THE LONG NIGHT.

I'm somewhat tired driving to work. The day has been a long one and here I am. Well it won't be that bad. I just have to relax . I get there throwing my keys and my purse on the counter. The boss gives me instructions and leaves as soon as he came.

Tonight it looks like i'm the only one doing my shift at the convenience store. Apparently the new employee that was supposed to start working here today, couldn't show up for some reason. I asked to also stay home but apparently the store needs to stay open,keep in mind not even the gas station workers will be working past 9 pm . Lovely isn't it. Looks like it will be a long night.

By the time the other employees leave i'm ridiculously exhausted . I can barely stand upright and cannot pay great attention to the 1 customer that i'm receiving every two hours. To be honest its not really a big deal so I allow myself to sleep waking up at intervals of 30 minutes, then checking my phone.

A few minutes later I hear an ear piercing shriek and jerk up almost immediately. The shock I am in is barely explainable. It goes quiet and I hear nothing after. My curiosity is out of this world but I dare not to set a foot outside. Great! I can't even sleep now. I stay on high alert for sometime before I finally relax. Even though I haven't heard anything that should make me suspicious for hours, I still have a bad feeling about drifting off to sleep , let alone sitting there.

 I decide to stay on my phone for a few minutes to let myself cool down but I can't seem to find it. I'm so frantic that I almost think I am about to go insane. How could my phone disappear that easily and I had it a few minutes ago.Unless....I stop myself from imagining the worst, no one is in the shop apart from myself, of course. I eventually give up the search , well sort of. I count the cash in the register, record it and sit to have a candy bar.

It's now 4 am and my shift is almost over. I heave a sigh of relieve even though nothing to make me as panicked as I am has happened. I still have an uneasy feeling in my stomach but try to calm myself down by meditating, which really isn't helping, but I do regardless. Checking the clock is keeping me sane but with every minute that passes I get angrier. Sara and Ariel, the girls supposed to be in for the next shift, aren't here yet. Half an hour has passed, they should have been here long before that to clean up, but no , they're no where in sight.

I start to gather up my stuff in preparation to sprint out the second they walk in the door, but it seems like before that happens, pigs will have learnt to fly. Why is all this happening in one night. I really don't find it necessary, especially after the long day that I had already had. Too abruptly to be true, the power goes off. I am extremely on the edge and way too frustrated to even react . I sit emotionless trying not to make a fuss about it. It's still pitch dark outside and so I just hope no one will come in trying to buy anything , on second thought they can if they want to , i'll plainly ignore them anyway . I laugh off my frustration with that one thought, making sure to remind myself that it shouldn't be that serious.

Just as i'm nursing my ribs from my 'thought joke' a customer walks in catching me unaware so I instantly keep quiet. I don't think whoever it is sees me as they just look around. I dare not to speak and simply look at them. It seems as if they can't see me or are simply uninterested in my presence. Oh well, it's not the first time a customer hasn't acknowledged me , so why do I feel the urge to make a fuss.

The person in the shop, seems to be looking for something. Not what we usually stock that's for sure. I still don't ask if they need assistance. In a trice, a loud scream like the one I heard earlier is pierced through the dark. The person in the shop quickly runs outside. With the interest of wanting to know what's going on , I run out behind them. Out of the dark into the dark. Although I'm struggling to keep my vision straight , I can make out a young girl on the concrete floor. She's about eight. I can't see her expressions but i'm sure she's in danger since the person that was in the shop is trying to smuggle her into a car.

'' Help me!'' she screams out to me almost as instantly as she sees me.I let out gasp of shock , maybe too loud.I try my best to get to her, to help her. I can't , I really don't understand how or why but I can't.I feel a strong grip on my neck .I am unable to properly breathe .I struggle to free myself but my strength is obviously not a match to the strong grip assumingly driving me to faint.The blood in my temples is pumping so fast and hard i can almost hear it. I don't think I can feel my body.I think i'm being dragged but i'm not sure.

For a split second I open my eyes , I can feel my body and hear cars moving around me . I might even be in one .It feels like i'm on a gravel road ,at least a bumpy one. My state of mind is not the usual one and i'm constantly drifting in an out of consciousness. Whatever moving thing I think i'm in comes to a stop. ''Where am I ? What is happening?'' I whisper to a dark figure, a little girl looking down at me .''The power outage, it was them, you were a target dummy .'' She says laughing causing me another round of my unconsciousness.