The Footsteps, echoed throughout the parking lot, each step a sharp reminder of how danger was coming closer. Aria's breath seized, her throat tightening as the steps grew louder, more urgent and quickening. Her heart pounded and was about to leave her ribcage. Someone was coming closer and faster.
She didn't move. She couldn't. Her legs were still, paralyzed by fear, her eyes locked on the corner from which the sound was approaching.
Then—silence.
Just like that, the steps stopped. Dead silence swallowed the corridor.
Her chest rose and fell quickly as she tried hard to hear. Nothing. No movement. No breathing. No whisper of fabric brushing against the walls. Then, the most unexpected thing happened—the steps began to retreat. Slowly. Cautiously. It was so sudden, more like who was approaching changed their mind, or worse, was playing with her, teasing the fear they had already sparked.
Just like a crashing wave, relief hit her, knees buckled slightly and she let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her entire body shook and for a moment, she leaned against the wall, gripping it with her shaky fingers, trying to ground herself.
Reality suddenly hit her.
Jerry!
She turned sharply, her eyes scanning the floor as they landed on him. He lay down, unmoving, like a log of wood "Jerry?" she whispered, fear
gripping her, " you just spoke to me!'' she said as she surrounded him, her breath caught once again—this time in horror.
A pool of blood.
It stretched out beneath him, thick and dark, slowly entering into the cracks between the cold floor Aria gasped, her hands flying to her mouth as a sob broke through her lips. "Oh my God… Jerry!"
Her hands moved above him, unsure of where to touch, how to help, terrified of making anything worse. His face was pale, too pale, and his eyelids shut with the barest sign of consciousness. She panicked, her chest beating faster as she reached for her phone in her pocket, pulling out her phone with shaking hands she dialed.
Her phone hit the ground twice before she managed to punch in the emergency number. "Please! Hurry and send in an ambulance!" she cried into the phone, her voice breaking with pain. "Please, hurry up!"
The calm voice tried to guide her, but all she could hear was the ringing in her ears and the sound of Jerry's labored, shallow breaths. Time seemed like a lifetime as it stretched endlessly.
"Jerry you have to wake up," she said in a low voice firmly holding his hands and placing it between hers. "Please, Jerry… don't leave me. Please…"
A passing second, tormenting her.
In the distance, the loud sound of sirens could be heard as it drew closer. Aria quickly stood to her feet and ran toward the door, waving her arms desperately to guide the paramedics. They burst through moments later, every action laced with urgency.
She backed away as they surrounded Jerry, giving instructions to one another in clipped tones. One of them glanced up at her. "We need to move now, a lot of blood has been lost."
Aria followed into the ambulance, the only response she gave was with a nod, her hands still stained with his blood, her heart pounding with fear and hope in equal measure.
She silently prayed for him to leave.
She had never known this kind of fear before—raw, soul-shaking, and relentless. But even in the chaos, one thing was clear: she couldn't lose him. Not now. Not ever.
The ambulance immediately moved in motion as its siren screamed through the night. Aria sat in the corner, holding unto Jerry's hand as if her very life depended on it. Her other hand trembled against her lap, stained with his blood, still warm, still too much.
"We need to stabilize him Ma'am, please give us some space! " one of the paramedics urged gently.
"I—he can't die," Aria said slowly, her voice hoarse, her throat torn from screaming. "He just can't. You have to save him."
"We will do everything in our power to. " the paramedic said, inserting an IV and checking vitals. His expression remained neutral, but Aria saw it—that fleeting unstable concern. Jerry wasn't stable. He was slipping away.
She turned back to Jerry, leaning closer. "Jerry, listen to me. You stay with me, okay? Don't you dare let go. Don't you leave me alone."
His eyelids twitched and so did his lips twitch so slightly.
"I'm cold," he murmured weakly, barely audible.
Aria swallowed back her tears. "You're going to be okay. You just have to hang on, we are going to be there soon."
A thousand thoughts crashed through her mind. Who had done this? Why? And those footsteps—the way they suddenly stopped and retreated—it wasn't random. Someone had been watching. Someone had planned this.
The hospital came into view and as soon as the ambulance stopped, the doors flew open. A team of nurses and doctors pulled Jerry out on the stretcher and rushed him inside.
Aria tried to follow, but a nurse held up a hand. "You'll need to wait here."
"No! I need to be with him!"
"We need to work. Please."
She froze, torn between panic and helplessness. Then slowly backed into the waiting room, her body trembling with every step.
The minutes dragged on. She sat in a daze, her hands shaking with stains of blood on her lap, her breath shallow and uneven. Her mind replayed everything, the footsteps and the sudden pause, then the blood.
Why had the attacker stopped? Why hadn't they finished the job?
Unless… unless Jerry wasn't the target.
Due to the vibration of her phone, she withdrew from her thoughts.
Unknown Number.
She felt reluctant but then answered with a shaky hand, "Hello?"
A long pause. Then a voice, low and distorted. "You got lucky tonight, Aria."
Her breath caught. "Who are you?"
"luck was really on your side. But it won't be next time… I won't miss it."
The line went dead.