Death

I breathed heavily, anxious, fearful, and terrified.

Rick was going to kill me.

“Come on Tom, I really want to talk to you… Just come out won’t you? I promise I won’t harm you, I promise.”

The distant voice just reassured me of my situation. Rick was insane now.

The sound of a knife cutting across cement travelled to my ears.

I didn’t feel safe at all in this dark room. Not at all. The only thing that separated him from me was a door. I curled myself into a ball, praying that Rick would go away. “Please just go away, please go away, please go away, please go away, please go away.” I told myself repeatedly.

I hear the sound of footsteps coming closer, the sound of the knife cutting across cement ringing in the silence. I breathed quicker, my heart was thumping like crazy. I felt sweat trickle down my forehead. It was hot in that room, but I couldn’t think of that right now. My fear was gripping me slowly, like an invisible hand, it closed itself around my throat, slowly squeezing it. I felt like I could not breathe.

The footsteps drew closer. Suddenly, it stopped. My heart was thumping like a steam engine now. My eyes stared warily at the door, fearful of what would emerge from the door when it is opened.

“Are you in there Tom? Answer me man… I won’t harm you. Just come out and lets have a talk.”

I kept quiet. I couldn’t even bring myself to move an inch, not my hand, not my legs, not my head. Then it started.

Rick started knocking hard at the door. It started with a knock, then 2 knocks, then 3, then 4, until he seemed like he was bashing the door, and the sound was filling the room. It was filling my whole head with that sound. My ears were in agony.

“I know you’re in there Tom! COME OUT!”

Rick tried opening the door but it was locked from the inside, by me.

Rick then started to ram the door repeatedly, and the noise was too much for me to take.

“JUST GO AWAY RICK! PLEASE. LEAVE ME ALONE”, I screamed, so filled with fear, so filled anxiety.

I started hearing cleaving at the door. Rick was using the knife to cut the door. He scraped it slowly. I could hear the scraping sounds so clearly. However, I knew it would not work. Shortly after, the scraping stopped.

All was quiet. “He must have gone away, he must have given up” I told myself. This however, did not make me the least bit better. I continued to stare warily at the door, at the same place I was, in a ball. It felt like ages, sitting there, waiting for something to happen. But there was nothing, there was no sound.

I started to stretch out my stiff arms and legs. It felt good. I began to really think that he was gone now, that he had given up. I slowly stood up, my legs numb from the unnatural position I was in. I walked slowly towards the door.

Suddenly, a loud knock against the door was heard. It seemed like something was used to hit against the door. “If you don’t want to come out, I’ll get you out of there!” Rick shouted, laughing hysterically. I was overcome by fear all over again. I slowly backed myself to the wall. I had nowhere to run.

The door finally gave way and broke. Rick threw down the chair he was holding. He held a knife in his hands. He slowly walked over towards me.

“Rick please… It isn’t my fault… Just… Let’s talk nicely alright?” I stuttered, fear all so evident in my voice.

“I invited you to talk but you didn’t want to. Now you do? Hahaha… What a fickle mind you have, Tom.”

Rick was pretty close to me now. I felt petrified. I did not know what to do. My eyes were shifting between his eyes and the knife he held in his hands. Was I going to die?

“Look, I didn’t steal your girlfriend. Believe me. I didn’t do anything!” I explained.

“You seduced her! How dare you say you are innocent. You took my girlfriend away from me. You betrayed me Tom!” Rick exploded, speaking my name with much malice.

Rick raised his arm, and then charged for a stab towards me. I sidestepped and dodged the attack. Fear was keeping my senses sharp. Seeing that a stab did not work, he decided to start slashing towards me. I stepped backwards with each blow, feeling like I was on the edge of death. Feeling a need to protect myself, when Rick had presented an opening, I gave him a punch to the face with all my might. He staggered backwards, with his knife still firmly gripped in his hands. One slash from that would be painful.

I could feel myself going insane by the minute. My mind felt like it was going to explode, my chest felt tight, my hands were unconsciously balled up into a tight fist. Sweat dropped from my face.

Rick rushed in again, flailing his knife around, and in a blink of an eye, I grabbed his hand and twisted it, making him drop his knife onto the ground. I then kicked it away from him with my feet. Struggling for power and dominance over one another, I held firmly to his hand, not wanting to let go. Rick suddenly butted me in the head, making me stagger. He ran for the knife, but I was faster than him. I picked it up and held it at my chest level, showing that I was ready to use it.

“Rick please. Just stop, okay?” I slowly backed away from Rick towards the door. “It’s over now…”

I was almost at the door when Rick charged at me with all his might, shouting at the top of his lungs, a primal cry so spine-chilling. Reflexively, I thrusted the knife forward with my arm. A warm liquid trickled onto my hand. I had stabbed Rick in the abdomen.

“Oh my god…” I let go of the knife, stepping away from Rick, horrified of what I had done.

Rick fell forward onto the ground. I heard the knife go deeper into the flesh from the impact.

“Hahahaha. Hahahahaha. HAHAHAHAHA!” I laughed out loud. I had survived. I did not die. Rick died! It was not me! I stood up and surveyed the gruesome scene before me. Rick lay lifeless. He could not harm me now.

I walked out of the room, and out of the apartment. I climbed the stairs to the roof. Standing at the edge of the roof, I felt like I was finally free. Free from the ordeal, free from death. I shouted out loud:” I am alive!”.

I turned around, intending to go down the stairs, but I saw Rick. A knife in his abdomen, blood oozing from the wound, his shirt was colored crimson from his blood. I stood there, shocked and petrified. Rick was alive? That could not be… I felt fear again. Why was Rick still alive? He started walking towards me. I had nowhere to run. I was backed against nothing, if I fell, I would land on the asphalt below. I would die.

“Don’t come any closer Rick, please.” My voice was shaky.

Rick suddenly charged at me. He hugged me and we fell off the building.

I closed my eyes, and opened them again, to see Rick gone. If Rick was not here, then who was it that pushed me down?

As a sudden realization dawned on me, I felt a sharp pain surge throughout my whole body, darkness embraced me in the blink of an eye.

I died.