Deja Vu

   Nina Franco, a young college graduate and an aspiring reporter, had just discovered a big story. She now found herself on a dark New York alley, handcuffed and gagged. Great, she thought, is this were my life ends? "It is," she watched her boyfriend Chris emerge from the shadows, "unless you keep your pretty mouth shut" he purred sadistically as he toyed with some glinting object "it is you who decides your fate, remember?", Nina could now feel the cold blade against her neck, threatening to slice her soft flesh. Surprise battling with the will to survive. No. Not this way. No. "Deal" she breathed, but her abductor's intent was too clear as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. Her vision went black. "Chris..." She choked, only to touch the unfamiliar sharp planes of a stranger's face.

 

Nina woke up shaking and drenched in sweat. "Carol? Carol!" she jumped from her bed and shook her sleeping roommate awake. "What is it Nina? Another nightmare? Carol turned and propped herself up on one elbow, a posture Nina had jokingly nicknamed the Little Mermaid posture due to Carol's long, shaggy red hair and her habit of sleeping among her vast collection of stuffed animals- most of them sea animals - which would have been laughable, lest for the fact that the nightmare had been so vivid, not to mention the sketchy knowledge of the stranger's identity. Nina asked, her voice shaking "Do you remember that guy I am interviewing for my documentary?", Carol shook her head slowly "Do you mean that handsome surfer dude? The one who looks like an extra large Justin Bieber? What was his name? I forget.”

 

Nina sighed shakily as she got up to face her friend "Tyler. His name is Tyler. Did you pay any attention Carol? No, of course not. It wasn’t Ty, Carol. It was him." she whispered, remembering the stranger’s menacing stare as she interviewed Tyler, the big muscular guy, a look that had almost stopped her heart, a look that spelled danger in blood red lettering. It made her shiver to even think about it. "You mean creepy Mr. Handsome? What happened? I’m listening" Carol, unperturbed by Nina’s apparent alarm “Did he become a vampire and suck your blood out?” her blue and hazel eyes seemed to openly mock Nina.

 

"He killed me," Nina murmured distractedly, looking out the window, imagining the sleek figure of the stranger, his black trench coat untouched by the early wintry wind that often harassed Carol. "He will kill me, or one of his minions, but he will kill me, to protect the secret".