chicago, illinois
//strangers in the night
it was freezing cold out, millie stumbled drunkenly through the dark alleyway, her trembling hands shoved in the deep pockets of her loose leather jacket. she breathed in and out slowly, watching her breaths turn to thick fog in the frigid air before her.
'left foot, right foot. left,' she thought to herself as she carefully placed one foot after the other, her combat boots clicking against the hard, cracked and dirty concrete.
natalia's hushed voice echoed faintly in her head, reminding her what to do when the world was spinning around her like this; when her state of mind was altered and her guard down.
"take in your surroundings. look at what's around you. smell, listen..."
the voice trailed off as millie glanced up and stopped walking. she turned her head to the side, observing the brick walls that were built up all around her, doing just as the voice told her to. cracked windows, ladders, and fire escapes occupied the bare spaces, with old busted furnaces and dumpsters set up on the ground, crowded against the cracked pipe-covered walls.
she took a deep breath, smelling the varied scents of the city. cigarette smoke, old food, and homeless people. do homeless people have a scent? millie decided that yes, they do.
next, break down the sounds of the city.
she listened hard, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, feeling her mascara covered eyelashes rest on her cheeks and smudging under her glassy eyes. she could hear cars honking, and sirens wailing somewhere in the distance. but you get used to that, growing up in the most crime infested city of america.
she heard another noise, this one wasn't distant like the others. it was close to her, a quieted scuffling across the metal sewers and concrete.
a rat? no, it was too big.
she suddenly became aware that her breathing was no longer the only breathing in the small space around her, and she began walking again, lowering her head as the realization dawned on her. this time, her steps were faster. her whole body stiffened as she heard two loud footsteps, clunking heavily against the ground, a similar sound to hers. she didn't even get a chance to fully turn around, because two strong arms quickly wrapped themselves around her thin, still body.
one arm draped around her waist, it's hand holding a cold, hard gun pressing into millie's hip bone, and one arm around her upper chest, it's hand gripping her shoulder.
she didn't have her pepper spray with her, but even if she did, she wouldn't be able to grab it. the grip on her was too tight. she felt slow, hot breaths down the back of her neck, snaking under the thick collar of her jacket and sending chills down her spine, "what do you want?" she whispered, closing her eyes tightly, she was scared, which wasn't normal for her.
"what do i want?" the low voice growled, and she could almost feel his lips against the back of her ear. yes, it was a he. millie didn't think it was possible, but he made his grip around her chest tighter, squeezing his wrist against her collarbones. the hand holding the gun brought itself up, and she felt the cold metal of the weapon begin dragging against her jawline, stopping just below her chin and pressing into her neck.
her body weakened some, as her palms began shaking and despite the cold winter air, hot beads of sweat started rolling down her forehead, almost freezing on her stone cold skin as they slid down her cheek. his chest was pressed so hard into her back, that she could feel the metal details of his jacket stabbing into her skin. all of the buttons and zippers.
"hmmm," he cut through the harsh silence, dragging the cold metal of the gun along the other side of her jaw. millie kept her eyes shut, squeezing her eyelids together hard.
this is it. millie thought to herself, her palms sweating violently and tears daring to fall.
"what do I want..." he questioned further, sneering against the back of millie's head.
millie could barely get the gears in her mind to turn, the world felt like it was spinning around her and the mixture of fear and alcohol in her system left her at a disadvantage. she couldn't use her charm, or her wit.
"i want to know..." his voice trailed off slightly, almost fading into a whisper as his hold over millie slowly loosened and he lowered his gun, before drastically switching his tone into one that was more dangerously charming. "what a sweetheart like you is doing out here like this, so late at night."
millie shot her eyes open, and he was barely holding her tight anymore so she was able to pull away. she turned around quickly, observing the grinning stranger that stood over her.
he was taller, obviously, with tufts of curly black hair sticking out from underneath an old faded maroon beanie. he had pale, freckled skin with two chocolate brown eyes sunken in and guarded by thick black eyelashes. he wore a heavy black leather jacket, much like millie's. his light blue jeans were ripped and filled with holes, and ended just above his ankles where he wore heavy black boots, also similar to millie's.
he sucked in his bottom lip, holding it between his teeth. then he slipped the small handgun into the inner pocket of his leather jacket, and millie noticed that it wasn't even loaded.
millie took a step back, and he took a step forward.
"what's your name?" millie asked quietly, furrowing her thick brown eyebrows together as static and confusion filled her mind.
"finn." the boy responded carelessly, and his voice was actually pretty satisfying to her when it wasn't breathing down her spine and threatening her seemingly tiresome existence.
"finn," millie copied, letting the simple name roll off of her tongue. it fit him, in a special way. his looks at least.
"can i get an answer to my question?" he asked, and millie felt intimidated, which was a rare occurrence. nothing and no one could scare her, or stand in her way. except now, maybe him.
millie straightened her back, trying to size herself up to him and hide her melted exterior. she was drunk, and looked like a mess, with smudged eyeliner and mascara and faded red lipstick, smeared lightly onto her chin. what a great first impression, hopefully it was also the last impression. "it's my birthday." she slurred.
finn let out a loud laugh, and it echoed through the alleyway. "trying to act tough, are we?" he challenged, taking note of the way millie puffed out her chest and straightened her stance. she couldn't scare him, nothing could.
"what?" millie asked, squinting her eyebrows and hardening her eyes. clearly, her act wasn't working on him. she had to try something else. she softened her forehead, and brought a hand up to twirl a piece of soft brown hair around her studded-ring wearing pointer finger.
he clicked his tongue and smiled, turning his head and raising a dark eyebrow. "that isn't gonna work either, sweetheart." he took a step closer and looked down at her, examining her confused, disoriented expression. "answer my question." he drawled out.
"i'm alone." she mumbled, clearly unaware of what was coming out of her mouth.
"well," finn said, still laughing, "stating the obvious, are we?"
"i'm alone," millie continued, repeating herself but finally letting the truth come out. "and, it's my 16th birthday. i was just," she had to think back for a moment, trying to remember where she was coming from. "i was leaving my friends. we had a little um, a little party."
"well well well," finn teased as he pulled a cigarette out from his pocket, placing it between his lips and lighting it. "a birthday girl, and a party girl."
"who doesn't party on their birthday?" millie asked as she breathed in the fowl smoke from his cigarette. she turned her head to cough quietly, but the sweet smell of nicotine was tempting to her.
"not this guy." finn pointed to himself and slipped his lighter back into his jacket pocket.
millie faked a frown, curling her bottom lip and tilting her head. "you must not be a fun guy." she giggled, the liquor in her system overwhelmingly evident.
finn ignored her comment, brushing it off of his shoulder with ease. "i have one more question." he tilted his head back, still looking down at her. millie looked up at him, nodding for him to continue, "can i walk you home?" he asked.
"no," millie said, still frowning. "why would you want to do that?" she was confused, very confused.
finn raised his eyebrows and put his hands up, "why not?" he smirked and leaned forward, "these are the streets of chicago, sweetheart. you know how bad things can be."
millie bit her lip and smiled, this couldn't be a bad idea, could it? he was right, in her current vulnerable state there was so much that could happen. and she was a risk taker.
"okay," she nodded, trying to come up with something flirty to say in hopes of charming him, but she was way to far out of it. she couldn't. "i don't stay too far from here."
millie gestured in the direction they needed to head, and put both hands into her jacket pockets, still freezing.
they began walking through the rest of the alleyway, both silent with their heads down low.
***