WAIT :: Beatings

        "You can't hide from me."
        A door opens. The hinges creaked -the sound high and fast. The door closes with nothing more than a silent click.

        "That's what happened?"
        "Yes."
        "All right."
        "That is what happened!"
        Scratching wafts against eardrums. A pen scribbling on paper. A fountain pen on the pages of a notepad.

        "She just up and left?"
        "Yes."
        "Really."
        A disgruntled and angered gleam in two green eyes. Thoughts that can never safely be uttered.

        "You just left?"
        "Yeah."
        "Really?"
        "Yeah."

        An ammonia-scented hallway. Fluorescent lights lining the ceiling. White. A few paintings lining the walls, an attempt at comfort and life. Tiled floors -scuffed and covered with a fine layer of dust and dirt from outside, brought about from dozens of shoes.
        A small beeping sound, coming from beyond that wide wooden door. The one with no numbers. The one with the sign on the front. A sheet of paper stuck there with a strip of clear tape. A black pen -maybe a marker- having scribbled out No visitors! Direct family ONLY!
        The word 'direct' underlined quickly. The word 'ONLY' in capital letters, underlined five times, with a loud exclamation mark.

        "Said she left without any incident."
        "He said the same thing."
        "That's not leaving without incident."
        "No. That's not leaving at all."

        "I told you there's no hiding."
        A slight increase in beeping.
        "You won't ever try that again."

        A waist-length, black leather jacket, strolling down the ammonia-scented hallway. Two large, black, scuffed, metal-toed boots knocking along the tiled floor. A powerful smirk. An acknowledging nod of the head to a police officer.

        A predator running free. And a silenced prey lying in wait.