New October

Ello’!

Sorry about the wait everybody! I would have posted sooner but my word processor was acting strange to say the least. Here is Chapter Five. Reviews are cool…>.>

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Chapter Five ~ Beautiful Stranger


Gwendolyn counted her footsteps as her heels it the pavement. Her feet were sore and her body was cold. The cool, dry air chapped her lips and froze her fingertips. She glanced into the starry sky and found the Big Dipper. A smile formed across her dry lips as she remembered looking for the stars to make that sign when she was a child. A shocking breeze of icy air went through her, causing her to stop in hr tracks.

“UGH! JESUS CHRIST!” she shouted into the deserted road. Her echo startled her for she expected to hear at least some laughter coming from a house., but the more she stood listening, the quiet the road became. No laughs, no music or parties. Nothing. Just empty houses. Confused, she slowly began to step forward. “People must be out elsewhere. All’s well. At least won’t have to deal with zooming cars or screaming kids. Yes! I can sleep tonight! Whoo-hoo!…or at least try too.”

She began to pick up her pace as she realized that Ferris hadn’t eaten dinner yet. Ferris was a brute of a German Sheppard. Intimidating, but very lovable.

Her steps turned into briskly walking which turned into a light jog. The air blew through her ‘pixie’ short hair. She realized how stupid it was to get such a short haircut in the dead of autumn, before winter let alone have a haircut named after a fairy.

“Genius girl.” she whispered to herself.

She slowed as she readied herself for a turn up ahead. Her breath was loud but steadied as she studied the continuous, eerie, silence. The fear that once struck her as a girl walking home alone hit her yet again. The reaction of anything happening like that was not minimal and she knew that on a personal note. To ease her fear, she took a deep, cool, breath and let out her voice.

“Hold me now”

She took fast, steady, steps.

“Oh oh, warm my heart. Stay with me. Let lovin’ start. Let…loving…start”

The wind had a different chill that again stopped her in her tracks. This overwhelming feeling of nervousness soared through her spine that made her legs feel like falling. The ‘wanting’ of getting home got the best of her and she began to run.

She heard the pounding of the pavement as her heels stabbed it and the crunching of the leaves. Dead leaves and twigs flew as she zoomed through them. Her heavy breathing was tearing her lungs to shreds…

This was when Gwendolyn felt a strong force surround her and squeeze her arms to he side, pulling her out of her frightened run. She nothing, but felt fear and anxiety covered her like a blanket. Gwendolyn tried to scream, but no avail as this attacker covered her mouth. She looked at his gloved hand and in it over her mouth was a small rag. She felt the dampness, but smelled no tasted anything.

As she attempted to cry and scream for help once more, only fading whimpers escaped her throat as she passed out into her attackers embrace.
He scooped her up and walked briskly out of the street.

The man of medium build carried her off into the maze of trees and searched for a spot to throw her down at. After minutes of looking, his arms became limp and he tossed her into a ditch that was disguised by an extremely tall tree.

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When Gwendolyn came too, she was unwelcome by sticks and twigs and thorns embedded into her back. As her vision cleared, she was greeted with the starry night sky and the tops of leafless trees. It wasn’t long until she remembered what had happened. Her head spun as she froze with nervous fear.

“Okay. Think Gwen. Get out of here” she thought to herself, “It’s quiet. Maybe he just robbed me and left me here so he could get away.” she lifted her head ever so slowly to see if she was right and when he was nowhere in her sight, she slowly attempted to pick herself up. As she peered into the darkness, not only did she feel as though she wasn’t alone, but inside she felt immediate danger.

She was right. From a short distance she heard the sound of crunching leaves and she quickly pretended to still be passed out.

Soon after, she felt somebody. A heavy somebody pushing their weight on top of her still one. Then, she felt her coat being tugged at. The noise coming from the man on top of her was short, sharp breaths. They sounded nervous and when she whimpered, they heightened. She noticeably squeezed her eyes tighter and her muscles tensed.

“I know you’re awake.” the man whispered, “Don’t scream and you will walk away from here when I’m done. If you do, however, then I will slice that sexy little neck of your’s. Got it?”

“Please don’t” she whispered back as she opened her eyes. The man was covered in black. Black hat, black jacket, black pants and boots. She could hardly see his eyes, but when she did, she saw nothing but cold, sinister pools of blue.

“Shut up!”

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Michael awoke to the voice of a man in the short distance. The voice sounded angry but collected. What he was saying to, what whimpers sounded like a lady, disgusted him to no end. Slowly, he stood and hide behind the tree. To Michael’s surprise, they were much closer to his hideout than he thought.


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Her quiet tears were noticeable to him as they swam down her face. Gwendolyn’s eyes darted all over the place just to try to avoid looking at this man. She felt her coat be torn off and tossed to the ground. Then it was her shirt that the man was working on next. He slid his gloved hand up and down her covered abdomen and her breasts and she heard the sick pants escape his mouth. He leant down to her ear and whispered as she gave him a repulsed look.

“Baby. Trust me. This’ll be really quick. I like it when girls have meat on their bones.” he said as he bit her ear. The smell of stale alcohol flew from his mouth. Her sobs were quiet as she looked as far as she could away from him. When her eyes looked up, she noticed the ditch that they were in and in a split second, she was overwhelmed with flashbacks

What when through her mind was not unusual, but this time it hit her in her heart. That chilly day in October when she almost met the same fate as she was about to endure. She had run into the woods because something sinister was chasing her, but in the end was met by her hero of so long ago.

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The tree Michael was concealing himself with was being clenched with his hands as he watched what was happening right in front of him in anger and disgust. What Michael was witnessing sent him through a world of emotions as he questioned himself as to what he should do. Something inside of him told him to ignore it yet inside of his heart, something told him to help. This whole scenario felt so familiar. He remembered that day in September. He never forgot it. That is why he was confused as to what to do.

“Be yourself, Mikey.” is what he heard in his mind.


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“Michael“, she thought. Her body began to shake much more violently, trying to move the man on top of her. She kicked and tried to free her arms as he had grasped them using all of his drunken strength.


“Michael.” she said quietly.


“STOP FUCKIN’ MOVING AND SHUT YOU FUCKING FACE!” he growled as he pulled her short hair, embedding her head to the leaves and rocks. His fist struck her cheekbone that sent her into a state of sheer shock. Next, she saw the man take a large rock and pound it upon her knee to keep her from moving, sending a jolt of agony throughout her body. She yelled as loud as her throat could handle.


“MICHAEL!” she screamed and sobbed. The man quickly put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.

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“Gwendolyn?” he whispered in absolute shock. He know knew why that voice told him to be himself and he now knew what to do. He felt as though he was ten years old again and was brought back to that very place in time. Something inside of him roared with the need to help her again.

Michael quickly picked up the log and quietly paced up to the man who was so close to achieving his goal. Her whimpers of fear hit Michael in the gut. He raised the heavy log up and over his head with all of his might.


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What Gwendolyn saw next made her freeze in terror. Behind the man in black was another man with what seemed to be a log raised over him about to strike. His massive height and thick build shocked her into silence as she watched that log come down as fast as a bullet. The crack she heard sent shivers down her spine. What she saw next caused her to gasp in fear. Blood tricked down the mans face as he stared into her eyes. Their abrupt eye contact was cut short as the man collapsed on top of her body, dead.


She lay there for a brief moment still in shock as the dead weight took her breath away. The sudden creep out feeling of a dead body on top of her caused her to push him aside of her with one drawn out shove. It took her breath away as she caught her breath. She quickly realized that the other man was standing beside her, with the bloody log still in his hold. She again feared for her life.

“Oh God. Please don’t” she thought.

When Michael knelt to her saying not a word, she quickly jumped up and leaped to the nearest tree and cuddled herself in a protective manner.

“AHH! Don’t. Please?”

Michael understood her actions for he knew she didn’t know who he was. He slowly stood again and walked to her cuddled body that sat at the bottom of the tree. He again knelt and stared at her fearful expression. He just stared and said not a word. It took Gwendolyn moments to finally catch her breath in a steady manner. When she did look in his direction, it was not at his mask, but at the bloody log that was still in his hold.


“P- please. Don’t hurt me.” she whispered. Michael suddenly realized that the log was still in his grasp and not wanting to frighten her anymore than she already was, he chucked it with one swift move into the woods. Staring at her half naked body, he reached over and grabbed her coat. When his masked face returned to hers, he saw that her eyes were sealed shut. Questioning himself, she gently tapped on her knee. When her eyes opened, she gasped for his mask got the best of her, but relaxed when she saw that all he was doing was giving her the coat that was ripped from her body. He knelt there motionless with her coat in his hands, outstretched to her. She was hesitant, but slowly accepted it. “Thank you..” she whispered.


Their silence together was awkward at first, but as minutes when by without a word, Gwendolyn felt as though she was surrounded by safety, that nobody could hurt her now. She knew that this feeling was obscured, but she wanted to know why she was feeling it to begin with.


“Can-can I ask for your name?” she muttered. She saw him bow his head, but what Michael was really thinking was how in the hell he was going to get out of the situation. He didn’t just want to leave her there, but he needed to protect himself as well. He decided to leave. Not out of disrespect to Gwendolyn. He really wanted to see her again, but if anyone found out that she had been in contact with him, they might hound her or something. After looking her over, he decided to leave. Michael rose up as she looked on in amazement at his towering figure. He looked at her through his mask and slowly turned to walk away.


“Wait.” she whispered so low that he couldn’t hear, “Don’t go.”, she held on to the tree for balance as she tried to pick herself up, but she let out a cry of pain and distress as her leg buckled underneath her. She wept into the bark and rested her head . The cool wind went through him as he stilled in the distance upon hearing her painful cry.


“Jesus, man! Go and help her!” he thought, “At least help her to her feet. Be a gentleman.”

With that, Michael turned around again and headed for Gwendolyn, who’s eyes were again closed. This time from trying to ignore the pain the soared throughout her leg. Her breaths were heavy as she tried to regain herself. When she opened her eyes she was surprised to see him approaching back toward her. She wasn’t as fearful as she thought herself to be, but she was sort of relieved as she felt her heart pound


“Oh, he came back. He came back.” she closed her eyes and thought.


When she heard the crunching of the leaves stop, she felt his presence very near. So close in fact that she heard his breath. When she opened her eyes, she gasped when she saw him knelt down beside her. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. She studied his unique, ghastly mask that shielded him as he looked her over and tried to remember what she looked like seventeen years ago.


“Her hair is much shorter than I remember, but everything else is the same. Just a little…older.” he thought, “Her eyes are the same too. Sparkling green. Whoa, she didn’t change much at all.”


Many emotions surrounded Gwendolyn as she tried to peer into the empty holes of his mask. She only saw darkness.


“Who are you?” she asked. He did not reply. “Please tell me who you are.” Her whispered plea was followed by a tear swimming on her cheek. She swallowed and closed her eyes again, resting upon the thick bottom of the tree.


What happened next surprised even Michael himself. He found himself leaning to Gwendolyn. He gently placed her arms around his neck as she opened her eyes in in confused fear. He put his arms underneath her bent legs and with one swift move, he picked her up causing her to yelp.


“Oh my goodness! Please don’t! Please?” she begged as she attempted to kick away.


“Calm down., alright? I won’t hurt you.”


She stared at him, her fear subsiding and she let out a relieved sigh. His suit was clammy and cold and she thought it smelled of motor oil, but she could care less. She felt safe and secure, which confused her. What weirded her out even more was that in the very moment he said that he wasn’t going to harm her, she felt his presence familiar, like she knew him from somewhere.


“Promise?” she whimpered as she let out a calm sob.

“Yes.”, his muffled answer was followed by him picking her up more to support her better, “Can I take you home?”

“Take me home?”

“Yeah. How far do you live?

“Just one block that way.”, she pointed her finger, “I, uh, I think I can manage.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well… what ‘bout him?” , she turned her head to the dead man’s body. “I need to take care of all this.”

“Don’t worry about him. This piece of garbage ought to rot here. Now tell me where ya live.” he demanded. She coiled and sunk down.

“Just up this block.”

“Okay. Just sit tight.”

Michael felt her tense body suddenly relax as he began his journey to bring her to her home. He remembered exactly where she lived, but he asked to ease her confusion if she wondered how he did in fact know where she lived. Without knowing it, she nestled her head into Michael’s shoulder and tried to steady her breathing.


“Who is he?” she thought., “And why am I not so frightened? I feel as though I know him, but I don’t know him…do I?


She felt her legs sway in the cool night air as she wondered what was going through his mind. She listened to his thumping heart which calmed her even more. It was steady and peaceful.

Steady and peaceful.

Steady and peaceful.

Steady and peaceful.

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The next thing Gwendolyn saw was her living room ceiling. She was laid upon her forest green couch and was covered with her purple quilt that she always had folded on top of it. She quickly sat up in confusion and recollected the what had happened the night before.

She remembered everything and knew it just was not a nightmare for when she moved her leg, her knee ached with pain. Gwendolyn knew her home was empty, but wondered how the mysterious man made it passed Ferris, who greeted her good morning. The large dog hopped up on the couch with her and whimpered.

“You didn’t bark or bite at him, did you Ferris? I hope not.” she said as she patted his head. The German Sheppard responded with a cocked head. Gwendolyn glanced at the clock which read four-fifteen am and immediately knew that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again. “You must be hungry, boy. Come. An early breakfast never hurt anybody.”