Chapter 5

Damian's POV

A cruel laughter preceded the sound of the menacing footsteps that were approaching the entrance of our hideout.

A laughter that carried a mix of confidence and evil.

The voice finally gained a face as the assailant came into view, and I quickly shoved the waitress behind me in order to protect her.

“Well, well, well, look what I found here. My pretty prey has company now, or should I say hero?” he let out another chuckle.

The building is not well lit, but we could still manage to see each other's form faintly in the dark.

“Stop hiding behind him, little prey. Step aside now!” He commanded, threatening with the knife pointed towards us.

When the waitress quietly obeyed, he momentarily focused his attention on her.

“We were supposed to make this very easy. You give me all the money on you and I let you go. But you decided to make it complicated by stressing me to chase you down here. Now you'll have to pay double with your money and your body.”

“Please don't do this,” she went on her knees and pleaded with him, but he isn't ready to listen to her.

“And you,” he faced me this time, “empty your pockets now!” He commanded.

All this while, he remained at the entrance so there's a little gap between us. My mind had been in a spiral of thoughts.

I've not figured out anything yet so I played along by slowly dipping my hands into my pant pockets.

Suddenly, I saw a long and big stick lying on the ground beside us. I quickly calculated that before he could cover up the gap between us, I would have gotten a hold of the stick.

“Why are you wasting my time?” he yelled and immediately charged towards us as I quickly made for the stick.

With the long stick in my hand, I positioned myself for a strike, but I was taken aback when the assailant suddenly yelped in pain and halted midway.

I could faintly see that he's standing on a plank and I wondered why a common plank would stop him.

“Come at me, you bastard,” I said to him in confidence, not ready to be bamboozled by any stunt he might be trying to pull at the moment.

I had already calculated how I would hit the knife he was holding away from his hand and then smash his face. But he didn't leave the spot. Instead, he let out another agonising cry.

Then I knew there's more to his stationarity.

I quickly brought out my phone from my pocket and used the torch so I could have a better view of what was happening.

I heard a gasp from the waitress. For a moment, I almost forgot she's still beside me. My eyes also dilated in surprise as I caught a sight that I couldn't get to see before the intervention of my phone torch.

The assailant's feet is deep rooted in a long nail that protruded from the plank he's standing on.

Little wonder, then, that he couldn't leave that spot.

“Oh my god, he's bleeding,” the waitress screamed as she grabbed my arm, fidgetingly. “Let's help him please.”

I looked at her in disbelief. “Help? you are joking right?”

“I am serious. Can't you see he needs our…“

“Come off it woman,” I immediately cut her shut with a yell.

“What are you even saying? This man here was about to harm you and I just now, and you still want to help him? What kind of person are you, a saint?” I scoffed.

To think that I almost compared this gullible woman to Diana earlier at the diner makes me want to put a gun to my head.

That's gross disrespect to my Diana. A disrespect of the highest order.

My Diana was simple, yet smart. Hell! I can't cope with people that are not smart and dexterous.

“Please, help me!” The assailant's irksome voice suddenly jolted me from my line of thought.

The fact that he had the balls to ask for help after what he did set me off.

I don't know what fueled my legs so much that I was in front of him in no time. Despite his agony, I landed a slap across his cheeks that his face snapped to the other side.

“Please, I'm sorry. Just help me,” he cried out again.

Oh, he could really plead now, I thought. I never would have imagined that this accident could make him transition quickly from the vicious asshole who just threatened our life to a cry baby who is now at the mercy of my feet.

I raised my arm in another attempt to strike at his face but my hand hung in the air as I suddenly felt a touch on my arm.

“Please, let's just leave him at least, if we don't want to help him,” her velvet voice followed the touch.

A touch and voice that would have done unspeakable things to me again if it weren't for such stupid situation.

Although I let my hand down as she pleaded, what surged through me surpassed every kind of feeling that her voice and touch could spark at the moment.

My irritation and rage razed them down completely as I yanked my hand which she was still holding away from her to show my dissatisfaction.

I stormed out of the building, ignoring her. She can go ahead to babysit him for all I care.

From my peripheral view, I saw that she made an attempt to follow me. I thought she was still following me until I heard her scream behind me.

I shook my head in dismay with my hands akimbo, wondering what's wrong with the drama queen now before I turned to look at her.

My eyes blinked incredulously at what I saw.

The babysitter had picked up the assailant's knife and was pointing it threateningly at the assailant who held her leg and refused to let go.

Even her hands were trembling as she held the knife. Despite the tension, I made so much effort not to laugh at her actions. If she continued like that, he might collect the knife and hurt her for real so I rushed towards them.