a/n: yikes, this starts off really strong. Anyone who is sensitive to sexual assault should continue with caution or perhaps not at all.
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Erela walked calmly along the cracked pavement. He frigid fingers were stuffed deep into the front pocket of her worn hoodie. Perhaps she should have dressed warmer than the thin joggers and sweater she wore. The last lingerings of Winter had left a stubborn chill in the air, and while most of the snow had melted away, a few small, icy piles remained every once in a while. The days were still short, as darkness consumed the city at only seven in the evening.
She was on her way to the nearest convenience store after a long day of babysitting a bratty kid named Elliott. He had torn up her house earlier that day, breaking her living room lamp and staining her light carpet with his grape juice. Erela had spent almost an hour trying to scrub the stain away, while the child had merely sat and played with his toys, having felt no remorse.
Needless to say, Erela had had a long day. After so much frustration, she felt the need to consume her body weight in food and spend the night watching movies. She kept her head down as she continued the short walk to the store. She never felt safe walking alone at night, something not unusual for a woman to feel. It didn't help that the city she lived in had been reported as having high crime rates.
She would have to deal with it though, seeing as she didn't currently own a car. Knowing it was not extremely late helped ease her worry slightly, but the darkness was what made her uncomfortable. Things could be easily concealed under the cover of darkness and the thought of something bad potentially happening put her on edge. She felt stupid for worrying about such silly things. The chances of anything really happening were quite low, especially with the many cars still filling the streets. Erela just picked up the pace, she would feel more secure inside the convenience store.
She reached the building within a few minutes and pushed the heavy door open with her cold hands. Breathing out a sigh of slight breathlessness from her brisk walk, she made her way deeper into the store to look for snacks for the night. She grabbed anything that caught her eye in the slightest, not finding it in herself to care about prices.
No wonder she didn't have a car... whatever.
Her arms were quickly filled with food of all varieties and a large two-liter of pop, which she took up to the counter and placed down for the worker to scan. Ringing everything up, the man told her the total and she pulled out her wallet to pay. Within minutes, everything was distributed into two plastic bags hosting the store's logo and Erela was leaving the building.
She clutched one bag in each hand and began her walk back home in the same fashion as the trip on the way to the store. Her fingers only became colder as they were exposed to the chilly air to carry the bags. Erela kept her head down, focusing on her walk home and thinking excitedly about what she planned to do tonight.
She was almost halfway home when she felt the presence of someone walking behind her. She felt her body stiffen in worry, her mind immediately resorting to the worst possible scenario. Did she jinx herself? The person could have easily been heading in the same direction, but the sense of danger she was currently feeling made that idea seem very unlikely.
Erela tried to glance behind her nonchalantly, taking in the person's clearly male stature. Everything else was hidden by a dark hood covering his head, the light from the moon allowing a shadow to cast over his features. He was a fair distance behind her, but he was still there.
She tried to brush it off. Her paranoid nature often made her think situations were more than they were. The person behind her most likely didn't care about her in the slightest and was simply headed to their own destination like her. She tried walking faster just to give herself peace of mind, but she heard the man quicken his steps as well. Alarms were going off loudly in her head and she felt her heart jolt with anxiety.
Erela sped up even more only to hear him do the same as well again; however, he was sure to remain the same distance from her. Erela felt fear strike through her, whoever this person was, they weren't trying to pretend they weren't following her. She felt like she was being stalked and she had no idea what she was supposed to do. There was no one around. Was she supposed to confront him? Her throat tightened at the thought.
Her brain flashed an image of her phone currently sitting at home on her kitchen counter, completely useless. Erela tried to draw out of her panic-ridden thoughts and focus on the situation at hand. They were on the outskirts of the residential area that Erela's house resided in. She considered how she could get help if the man didn't leave her alone. She could always scream, but she worried if anyone would hear if she called out for help, let alone actually come to investigate. Should she crossing the street and turning back try turning back? No, that was stupid.
She felt panic slowly overtake her body, her breaths coming out in short pants, the condensation from the warmth quickly disappearing into the air. Even if she were to run, her house was still a few minutes away and she felt that it would only provoke the man behind her.
This was a situation out of her nightmares and she worried what the purpose of following her was. He may be a stalker or kidnapper. He could jump her and steal everything she had on her, or what she feared most, try to assault her in some way. The one thing that young women were warned of from day one, and she feared that tonight may be the night that those warnings became a reality.
She wanted to brush it off, she could be making an innocent man out as a criminal, but the feeling she got said that this man was nowhere close to innocent. And she had no doubt in her mind that the man behind her meant to target her in some way.
Her pace was brisk at this point, and at hearing the man's footsteps beginning to draw nearer, Erela felt her heart drop in complete terror. She was only a few blocks away from home and she began to run, not caring if it provoked the man anymore. The only thing running through her mind at that moment was making it to the safety of her home. After that, she didn't have a plan, she wasn't even sure that she would make it.
With the distance between her and whoever was following her quickly becoming shorter, Erela began to sprint as hard as she could, her hands somehow still clutching the two bags she'd recently purchased. Hoping to somehow slow the man, she threw the bags behind her, hearing only a taunting chuckle in response.
She could see the front of her house now, the wooden steps beckoning her, but she wasn't fast enough. The man had caught up quickly, and not knowing what else to do, Erela made a sharp turn into the back alley. She immediately knew it was a mistake when the man harshly grabbed her by the back of the sweater only a short way into the alley.
Erela let out a scream of complete fear as she was yanked back, nearly falling to the unpaved ground if not for the man hauling her up painfully from under her armpits.
She tried to shout for help but was quickly silenced by a hand roughly covering her mouth. He dragged her deeper into the alley and hissed into her ear, "Shut your fucking mouth."
Tears of fear streamed down her cheeks, but the man paid no mind and shoved her up against a fence. Her face was pressed against the rough wood, scraping her cheeks, the front of her body was forced against it as well.
Erela felt the man pressing against her, breathing heavily next to her face, forcing her to breathe in his putrid breath. He yanked her head back by her dark hair, straining her neck so that he could get a look at her face.
"You're a pretty one, aren't you?" he smiled evilly, showcasing his yellowed teeth.
She heard the sound of his belt buckle clinking as he undid it with one hand. Erela struggled violently, hoping to throw him off balance for even a second so she could attempt to escape. She was screaming hysterically against his hand but he didn't care.
With his belt removed, he yanked at her pants aggressively. Erela was sobbing, her body not able to move with the man leaning all of his weight on her.
She was going to be raped. There was nothing she could do, she would be forced to experience one of the things she feared most.
Suddenly, the pressure from the man completely disappeared, his hand ripped from her mouth. The scream once muffled by the man tore through the neighborhood and Erela wasted no time rushing out of the alley.
She heard a scuffle behind her, but she didn't want to risk hesitating. Sprinting to her house, she rushed up the steps and yanked her keys out of her pocket. Fumbling around with shaky hands, she finally fit the key into the lock and entered her home, slamming the door and locking it behind her.
She ran to the back door to ensure it was locked as well, then did the same for the windows. Whimpers escaped her lips as she double checked everything before collapsing on her couch sobbing.
She could still feel the mans hands on her and she could still smell his disgusting breath. Her breathing came out in shudders, her body still in a state of panic. Erela didn't know what to do now. Calling the police wouldn't do anything. By the time they got here, the man would be gone and she would have wasted the police's time. Would they even believe her?
Continuing to cry into the cushion of her couch, she didn't hear the creaking of footsteps in her house.
"Human's are such vile creatures, why he loves them so much, I will never know," a dark voice states out of nowhere.
Erela screams out in fear, scrambling off of the couch and looking up to where the voice came from, terrified of seeing the same man from the alley. However, instead stood an unfamiliar man dressed completely in black, a sinister grin filling his face and his dark eyes observing her. She shrieked out in fear, sobs continuing to rack her body as she searched for some kind of weapon. She didn't have time to think about how the man got into her home. The adrenaline rushing through her body from the alley doubled as her brain somehow pushed her into action to do something, anything.
"You will not find anything, you have no way of hurting me," the man says deathly calm, already aware of what she's doing.
Her eyes snapped to his, her grey orbs reflecting pure terror. He began approaching her slowly, ignoring the inky strands of hair that fell into his face.
"S-Stay away from me!" she cried, scrambling further from him.
He only raised a brow, "You are in no position to be making demands."
"P-please, just don't hurt me," she sobbed pathetically.
"Then listen to me," he growled.
She only continued to cry, her body frozen in fear. This was not the same man from the alley, but he appeared just as terrifying, if not more.
In a flash, he was right in front of her.
"You've stolen something from me, Angel, and I don't plan to leave you alone until it is returned," he drawled, cornering her in her own living room with his large frame.
She cowered away from the man, "S-stolen something? But I- I don't even know you," her shaky voice squeaked in his overwhelming presence
She tried to shift away from the stranger only to be pinned against the wall harshly, "Oh Angel, " he mocked, his hand wrapping itself around her throat in a threat, "Try that again."
He moved his lips to whisper against her ear, "I'd love to show you what happens when you try to avoid me.
He released her immediately, letting her collapse to the floor. She continued to cry hysterically, "P-please," she sobbed, not even sure what she was trying to say.
"Please what? Was helping you in that alley not enough? And now you, a thief, are asking me for more. You are greedy aren't you, Angel," he drawled.
Her eyes snapped up at hearing this, only to meet the man's emotionless ones. She didn't have time to question who he was, as he crouched down to her level and gripped her chin, forcing her to keep her gaze on him.
"You owe me, Angel, and I plan to collect immediately. Now, where is it?" he questioned harshly.
She is only left shaking and confused, "What? I-I don't understand. I swear I didn't do anything!"
His features darkened, "Bullshit! Where is it! I will tear this fucking house apart," he shouted in her face.
Erela flinched back in fear, "I don't know what you're talking about," she cried.
She was at the point of hyperventilation. Panic was the only thing her body was capable of feeling and she felt the familiar screams creeping up her throat until that is all that could be heard through the house. Her shrieks carried on, and the terrifying man in front of her continued to glare angrily at her even as her vision blurred and everything faded away to darkness.