Chapter 11

                                    

                                          
    My alarm finally went off. I was having sleep paralysis again. My mind was awake, but my body wasn't. I struggled to move, to scream, anything. I was so scared that I wanted to cry. I felt as if I was choking, and I felt the demons beside my bed. Of course, there were no demons, but I just had that feeling that I was being watched. That's just what sleep paralysis does to you. I have been sleeping like this for the past few nights. Ever since I was... violated. I kept on dreaming about that night, their hands all over my body. Then I woke up partially, and experienced the paralysis all over again. I was shaking every time, and afterwards, I took a shower, trying to clean myself. I washed myself so much more often than I did before. I washed my body like the fair Lady Macbeth washed her hands, both of us trying to rid ourselves of a man's deed. It was an itch, than a burning sensation, my skin on fire, tears streaming down my face as I begged to forget, begged them to stop. I threw up once more, my throat burning from the stomach acid, and washed myself once more. I checked to see what time it was. 11:30a.m., Saturday. I went into my living room and turned on the TV, and flipped channels till I found the news channel.  
                          
    "News... There has been an uprising of crime recently... Sports... Are you ready for the big game?... Weather... Heat index will increase in the coming weeks... This is Channel Five News," the news narrator said, giving a short recap of things the news people were going to talk more about. 
                          
    "Good Morning Slowsilver City! My name is Jim Richman. There has been an uprising of crime recently. Many convenience stores, gas stations, and ATMs have been broken into in the past few days. It seems that the villain Knifeslinger is the cause of all these crimes. Why he is back to petty crimes the police have no suspicions, but the Knifeslinger seems to be back to his violent ways. In this cellphone footage, you can see him at Redi Go Food Mart," the anchorman said and flipped to a video. In the video, you could see Knifeslinger in his costume, holding a knife to the throat of an employee. The video footage didn't have any audio, but you could see that Knifeslinger was yelling at the second employee behind the counter, who was filling a bag with money. 

                          
    "As you can see here, the villain has a hostage and is demanding for the money. As he always does, he then took the money, left his signature mark, and disappeared. There is more footage on our website. If you or someone you know has any information on the whereabouts of this villain, please contact the number shown on the screen... Now, over to sports. Phil?" the anchorman said, and the camera than flipped to the dude that talked about sports, but I didn't pay attention to that. I was just sitting on the couch stunned. As much as I wanted to convince myself that the stranger that saved me was not some psychopath villain bent on world domination or whatever cause he had, I had the feeling that Knifeslinger saved me. 

                          
    "Why did he save me? Was it an act of kindness? Or did he have some other purpose for me? Those poor orphan kids... having to live off that villain... Are they poor orphans though? Or are they just some kids he is training to be a killer like himself? And should I go to the police? Report what I have been through? Tell them about the kids, how they rely off of this crook? If I do that, they can catch him, put him away for his crimes... oh God, what do I do?" I thought and asked myself. I kept a hold of these thoughts for a while, wondering and wondering, until I was jolted out of my thoughts by the doorbell. 

                          
    "I wonder who that could... Oh SHIT! It's Leonard! OUR SCIENCE PROJECT!" I thought to myself. I had forgotten we had decided that we would work on our project today at noon. I then sprung up from my couch, ran to my door, and swung it open. 

                          
    "Hi!" I exclaimed, panting and holding the door open. Standing at the door was Leonard, who seemed to be amused. He was wearing a light jacket with a black sweater of sorts, nothing too baggy, and it hugged his body well, and it almost seemed like a long sleeve shirt rather than a sweater. Along with the sweater and jacket he had some dark blue jeans and a brown leather messenger bag in which I assumed he had his schoolwork in.