Chapter 16: Chapter 16

It didn't matter what games my mind was playing on me I wanted revenge it was only fair that he got what was coming to him, an eye for an eye after all.

"BELLE WAIT!" Malcolm yelled after me running to catch up to me but I was too fast and run an arms-length away from him. I felt my pulse roar in my ears as my heart picked up its pace the faster I run, my chest heaving in pain as I run faster than I have ever to the point where I tasted that all too familiar metallic taste of blood in my mouth as my organs begged me to stop, I needed to work out more. The further away I ran from the entrance the darker it git to the point where I could barely see what was in front of me.

"BELLE!" Malcolm's voice was barely a whisper with how far u run ahead of him but that was my first mistake as I slowed down breathing heavily as I tried to find where the skeleton guy went but with the seemingly endless doors lining the hallway he could've been anywhere.

I gritted my teeth, my fists clenched as I tried to recollect my thoughts with my erratic heartbeat. One by one I began opening doors scanning the rooms with inhuman speed trying to find any human dressed in a skeleton outfit but I found none which activated me to the point where I ended up lunching the wall across from me. Pain vibrated around my clenched fist.

"Fuck," I cursed as tears of frustration rolled down my cheeks increasing in number as memories from that night in the alley flooded my mind one by one, goosebumps littered my body as I shivered feeling invisible hands grope me everywhere.

"Pull It together Belle," I told myself slapping myself across the face hoping to wake up from this nightmare. The slap left a tingling sensation on my cheek just confirming what I was dreading most, I was wide awake. I leaned against the walk with a heavy sigh looking up at the ceiling as if to ask 'Why me?' But no reply was returned so I stood there practically shaking and unable to move.

Malcolm's voice could still be heard from afar away distance getting closer towards me but he seemed lost, I couldn't understand for the life of me why life was so cruel to people when they did nothing wrong or maybe I was being punished for not being the dutiful daughter that every parent dreams of. I tried to be the best version of myself but I failed because of situations that surrounded me making me truly believe that in the end, people were truly disappointing.

I didn't get a second to wallow in my sorrow as the door a step away from me opened abruptly and a hand grabbed me by my hair and roughly pulled me inside the lowly lit room. I barely got a second for my eyes to adjust to the lighting in the room before a sharp pain run throughout my stomach as the intruder punched me in the stomach then in the face. Pain resonated throughout my body as my attacker punched me repeatedly over and over their blows fueled by anger as they increased in number rendering me frozen on the ground in absolute agony. I curled in a ball as my attacker kicked me over and over not stopping no matter how loud I screamed for them to stop.

I felt pathetic laying there as I got the shit beat out of me, truth be told I wasn't strong physically and emotionally so I laid there feeling my will to fight drain out of my body kick after kick waiting for the sweet relief of unconsciousness or better yet death.

"You fucking can't this is all your fault." My attacker angrily yelled kicking me harder with a loud snap as a result, I felt absolute agony as one of my ribs broke. An ear-splitting scream tore out of me as my body went into shock at the amount of pain I was in, my body shook uncontrollably with my attacker taking a step back in shock as if in shock at what he was doing.

The yelling of Malcolm could be heard clearly as he got closer towards us and he didn't sound calm in the least which seemed to scare my attacker as he rushed to the door to barricade it with a chair as if that could stop Malcolm. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself but every breath felt like I was breathing in shards of glass, none stop tears streamed down my cheeks as I gritted my teeth restricting my breathing to shallow breaths.

"You stay quiet!" My attacker ordered coldly kicking me in the head, my soul screamed in pain as my vision blurred. I lay on the cold cement floor unable to move with the amount of pain I was in so I watched through blurry eyes as my attacker took out a pocket knife from his ankle sock readying for the person on the other side of the door. Patiently with bated breath, my attacker heard as well as myself one by one, as Malcolm slammed doors open searching and yelling my name, by the time he tried opening the room I was in, I was losing consciousness. He rattled the door handle but finding it locked.

"BELLENTHU!" Malcolm yelled banging on the food with his fists.

"Malcolm," I called his name above a whisper feeling like my body was giving up on me, my brain was fuzzy as I watched in slow motion as my attacker walked towards me with pure menace kicking me hard in the stomach. I groaned loudly coughing up blood as my body jerked violently to my rough movements. I opened my eyes to see the door being shaken from its hinges rattling my attacker as he held his pocket knife tighter in his hand.

A weak smile appeared on my face as Malcolm broke the door down with such ease I wondered if he was even human at all. Pure rage danced in his eyes as he fixed his eyes from my limp body to my attacker who was in a fighting position but noticeably shaking. Malcolm seemed to look bigger than before towering over my attacker who seemed to know he wasn't getting out of this unharmed.

Malcolm was the first to attack not giving my attacker a moment to use the pocket knife as he punched the attacker over and over u tiki the guy was a bloodied mess with a broken nose but Malcolm didn't stop there as he continued to rain hell in the attacker throwing punch after punch even when the attacker fell on the floor coughing and groaning in pain, at the rate Malcolm was going he was going to kill the guy if I didn't do something but it was hard to do anything when my body didn't want to listen to me.

"Malcolm," I weakly said my voice weak and hoarse but he didn't hear me as he let his rage drive him showing his true self that always got him in trouble when he was younger.

"MALCOLM!" I yelled even though my body was screaming in pain every time I breathed or moved but I was glad it got Malcolm's attention as he turned his bloodthirsty eyes to me. The pure blood lust that surrounded him was enough to scare anyone yet I didn't fear him in the slightest instead I was just worried about his well being and what might happen to his reputation if he killed that man who was breathing heavily on the ground. He seemed to get off his high rage as he rushed to my side to assess the damage done to me.

"Belle I'm so sorry." He said with creased brows seeming to be in absolute pain at seeing me so hurt and in pain.

"It's ok." I weakly said tears dancing in my eyes as I struggled to even say a coherent sentence without screaming or passing out.

"Hang in there help will be here soon," Malcolm said taking out his phone to call an ambulance but his words were muffled by the roaring pulse of my heartbeat in my ears but telling by his angry facial expression the conversation was not going well. I closed my eyes willing my body to stay awake as I tried to focus on what Malcolm was saying.

"Fifteen minutes? Are you fucking kidding me she could be dead by then if she was in a worse condition?" Malcolm yelled angrily into the phone before hanging up before he frantically looked around the room.

"Time to go," Malcolm said gently picking me up bridal style, I cried out at the movements my body protesting at the seemingly rough movements. Malcolm was being as gentle as he could but the extent of the pain I was in was too much as I began to blackout.

"Stay with me Belle you can't fall asleep," Malcolm ordered practically running down the hall trying to head to the entrance we came from. I wasn't sure why he was being so protective or thinking I was going to die considering I just had a broken rib and perhaps internal bleeding but something that could easily be fixed by surgery which I'm sure my father will kill me once he sees the price.

As Malcolm finally sped through the foyer where everyone was they gasped at my state not able to ask what happened as Malcolm rushed through the foyer door making a beeline to his car. He placed me gently on the back seats so I was lying on my back, he ran to the driver seat starting his car and speeding onto the road braking about every law in driving from switching lanes carelessly with no indication of overtaking to nearly causing accidents and not slowing down for anything. All the while my body was jerked back and forth roughly as I blacked in and out just trying to stay awake even though I wanted nothing more than to sleep for eternity.

"Stay awake P.B!" Malcolm said through gritted teeth, beads of sweat lining his forehead with his fists tightened around the steering wheel. I merely groaned coughing violently as he took a sharp left my body following the movement, blood seeped into my mouth from where I bit the inside of my cheek trying to keep myself awake for as long as possible if by chance that my injuries were deadly because this isn't how I wanted to die I had so many things I wanted to do before I died. Maybe it was just my paranoia talking but I didn't want to die and the realisation of that just fueled my desire to live as I tried to stay awake through gritted teeth trying to find anything to hold on to, to release my pain on but the only thing I could hold into was the back of the passengers seat digging my nails into the fabric.

"We're almost there Belle," Malcolm said through gritted teeth looking at my bloodied hand gripping on the seat. I merely hummed praying to whoever was listening to end my pain quickly but no god answered my prayer as we saw the hospital come into view, I finally relaxed letting my muscles loosen welcoming the abyss as I knew I would be in good hands.

***

I woke up to the sound of a heart monitor a dreaded sound I disposed of so much. Painfully I pried my sore eyes only to flinch at the harsh lights above me that assaulted my eyes. I groaned inwardly gritting my teeth as my whole body screamed in agony.

"Oh thank God you're still alive," Malcolm sighed in relief when I opened my eyes. My throat burned as I groaned feeling my head pound as if someone was having a disco in there with the speakers on maximum volume making me feel like my head was about to split open.

"Take it easy P.B," Malcolm gently said sitting on the side of the bed holding my small hand, softly rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. He looked tired like he hadn't slept in days portrayed by the bags under his eyes, the thing that broke my heart the most was the glistering tears in his eyes waiting to fall. My heart skipped a beat at the thought that my near-death rattled him to the extent of him crying for me but another thought invaded my mind the closer I studied him the more I thought about his past and now many people he lost, clearly this affected him more then he was letting on.

Maybe he had abandonment issues or he was just relieving the death of his closest friend but whatever the reason was it was eating him inside as tears finally cascaded down his cheeks. I couldn't say anything to comfort him as my mouth couldn't corporate with me neither was the rest of my body, if I tried moving my entire body would scream in protest against any movements I made.

"Don't strain yourself, you're about to head into surgery," he informed me not liking the thought of that in the least by the way his body became rigid at the mention of surgery. I'd never been to surgery and the thought of strangers cutting me open made my heart fly out the window which explained why the heart monitor was beeping at an alarming rate.

"Take a deep breath P.B no one is going to hurt you here," Malcolm said squeezing my hand gently but his voice was far away and echoing. I couldn't answer him as I blacked out from too much pain assaulting me from all sides, I kept blacking in and out, one moment I was in the hospital bed and the next I was wheeled through the hospital hallway with blinding lights stunning my eyes. I had an oxygen mask over my face drowsing my mind to the point where I just wanted to sleep for eternity as my eyelids became too heavy to hold up. I zoned back in when lights were shone directly over my eyes. By the equipment around the room, I could tell I was in a theatre room before I blacked out again.

When I came to I was still slightly groggy and feeling lightweight, I had a needle sticking out of my arm connected to a tube. A burning sensation could be felt from my stomach to the rest of my body, a sensation that had my toes curling painfully while I grinded my teeth. Silent tears stressed down my cheeks as I tried to assess my surroundings, I was still in the hospital with wires sticking out of a machine connected to my body, on the chair beside me a sleeping Malcolm lay with his head resting on the bed his chest heaving up and down in a slow rhythmic way.

On the other end of the room sat my dad in a chair asleep with his hand against his cheek and his elbow on the arm of the chair supporting his weight. I sighed inwardly staring at the ceiling wondering why this happened to me, they say bad things happen to people who deserve it but why did I deserve this I didn't do anything wrong nor did I kill anyone so why was I constantly picking up the short end of the stick?

I groaned through closed eyes as I tried to sit up but my whole body refused screaming in pain, my movements woke up Malcolm who groggily fixed his eyes on me before he opened them widely when he saw me awake.

"P.B you're awake." He said in shock holding my hand tightly as if it make sure I was still there and not a hallucination of his mind.

"Uh-huh," I hummed my throat dry and itchy.

"Don't talk," he ordered tears glistening in his eyes. He brought my hand laced with his to lay on his cheek, the warmth of his cheek brought joy to my dishevelled mind making a small smile crack across my face. I never had anyone care for me as much as Malcolm has in such a short amount of time since we've known each other. My dad was woken by the commotion rushing to my side itching to bombard me with question after question that hurt my head.

"What the hell happened?"

Who did this to you?"

"Who the hell would want to hurt you like this?"

His questions gave me a splitting headache the more I thought about it because I didn't know most of the answers to the questions.

"Give her some space," Malcolm suggested noticing my uncomfortable face.

"Don't tell me what to do she's my daughter I know what's best for her!" My dad angrily said puffing up his chest as if he was ready to fight Malcolm on the spot, size-wise my dad won by a mile but Malcolm had been fighting since he was twelve so he could easily put my dad in his place if he wanted to.

This isn't what I hoped to wake up.