"The Short Cut" Chpt 5: Cut Short

Fifth prompt.
In your chapter, tell me about time. What that looks like, I'll leave to your imagination. Each time (LOL) you mention time in any of its forms, make it bold. Do not, however, start going Dada and giving me sentences that are grammaticaly incorrect. If you wrote in past tense, stay in it. If you wrote in present tense, stay in it.
If this confuses you, post your questions in the forum. I'll gladly give hints, as long as the whole group gets the benefit of those.

Time is happening with or without us.
Write about an event in the past and how it affects the present.
Think about a specific date in the character's life that was life altering, or special.
If you want to, dig up a quote by a philosopher about time, and have your character think about it, or say it.
Think deadline, appointment, lost time.

Entry due by July 25, 2009; 11:59PM WDC time.
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John was startled when he heard a knock on the door. He had fallen asleep on the floor; his back against the door, while praying, what seemed to be only a short time ago. He noticed his watch lying on the floor just a few inches from him, courtesy of the morning light shining through the window above the desk. He reached over and grabbed it, with hands and wrists wrapped lightly in gauze and medical tape. John's watch told him it was 6:16 am. The knock on the door was repeated a second time. John began recalling the events of the previous evening. The nightmare began easing back into his mind, slowly, like a novice swimmer entering frigid water. The chair, that had been smashed to pieces had been replaced with a new one. The plywood that had blocked his view of the outside world from his room's window was also gone. The countless spatters of blood on the carpeting from his run-in with the chair were all gone. Again the knock on the door, this time followed by a female voice.

"John? It's Elise. Can you hear me? Are you okay? John?"

More knocking. John got up off the floor and reached for the door knob. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the phone, and lifted up the receiver. Dial tone! He slammed the phone down on the desk. He opened the door - which now offered no resistance - to see Elise standing outside, holding a cup of coffee in her hand. Her expression quickly changed from a smile to a look of total surprise as she noticed John's bandaged hands.

"John...oh my God...whatever happened to you? What did you do to your hands?"

John was at the stage now where he was in no mood to play any games. The light of day and the apparent lack of any imminent threat seemed to - at least partially - diminish the horror of the previous night, restoring within John the sense of control that had so rapidly vanished the night before. John grabbed Elise by both forearms with a grip that reflected both his current outrage and the terror of just a few hours earlier. The coffee that Elise had been holding partially spilled as John clamped down on her arms.

"Elise! What in the name of God went on here last night? The screaming from down in one of the other rooms...My screaming! Don't tell me you didn't hear that! My door locked from the outside, plywood over my window, a dead phone, someone in my room, and my hands...just look at my hands!"

With that, John tore the bandages from both hands, revealing a number of cuts, which now, with the lack of any bleeding, were not nearly as terrifying as they were last night, but there was no doubt that his hands were still quite ugly. John thrust both hands up to within inches of Elise's eyes, and then almost immediately, drew them down and loosely clenched them around Elise's throat, but stopped just short of applying an actual choke hold.

"Tell me what happened here last night, Elise. Tell me or so help me, I'll...."

"John! Honestly...I don't know what happened here...I fell asleep in the office with my headphones on...I know I shouldn't have been listening to headphones, but I didn't - couldn't - hear anything! I swear it. I'm so sorry! Honestly John...You must believe me!"

John loosened his grip and removed his hands from Elise's neck. He took a few steps back from the door until he backed into the bed, and he then sat on the edge, staring somewhat blindly at nothing in particular. Elise came over to the bed and sat beside John, placing her hand momentarily on the inside of his thigh. She removed the cover from the coffee cup she had been holding, and then held it up, and eased it towards John's face. Her free hand returned to John's inner thigh.

"I brought this for you, you know. Best coffee Elmwood has to offer. I don't know what happened here last night but I sure plan on finding out exactly what just did happen. My brother is a cop with the Elmwood police. He'll get this all straightened out. You can bet your life on that. I will call him right now."

Elise took out a cellphone from one of the back pockets of her jeans, dialed a number, and turned and spoke in a demanding tone of voice to the other party. John was more focused on what Ellie had said to him prior to the call.

"Your brother's a cop? Is there anyone in this town who's not a relative?"

"Plenty of folks in this town who aren't relatives. And Ellis...Ellis is one of the best police officers in the whole county. And he'll start investigating your problem right away. 'Don't put off until tomorrow that which can be done today' is one of Ellis's favorite sayings. You drink your coffee, rest up for a few minutes until Ellis can get over here, and I'll stay here, right by your side, until Ellis shows up. He'll make everything all right...Just you wait and see."

John took a sip of the java. It did taste really good. A couple more large swallows and the coffee was done. Elise laid back on the bed, gave his thigh a squeeze and, with her other hand, motioned for him to lay back.

"Ellis will be here any second. Nothing you can do until Ellis arrives. 'Haste makes waste' is another one of Ellis's favorites. You running around here isn't going to do you any good...You just relax and let Elise take care of her baby..."

John did lay back on the bed, as he found Elise's words quite comforting. Elise began rubbing John's thigh in a circular motion, with a slow, but ever-widening circle that was taking her hand dangerously higher up his thigh. John closed his eyes and began to fantasize at the prospect of this young nymph seducing him. He was experiencing feelings of total relaxation mixed with a high level of arousal. Reaching a point where he felt it was time to accelerate the activity, John began to reach over towards Elise's chest. But...He couldn't move his arm. He couldn't move his hand. He couldn't speak; all that came out of his larynx was a convoluted gurgle. He was completely paralyzed! His eyes already closed; his eyelids wouldn't even respond to his attempts to open them. Elise....The coffee!

Elise rose up, and leaned over and gave John a couple of pokes with her finger to gage his level of paralysis. Convinced he had been rendered harmless, she hopped up and out of bed. She then leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"You know, blue eyes, I was hoping that drug wasn't going to take effect so quickly...I think you and I could have made some beautiful music together...You're going to be getting sleepy real soon, my love...Sweet Dreams."

John struggled with all of his might to retain consciousness while also trying to get a body part - any body part - to move. He was failing on both counts. His final memory prior to total unconsciousness was hearing Elise speaking into her cell phone.

"He's out like a light. If you're going to do this, now's the time..."

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