THE GIRL WITH THE MOUSEY HAIR

Chrissy ran. She ran from her past, from her nightmares, from the fear that eats away at her every day and night of her life. But more than that,

she ran from the man behind her. Risking a look over her shoulder she could tell that although he wasn't catching up he was managing to keep

pace with her.

The runner in her was impressed by the speed of this aging man. Spying the entrance to an alleyway she pulled a hard left and smiled when she

heard footsteps desperately trying to change direction behind her. 'Okay, he may have the speed, but he doesn't have the skills.' She thought as

she ran towards a low wall, with a jump and a bit of a scramble she had scaled it and was now running alongside the tennis courts. 'Just round

this corner and through the back of the flats and I'll be home free.'

Her legs pumped, the strain of inactivity was pulling at her thighs, but the pain made her smile. The wind rushed past, blowing brown curls across

her face and then whipping them out behind her. She could feel the thud in her chest, pulsing at the base of her throat, as though her heart

wanted to break free, escape the confines of it's prison, and Chrissy empathized with it. She was free now. Free to live as she wanted, how she

wanted, where she wanted. She was free to talk to whom she liked, without having to look over her shoulder.

Smiling at the irony, she looked over her shoulder one last time. Nobody was there. No one was lurking behind, waiting to trap her, beat her,

rape.....

"Aufgh!"

She stopped dead as she collided with something hard and black. Something hard and black and panting.

"Gotcha!"

As she rebounded, she felt herself falling backwards and would've hit the ground if arms hadn't shot out to steady her.

"What...do...you...think...you're...playing...at....!?"

Chest heaving, Chrissy tried to back away but the arms held her tight around the waist. He bent forward, trying to catch his breath and she felt

the arms loosen slightly. Trying to breathe slowly her mind raced. She had to run, get away, put as much distance between him and her. She

fought against the arms, kicking and hitting anything that she could reach. Her captor uttered an expletive and tried to hold her tighter,

he pushed her against the nearest wall to block her escape but this sent her into a more frenzied state. As his body pressed against her she

could hear herself screaming at him to get off, to get away from her, to back the hell off. She screamed and kicked until all the fight had left her

and her body began to give up. When she stopped her attack something registered with her.

He wasn't holding her any longer, in fact he'd taken a couple of steps backwards, not out of fear but to light up. Lifting her head, hair plastered

against her face from sweat and, amazingly, tears. She looked at her would be captor. He was tall and broad and sweating heavily in a long,

black overcoat. Head tilted to the side, he didn't take his eyes off of her as he lit the cigarette and squinted through the smoke.

"You finished your little episode now?" His voice was rough with little kindness in it.

Chrissy didn't answer, her heart thudded louder than ever, still trying to escape, but for another reason altogether now. 'Me too.' She thought as

looked for a way out of this trap.

"Don't try it love." Drawing on his cigarette, he pointed behind him. Over his shoulder she could see two other men approaching. One was ages

with him, with an unsightly tight perm and mustache, the other was younger with a gentle face. Bringing her attention back to her captor, she felt

the fear rise inside her. She was on her own, with three men. Three big men. Her 5' 3" frame was no match, she could out run them, but running

was no option, instead she cast her eyes around for a weapon, anything. There was a broken tree branch, but she'd have to get past the tallest

one with the black coat. She felt her chest heave as panic began to take over her body, and flinched as she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"STOP!" She screamed as the hand tightened around her arm, again she began to fight him.

"Get off me, get away!!" He didn't do anything, just kept his hand on her arm. Over his shoulder the other two had looks of amusement in their

eyes as they slowly began to approach.

She was crying now, hot tears running down her cheeks as she tried to flee.

"Don't! Don't!.....Please?!"

Again she felt the fight leave her, she crumbled to the floor and he squatted down beside her, hand still round her arm. She had been so close.

Had tasted the freedom as she ran. But now....now it was over.

Sobbing quietly she spoke, "Fine! Who wants to go first?"

There was no answer and she wondered if she'd spoken it aloud. She looked up. His face was so close to hers, she could feel the dampness of

his face, could smell the sweat as it rolled down his face.

"Or is it just you? Like an audience do you? Just get on with it!"

She watched his eyes, something flashed in them, but she wouldn't look away. If this was to be her fate then she would face it, head on. His eyes

widened and he all but threw her arm away. Jumping up he turned to the others, the younger one looked confused. Mustache man was chuckling

quietly to himself.

"Jesus Love!" He spun back round to face her, forgetting for a moment that she was on the floor. Bending down he reached out a hand to her,

that was pulled back instantly as Chrissy flinched and shut her eyes, fate be damned.

"Jesus!"

Behind the darkness of her eyes, Chrissy hid and waited for the first touch. The first touch would tell her how it would go. A heavy handed touch

meant pain but quickness, a gentle touch meant that she probably wouldn't bruise, but would have to endure it for longer. The thought weighted

her heart. It had slowed now, it's beats so quiet that she was almost certain it had given up on her. 'I tried' she told herself 'I tried'. The silence in

the darkness suffocated her.

Opening her eyes a little, she was surprised at the realisation that she was alone. With shaking arms, she pushed against the wall behind her.

She could see people disappearing around the side of the tennis courts, heading towards the main street. Again, she pushed against the wall,

bringing her legs from under her she tried to stand, but they wouldn't hold her. Feeling her legs give way she sought the wall for support and

leant back, her mind racing. 'What had happened?'

Hearing voices heading back towards her she took a shaking step forward, her legs buckled and again she would've hit the ground if the arms

hadn't caught her. She turned her head and her froze. The black coated man hadn't gone, he'd been leaning against the wall a few feet from

where she was. His arms were still around her, holding her gently this time, but this didn't stop her body from arching away from him. Something

like hurt crossed in front of his eyes, but before she could process the expression he turned his head away and shouted something towards the

other end of the lane. Turning back to Chrissy, he helped her to her feet, ignoring the pained expression on her face. She could see that his eyes

were a crystal blue, they searched her face as gently as his touch.

She jumped with a start as someone touched her back, her body automatically flinched as she turned to face her new attacker. The arms around

her tightened slightly. With a fright she realised that she was looking into the face of a policewoman. A young, kind faced girl.

"Shaz" She heard his voice from behind her, and felt his breath in her hair. The warmth of his body still encircled her. "Take Christine here back to

the Nick."

"Yes Guv." Shaz took hold of her arm and pulled her gently away from her captor. Chrissy looked at him with shock coursing through her body.

Tilting his head slightly in acknowledgment, he held up a badge.

"DCI Gene Hunt, Love. It's been a pleasure."