Page 77 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Willdo," he answered, but she could still feel his watchful eyes on her as sheleft through the door towards the stairwell.
Downstairsshe let out a sigh of relief as she tentatively opened the bathroom door withher foot and found it sparkling clean. Taped to the mirror was a torn sheet ofpaper with a hasty scrawl written across it.
"Iknew you would be too afraid to use it in its original condition. So, I cleanedit for you."At the bottom, it was signed byThe Love of your life.
Someof the weighted pain in her heart eased as she carefully pulled the note fromthe mirror. Reading it two more times, she folded it into her pocket just asshe let out another tired yawn. She needed to try to call the pharmacy again,not just to talk to Todd but to ask him about her medication. It was supposedto be non-drowsy, but this one felt even worse than the last dose. Taking along pull of the water, she splashed a small handful on a paper towel anddabbed her face with the cold cloth.
Openingthe bathroom door, Sana paused. The lights were all out. Only the lightfiltering in through the old newspaper on the double set of glass doors gaveany light to the theater foyer but faded against the oppressive darkness of thetheater hallways where the bathrooms were located.
"Elijah,"she called, stepping into darkness.
"Sorry,"she heard the rough, unfamiliar voice just as the hands grabbed her.
Herscream was lost behind the putrid-smelling hand that clapped roughly over hermouth and partially over her nose. Sana threw her body weight forward and thenback, trying her best to dislodge the man who held her, but the other arm thatslid around her middle barred her movements and kept her close to his body.
"Comeon, let's go," another voice hissed in the dark, and another shot of panicsurged through her to fight back. There were two of them! Her mind screamed.
Thegrip covering her face tightened so hard, it cut off her oxygen. "Stopfucking moving."
Herbody rebelled at the command, trying to pull in a gasping breath as her feetstumbled and slid as the man pulled her quickly backward. Every second, herfeet slid and kicked desperately, trying to find purchase on the carpet whileher hands uselessly clawed at the canvas jacket covering the man's arm. Herlungs were beginning to burn.
Aheavy thud followed by a metallic creak told her that they just reached theexit door at the back of the theater. Cold air and daylight poured over them,and the man's hand loosened around her face as he dragged her backward over thethreshold. Pulling in as much hair as she could from around his fingers, Sanaprepared herself for one more attempt to flee.
Somethinghard was shoved into the side of her ribs, and Sana let out a little cry at thebruising pain.
"Don'tfucking try it," the man behind her snarled, jabbing the hard item oncemore into the same painful spot. "Or I'll blow a hole right throughyou."
Sanafroze as her mind pieced together the implication of his words. It was a gun.He had a gun pointed into her ribs.
Therewas a sudden unmistakable sound of an engine roaring to life behind them. Theman began to drag her forcefully backward again as her mind spun with thoughtsof being taken away and indecision on what to do. Should she continue to fightthe urge to dig her nails into his hand, covering her mouth, or take the risk?Letting these men take her to wherever they wanted was too horrible to imagine,she'd rather die.
Justas she pushed aside the fear for the gun, she heard the squeal of a metal dooropening and assumed it was the vehicle door. This was her chance. With all ofher strength, she jerked her body down and was surprised when she felt herselfslip down and out of his hold from the unexpected move. The man cursed, and shefelt his body weight shift behind her and knew his hands were clamoring for heras she scrambled partly on her hands and knees in the dirt, just liftingherself to a partial stand as the back door of the theater burst open.
Sana'srelief at seeing Elijah's nearly feral expression was short-lived as a painfulgrip latched onto her hair, and searing pain bloomed along her scalp.
"Notone more step," the man shouted.
Withher hands desperately trying to pry the man's hand from her hair, Sana waspulled backward and off-balance landing with a thud against the man. His otherarm was raised and pointing a long silver gun at Elijah.
"Getthe fuck back inside," he ordered.
"No,don't," she tried to bat at his arm to move the aim of the barrel, but theman wrenched her away by the grip in her hair.
Elijah'sface grew taut, and she could see his lips curl into a snarl, flashing hissharp teeth.
"Comeon!" The other man from inside the vehicle shouted. "Get in the damntruck!"
Theman holding her did not respond to the desperate commands, his gun stayedtrained on Elijah. A part of her wanted to turn and look at the man holdingher, to see who it was who was doing this, but she feared to look away fromElijah. She knew somehow if she did, then either he would do something foolish,or the man would shoot or both.
Imagesof his mother and father's grieving faces appeared in her mind. It could nothappen, she thought, the image too painful to bear.
"Goinside, Elijah. Go get help," she called out, her voice thick and choppysounding from her falling tears. How long had she been crying?
Elijah'sdark gold eyes flicked to hers in angry confusion before snapping back to theman holding her.
"Betterlisten, boy," he taunted. "Go get your kin, get them all," helaughed, "I'm counting on it. Come save the woman. We'll see then whofucking leaves."
Tuggingher backward once more, Sana pressed her lips together to keep from crying out.She needed Elijah to do as she said, she couldn’t let her pain provoke him totry and fight them.
