desperation. She couldn’t form the words. Her mouth made some sound of agreement. Panic was taking over. She tried to breathe, her heart leaping out of her chest.
Larry pulled Dana up from the floor, angled her body and dragged her to the little room under the stairs.
“Oh, no, no, please don’t put me back in there!” she begged. Tears she could no longer hold back streamed down her face.
Larry turned the knife letting the tip slide against her skin. Dana saw drops of blood begin to fall. “Do as I say.”
Helpless, she obliged and let him put her into the cramped space. He then took a large piece of duct tape and pasted it over her mouth. “Don’t do anything dumb or I’ll really be forced to hurt you when he leaves and he will leave,” he flashed the knife in front of her eyes, “one way or another. I’ve come too far...you’re mine.” Larry had completely cracked. The pressure, the magnitude of what he had done pushed him beyond the limits of sanity. He’d lost it.
Larry locked the door behind him, stood up and calmly caught his breath. He could hear the front door start to give way. He ran to the back of the room and pressed his body up against a side wall so he was hidden from view. He held the knife at attention. He was ready.
The door splintered loudly. He heard it give way. Someone was in the house. He held his breath to keep his location secret.
Jonny felt the door give beneath his body and forced himself inside. It was quiet. Too quiet.
“Dana!” Jonny yelled. “Dana!”
Dana could hear everything from inside the room. She was paralyzed with fear. She wanted to warn him, but was afraid if she made a sound Larry would go after Jonny.
“Dana!” he called moving through the townhouse, his eyes darting back and forth looking for something, anything.
Larry’s heart raced in his chest. Jonny was getting closer and closer to him. But he was ready.
Jonny stopped in his tracks. On the floor in front of him was a large bloodstain. “No...no...” he said frantically.
The distraction was the window Larry had been waiting for. He burst from behind the wall catching Jonny completely off guard.
Before Jonny had time to react, he could feel the knife against his back.
“This was a big mistake, Mr. Disc Jockey,” Larry growled pushing the blade into his skin just enough to scare him.
Jonny felt the sharp point. “Larry,” he said as calmly as he could, “Look man, I don’t mean you any trouble. I’m just looking for Dana.” He tried to steel himself. Fear was taking over and he needed to keep a clear head.
“Dana’s not your concern, man,” Larry spat. He deftly moved the knife to Jonny’s throat. “I think you should go now.” Larry wrapped his arm around Jonny tightly. “Stop moving or I’ll kill you, I will.”
Jonny was physically much bigger than Larry. He knew he could take him down. He just had to figure out how to maneuver around the knife.
“You don’t want to do that Larry,” he said trying not to raise his voice.
“Yes, I do...you’re ruining my life!” Larry could feel the hot, fast breath of Jonny on his arm.
“Larry, you can’t be with Dana if you do this. Right now, you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You must think I’m an idiot! I’m not stupid!”
“No one said you were Larry,” Jonny said, feeling Larry’s grip start to loosen. He prepared to pounce.
“You shut up!” Larry yelled, pushing the blade closer to his neck. “No one understands me. No one except Dana and now you’re going to take her away from me!” Larry began to cry. “You can’t do that!” His behavior became more erratic.
With that, there was a crash through the back sliding glass door. Cody burst into the room, leaping toward them. He pushed Larry away from Jonny, tackling him to the ground.
“Jonny, find Dana!” he shouted. Larry struggled beneath him, no match for Cody’s strength. He began stabbing the knife forward, trying to hit Cody.
Dana heard the commotion and flung the weight of her body forward against the door of the small room under the stairs.
The noise was the perfect distraction. Larry looked toward the sound. Cody grabbed the knife from Larry, the blade slitting the palm of his hand. He winced at the pain, but managed to toss the knife away. Cody flipped Larry onto his stomach and pulled his hands above his head gaining control of the madman.
Dana