Sleep Keeper Read Online Free PDF Page A

nervous about what I might find. Before my eyes were a concrete wall and the dirty ground, and nothing else.
    Huh.
    As I turned back around, I caught a split-second glance of a man standing inches from my face. I gasped, then he slammed into me with such force that my body was thrown back against the building. My head whipped backwards and smacked the wall. Pain shot through my skull and my vision blurred. His body crushed against mine and a sharp pain sliced through my abdomen. I glanced down - a blade partially protruded from both our stomachs. I blinked in confusion for a moment, not able to process the image. A jolt of panic hit me.
    His entire body was pushing hard against mine. I cried out and tried to push him off. The blade fell on the ground and a flash of fresh pain shot up. My entire midsection screamed. I shielded the wound with one hand. The weight of his massive body crushing me against the wall made my legs cave. We both slid down and hit the concrete ground. He fell directly on top of me. I tried to push and kick him off as he lay limp across my legs, but each time I moved my stomach felt like it was ripping open even more. My vision started to tunnel. I took quick breaths, trying to contain the pain and fear.
    “Help me,” he whimpered with his face pressed against the concrete.
    I felt wetness trickle from my stomach and down my thigh. I forced myself to ignore the shards of pain tearing through my insides as I wiggled out from under him. I crawled a few feet away on my hands and knees. I turned back toward the fallen man; his body was completely still. A cleaver lay on the ground, partially covered by his long black hair. A pool of blood was forming underneath him. His pallid skin was deathly white.
    “Thank you , ” escaped his lips in a whisper.
    Fighting through the pain, I crawled father out from behind the dumpster, leaving a trail of bloody hand prints behind me.
    “Help!” I bellowed, as I pressed down on my wound to stop the flow of blood. I looked down my hand, crimson red as the blood gushed from underneath it.
    Oh my God, this is bad… don’t panic.
    I was too scared to inspect the damage further. Suddenly, footsteps approached as two pre-teen boys jogged toward me.
    “Are you okay?” one of the boys asked as he paused in front of me. “Did you fall?” He reached down to help me up.
    The other boy stood a few feet away looking particularly uninterested. I reached for his hand and was shocked at how easy it was for me to stand up. My vision had cleared and the throbbing pain in my head and abdomen disappeared. I looked down at my clean hands - not a drop of blood on them. I tore at my clothes, examining my body frantically. Everything looked fine.
    The boys stared at me like I was a crazed animal at the zoo. I quickly turned back toward the fallen man, but there was nothing more than the dirty cement. I turned back toward the boys with my mouth hung open.
    “Are you okay?” he asked again with a pitiful stare. “Do you need any help?”
    “I… don’t… understand…” was all I managed to spit out, as I searched around the alley.
    I ran back to the dumpster and peered inside. There was nothing but a few bags of trash.
    The other boy started to mock me and tug at his friend’s arm. “Come on man, she’s nuts,” he exclaimed while he glared at me, like I was wasting his precious time.
    “Do you want me to call someone for you?” the first boy asked, reaching for my shoulder.
    “No… I’m okay. I’m sorry. I must have fallen and hit my head,” I stammered.
    The ill-mannered boy snickered at my feeble attempt to brush away my insanity. “Looks like you lost your food,” he tittered as he pointed to the mess on the ground that used to be my dinner.
    “Yeah...” I stammered, still trying to make sense of what happened. “Hey, uh, thanks,” I muttered while turning to walk out of the alley.
    My eyes darted throughout the alley as I walked away. When we reached the