She smashed a fist into the side of his face.
He rubbed his jaw, snarling.“So you want to play rough, do you?”He slammed her by the throat against the door at the same time he twisted her wrist until pain spiked up her arm.
The knife clattered onto the step.
He stretched for it, keeping the controlling pressure at her throat intact.
The divided attention was just the opening she needed to use her hands and a foot to push from the door.
Adler lost his balance and stumbled over the step.Her legs tangled in his sprawled ones and she fell forward, half landing on the angry rooster.
Great squawks and flapping feathers assailed her as she pushed to her hands and knees.Before she could gain her feet, Adler’s full weight pinned her to the ground.Nora hoped the territorial fowl would decide to launch his own attack on Adler, but the bird must have realized the wisdom in running from such evil.
A sharp tip pressed through the material at her back and scrapedagainst her skin.“Try to jerk up or throw me off, and this knife will slice through to your lungs and heart.Scream, and I’ll do it anyway.”
Nora turned her head to the side.“Why not just kill me now?”
“Too quick, and we’ve been waiting too long not to enjoy this properly.”
A shiver skittered down her spine, the slight jerk resulting in more pressure against the knife’s tip.
“Do you want a hole in your lung before we even begin?”
“No.”She needed to stay hole-free if she had any hope of calling for help and escaping.
“Good.I want to savor this moment.”His hand dug into her hair and tugged.
Though her neck tilted up, Nora pressed the rest of her body as tight against the ground as possible.
“Stand up!And don’t think that just because you can’t feel the knife that it’s not ready to pierce your lung.”
The knife pulled away, and he lifted her to her feet by her hair.
“Now walk forward.”The point dug into her back again.
It was an awkward march with his hand tugging her head back and she arching away to avoid the knife’s tip scraping against her skin.When they reached the corner of the courtyard, he commanded her to lower to her knees.She obeyed, careful not to drop so fast the knife gave her dress a new opening.Once there, he released her hair and shoved her to the ground.
“And now the show begins.”
The crunch of winter grass indicated he walked away from her.
The fool thought by having taken her knife that she was unarmed.Nora yanked the knitting needles from her pocket.They weren’t sharp and they couldn’t pierce an abundance of material, but there were plenty of soft spots on the neck and face they could jab.She scrambled to her feet and spun to face Adler a stone’s throw away.With all the power of her musical training, she belted out a scream for help.
Adler launched something in his hand through the air.The window to Mrs.Reed’s kitchen shattered.
The door flew open.Light illuminated Adler’s devil grin and glinted off the knife he, once again, held ready to strike.
“Good gracious, Miss Davis!What is the meaning of throwing rocks at my window!”Mrs.Reed demanded.“Wait, what are you doing?”
Adler lunged at Nora before she could process Mrs.Reed’s role in thisshow.
Nora dodged, bringing her knitting needle at a downward angle as he passed.It missed his neck and skidded down his jacket until it caught a hole.The sudden stop jolted the needle from her grip.
“Miss Davis!Stop!He’s trying to help you!”
Help me die, maybe.
Adler turned and lunged again.
