuality.
I was going to die in a stinky alleyway without anyone even knowing where I was.
My eyes fluttered shut without my volition as I braced for my death only for the pressure around my throat to disappear and a sharp sound following a punch resounding in my ears.
My eyes flew open and I grabbed my throat as I sucked in a breath greedily.
I glanced at the fighting, my mouth nearly falling open as I realized who my savior was. lt was Mr Prescott.
I had no idea where he had come from or how he knew I had been in trouble but Mr Prescott didn’t hesitate as he fought off the man who had been about to kill me.
My second attacker was nowhere to be seen and I wondered if he had bolted upon seeing that someone had come to rescue me.
Mr Prescott continued to hit the man almost furiously, his punches all seeming to follow each other.
“Who sent you?” Mr Prescott questioned and I opened my mouth to tell him not to bother with that since I knew who it was, only in that split second, I noticed the second attacker sneaking up behind Mr Prescott, a knife in hand.
My heart stopped cold.
“Reid!” I yelled and Mr Prescott spun to face me with undiluted shock on his face.
Mr Prescott noticed the incoming attack and moved to avoid the knife but my notice had been too short and the attacker was too close. I watched with barely restrained horror as the attacker stabbed Mr Prescott in his stomach.
I stood up without thinking, my entire body riding on impulse and adrenaline as I grabbed a glass bottle from the top of the trash cans nearest to me and I walked straight to the second attacker then I broke the bottle across his head.
The man in black turned slightly then he backhanded me so hard that I saw double and stumbled to the ground. Mr Prescott took advantage of my attacker’s distraction with me to hit him once more.
My attacker fell over the next moment and I didn’t hesitate before grabbing the nearest object to me, the metal top of a waste can, and smashing it across the attacker’s face.
He was out immediately.
Pushing myself up with my torn palms, I moved quickly to Mr Prescott who was still on his feet, a knife still in his belly, his blood dripping to the ground and staining his white shirt in the process.
Mr Prescott’s gray eyes met mine and he freaking smiled before his feet folded and he was on his knees, blood still leaving his body.
“Mr Prescott.” I exclaimed running towards him.
I knelt next to him immediately and put pressure on his wound as much as I could without removing the knife.
My hands were soaked with Mr Prescott’s blood in seconds and tears began to flow freely down my face.
Mr Prescott’s hand grazed mine that lay over his middle.
“Miss Evergreen,” He asked, his face slightly pale and clammy with sweat. “Are you alright?”
I scoffed, the sound almost turning into a sob without much thought to it. How could he still be more worried about me than himself right now?
“You are the one bleeding out, Mr Prescott. Worry about yourself.”
This wouldn’t do, I needed to call help now. I placed Mr Prescott’s hands to his wound where mine had been.
“Continue putting pressure on it, I’ll call nine one one.”
I moved to get my phone or Mr Prescott’s only for his hand to wrap around my wrist tugging me back to him.
“I…” Mr Prescott began to speak, his voice shaky and lacking the usual authority it usually did. “Sophia, I need you to know… I’m sorry.”
What? What did Mr Prescott have to be sorry about?
I was about to speak, to ask what he meant when his grasp on my hand went slack and Mr Prescott’s eyes fluttered shut.
“Mr Prescott!” I yelled but there was no response from him. No jolt, no nothing. Fear eased into my chest and as I began to look for Mr Prescott’s phone erratically, my entire body shaking.
The piercing ambulance sirens tore me out of my search. Medical help was here already? That meant Mr Prescott had gotten a call through to them before charging in to save my life and now his own life was in danger because of me.
I could hear the approaching police vehicle sirens as the paramedics loaded Mr Prescott into the ambulance but I couldn’t wait to give them my testimony against those men but in the end, Mr Prescott needed me more.
I would give my testimony against my attackers and Kate later.
Mr Prescott would be fine. He had to be fine. That was what I repeated myself throughout my ride in the ambulance.
What I repeated to myself as the doctors wheeled him into surgery. He has to be fine because that was the only outcome I would accept.
“Sophia, what’s going on?”
I spun to see Nana walking up to me, her face full of worry and somehow the sight of her seemed to break the floodgates within me.
“Grandma.” I hugged her, my words leaving me in a sob. “He came after me and they-”
I couldn’t finish, my voice choking off.
Nana rubbed my back comforting me.
“It’s alright. He’ll be fine.”
The truth was I didn’t know if she was trying to convince me or herself.