Rain lashed at the closed window, leaving watery slash marks that bled down the transparent pane. A small child watched with awe, his coal hair falling in front of his eyes as he leaned forward to watch the torrential downpour hitting the pavement with such force that the water sprung back up a good few millimeters into the air. Vaguely, he wondered if it hurt the liquid, like it had hurt him when he had first fallen off his bike. Other people would probably call him silly for thinking such ridiculous things, but how did anyone truly know? Because something has no voice did that mean that it did not feel?

Rolling thunder disguised the sound of his parents arguing in the room opposite. A flash of lightning illuminated the silent streets, revealing a small silhouette darting down the sidewalk. What kind of person would be out in this kind of weather? Like the rain, he too watched that in awe, pressing his face against the window pane to gaze upon it until it traveled too far and disappeared from sight.

The sound of boots echoed through the dark alleyway as the black form sought refuge, though whether from the rain or an unidentified pursuer was not clear. Slinking into the shadows, it crouched on a narrow ledge between the alley wall and a dumpster, jamming itself into the crushing gap. Another flash of lightning revealed her feminine features, though she didn't look so feminine now as much as she did a drowned rat. The rain continued to pelt down from the dark clouds above, running in droplets down her face and falling off her nose. Her clothes were absolutely drenched and sticking to her in an uncomfortable manner.

Why? Why must it always rain? she snarled to herself, glaring at back of the rubbish bin.

She wasn't there for too long before she heard more voices shouting to one another, and sure enough the sources of those voices turned into the same alleyway she had. Instinctively she held her breath, chewing her bottom lip nervously as she heard their pace slow down. A stray thought belittled her for choosing to hide behind the dumpster- surely a less obvious choice would've been underneath? Screw her fear of gross smells, if this cost her dearly she was going to be pissed.

"We know you're here, little thief," one of the men growled, his voice reminding her of rocks grating against one another.

It made her skin crawl, and not in a way that was even remotely pleasant.

"Spread out, check down the other end," the first man instructed, his command dutifully followed by retreating footsteps.

Good dog, she remarked snidely, barely suppressing a snicker.

Her smartass attitude quickly dissipated, however, as her stomach twisted in on itself at the sound of the first man approaching her hiding spot. The moment seemed long-drawn out as he drew closer and ever closer, so close that a shadow fell over the wall behind her. This is it, I'm caught, she thought as the footsteps ceased, her heart hammering so hard it was a wonder it wasn't giving away her position. The man's hand scraped along the top of the dumpster, and she felt certain that he was only seconds away from pulling it away from the wall, ending the game once and for all. She closed her eyes tightly, ready to accept her fate...

To her surprise, rather than come down in a tumbling mess as the dumpster side was drawn away, instead the man's actions were followed by a hideous squealing noise. Fearfully popping one eye open, she could hardly contain her sigh of relief when she realised that he'd opened the lid of the dumpster, and must've been peering inside.

Ew. As if, she thought as the foul stench of the collected rubbish wafted towards her, seemingly only intensified by the rain.

Running footsteps returned to where the pair were-the girl crouched against the wall mere meters from death, and the man standing on the opposite side of the rubbish bin, mere meters from his goal. Her heart clenched as she felt her feet beginning to slide on the slippery ledge, threatening to give away her position once and for all.

"She's not there," the second man said, earning a furious growl from the first.

The beginning of her smug chuckle was startled to an abrupt halt as Rocky-voice-guy slammed the lid of the dumpster shut, causing her to give a small jump. Her foot slipped entirely off the ledge, and she let out a horrified cry as she slammed into the side of the dumpster, effectively rocking it and giving away her position.

Shit, shit, SHIT! No, no, please no, I was so close...

Any hope that they were as blind as a badger and hadn't noticed the commotion disappeared as the dumpster was aggressively yanked away from the wall, one of the men roughly grabbing her arms and using them as leverage to drag her out from her hidey-hole. She began kicking and screaming, thrashing in her captor's arms and doing her best to claw, bite, hit any part of his body that came into range. They let out a noise of frustration, swiftly swallowed by a surprised squaw of pain as she slammed her heel into his foot. He fumbled her, and she was mere moments from breaking free of his grasp when a hard backhand to the left side of her face left her dazed.

Idiot. In her panic, she had forgotten about the second man.

The assault gave her captor enough time to regain control, restraining her arms again and kicking the back of her legs so that she fell to her knees. She hissed and spat every known curse word at them, doing her best to struggle but quickly finding that her strength was gravely outmatched. An underfed teenager was certainly no competition for a couple of buff young men.

Doing the only thing she could think of, she threw back her head and screamed at the top of her lungs,

"RAPE!"

"Silence you!" roared Rock-voice, this time punching her square in the stomach.

She choked on her own scream as the air was forcefully ejected from her lungs, doubling over in pain at the cheap shot. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and hoisted her to eye level, leaving her feet dangling off the ground whilst she continued coughing and spluttering. The second man had released her hands, but in the back of her mind she could still feel him lurking some ways behind her, ready to step in if required.

"Where is it!" Rock-voice demanded in a thundering tone.

"Where's what?" she squealed, wincing at how pathetic she sounded, even to her own ears.

"Don't play dumb, the item you stole from us!"

"Let's be honest buddy, I've stolen a lot of items from you..."

Her snigger was cut short as the man slammed her against the brick wall of the alleyway, painfully knocking her head and the brief flash of confidence right out of her. She swore under her breath, her eyes beginning to well up from the pain, but she refused to shed them. No way would she give this fucker the satisfaction.

"THE BOOK!" he screamed, his face so close to her own that she wondered if it was the rain or his spit that had just landed in her eye.

"I threw it away, OK? It's worthless, no one wanted it."

"Worthless?" he snarled, his face radiating with pure anger, "That was more invaluable than a filthy street rat like yourself could ever know!"

He threw her across the alleyway, grazing her arms and knees along the slicked concrete. She collapsed into a heap, biting back a sharp hiss as the rain seeped into the torn skin and stung her fresh wounds. Anger knotted in her gut, sitting there like a coiled snake that was poised to strike. Only, she knew, due to an unfair advantage of its opponents, this snake would never get the chance to strike. The second man grabbed her by her hair and pulled her onto her hands and knees, facing Rock-voice.

The next blows came hard, fast, without warning. The first was a hard punch to the side of her face that sent her sprawling again, tasting concrete as she lay face down on the soaked ground. Kicks were the next thing to set in. Stomping kicks that seemed to come from all directions, feeling like a thousand men were planting boots into her sides instead of just two. She attempted to curl into the fetal position, but the boys would have none of that. Large hands pulled her apart, laying her on her back and one of them sitting on top of her to keep her from resuming the stance.

Holy shit, I'm going to die, she realised with a horrible sinking realisation.

Rock-voice glared down at her with pure spite, and lifted his boot. It crashed into her face with frightful force, causing her to cry out in a mixture of shock and pain. The tears were flowing freely now, there was no stopping them. All she saw was a fast-approaching boot, coming in for another blow.

And another blow.

And another blow.

And darkness.

So I've been out of this writing game for a while, tell me if you liked it c: