When Night Breaks

The next few weeks were rather typical. Ian and I had gotten to know each other pretty well, although nothing major had happened. He came across as a tad bit clingy but I thought it was rather cute; maybe he just liked me a lot. We would often go to lunch after class and I would always find him waiting at my car. He always seemed to be one step ahead of me. But hey, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Most of my hours after school were spent either studying and doing homework, or working. I had a part time job as a cashier at a local department store. It sold the average styles of clothes ranging from juniors to women’s. It wasn’t too strenuous nor was the hours unreasonable. I made 8 bucks an hour ringing up clothes and organizing the racks, which is nothing to complain about. One added perk was that I got 15% off anything in the store. I had gotten the job my senior year in high school, and it was a good way to get to know people. When customers would come in, I’d always make small talk and try to be as friendly as possible. The job sometimes took away from a social life, so I managed to create one within the work environment.

I was working one evening, fixing to clock out, when Ian walked in. I had never seen him in the store before, so I was rather shocked. Plus, we only sold mainly women’s items, so our male customer base was quite limited. He walked up to the counter as if there was nothing strange about it. I knew it was no coincidence that he just happened to wander in.

“Hey Sam.” Ian walked up to my register, “How are you?”

“I’m good. Just working. Obviously.” I said, trying not to sound sarcastic.

“I see that.” There was then an awkward moment of silence where neither person knew what to say next.

“Uh, so, what..what brings you in?” I asked.

“I was just passing by and noticed your car. Thought I’d drop by and see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat or something after you get off.”

“Oh.” I said surprised at the sudden invite, “Yeah, sounds good.”

“You get off at what? 7?” He asked. How did he know that?

“Yeah, just let me finish my shift and I can meet you somewhere.”

“Oh no need. I figured I could just drive us both. You can leave your car here, since we’ll have to go back by for you to get home.” That made sense to me, so I agreed.

Before I punched out, I went into the break room and touched up my hair and makeup. I went outside and met Ian at his car. We ended up at a nice little Irish restaurant on the West end of town. It was a pleasant dinner and everything went over rather well. After we left and got into Ian’s car he asked if he could make a quick stop. I told him that would be fine. He went into a convenient store and came out with a paper bag. Something didn’t feel right about the situation to me, but I shrugged it off. That is, until he opened the bag. He pulled out what looked like a glass bottle of alcohol.

“Uhm, Ian? What are you doing?”

“What? Oh this? Ah baby, don’t worry. Just a little something to loosen me up.”

“Maybe you should wait until you’re not driving to loosen up?”

“It’ll be fine. I wanna show you something.” He then veered off onto a back road, headed in the opposite direction of my car.

“I think you should just take me to my car.”

“Lighten up.” He reached over and put his hand on my thigh. I pushed it away but it only seemed to anger him. He pulled over on the side of the dirt road. It was overlooking the lake, and had an eerie feeling about it.

“Is it safe for us to be here?” I asked.

“It’s fine.” He took another long drink out of the bottle and tossed it in the back floor board. It was empty.

“How about me and you get things a little heated up?” He put his hand back on my thigh and moved upward.

“Ian. Stop. Take me to my car.” He persisted, and began to get violent. He tightened his grip on my leg, and grabbed my wrist with his other hand.

“Come on baby. Don’t play hard to get.” He reached in to kiss my mouth, but I slapped him away.
“That was the wrong move.” I seen the anger swell up in his eyes.

I jumped out of the car and escaped his tight grip. I reached for my cell phone to call 911, but he ran over to me and slapped my phone out of my hand. I seen the phone hit the ground and tumble away in the gravel. He grabbed me once more and tried to take my shirt off. I screamed, and that’s when he covered my mouth. I bite down into his hand, causing him to jerk away. I started to run, but as soon as my brain told my legs to run, he hit me. I fell to the ground and was quickly losing consciousness. There was a copper taste in my mouth, and I knew it was blood. I wasn't sure if it was from me biting Ian, or if the blood was my own.

I was awake just long enough to see the shadow of a man come up upon Ian. It wasn’t quite a man though, and when I seen his eyes, I realized it was the man from the parking lot about a month ago. I watched as his picked Ian up with one hand and toss him on the hood his car. I heard Ian pleading and begging and this thing telling him to “stay away from her”. I then blacked out and remember nothing until the next morning.