Inside Access

Chapter 16: Dragons

Chapter 16: Dragons

 There was no hesitation this time, no moment where disbelief froze her brain; no sooner than Brooklyn felt the man's hand on her did she begin fighting back. She tried to open her mouth to scream, but his hand was over it in a flash to prevent just that action. She heard the distant ping of the pipe hitting the ground as if through a tunnel.

It was already so late, well past seven and the office district they were in had practically emptied already. It wasn't full dark yet and what sunlight there was made the whole situation slightly surreal to Brooklyn. Weren't these things supposed to happen at night?

She felt her back being slammed unceremoniously against the wall as she struggled. She couldn't imagine that her efforts were doing much against the larger man but she couldn't stop herself from wiggling in his grasp; pinching and scratching whatever her fingers met.

She felt him grunt when her knee found his groin but the hit had been wild and there hadn't been much power to it. Before she could try again, he whirled her around, slamming her face into the wall. She felt the scratching of the bricks, smelled the sweat of the man's hand on her face, and she worried, not just for herself, but for Warren who was barely moving from where he fell on the pavement.

From the way he was moving, his hands struggling push himself up as his head twisted, his eyes screwed shut in agony, she knew he wasn't unconscious. However, she could tell he was struggling against the affects of the blow to find his footing, so to speak. She wasn't sure how long it would take him to get up.

But she knew they didn't have much time.

The man behind her adjusted his grip so he was twisting her wrist up her back making her whimper in pain. He would either need to release her mouth or her arm to grab the knife she had barely registered at his side. It was, she could recognize it even now, the very same knife he had threatened her with before.

If he released her mouth, that gave her a chance to scream for help but that seemed unlikely to come as Warren was laying out on the pavement in full view of the street and no one had rushed to his aide. Likely, there was no one near by at this time of night. Still, if she was lucky there was someone within shouting distance who just wasn't looking around at the moment. If he released the painful grip he had on her wrist, that gave her a moment in which she could fight him off. However, they both knew from her previous struggles that she was hardly a threat to him physically.

Brooklyn practically heard those thoughts and considerations go through his head even as they went through hers. She prepared her vocal cords to scream, she readied her body to duck or dodge or roll out of the way. He only needed one moment. Once he had his hands on the knife he would be able to kill her with one well placed thrust. It was, she knew, his only purpose for being there. He didn't need much time, just enough.

Brooklyn felt the grip on her arm tighten and knew he was going to release her mouth. She took in a deep breath.

Warren scrambled ungracefully to his feet and staggered forward with more determination than any real skill.

The man let Brooklyn's mouth go but, instead of reached right for his knife, he was forced to knock Warren out of the way.

Still dazed from the blow to the head, Warren fell over with barely any effort.

Brooklyn took advantage of her moment and loud out an ear piercing, wordless screech. At the same moment, she threw her body back causing the wrist he had in a vise like grip to be stretched even further out of place. The agony shot up her arm but didn't slow her backwards shove at all. The will to live overpowered the pain.