"Oh my gosh! You are such an asshole, it is just unbelievable!" I couldn't even fathom the reasoning behind his behavior but I didn't care. Nothing else he said mattered any more or could redeem him.

"Relax, Emily…overreacting." His words were slurred and it made me want to punch him even more.

"I'm not overreacting, Brad. You absolutely blow my mind." I was bustling through his apartment trying to gather all my things not wanting to come back any time soon.

He took another sip of his beer and propped his legs up on his coffee table. He spoke so softly I almost hadn't heard him but thanks to being near him I caught every word. "At least something is getting blown around here."

My eyes widened and my eyebrows arched in irritation. I clenched my teeth together as I snatched my purse off his kitchen counter, grabbing an orange out of the bowl in the center and throwing it at him. "You stupid pig, I never want to see you again!" I stormed out of his apartment, slamming the door behind me and stomping down the hall.

Brad and I had been together for about a year now and things were great in the beginning, I really thought he was the one but lately his drinking was getting out of hand and his true colors were showing. What made it worse was I couldn't stop going back to him. I was desperately waiting for him to go back to normal and continue being the sweet man I fell for.

But I wasn't sure that was going to happen.

As I made my way down the stairs, being too impatient for an elevator, I yanked the door open that led to the lobby and put my long shoulder bag around my neck. I couldn't wait to get home so I could just pass out and forget about the night.

I buttoned my black blazer over my dark blue v-neck shirt to keep the wind from chilling me too bad. I stepped to the edge of the street and waved my hand out to the passing taxi. "Right here!"

The cab quickly pulled over and I smiled politely as I stepped inside. "9th Ave please." I said as I buckled in.

The driver nodded and pulled away driving down the road like a bat out of hell. I had only been in New York for two years but I still hadn't full adjusted to how crazy everyone drove. Coming for Oregon, I was use to more sane fellow drivers. Sure, a handful of them were terrible, but not crazy. I had actually ended up selling my car after a few weeks of being here unable to cope with the aggression. It was a little inconvenient having to walk and cab everywhere but it was a lot less stressful.

I sighed and let the smooth ride of the cab relax me. Just being out of his apartment was calming.

A few minutes had passed and I glanced at the meter in the cab. I pulled my purse onto my lap and pulled out my wallet out. I thumbed through the cash I had and bit my lip nervously. "Do you take credit cards?"

The cab driver looked at me through the rearview mirror. "No cards."

I sighed trying not to get frustrated. "Okay." My brows rose slightly in irritation before lowering into a frown. I looked out the window and saw we were on 13th Ave. I wouldn't have enough to pay him the rest of the way. "Please stop here."

The driver didn't ask any questions as he pulled to the side. "Nine dollar."

I pulled out eight bills and handed it to him, giving him the other dollar in loose change. "Thank you." I said while opening the car door. He rose his hand up as if that was his way of saying 'you're welcome'. I shut the door and started walking down the road. I pulled my phone from my jeans and clicked the screen on, it was almost midnight. I sped up, not liking being out late.

I didn't live in a very busy part of town, which I liked, it reminded me of home—well sort of.

I rounded the corner on 12th when I spotted a group of four men all in black hooded sweatshirts. I quickly moved backwards tripping over my feet and hitting the concrete. My phone slid out of my pocket and I scrambled to pick it up.

A voice sounded behind me that made me instantly nervous. "Aye girl."

I stood from the ground gripping my phone tight in my hand, turning to face the group. "Hello." Hello? Why was I greeting them? But what was wrong with me? Just because it was dark outside didn't mean they were bad people. I examined each of their faces and couldn't ignore the tear drop tattoos that they all shared in the corner of their eyes. Some had more than others. That didn't exactly back up my bad people statement. But I tried not to jump to conclusions.

One of them took a step towards me and I held my breath but he knelt down in front of me only to come back up with keys in his hand. "You dropped these."

My mouth nearly fell open but I composed myself quickly. I looked at the keys and smiled, taking them from his hand. "Thank you. I would have been screwed."

He smiled a crooked smile and shrugged. "Ain't no problem. Just be careful ma."

Well God was I wrong. I laughed to myself. "Thank you very much. I'll be careful." Maybe there were some decent people left here and they did a very good job at not looking the part.

The group strolled away without another word and I tucked my keys into my purse and continued my walk. I couldn't stop smiling now having been proved wrong about the thugged out gentlemen. The thought was hilarious but I controlled myself. I walked with a new confidence feeling quite a bit more comfortable now. I looked up at the sky and sighed. I missed the stars so much, there were practically none here.

"Help."

I frowned and looked around, pausing lightly mid-stride to listen. I was tempted to answer but decided against it and continued walking.

The voice was nothing more than a loud whisper but I could hear it clearly this time. "Help!"

I turned around and tried to see where the voice was coming from. "Hello? Are you hurt?" I didn't see anyone on the street.

"Yes, please help me! Alley—"

I didn't hesitate to run into the dark crack between the two brick buildings, my eyes wide with fear for the injured person. "I-I can't see you. Do you need an ambulance?"

I reached for my phone but felt a sudden tug on my wrist and I lost my balance, slamming into the brick building beside me. I couldn't even react to the pain I was in such a state of shock. I shook my head trying to make the ringing stop.

I realized something was still on my wrist and I looked to see what it was and my eyes landed on a pale hand peeking out from underneath a dirty gray blanket. I clenched my teeth and grunted trying to pull my hand free. The blanket suddenly flew up and revealed a large man with scraggly brown hair and piercings. He grinned at me and it made my skin crawl.

I looked behind me for something to grab on the floor and only saw a magnitude of useless garbage.

"You must be dumb." He said through his yellowing teeth. He stood from ground trying to pull me from the ground but I remained dead weight and thankfully the only thing he had going for him was height. He was scrawny. "Get up, bitch."

I pulled my hand to the ground making him jerk forward. I quickly twisted my body around and rolled, kicking him in the face, making him stumble to the ground and into two garbage cans.

I silently thanked my parents for making me take gymnastics for so long, it left me being quite flexible and nimble.

Gathering myself quickly from the ground I turned to run out the alley but the man's long limbs caught me. He slammed me up against the brick wall and I cried out feeling the jagged stone catch my skin. I could feel him press his arm into the back of my neck and I struggled to get free. "Please stop!" My voice echoed through the empty alley.

He leaned into my ear. "You'll regret that."

I closed my eyes and screamed when I heard the sound of his zipper, tears escaping my eyes. I couldn't let this happen, not here, not this way. I clenched my fists and lifted my leg stomping down on his foot with all my strength. His grip loosened and I lifted my arm, turning and elbowing him in the face. I put my hands up and got into the best fighting stance I could manage. "I'm not letting you take me here you—asshole!"

That was convincing right? I could see him wiping blood from his nose. Clearly he could see he choose the wrong person to mess with. Didn't he? Of all the days for this to happen it had to be today?

There was a light flickering above us and for the first time I could see how out of it the man was. His eyes were bloodshot and he had sores all over his body. Maybe he was on drugs? If that was the case, was he really in his right mindset? Should I just try to run instead of hurt him?

He looked at his hand, seeing the blood and a growl escaped his lips that startled me. "I'll kill you!" He charged at me and I froze. When he was close I reacted late and punched past him. He grabbed my arm and spun me around slamming me into the wall again. But the pain of hitting the wall was a light tickle in comparison to the sudden pain that erupted through my shoulder. He released my arm and it fell to my side. I didn't try to move it again, I didn't think I could.

I turned to him and he grabbed me again and threw me to the ground, I screamed as pain shot through my shoulder again. I gripped it tight trying to kill the pain but it was impossible. I glanced back at him seeing him pulling at his pants and I closed my eyes tight waiting for it to be over.

But it never started.

I opened my eyes again and shouted in surprise seeing the man hanging above me encased in a partial cocoon. I scooted away from him and looked around to see what could have caused that.

A voice came from behind me. "I'd like to thank you for your cooperation. Please hang around until the police pick you up."

I turned around to see who was speaking and my mouth dropped. I couldn't decide if I was lucky or if I was having the worst night ever. Was this real? Was someone playing a sick joke on me? "Okay…cameras can come out now…"

He looked down at me, his head tilting to the side in what I assumed was confusion. "Cameras?"

I rolled to my side pushing myself up with my good arm, he reached out to help me but I held my hand out. "Ah, no, I'm good."

He pulled his hands back slowly as if he hadn't expected the dismissal. "You don't look good."

"Are you serious right now?" I was absolutely exasperated.

He put his hands up as if in surrender and shook his head. "No, no, no, you look hurt, in bad shape. Why would I- come on."

I relaxed my shoulders which I immediately regretted. I whimpered and gripped my shoulder. "Shit!"

His body tensed. "Do you need a hospital?"

I shook my head, gritting my teeth. "No. I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? If you're worried about getting there I can take you." His tone was anxious which surprised me.

I almost laughed at the thought. "Yeah, that wouldn't be hard to explain, Spiderman dropping me off at the hospital."

I heard a small scoff from behind his mask. "What explaining would you need to do? I help people all the time."

I wondered if he was smiling, the way he said that sounded pleased.

I adjusted my hand over my shoulder and realized that I was shaking. I looked at him. "I just want to go home."

I saw his hands fidget, like he was conflicted. "At least let me fix you up. You don't strike me as someone who really knows how to treat an injury."

I wanted to correct him but it was getting harder to ignore the pain. "Okay."

He straightened up. "Okay?" He sounded surprised.

My eyes widened and I couldn't stop myself from staring at him incredulously. "Yes, okay."

He tapped his fingers against his legs once and moved towards me. "Okay." He opened his arms and I carefully draped my good arm over his neck. "Relax. I'll be careful."

"I can't believe this is happening." I said as he wrapped his arm around my waist. No one I knew would ever believe me either.

"Close your eyes."

I leaned back to look at him. "Why?"

He sighed and lulled his head back. "I can't exactly have someone know where I live."

I shook my head and closed my eyes not wanting to argue. "Unbelievable."

He pulled me close and I gripped him tight. "Hold on." He really didn't need to tell me to.

I couldn't even prepare myself for the sensation of flying through the air but I knew if I hadn't been in so much pain I would have enjoyed myself.

It felt like thirty seconds before we were stationary. I felt a strange sensation of being tilted back to far and his body leaving mine. My feet met something solid and I spoke to him now. "Can I open my eyes?"

I could feel his presence behind me. "Yeah, it's cool now. Gonna be wearing the mask though so it might be weird…"

I opened my eyes and rolled them. "I don't think anything could be more bizarre than being in Spiderman's apartment." I was surprised I was handling myself so well. Maybe I was in shock? Hopefully.

I looked around his apartment taking my bag off of my shoulder carefully and setting it down on the floor. My eyes were drawn to all the books and notebooks scattered about. "This looks familiar." I said to myself glancing back at the window. I turned back to face the living room and kitchen since I was standing in the dining room. There were two more doors which I safely assumed were the bedroom and bathroom.

Had I been here before? I watched Spiderman pass me and enter his bedroom. A smile broke out on my face and I started laughing before I could stop myself.

He came back out with a small white box in his hand. "Are you telling jokes out here?"

I continued laughing. "No, I'm sorry. I was just thinking of how familiar this place looked but there is no way I would not remember being in your apartment." I tried to stop laughing, my shoulders were shaking lightly and that wasn't helping the pain go away. "I'm so sorry, I bet you think you saved some crazy lady right now. I swear I'm not." I said regaining control of myself.

"I was actually just considering taking you to the hospital instead." He teased. He walked towards me and pulled out one of the four chairs that surrounded the dining table. He gestured to it and I sat down stiffly. "Do you think you could get your blazer off?"

I bit my lip and nodded.

His head tilted to the side as if he didn't believe me. I wished I could see his face. "Don't do it if you can't." His voice was gentle.

I started unbuttoning my blazer with my good arm and stood to shrug it off when something dawned on me. "Oh my gosh!"

He stood in a panic. "I said don't do it if you can't. Look, let me just take you to the hospital. It won't be that expensive."

I ignored him. "I know where we are." The only reason I didn't notice right away was because the furniture was different and the decorations were polar opposites. I looked him in what I assumed were his eyes. "We live in the same apartment complex…"