30 January 2013
“Go upstairs and hide!” my mum screamed at me. The noise seemed to snap me out of my daze, I had no clue what was going on but this wasn’t right. I felt fear tighten its grip on my heart. I couldn’t leave her, not like this.
“No I don’t want to leave you!” I wailed, hugging her close as she tried to push me away. There was glass all over the floor that was covered in blood. The few people left alive were hiding in the corners of the shop. There had been no warning, just chaos.
“Sarah go up those stairs and hide, please baby, for me” she whispered, pushing my face up to look into my eyes. Staring at her face so like my own, I watched the play of emotions that reflected in me; fear, shock and love. Those sky blue eyes seemed to darken with every second and as she kissed my forehead, I felt her tremble as she tried to gain control of her emotions.
“Now go baby, I don’t want you to get hurt” she whispered again, her sob barely stifled as she let go of me. Feeling my throat closed up, I nodded at her as I felt my tears ready to spill onto the floor. I grabbed my bag and ran up the stairs, not knowing when I’d see my mother again.
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20 minutes earlier…
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“How about we get our hair done, and then grab some lunch on the high street?” my mum asked as she tried to coerce me, knowing full well I hated going to the hairdressers. As we walked past the restaurants, I saw the dreaded hairdressers a few shop fronts away. It’s not that I didn’t want to have my hair done; it’s just no one knew what to do with it. It was curly, and not in a ‘oh look at the adorable, bouncy curls’ but more of a ‘shears and back hoe needed, stat!’ kind of thing. I glanced up at my mum with envy; she had beautiful straight auburn hair that was just passed her shoulders. I had unruly chocolate brown curls that clearly came from my father. Most people only saw the similarities between me and my mum due to our matching eyes and button noses. Even then, some people refused to believe we were related.
“Yeah but we’re getting ice cream after to help me cope with what will surely be a traumatic experience” I bargained back, knowing full well she wouldn’t say no to ice cream. It was a shared weakness of deserts we had. “Deal!” she said triumphantly, as if I had offered her the best thing in the world. My mum was undeniably a teenager at heart, which made us the best of friends. At 17, I talked to her about everything and we had a healthy, open relationship. I valued her opinion but she let me make my own decisions, whether right or wrong and I was grateful for that.
“Come on then, I heard Paulo got a new person who is amazing with hair” my mum said as she pulled me quickly to the hairdressers, as if I’d change my mind at the last minute. As we got to the black and white shop front with ‘Paulo’s’ styled in neon pink, I braced myself for 2 hrs worth of pain.
“Hola Freya, it’s been too long!” Paulo screeched in his usual high pitched voice. He rushed over to air kiss my mother before turning to me with a glint in his eyes. Normally he dreaded my appearance but today he seemed to relish in it. “Hola Sara” he said with a smile, his natural accent making the ‘h’ silent. “I think I have finally found someone to defeat your hair” Paulo said with glee, his hands clapping to emphasise his enthusiasm. I sighed before smiling at him, “Bring it on” I said, feeling none of the courage I pretended to have.
As Paulo turned to direct me to the chair, I heard the hum of an aeroplane before the windows exploded inwards with a cacophony of sound. I grabbed my mum in shock as she pushed me down to the ground. What happened then was a blur of screams and lighting. As I looked out from the ground, I tried to see what the cause was. Standing in the doorway, was a silhouette figure that was unnaturally thin. As three more figures appeared next to it, the lights around us exploded and descended the room into darkness. We were separated from everyone else in the room, as they huddled in the corner in confusion and terror.
“Wh-what are you doing? We’re not a bank, you can’t rob a hairdresser!” Paula screamed as he stood up to move towards the figures. With a shallow pop, Paulo exploded into a mess of bloods and guts as the figure fired what appeared to be gun at him. Paulo’s co-workers screamed as they got covered in his bloody remains, with some scuttling away as the figures turned to face them.
Before they could get any closer to the group, the sirens of the police drew their attention. The flashing lights of blue and red were a welcome sight, the tension and fear in the room dropping a level as help had surely arrived. “Stop where you are!” I heard an officer shout to the figures. As they stepped away from the destroyed window front, the street lamps exploded as they had in the shop. My heart jumped with every ‘pop’ and I was sure the same fate that had met Paulo was about to be repeated.
“I said STOP!” the same officer repeated, while the figures moved closer to the parked cars. As they raised their hands, the officers fired but nothing seemed to happen. The figures weren’t harmed by the bullets and I found it hard to believe that each officer had missed. With eerie familiarity, the same ‘pop’ sound was repeated in slow and deliberate count. I bit my lip hard to not scream, feeling the taste of blood flood my mouth. We were going to die, if the police couldn’t stop them, then what could?
“Go upstairs and hide!” my mum screamed at me. The noise seemed to snap me out of my daze, I had no clue what was going on but this wasn’t right. I felt fear tighten its grip on my heart. I couldn’t leave her, not like this.
“No I don’t want to leave you!” I wailed, hugging her close as she tried to push me away. There was glass all over the floor that was covered in blood. The few people left alive were hiding in the corners of the shop. There had been no warning, just chaos.
“Sarah go up those stairs and hide, please baby, for me” she whispered, pushing my face up to look into my eyes. Staring at her face so like my own, I watched the play of emotions that reflected in me; fear, shock and love. Those sky blue eyes seemed to darken with every second and as she kissed my forehead, I felt her tremble as she tried to gain control of her emotions.
“Now go baby, I don’t want you to get hurt” she whispered again, her sob barely stifled as she let go of me. Feeling my throat closed up, I nodded at her as I felt my tears ready to spill onto the floor. I grabbed my bag and ran up the stairs, not knowing when I’d see my mother again.
Figures • Opuss № I