Abigael's fingers were clenched tight around the rolling pin, her knuckles white with the strain. The sound of heavy rain and the occasional clap of thunder did not manage to drown out her racing heart or the quick gasps of air she couldn't help breathing loudly. She didn't know what to do.
[I can make a break for it and go hide in Mrs C's house.] She thought, her eyes never leaving the figure of the man lying in her hallway, who had been strangely silent since he had fallen to the ground. Steeling her nerves, she slowly stood up into a half standing, half crouching position, very quietly so as to not attract his attention.
Trying to quiet her breathing she took one step towards the door, but her door or was on the other side of the apartment and to get to it she would need to go directly past the man. Abigael forced herself to focus and be brave, trying to ignore the shudder that went through her every now and again as she suppressed the shaking of her body. She took one hesitant step forward, as quiet as she possibly could, then froze, her eyes never leaving the man on the ground.
Then another step, then another, then-
Crunch
She almost screamed at the unexpected feeling of her phone being smashed even more under her foot. Realising what the sound was didn't help her as she realised that now she was barely a meter away from the intruder and even though she now had her phone again it was less than useless. She didn't even bother picking it up and instead kept her eyes trained on the figure lying not too far away.
The man looked to be in a wretched condition, his long wet hair covered his face so she couldn't see him clearly but she could tell that he was injured. His clothing was wet but there was evidence of singeing in some places and tears in his shirt, she could see through the thin material that he had a strange tattoo on his skin, like the branches of a tree or a fern. There was also a big black singe mark on the sole of his right foot.
Abigael wasn't a doctor, she'd never even gone to university, but she'd read heaps of different stories on the internet and considered herself to have common sense and worldly knowledge. Seeing the wounds on the man's body made her think of a social media post one of her friends had posted once upon a time, something about what happened when you got struck by lightning. She didn't really know if that was what happened but once the idea was in her mind she slowly started to think that it was most likely what had happened.
She hesitated, no longer moving towards the door and unsure about what she should do. On the one hand, if he really had been struck by lightning then she should help him, who knew what kind of pain he was in at the moment! But on the other hand, getting struck by lightning didn't answer the questions of what he was doing on her window in the middle of a storm. She didn't for a second believe that lightning would blast him up five stories and leave him with the ability to hold onto a window ledge for who knows how long.
She gripped the rolling pin tighter but decided to move closer and check if he had any other visible injuries. What would she do if he ended up dead in her apartment? A bolt of fear sparked through her body and her eyes held a glint of concern. She forced herself to kneel down in front of the man to check if he was okay.
His hair was in the way and she couldn't see his face, making it hard to tell if he was still awake or if he had fallen unconscious. Abigael's brow furrowed and she bit her lip, hesitating. Eventually she raised a hand, hesitating a few times, before leaning in to brush back the long black hair from his face.
Piercing blue eyes stared back into her own and her mind instantly went blank as she forgot what she was doing. She held this pose for at least three seconds before she realised what she was doing.
'Kyaaaa!' she screamed out and flung her body backwards towards the opposite wall of her small hallway, scrambling for the rolling pin that she had not noticed she had let go of before. Her breath was coming in short sharp bursts and her eyes were wide with fear, trembling as her legs felt like they were turning to jelly.
'Sorry.' The man whispered, his voice husky and his face scrunching into a grimace of pain as he tried unsuccessfully to move himself into a more comfortable position. He couldn't hold back a groan of pain and ended up sliding from a half sitting position to almost completely lying on the ground.
Abigael was stumped, this man was clearly injured and probably needed to go to the hospital, but there was also a suspicion in her mind, what if he was faking it?
Even more conflicted, her mind started running in circles and she couldn't decide what to do. Call the ambulance? How? Her phone was dead. Ask her next door neighbours for help? No way! Then Mrs. C would start wondering what a guy was doing in her apartment on a Sunday evening and who knew what kind of rumours would start flying around.
Another groan startled her from her whizzing mess of thoughts and she realised that her hands had started to hurt from the force she was putting into holding the rolling pin. She gently placed it on the ground and clenched her hands into fists as she decided the best way to make decisions was for someone else to do it for her! This man got her into this mess so he should be the one to fix it.
'H-hello?' she said softly, her voice almost a whisper.
The man was lying limply on the floor and shudders would pass through his body every now and again so she knew he was not dead. He gazed up at her with a pained expression and his lips moved, but whatever he said was too quiet for her to hear. Without realising what she was doing Abigael crawled forward a little until she could hear his voice.
'Please...please help. It hurts.' his voice was raspy and every word he said sounded like he was forcing himself to speak instead of scream.
'I don't know what to do.' She whispered back.
The man coughed drily and clenched his teeth before replying 'Just... can you call my brother?'
'Your brother?'
'My phone's in my pocket.'
[Which pocket?] she thought nervously as her eyes searched him up and down. There was a rectangular shape in his trouser pocket and she assumed that must be it. If he had a phone she could also can the police as well, and maybe the ambulance.
She reached out and lent over him as her still slightly shaking hand touched the phone in his pocket. A muffled scream shocked her as she pulled the unexpectedly hot phone out and she ended up dropping it on the ground. The man had turned to face the ground his arm raised to cover his face where Abigael was sure she had seen signs of tears. She glared at the phone and tried to poke at it only to be warded off by the heat radiating from it.
[It's metal] she realised, before her eyes flicked to his pocket again, wondering what kind of horrific injury having something like that in his pocket would have caused him. It can't be good considering his reaction.
She had just made up her mind to grab her first aid kit and check for anything that could help with burns when a sharp knock sounded from the door to her apartment, making her jump in shock. A deep voice sounded from the other side of the door, somewhat muffled from the barrier. 'Police. Please open the door.'
A gasp came from the man in front of her and he reached out his hand, grabbing her wrist weakly. His hand was shaking and his eyes were wide with fear as he whispered frantically 'Please! You can't let them in, don't let them see me!'
Abigael couldn't decide, she didn't know what to do. He was hurt and needed help but was clearly very afraid of the police. But the police could help him, they could take him to a hospital. But if they could help then why was he afraid. Maybe they weren't police? No, that was ridiculous. So should she tell them? Or maybe she could just hide him in the bathroom and call the ambulance once she had persuaded the police to go away...
Her racing thoughts suddenly ground to a halt as she realised what was happening.
{Goal: Unlock app}
{Choice 1: find a hiding place}
{OR}
{Choice 2: tell them}