Getting Away With You

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^*Danielle’s POV*^
I heard soft footsteps outside of my door, and I looked over at the door, half fearful of what was about to walk in. The door was cracked open slightly, allowing the light from the nightlight connected to one of the banisters to flow in, barely illuminating a small portion inside of the room. The light was soon blocked out as a person stood in its path; the person took a deep breath, filled with dread. I stared at him, thinking maybe it was Brian, or Jimmy, but no, it’s never Brian or Jimmy, it’s always him. He carefully opened the door further, and I tried to not cry out for Brian or Jimmy, not wanting him to come in, not wanting him to take another step closer to me. I pretended as if I was asleep as his light footsteps made their way towards me.

“I’m sorry I have to do this.” He whispered, and I opened my eyes slightly, and looked up at him, sadness and hurt drowning his face. I looked down to what was in his hand, what the light from the hall was now reflected off of; the butcher’s knife. I felt the tears already stinging my eyes, my worst nightmare coming true.

“Please Matt...” I whispered, and he shook his head, a tear making its way down his cheek.

“I have to Danielle, you know I have to.” He whispered, taking his hand and gently removing a piece of hair out of my face. I slowly brought my hand up and caught his before he could take it away, lacing my fingers together with his.

“Don’t do it. Please.” I begged, and he sighed.

“I don’t have much of a choice.” He took his hand from mine, and I shook my head. “I really do like you, Danielle, but I don’t have a choice. I don’t. It’s all Chase’s fault, remember that.” He brought the knife up and I grabbed both of his wrists, trying to hold the knife off.

“No, Matt, don’t.” I said, tears making their way down my cheeks. “You don’t have to do this. Just stop, Matt.” I muttered and he took a swipe at me with the knife, making me jump back and off of the bed. He walked around to me in the floor and tried once more to stab me, but I dodged the blade once more, and I got up but as soon as I was about to run past him he grabbed me, and pressed me back against the wall.

“Don’t make this any harder than it is, Danni, I don’t want to do this.” He said, holding me back against the wall as I tried to struggle. It was a relentless effort, because I was no match for him.

“You don’t have to do this! Please just stop it!” I begged him, I couldn’t really say very much more. He let go of me, and backed off a little.

“I’m so sorry.” He said, and before I could beg for my life once more, he plunged the knife into my heart.

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^*Brian’s POV*^
I was woken up by a scream echoing from down the hall. I immediately got up and ran out the door, nearly sliding in my socks and going right over the railing, but I got up and continued my rush down to Danni’s room. The door was open so I ran in, and she was in bed, screaming her head off. I went over and crawled up onto the bed, and she snapped awake, scrambling away from me, and I held my hands up.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” I said, and she nodded, and I took her into my arms as she began crying, her sobs shaking us both. “Shh, it’s okay, I’m here.” I whispered, trying to get her calm down.

“It happened again.” She muttered, and I pried her off of me slightly.

“What happened again? The nightmares?” I asked and she nodded. “What was it about?”

“Matt.” She stated. “He killed me.” Her voice was so quiet I could barely hear her, but though her voice was nearly silent, her words struck me like a two by four to the face.

“Danni, Matt’s not going to hurt you.” I insisted, though it pained me that I couldn’t promise her anything.

“I know it’s just…I can’t get that out of my head.” She said, and I sighed. She was scared of him…of Matt…of who he was…of what he was. But Matt wasn’t the only killer under this roof. Jimmy and I had killed people too, by force; too many that we care to remember.

“Danielle, all three of us are not good people in the least bit, but we’d never hurt you. Especially not Matt.” I said, and she nodded.

“You don’t mind sleeping with me again, do you?” She asked and I shook my head, I wasn’t about to let her sleep alone.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” I said, and got under the covers, and let her curl up next to me. “Now go to sleep, everything’s okay.” I whispered, and she nodded. After a moment she was out, and I closed my eyes, her dream and mine and Jimmy’s conversation from this afternoon playing over in my head.

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^*Danielle’s POV*^
I was jolted awake by another dream, the same as the last. It hurt, the thought of Matt trying to kill me. I considered him a good friend, but when I think back to the night I met him, of what he did that night, and what he looped me into, I can’t help but be terrified of him. He’s a murderer, and no matter how badly I don’t want that to be true, I can’t deny the truth. Truthfully, if it wasn’t for Jimmy and Brian; if I was out here alone with Matt, I would’ve been gone by now, already caught a flight and flown back to Huntington. But Jimmy and Brian are really great guys. It was sweet of Brian to comfort me, and Jimmy to be so understanding. I looked over at Brian to make sure he was still asleep, and after I saw that he was, I slowly got out from under the covers and out of bed, feeling the cold bite of the house hit me. I made my way out of my room and around the top floor to the stairs. I began my descent into the living room in the pitch black dark. Trying to maneuver down polished steps in socks in the complete darkness is not a good thing to do. One wrong step and I could be sprawled in the living room floor, my back out of place and possible broken bones. I was at least half way down, with twenty steps to go. Matt’s already tripped once going down these steps, and nearly bashed his head on the rail. Luckily he saved himself and was okay. I doubt I’d be that lucky. Taking my late misfortune into consideration, no, there’s no way in hell I would be lucky enough to save myself if I fall. I took each step one at a time, very slowly, all while hanging onto the banister for dear life. Jimmy should still be on the couch, so if I do fall maybe he can get to me in time before I sink into a total vegetative state. That would be just ideal at the moment, for me to sink into a vegetative state. Well…at least it would make it easier for Matt to kill me. I don’t know why I keep thinking like that. Maybe it’s just my normal state of mind, each corner filled with horror movie trivia, and always thinking the worst before the best.

I took a misstep, and slipped, falling backwards. I didn’t slide all the way down to the floor, because I was already at the last three steps. I didn’t hit my head that hard on the steps since I was still holding onto the railing. I sighed before pulling myself up by the hand that was still keeping the upper half of my body from hitting the stairs. I stepped down the last two steps carefully before tip toeing into the living room. The fire was still going, giving off a warm glow that basked the whole room in a soft orange color, and a nice heat that differed from the rest of the freezing cold house. My eyes caught a figure sitting on one of the couches, and I didn’t move for a second, recognizing the person. I thought about just turning and going back upstairs, but my nice thick quilt that was going to keep me from freezing to death was on the opposite couch, and the heat was down here. I made my way over to the couch, and felt Matt’s eyes on me as I grabbed my quilt and went over, and sat down next to him, only a few inches away, trying not to let this new fear get the best of me.

“Nightmares?” He asked and I nodded.

“Nightmares.” I whispered, bringing my blanket up around my shoulders to keep the cold off of me. “Where’s Jimmy?”

“I woke up and found him cuddled up next to me, and I didn’t really know why, so I slipped off down here.” He said and I nodded. It was silent for a moment as we both just watched the fire. I wondered if I should tell him about my nightmares, about my thoughts…about my fear of him. “Do you mind if I ask you something?” Matt opened his mouth before I could start revealing my fucked up thoughts. I shook my head. “Why did you ask me this afternoon if I would ever hurt someone I considered a friend?” I hesitated to answer. I took a deep breath as I avoided his eyes.

“I’ve…I’ve been having these nightmares. Like…some kind of sick premonition my mind has conjured up. They’re about you.” I looked up at him. “And you’re trying to kill me.” I whispered, and he just stared at me for a moment.

“Danielle, I would never hurt you.” He said, looking into my eyes with sincerity in his voice. “I’d never try. You may have…seen some things and done some things you probably shouldn’t, but only because I told you to, and I trust you, and I’d never kill you. I don’t think I could. I thought about it that night, because at first I was terrified that you had walked in, and second I thought that for sure if I let you go you’d run to the cops. I had intentions of pushing you down that hill, but I didn’t because I couldn’t bring myself to.” He said, and I nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “You’re safe, with me. I promise you I will intentionally never hurt you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He said, and I smiled lightly, leaning into his side and he wrapped an arm around me. My fear had melted away for the moment, leaving me with some other feeling for him. A feeling that I didn’t know I had for him, a feeling I didn’t know if I wanted to have for him. But this feeling…this was a feeling that in a way, I knew he felt too.

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^*Matt’s POV*^
I’ll get a call from Chase any day now. I know I will. It’s only a matter of time. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want to break my promise. He’ll have threats on…on what? I don’t have any family left. He’s killed them all off, aunts, uncles, cousins, mother, father, wife…daughter. Without Danni, I really have no one. But I won’t do it. Jimmy or Brian…they’ll be summoned next, with threats on their lives, and they won’t have a choice. I’d rather kill them, and take Chase down by myself than live without Danielle. Jimmy knows it. Brian knows it. They know that Chase is going to hunt us down. They know how relentless he is. He’s in prison, behind bars, and yet he’s still going to track us down like a fucking bloodhound and make us do things we don’t want to do in order to keep our own lives. He’ll find a way around the court, around the state legislator, around the law, around his sentence, around the world, around everything standing in his path of freedom, and he’ll be out and lose again, along with his henchmen, and I’ll be dead if I don’t follow his orders. Jimmy and Brian will be his next choice, and they’ll refuse and be killed too. We can’t stop him. We can’t defeat him. But there’s no harm in trying.

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^*Danielle’s POV*^
I woke up lying on the couch with Matt behind me, his arms locked securely around my waist. I didn’t have another nightmare last night after what he said. I believed him, he would never hurt me. He’s not that type of person. Or at least I hoped he wasn’t.

“Look who’s up.” I looked over at the other couch, where Jimmy was sitting, watching TV.

“Morning.” I mumbled, not leaving Matt’s arms. I didn’t think I could, even if I wanted to; he had too strong of a grip.

“Have any more bad dreams?” Jimmy asked, and I shook my head. “It seems you’re finally warming up to him.” Jimmy smiled, motioning to Matt’s face in the crook of my neck and I sighed.

“He’s not as bad as he looks.”

“You know…he’s not a bad guy.” Jimmy said and I nodded. I knew he wasn’t that bad of a guy. “Everything that he’s had to do, and that Brian and I have done, we’ve been forced into doing it. We haven’t hurt anyone by choice. You know that, right?”

“I know, you guys are really sweet people, just caught up in the wrong lifestyle.” I stated and he nodded, looking at the news on the TV, then back at me.

“We aren’t just caught up in the wrong life style,” Jimmy paused. “We’re caught up in the wrong life.”