Running to Myself

Don't Judge Me

"So how much do you want for.... it?" I can't even utter the word, almost afraid that if I say it then the whole world will know, and more importantly that my parents will. But whether or not I say it, the reality is I'm standing behind Micheal's dinner with a man twice my age wearing a dark jacket with deep pockets that hold exactly what I'm purchasing. His eyes are bloodshot and grey, his skin is colorless and covered with tattoos, he's thin but much taller than me. He calls himself The Skeleton, a fitting name if you ask me. I gulp, regretting meeting him here.

"Twenty five," He says. I quickly reach into my brown bag pulling out my Louis Vuitton wallet, thumbing through the wad of cash buried in it. Unfortunately, I had only brought a hundred dollar bills with me. The sun continues to dip below the horizon, casting eerie shadows across The Skeleton's face and sending a chill down my spine. A police siren goes by and he automatically pulls his hood over his face and sinks deeper into the shadows. Now, only his stubbly chin and toothy grin is in view.

"Can you break a hundred?" I ask nervously, desperately wanting to be anywhere but here with him. He reminded me of any and every clique villain in every book I had ever read. He looks down at my wallet and his grin grows. My hands begin to shake. "Or could you potentially take a card?" The Skeleton laughs and takes a step towards me, I take a step away from you.

"No honey, I can't. But I have another idea," He takes another step towards me, and I take another in the opposite direction. I had parked my car blocks away in front of the library in case my parents saw it, they wouldn't be searching for me at this dingy dinner. I consider just saying never mind, walking away and running to my car but deep down in my gut I feel as if that is no longer an option.

"Listen, I can just pay you for... it tomorrow or some other time. I'll pay you extra for your time today. I'm sorry, I'll pay you for it—" I say trying to walk away from him, I knew I'd have to run, sprint back to my car and I was almost positive that he'd try to follow me. He takes a giant step towards me and when I try to move away again, I feel my back touch the back of the opposite alley wall. I try to move to my side but his arm shoots out like a bullet, cornering me. I try to stay calm, but I can't keep my fleeting composure when I realize how close his face is to mine. My breath catches in my throat and I can't think of what to say.

"See, that just isn't going to work. So you have two options, you can lay down your wallet and bag, leave here, and never speak of this again, or you can be stupid and do this the hard way, which one will it be?" If I give him everything, I will have to explain to my parents what happened, where my wallet and my ID went, they'd have to freeze all my cards as well. And if he took my bag, he'd have the car keys to my white Range Rover, meaning I'd have no way to get home either and no phone to call anyone to pick me up. Imagining all the trouble I'd be in, I begin to believing that fighting may be a better option than sealing my fate and bowing at the hands of parents who would undeniably beat me until they were satisfied. I try once again to move around him, but he grabs my shoulder with his other bony hand painted in black and shoves me against the brick wall, I cry out and accidentally drop my wallet.

He hold a slender fingers to his lips to shush me as he kneels to pick it up and looks at my drivers license, finally realizing who I am. Everyone knows my name, knows my parents, knows what they've done. He sneers at it, and looks up at me, "Rebecca Stone? I didn't know I was in the presence of modern day royalty," he growls sarcastically, giving me a bow, "The soon-to-be head of the Stone Enterprises, the company responsible for driving my parents to the street, for ruining many lives with absolutely no punishment. Forget the options how about we have a little fun tonight, how bout I make you pay for all the shit you've done, how about," He stands up putting his head close to my ear, "you take off your clothes right now."

With that I knee him in his groin, he doubles over in pain. I grab my wallet from him and try to make a run for it, but he grabs my leg with an iron grip. I punch him across the face, and my first explodes in pain but his grasp doesn't loosen any. He gets up quicker than expected, shoving me into a dumpster. I can't help but scream and I scream loudly until his hand claps loudly over my mouth. I bite his sweaty finger and holler, "Please don't hurt me," But he once again muffles my cries by his hand and yanks on my long straight hair, warning me to not bite him again. I doubt I will listen though. He continues to speak, his breath fanning over my face but it's all nothing, my brain moving a mile a minute. No, more like a mile a second. The Skeleton turns me over so that my back is to him, I can't help but cry, begging for it to stop, for him to stop. I try to fight but my efforts are useless so instead I pray to a God I don't believe in to help me.

And he seemingly answers.

Suddenly, his grasp on me disappears and his voice becomes more distant. I hear the sound of falling and the clash of a series of noisy, metal trash cans, "Fuck you! Get out of here before I make you regret—" But he's cut off and the only sound I can hear is the sound of a fist running into his jaw. I turn around slowly, and see The Skeleton down on the ground with a tall shadow towering over him. The Skeleton doesn't stay down for long before charging at him and the two of them begin to fight each other, but it looks more like a clumsy dance between two angry people. The alley fills with the sound of grunts, cursing, punches and kicks while the sound of my cries and pleads cease. I don't care to know who my hero is, I don't care. I turn to run, to sprint and not stop until I'm safe in my car and to drive until I'm safe behind the doors of my house. I want to forget everything that happened, forget everything that he said, forget the feeling of his sweaty hands against my bare skin and the sound of his voice close to my ear and the smell of him on top of me. I pick up my wallet, shoving it deep into my bag and turn to run, but I'm stopped by something, plowing into an immovable object.

I look up and realize that this isn't some wall and it isn't some hero here to help get me away from The Skeleton, no team to help rescue me. It's the police, the alley way lights up with blue, red and then blue again. I feel cool metal circle around my wrists as they're drawn behind my back and I'm lead to a police car.

Don't judge me, this isn't how I thought any of this would run out. Let me take you back to to about twelve hours before this, before I came  here to buy the new drug, Immunity, before the Skeleton, before the man who saved me from the Skeleton, and before I was arrested.

•§•

Hey everyone, it's Alex! Here's a new story to start the new year. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and all the adventures that are to come! I know it was a little shorter but I really liked it. What a mess Rebecca has gotten herself in to and what about the Skeleton, what a jerk.

I had a really big writers block for awhile which I'm still trying to overcome but I'm so excited to be writing this for all of you guys. AmazingObsesser inspired me to start writing again and to at least try and while we're working on a book together, I thought I'd write this one. I will probably go back and edit this because I know it isn't my strongest work due to me just getting back into it.

If you enjoyed please vote and comment, it means a lot to me. I love you all! Happy New Year!

-Alex