“What… Where is she?” I mumbled under my breath while trying to hold in tears. I had a very bad feeling. Diane may have been thin, but not so thin she could simply vanish by turning sideways! I scanned the room one more time and came to the conclusion she was not in the same room anymore.
“I’m gonna go get Diane.” I nudged Mrs. Smith. An officer was on the line talking to her, so she simply nodded and mouthed ‘stay close’. In hindsight, it was a bad idea to leave her side. But I really wasn't thinking straight. I circled the room many times over. My heart rate increased with every round I did. Not only was Diane not there, but neither was Lars. I could feel my face burning up, and my palms were sweating so badly that I was soaking the sleeves of my jacket. I was downright terrified for not only myself but Diane too. During my panic, I accidentally bumped into someone. I hardly even noticed, to be honest. My focus was on more important things.
“Robin?” Lucille turned to me. Of course, she would be the one I bumped into. I could still see the bitchiness in her face. The same bitchiness that nearly got Diane killed. Had she said anything crude, I would’ve gone off my nuts at her. And if she had ANYTHING to do with Diane’s disappearance, she would not be making it out of the damn building alive. But instead of her normal sour look, she gave me a soft expression.
“You good?” She asked.
“Diane. Where is Diane?” I asked her with a hint of anger in my voice. I couldn’t help it. I did not see her as a good person, and nothing would ever change that.
“I think I saw her go to the washroom.” Lucille said with a small shrug. “Come to think of it, it was a bit odd that another guy was the one to go with her. The one you came with? He seemed oddly attached to her. Is something going on-”
“Shit!!” I ran out of there faster than I thought possible. I didn’t tell Mrs. Smith where I had gone. It didn’t even cross my mind. The only thing on my mind was getting to Diane.
I ran out to the washroom and found Diane there. Alone. She was simply standing near one of the dysfunctional sinks. The whole image made no sense. Why was she there? And why was she standing next to a sink that was clearly labeled out of order?
When she heard my footsteps, she turned around and her eyes widened. The fear in her eyes said it all.
“No!! Get out of here!” She cried the second she saw me. I was too late to react and Lars came out from behind me and grabbed my neck. The bastard used Diane to lure me away from everyone else. He knew I would notice that she was missing and search for her. Quickly, he pushed me into the washroom and shut the door. It was one of those very small washrooms with only a stall or two, and the usual two sinks, with one, always being broken. The door shut naturally, so there was nothing suspicious. Unless someone walked in on everything, nobody would know what was going on. And if everyone else in the restaurant was anything like me and hated public washrooms, then Diane and I were royally fucked. I instantly regretted not telling someone where I was.
“Robin!!” Diane cried when she saw Lars wrap his hands around my neck and tightened his grip. Desperate to help me, she ran over and tried to yank his hands off me. Problem was, Lars was actually fairly strong. The man worked out at the gym quite often and had built up a fair bit of muscle. Diane on the other hand had nothing to her. With how thin and frail she was, I didn’t doubt any muscle she had been working for not too long ago, wasted away. With ease, Lars shoved her in the shoulder, pushing her away a fair bit.
“Fucking stick.” He rolled his eyes. “Come on Robin. We’re going.”
I wanted to say something, but he was choking me so much I could barely breathe. I didn’t have a choice. It was either go with him or get myself hurt.
“And you better stay fucking quiet.” He growled. He finally let me go and I collapsed to the ground. I clutched my neck, which I didn’t doubt would bruise. It took all my willpower to not start coughing up a storm. I was so shaken up that all I could think of to do was just go with him. The minute Lars let go of me, Diane ran over to me and tried to help me up. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the muscle to help my fat ass up. Let’s be honest. The emotional eating of all those beans was catching up to me.
“Get up.” Lars growled. “C’mon.”
“She’s not going with you.” Diane growled back. Growling wasn’t something that normally came from Diane. The only times she expressed anger in such an aggressive manner was when she was deep in her eating disorder, and when something really, really, and I mean really, pissed her off. The latter was an almost impossible achievement. But Lars had achieved the impossible. He angered the Diane.
“Oh, and you’re going to stop her?” Lars looked amused at the thought of such a thing. He knew all too well that Diane stood no chance against him.
“I sure as hell will try.”
“Oh, woe is me.” He rolled his eyes with a smirk of contempt. “Get up Robin.”
“She’s not going with you!” Diane fought back. Her presence was starting to severely upset him. I could tell he was only seconds from snapping.
“I-I’ll go…” I said shakily. I was trying to get up, but it was hard with me being so scared. My knees seemed to have forgotten how to function, and everything in my body was telling me not to go. But I was determined not to witness Lars snapping. Especially if it meant someone getting hurt.
“Robin, no!” Diane glared at me. When I finally accomplished the task of getting up, she yanked me back, destroying my hard work. I fell back onto my buttocks and she stepped in front of me. I could almost hear Lars gritting his teeth. He had enough of Diane. She got in his way one too many times.
“Get out of the way you goddamn bitch!!” With a fair amount of force, he socked Diane right in the gut. When I say she went flying, I mean, she went FLYING. I watched in absolute horror as she flew backward. Lars wasn’t stopping there though. No, he had to get payback for all the times she interfered. Before I could somehow stop him, he picked her up by the collar of her button-up and THREW her. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was as if she was a simple toy to him. Time felt like it had slowed down. I watched as she smashed into the nearby wall of the bathroom, nearly taking out the second (functional) sink. She hit that wall with such force that she made a massive dent in the wall. I was honestly shocked it didn’t knock her out. Limply, she fell to the floor. But despite just getting thrown into a wall, she tried to get back up. The dedication of that woman was almost admirable. I saw Lars start to go for her again, and I finally reacted.
“No!! Lars!! I’ll go!” I cried. I quickly pulled myself up to show I was ready to go. “Just leave her alone! Please!!”
Lars half turned and glared at me from the corner of his eye. His ice-blue eyes froze me in place. Somehow, his eyes were beautiful, yet deadly at the same time. Tension quickly filled the room as I waited for his response. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he turned around and nodded.
“Let’s go.” He grabbed me tightly by the arm and without another word, led me out of there. I felt awful for leaving Diane behind, but I knew trying to help her would make things worse. The least I could do was get Lars away from her, even if it meant putting myself in danger.
Quietly, we made it through the restaurant. A huge part of me prayed that someone would notice the situation and save me, but I guess I was too hopeful. Lars had this way of appearing normal in society, so nobody ever gave him a second glance. We got to the entrance, and I noticed some flashing blue and red lights reflecting off of the glass door. Could it be? We took another few steps and I could see many cop cars clearly parked in the parking lot. If it wasn’t for the situation I was in, I would’ve done a little dance and sang a song.
“What did you do?” Lars growled under his breath as he shot me an ice-cold glare. The glare he gave me got rid of any urges I had to sing my little song. It was a question, but I knew better than to respond.
He scoffed and rubbed his eyes a bit. When he pulled his hand off his face, he looked normal. The kind look was back in his eyes, and he plastered a believable but fake smile on his face.
“Let’s go, sweetie.” He said in a sickly sweet voice. We kept walking and headed outside of the restaurant. The car was on the other side of the parking lot, so we had to pass at least one cop car. Lars didn’t seem fazed at all and walked by as any normal person would. He gave them a casual look of confusion and interest in whatever was about to go down. A look the cops seemed to have expected. They didn’t deem him suspicious and we walked right on by. When we were in a spot they could no longer see his face, a smile of contempt spread across his face. He prided himself in how well he could disguise himself in a crowd.
With every step closer we took to the car, I felt myself regret my choices even more. What if I had waited just a bit longer in the washroom? Maybe the cops would’ve gotten to him, and Diane and I would’ve both been saved! I then started regretting not at least trying to show a sign to the cops when we walked by. I could’ve easily gave them a signal to show I wasn’t okay, but my stupid ass didn’t. Now I was stuck with him. I had no way out that wouldn't cause me or someone else pain. I really was stuck with him… so at what point did I just accept it? Escaping this man was near impossible, and I would be wasting my time trying to get out of it. Maybe if I just gave him what he wanted and went with it, things would be okay. It did make me wonder what in the world I did to deserve this. Who did I hurt so badly for karma to hit me like this?
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