Hannah's POV

"MOMM! Mom, wake up! Somebody, please help meee!" I hear Rachel's voice coming from inside the house. She is definitely in the basement.

"Ohh my God! How are we supposed to get in?" I can see that Vanessa is shivering though it's not cold at all yet. She is scared shitless.

I don't bother to answer her. There's no time. I reach for the house key kept hidden beneath one of the many plant pots on Rachel's porch.

My hand shakes violently has I try to insert the key in the keyhole. The door unlocks and I run towards the basement door, flinging it open and rushing down two steps at a time.

What I see makes my heart skip a beat. Rachel is lying on the floor with her hands and legs tied with a duct tape. Sarah is sitting on her with a big kitchen knife in her hand which is raised in the air, ready to bring it down into Rachel's chest. None of them have noticed me and Vanessa come down yet.

"Sarah, nooo!" I jump the last three steps and throw my body onto her. The knife flies out of her hand.

Both of us wrestle on the floor with Sarah below me. She claws at my face, her nails digging deep into my skin. "Nooo! You're not gonna ruin this for me, you bitch!" She screams.

"Stop! I'm done with your games. It's over!"

I look back at the stairs for a split second, wondering why Vanessa is not coming to our rescue but see that she isn't standing there anymore. Wtf! Where did she go?

Sarah frees her right hand from my grip and tries to reach for the knife. Her fingers graze the handle and she somehow gets hold of it again before I can stop her. She tries swinging it in my shoulder but I grab hold of her wrist again.

From the corner of my eye, I see Rachel trying to break free from the tape. Sarah overpowers me and rolls over on top of me. Using her left hand she grabs my hair, lifts my head and brings it down with force.

I see stars. My grip on her wrist loosens a bit. "Vanessaa!" I hear Rachel scream.

"I wanna kill you with my bare hands," Sarah whispers with a devilish grin on her face and throws away the knife.

I try warding off her hands away from me but she bangs my head to the floor again. I let out a low moan.

Suddenly, I find it difficult to breathe. Sarah has both her hands gripped tightly around my throat. She is choking me. No matter how much I try to pry her hands away, they won't budge.

"Don't do this, Sarah! Please!" I hear Rachel's voice but it seems so far away. I can see her crawling towards me from the corner of my eye.

Slowly, I feel darkness surround me as the air in my lungs runs out.

****

Someone's pressing down hard on my chest. My eyes open wide. I gasp for air. Next come the uncontrollable coughs. Vanessa is crouching down next to me, lightly touching my face, trying to bring me back to consciousness.

"Ohh thank God! She's fine! I didn't think I was doing the CPR right."

She helps me sit up and then goes over to Rachel who is still tied up. Vanessa uses the kitchen knife which Sarah had thrown to tear away the tape. Sarah! Where is she?

Only a few feet away, I see her lying face down. There is a small pool of blood around her head.

"What the fuck! Is she dead?" My voice is hoarse and it hurts to speak. I have no idea what the hell has just happened.

"No, I just knocked her out. Checked her pulse, she's very much alive. The police are on their way."

"Where did you run off?" Rachel asks Vanessa once she's freed from the tapes.

"My phone had no reception down here so I went up to call 911. And then I was looking for something to hit Sarah with but I couldn't find anything in your house so I went to my car and got that lifehammer." She points to the lifehammer now resting on one of the shelves.

"Is she gonna be alright?" I ask pointing my hand at Sarah.

"That's a lot of blood. I hope the police come soon," Rachel says, her eyes fixated on Sarah.

She looks so calm now, contrary to how she was a few minutes back. Contrary to how she was when she had tried to kill me 2 months back. I had been so scared back then. But not this time, this time I fought. I couldn't let her hurt Rachel too.

Rachel starts sobbing suddenly, "God, I really thought I was going to die tonight! You saved my life Hannah."

She comes over and hugs me tightly, "Damn, I really missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Rach," I whisper and hug her back. It feels so good to embrace her after so long. All our memories together come rushing back and I cant hold my tears any longer.

I open my eyes not letting go off Rachel and see Vanessa with a warm smile on her face. I mouth a 'thank you' to her.

Just as we break the embrace, I hear police sirens coming closer to the house.

"Everything's gonna be alright," I tell Rachel.

Everything's gonna be alright, I tell myself.