"Well, hello there."

A startled gasp left my lips as my eyes made contact with the man who had tried to kill me not once, but twice in the same day.

"Well come on now, don't be shy. Why don't you open up the door?"

Despite my fear I glared down at the man.

"Why don't you just go to hell instead?"

The twisted smile that was on his face instantly disappeared.

"Mouthy little bitches like you always act right once they're taught a lesson. Lucky for you there's one right outside on all fours waiting for you."

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what exactly he was referring to that was waiting outside.

"If you won't come out I'll just have to come in."

I watched with my heart in my throat as the man instantly started to try and crawl under the small space between the floor and the stall door.

There was no where for me to run in the small space but I sure as well wasn't about to let him in here with me.

I waited until his head and shoulders had cleared the door before I brought my foot down directly on his head.

There was loud thunk as my foot made contact with his head and there was a brief feeling of dark satisfaction as I heard him curse loudly knowing I had caused him pain.

I didn't let up after the first blow. I continued to bring my foot down, kicking him over and over. My foot made contact with whatever body part had made it past the door. His head, neck, and shoulders all being targets.

Cursing loudly again, he attempted to reach his hand up and inside the stall to grab my foot to stop my onslaught of kicks but I was having none of it.

Bracing my an arm on each wall of the stall I began using both feet to stomp down on his outstretched hand before kicking upward and landing a kick directly to his face.

There was a sickening crunch and I watched as small drops of blood began to splash on the floor beneath his head.

There was a moment of still silence as he quit trying to crawl his way under the stall and it felt like an icy blanket had been draped over me as he looked up at me from under the stall, his eyes screaming that if he got his hands on me that I'd be sorry.

Slowly, he slid backwards so that his upper body was no longer under the stall door before he got to his feet.

I watched as his feet disappeared as if he had walked away and then... there was nothing.

It was completely silent in the bathroom.

I wasn't stupid enough to think that he had simply given up and left. I knew he was still lurking around here somewhere but the question was where.

With trembling legs I slowly stood up before crouching to the floor and peering under the stall door.

I did a slow scan from the left to the right but saw nothing.

Where the hell had he gone so quickly?

I got back to my feet and mentally ran through my options.

Even though I had no clue where he was I knew he was still around here some where but I couldn't just stay in this stall to try and wait him out. I had to somehow make it out of here and make it past both him and that thing out there.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the stall wall taking a deep breath.

I had to leave.

I opened my eyes and glanced at the latch on the stall door. I reached forward with a shaking hand and just before my fingertips had grazed the latch I froze.

I'm not sure what it was exactly but it felt like there was a shift in the air. That feeling you get when you don't physically hear anything but you just know someone is watching you.

Slowly, I turned to look over my right shoulder and for no other reason than the fact that my mind was screaming at me to , I glanced up.

My breath caught in my throat as I saw the man glaring down at me with wild eyes from the top of the next stall over.

I barely had time to swallow my scream, trying to keep in mind that that thing was still lurking around somewhere out there when he reached down and grabbed a fist full of my hair yanking up so hard that I  was forced to stand on my tip toes to keep him from pulling out a hand full of my hair.

I bit my lip in pain as he yanked me backwards so that my head slammed against the wall before reaching up with my own hands to try and pry his hands away. I dug my fingernails in to his skin and scratched at any exposed skin I could feel but he didn't budge. In fact it only seemed to make him tighten his grip.

"I told you that you needed to be taught a lesson didn't I?" He seethed down at me.

I didn't even have time to respond before he slammed my head against the wall a second time, this time hard enough for me to start seeing black dots swimming in my vision.

Please, no.

If I blacked out I was as good as dead.

Glancing wildly around the stall my eyes landed on the toilet. Ignoring the tearing sensation from the man's hands pulling on my hair, I placed one foot on the toilet and then the other before bracing my hands on the wall behind me and then without warning pushed myself upwards.

I felt the back of my head collide with his own and heard yet another satisfying crunch and a curse as the man let go of my hair. There was a loud crash as he tumbled down back into the next stall.

I didn't bother to glance over the stall to see what had happened. I dropped back down to the floor before quickly undoing the latch and throwing the door open.

I was able to make it to the door that led back out into the mall before I felt the crushing weight of another body collide into my back, sending me sprawling forward.

I had just enough time to put my hands out in front of me to keep me from landing directly on my face.

I barley had time to register what had happened before I was being roughly flipped over onto my back and was once again face to face with the man who was doing his best to kill me.

I instantly noticed his bloody nose and despite my current situation, couldn't resist smirking up at him.

"Looks like that hurts." I said in a breathless whisper, gesturing to his nose with my eyes.

I saw the fury light up in his eyes before I felt both of his hands wrap around my neck.

I went to use my own hands to but found I couldn't lift them as he was using his knees to pin both my arms down to my sides as he straddled my torso. Without being able to use my hands I then tried to buck my hips up to try and throw him off me but found that was no use either as he was simply too heavy.

I had no choice but to lay there as he quite literally choked the life out of me.

I saw the darkness start to creep into the edge of my vision again and knew it was only a matter of time before the lack of oxygen killed me.

"Let's see who gets the last laugh now bitch." He sneered down into my face as his hands tightened even further around my throat.

I heard a strangled noise escape my throat and just as the lack of oxygen started to cause a tight burning sensation in my chest I heard that all too familiar growl.

Although I couldn't physically move my body my eyes drifted to the left and I watched in horror as one of those things came stalking around the corner from the shadows, its unseeing eyes seemed to be trained directly on us.

I quickly glanced back up to the man above me who was so focused on trying to kill me that he didn't see the threat just a few feet away.

I tried my best to try and tell him what I saw but all that came out was another strangled gurgle as his hands stayed clamped around my throat.

By now my vision was all but black and I figured at least if I died by his hands I wouldn't have to be awake when that beast ripped into me.

I both heard and felt myself give one finally small intake of breath and knew that was it for me before the crushing pressure around my neck and the weight of the man above me was suddenly gone.

I rolled over to my side and clutched my throat as an uncontrollable fit of coughing started as air was suddenly able to fill my lungs again. Through the sounds of my own coughing I could also hear the sounds of screaming and growling coming from behind me. I had just enough strength to roll over to see the gruesome sight before me.

That thing was was tearing into the chest of the man as he pathetically tried to use his arms and hands to protect himself but it was no use. His blood covered the snout of the creature tearing into him as well as the floors and walls around him.

There was no saving him.

Not that I was going to try.

I had my own problems to worry about. If I didn't get out of here soon, I was going to be its next target.

Ignoring the pleading cries from the man who just seconds before would have killed me, I staggered to my feet trying my best to ignore the dizzying sensation and black dots still swimming in my vision and and as quickly as my body allowed started down in the opposite direction.

I had no clue where I was going, hell I could barely even see. I just knew that I had to get as far away as possible from the thing behind me.

I had just turned the corner and was able to pass a clothing store and cookie stand when the pleading screams from the man suddenly went silent which meant two things.

One, the man was dead and two, that beast would be coming for me now.