Eucatastrophe ~ h.s.

✗ twenty-four ✗

SHAY

"Damian, get that photo off the screen!" Harry yells, running to the spot where I had curled up in a terrified ball of screams and tears. "Now!"

I'm rocking back and forth on my bum, shivering and shaking, crying and screaming. Flashbacks of the night, before he knocked me out, flood my memory; his beady eyes staring deep into my soul, haunting me from the inside out, whilst his laughter and voice floods my ears. My eardrums seem to be ringing and I can no longer hear anything around me except for his voice.

"Stop screaming!"

His loud voice is echoing around me, bouncing off the walls of the buildings surrounding the alleyway. I'm pulled against his broad chest, his arms snaking around me and squeezing until I feel like I'm cannot move an inch, though I struggle and try to escape. His grip is strong and his scent stronger. His hand begins to roam lower on my body, meeting the fabric of my black dress. The fabric is tight, but not tight enough as he begins to pull the dress upwards.

"No!" I scream, my voice muffled by the force of his other hand clenched around my lips and cheeks.

"I said shut up!"

His arms released me and harshly flung me downwards onto the concrete. My knees and hands scrap the surface before the rest of my body makes contact, as if every movement I make is in slow motion. The scraped skin begins to sting as the realization of freedom from his filthy hands begins to sink in.

But when I turn I see him much closer than before, with an evil smile on his chapped and reddened lips. There is no help, as I had hoped, and I too frozen in fear to move. Even if I tried I know I won't make it far. I feel as if my body cannot function, my screams cannot be produced, and my tears are being held back.

He slowly kneels down, his movements distorted by the effect of something in the air... fear and pollution. His fingers toy with the tattered belt around his waist, undoing the clasp and beginning to reach for the button.

"I don't think you have it in you to stay silent, so say goodnight."

The urge to scream is ever present now, but I don't get a chance before he raises his fist high in the air and it comes into contact with the side of my head. My limp and half-conscious body falling down towards the ground, awaiting contact any moment.

The last thing I hear: the cackling of this sinister man and the pain at the back of my head.

"Shay!" My eyes are glued shut as I thrash round, screaming and hitting anything that comes into contact with me. Two hands grab at my hands, trying to contain the flying fists before they make contact with their body. Another set of arms snakes round my waist and tugs my back against their front, my bum coming into contact with their lap as they shush me. "Damian, I got her." I thrash around more, screaming out and sobbing heavily. "You need to calm down. You're going to hurt yourself. You're going to hurt the baby!"