A Lifetime

A Lifetime / Chapter 10

Loud yelling from outside began immediately. Sounds, voices, words that she didn't understand began to resonate through the nearby hallway. Everything she heard was in this language that she didn't understand. She had no idea what was being said.

She opened the door just slightly to look down the hall. She saw a man lying motionless in the hallway. A masked man, holding a weapon out in front of him, was entering the room where she had been just moments ago.

He didn't see her.

"Chance!" she said aloud, without meaning to.

She had no weapon, nothing in the women's bathroom to arm herself with. She began to look around. There was a heavy glass bowl on the vanity. She dumped its contents in the trash and walked towards the little girl who was exiting her stall, fear in her eyes. She held her finger to her mouth indicating silence. She grabbed her hand and said, "We need to run and hide," without thinking that the girl wouldn't understand her, but the girl quickly spoke in English, "Yes." Tears filling her eyes now, the little girl gripped firmly to her hand and waited for her command.

She felt torn on staying and hiding there or running for a safer, more secure room.

She looked one final time down the hall. It was vacant except for the man, now lying in his own blood. Fighting back tears, she looked at the young girl and sternly instructed her to run.

They ran down the hall as quickly and quietly as possible, making a right down a corresponding hallway. She wanted to get as far from the masked man as possible, but this hallway ended too soon, so she entered a closed door. It was a maintenance closet.

There were toolboxes and smaller closets inside. She began to look around. She grabbed a broom handle and quickly unscrewed the broom end. She found a wrench and handed it to the little girl. There was a coil of electrical wire, on a shelf, so she began wrapping it around the door handle and along the wall to another handle.

The door wasn't going to open easily now.

She took a deep breath which caused the girl to cuddle up to her. Both suddenly felt less vulnerable. Kat wanted to stop shaking, for the little girl's benefit so she tried to slow her breaths.

It was of little use.

The little girl was much more distressed. Kat crouched down into a corner, furthest away from the door. She tugged the little girl in beside of her. Tightly. She brought another took box and placed it directly in front of them as a shield.

She turned to her little friend and whispered closely into her ear, "If someone enters, I will hit them with this," she looked at the stick gripped in her hand, "as much as I can. Defend yourself with this as best you can." She touched the wrench. "If I get hurt, run for another place to hide. Keep hiding until help comes. Okay?"

She looked Kat in the eyes and only mouthed "Okay" as tear after tear ran down her cheeks.

"We'll be okay. They can't even get in. We just have to wait."

She put her arm around the little girl and rubbed her back and arms and just held her. Her crying stopped but she often looked up at Kat. Kat looked at her often too and smiled to reassure the beautiful little one beside her. The girl had one arm around her knees, the other arm tightly around Kat's nearest arm.

She pulled out her phone and made sure it was muted. No sound at all. She told the girl to do the same. Then her thoughts again went to Chance.

Was he Okay? Was he hiding somewhere too? How would she find him?

She had to stop, it was making her more and more anxious and that wasn't going to do her or this little girl any good. She made up her mind to handle one moment at a time. To not think about "what if". Priority one: keep them safe.