I THOUGHT YOU PROMISED ME FOREVER
Chapter 4: Unexpected Happenings
Seifer carefully watched the street for Aya as he drove towards her apartment three blocks away. When he reached the front steps of her apartment building, Seifer gave a sigh of relief thinking that Aya got home safely. Looking up at Aya's apartment window on the eight floor, he noticed that the lights inside her room were off. "I guess you already went to bed. Sweet dreams, Aya," he whispered as he went back inside his car and drove home.
Aya struggled to free herself as the man dragged her further down the dark alley. She tried to scream but her attacker's hand over her mouth was making it hard for anyone to hear her. Tears streamed down her face as she scratched at him.
"Quit it, bitch!" Aya's attacker said angrily. "Keep it up and I'm going to make sure that no one will be able to recognize you once I'm done with you!"
More tears streamed down Aya's face. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to spend the last few minutes of her life with this madman. I need to get away from him somehow, she thought to herself. I can't let him hurt me.
As Aya's attacker lead her further down the dark alley, she suddenly remembered a few self-defense moves that Zell taught her a while back.
(FLASHBACK)
"Zell, do you really have to teach me these moves?" Aya asked as Zell held her in a tight hold from the back.
"Yes, Aya," Zell said. "I want you to at least be able to get away if you're held by an attacker. There are a lot of whackos out there and I don't want any of them to be able to hurt you."
"That's sweet, Zell," Aya said. "But don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm sure I can get away..."
"I can relax once I know that I at least thought you some moves. I know that you probably don't even need to learn any of this, but I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Zell said as he kissed the top of her head. "I'll be gone for a while to do missions and I won't be here to protect you. If anything bad happens to you while I'm away, I don't know how I'll be able to live with myself knowing that I could have taught you some things to help you."
"I guess you're right." She answered a while later as she thought of how sweet Zell was for worrying about her. "Are you ready?"
"Yea...UGH!!" Zell fell on the ground in a lot of pain.
"I'm sorry, Zell!" she said as she quickly got down on her knees and checked on him. "I figured you were ready. Oh god, are you really hurt?"
"Ugh...I think you broke my rib!" Zell said. "The one that didn't fully heal yet from that time at Alcauld Plains."
"Oh no!" Aya said worriedly. "We should get you to a hospital!"
Zell began to laugh.
"Zell?" Aya said with a puzzled look on her face.
"Gotcha!" Zell laughed some more.
"I can't believe you just joked around about that?" Aya said as she hit him in the stomach.
"Ouch! That was some hit, Aya," Zell said as he looked up at Aya's face. "I wasn't expecting that one. That hurts!"
"Good!" she said as she stuck her tongue out. "That's what you get for tricking me. I really got worried, you know?"
"I'm sorry," Zell said. "Forgive me?"
"I...I guess." Aya answered. "Just don't do that again, okay?"
"I promise." Zell smiled. "But on a serious note, I just want to say that you really did hit me pretty good on the stomach earlier. Where did you learn to hit like that?"
"What can I say?" Aya smiled as she helped Zell sit up. "You're a great self-defense teacher, Master Zelly." She said as they shared a sweet and passionate kiss.
Zell laughed. "If you think that comment is going to excuse you from learning more self-defense moves for today, you are very wrong. We're not done yet, Aya."
"Really?" Aya said as she sat on his lap.
"Well, maybe we can finish a little earlier today." Zell grinned.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
Stepping on her attacker's foot as hard as she could, Aya then elbowed the man hard on the stomach. As her attacker released her from his hold, she quickly ran as fast as she could. The man caught a part of her jacket and Aya immediately reacted by getting it off of her. As Aya ran, she screamed from the top of her lungs. "HEEEEELLLLLPPPP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"
The man tackled her to the ground and she cried out in pain. But instead of giving up so easily, Aya immediately got on her back and kicked him in the groin. He got off of her and swore in pain.
Aya got up and continued to run. She tried to get back to the main road where there were more people, but her attacker was in the way. So instead of going in the direction that she came from, Aya ran further down the dark alley. But instead of getting out of the alley, Aya found herself running towards darker alleyways. She began to panic when she realized that she was nowhere near any main road. "Oh God!" she cried. "How do I get out of here?"
Aya could hear the loud footsteps of her attacker close behind her when she suddenly found herself feeling a bit lightheaded. Stopping for a minute, she held on to the wall for support and soon felt her surroundings spinning. "Oh no!" she said as she forced herself to start running again. "Not now. Please not now. I have to get away."
Aya hid behind a stack of wooden cases and waited for her attacker to pass so she could run back to the main street.
"Where are you, bitch?!" Aya heard her attacker say. "I suggest you bring your pretty little body out here before I get really angry. There's no way of getting out of here so you might as well just give up and come out."
Aya began to tremble as she heard the voice of her attacker get louder. She knew that with each moment, he was getting closer to finding her. Aya saw her attacker pass, and after a few seconds, she left her hiding place and began to run but not before causing a few of the cases to land on the ground. Aya looked behind her and noticed that her attacker was gaining on her. "HELP!" she ran.
"There you are, you little bitch!" Her attacker said in a menacing voice as he yanked back Aya's long ponytail, causing Aya to land hard on her back. "You thought you could get away, didn't you?" he said as he kicked her hard in the stomach.
Aya got on her side and held her stomach. He kicked her so hard that he knocked the air out of her for a minute.
Her attacker kicked her a couple more times. "You're not so tough anymore, eh?" she heard him say.
She was dizzy and was in a lot of pain. She tried to get up and run, but she was too weak and his foot pressed on her right arm was holding her down. Looking up at her attacker, she got a good look at him and realized who he was. "It's you!" Aya said in fear.
"Yes, it's me." The man wickedly answered as he bent down and touched Aya's cheek to wipe the tear that streamed down her face. "You thought you saw the last of me, didn't you?"
Aya's attacker was the same guy who Seifer kicked out of the bar earlier in the evening for hitting on her. He was a tall, slightly built middle-aged man with dark brown eyes that hinted danger. The minute Aya saw him enter the bar, she knew that he was going to be bad news.
Aya could feel his eyes on her the whole evening as she served her other customers. Her eyes locked with his a couple of times and in both cases, she felt chills run up her spine. Aya was taking his order when he suddenly pulled her to sit on his lap and started kissing her neck. Aya got off of him and a second later, Seifer kicked him out.
"This is not the last time you'll see me, missy!" he said as he enjoyed seeing the shocked and scared look on Aya's face.
"Dream on, buddy," Seifer said as he threw the man out on the street. "That's the last time you'll see her. Come here again, and I wouldn't be so nice."
Aya's attacker waited for Aya to leave work that evening. As the long night went on and all the customers left, he grew impatient when it was passed closing hour and she still didn't leave. He turned to leave and thought of trying again the next night when he saw her walk out of the place by herself. When Aya reached the part of the street where no one was around, that was when he attacked her from behind.
"Please get off of me!" Aya cried when her attacker got on top of her. "I promise I won't tell anyone about this."
"That's okay." He said as he got a hold of her hands so she would stop hitting him. "I'm going to make sure that you wouldn't be able to tell anyone about this when I'm done with you anyway." He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "As a matter of fact, no one will even know where you'll be."
Aya continued to struggle with her attacker. "Please let me go. I'll give you anything you want." She cried.
The man laughed at her. "All I want is right here." He said as he ripped her blouse open and she screamed.
A second later, Aya was struck hard across the face. Her face was numb from the pain and blood was trickling on the side of her mouth. "Zell..." she cried as tears streamed down the side of her face.
"Who is Zell?" her attacker asked. "Is he your boyfriend? Forget about him if I were you. He will not be able to save you. No one will."
Aya tried to push him off of her as he tried to kiss her. "Please stop!" The man just laughed and continued to grope her.
"Be a nice girl and cooperate with me," he said. "Keep struggling and I'll make your death slow and very painful."
Aya screamed when she felt his rough hand run up her thigh. She didn't care if he was going to hit her again. The last thing she wanted was to give him an easy time in hurting her.
"Bitch!" her attacker said angrily. She was struck hard across the face a couple of times and a second later, she felt the sharp tip of a knife on the base of her throat. "Scream one more time and I swear I'll slash your little thro..."
The next moment, Aya felt her attacker's body being violently lifted off of her. Through eyes blurred with tears, Aya turned her head to the left and saw her attacker on the ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Seifer stood over him, and then bent as he went after the man again.
"You filthy son of a bitch!" Seifer growled at the man. "You'll pay dearly for messing with my woman!"
The man instantly got up on his feet, brandishing the knife that he earlier pressed on the base of Aya's throat. The knife had no effect on Seifer. He continued to walk towards the man. "You think that knife will stop me?! You have to try better than that, you bastard!"
Aya's attacker cut Seifer on the arm. His arm started to bleed badly, but he didn't show any sign of pain. The only feeling that Seifer was feeling at that moment was complete hatred.
Seifer fought the man for the knife. For a few seconds, Seifer got a hold of it and ended up cutting the man's left cheek. The cut was so long and deep that the man's face was covered with blood in a matter of seconds.
The man got a hold of the knife again and ended up cutting Seifer on the shoulder. Again, Seifer was so fixed in making the man pay that he didn't feel any pain.
Seifer pushed the man against the wall and started beating the life out of him. The knife fell on the ground so the man was completely defenseless. He threw a couple of punches at Seifer, but Seifer retaliated by punching the guy even more. "You deserve to go to hell and I'm going to make sure that I'm the one who'll send you there!"
"You're messing with the wrong guy, boy!" The man said with such intensity. "You better do what you just said or else I'll come back and get you for getting in my way!"
"Oh don't worry," Seifer answered angrily as he continued to beat the life out of Aya's attacker. "Nothing can stop me from doing just that!" He continued as he pushed the man to the ground and started choking him.
"That's enough, Seifer!" A middle-aged guy yelled as he tried to get Seifer off of Aya's attacker.
"It's not enough!" Seifer yelled back as he continued to choke the man.
"Yes, it is." The guy yelled when he finally got Seifer on his feet.
"Let me go!" Seifer growled as he tried to shake himself off the guy's hold. "I'm not done with him yet!" Seifer continued as he watched another man hold Aya's attacker.
"I'm not letting you go until you get a hold of yourself!" Said the guy holding Seifer. "Seifer, she needs you right now." The guy continued when Seifer turned his head to face him.
Seifer calmed, looked at the stranger, and realized that it was Gary, one of his regular customers at the bar. "Seifer, Dennis and I will take this bastard to the police station. Deal with him tomorrow. Right now what you need to do is go and comfort the girl. We tried to comfort her but she's afraid of us. She wouldn't let Dennis or me go anywhere near her."
"Where is she?" Seifer said as he breathed heavily.
"She's sitting in that corner," Gary said as he pointed to a dark area near a stack of wooden cases.
"Okay, you can let me go now. I'm going to see her." Seifer said as he waited for Gary to let him go. However, instead of walking towards Aya the second Gary released him, Seifer turned and jumped at Aya's attacker again.
Gary and Dennis were both surprised, especially Dennis since he was holding Aya's attacker from behind. When Seifer jumped at the man again, Dennis was so caught off guard that he landed hard on his back.
Gary and Dennis tried to get Seifer off of the man, but he was too strong. It took them three hard yanks before they finally got Seifer off.
Seifer looked at Aya's attacker and gave him a deadly look. "I'll be back for you!" he said as he pointed at him. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
Seifer walked over to where Aya was. She was leaning against the wall with her head bent as she hugged her knees. She was trembling and Seifer could hear her cries.
"Aya?" he said in a soft whisper as he got down on his knees and tried to pull her into his arms.
Aya screamed. "Get away from me!" she said as she began clawing and kicking like a caged animal. "Please go away!" she cried.
Seifer, stunned by Aya's reaction, tried to get a hold of her shoulders. "Aya," he shouted as he looked at her terrified face. "Aya," he said again as he gave her a sharp shake.
"Please don't hurt me!" she continued to cry as she pushed him. "Please, I'm begging you."
"It's me--Seifer!" he said loudly. "You're safe now. Do you hear me? He can't hurt you anymore."
Seifer shook her a couple more times before she finally raised her frightened, tear-filled eyes to his.
Tears began to stream down her face. "Seifer?" she cried as Seifer pulled her into his arms.
"You're safe with me, Aya." He said as Aya tightly wrapped her arms around his neck. "Always, you hear me? I'm not going to hurt you."
Aya's body continued to tremble. "I'm so scared," she cried as she held him tighter. "He.he said he was going to kill me."
"It's going to be okay," Seifer said as he continuously stroked her hair. "He'll never hurt you again, my love."
As Seifer held Aya, he slightly turned his head to see Gary and Dennis take Aya's attacker away. Seeing the man was making Seifer angry again. Seifer held Aya tighter and positioned himself in such a way so Aya wouldn't be able to see her attacker.
"I'll be back for you, missy," Aya's attacker said with a grin on his face. "Next time around, you wouldn't be so lucky.
Seifer was about to stand up and give the man more beating, but Aya held him down. "Please don't leave me," she said as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I need you."
Seifer lightly nodded his head. "Don't worry," he said as his heart ached at seeing her in so much pain. "I'm staying right here with you."
For a long while, Seifer stroked Aya's hair. When she finally stopped trembling, Seifer lifted her up in his arms and started to walk her back to his car. "You're badly hurt," he said when he saw the light bruises on her face and the cut on her lip. "Let's get you checked in to a hospital."
"Seifer, I...I don't want to go to the hospital," Aya said as tears filled her eyes again.
"But you're hurt." Seifer said as they reached his car and he gently sat Aya down on the passenger seat.
"Please Seifer," she said in a soft voice. "I don't want to see anyone else tonight. I just want to go home."
Seifer looked into Aya's deep brown eyes and saw her fear. "Fine," he said. "I guess I'll take you home, then."
Aya woke up and suddenly found herself in someone's bedroom. Quickly remembering her traumatic experience, Aya got off the bed and headed towards the door. As she reached the doorknob, it suddenly opened and she found herself looking up at Seifer who was holding a wet cloth in one hand and a first aid kid in the other.
"I see you're awake," Seifer said as he lightly smiled at her and led her back towards the bed. Aya realized at that moment that she was in Seifer's bedroom.
"How...how did I get here?" Aya asked as she sat on the bed and watched Seifer grab some clothes out of the closet. "I...I thought you were going to take me home."
"I was," Seifer said as he walked towards her. "But I realized that it would be best if you stayed with me for the evening. I didn't want to leave you alone in your condition."
"I'm safe now. You didn't have to..."
"I wanted to. Here," Seifer answered. "Change into these clothes. I don't know if they're too big for you but I'm sure that you'll feel better wearing these than your uniform."
Aya looked at herself and saw how torn up her uniform was. The buttons of her blouse were all gone, revealing her black satin bra and flat stomach. Aya quickly covered herself. She then looked at her skirt and saw the big rip on the side. A tear streamed down Aya's face as she remembered how close her attacker was to raping her.
"Hey, it's okay," Seifer said as he knelt down in front of her and lightly placed his hands on her shoulders. Aya flinched the minute he touched her. "You're safe with me, remember?"
Aya nodded her head as she raised her tear-filled eyes to Seifer.
"Go and change," He said a while later. "I'll give you a couple of minutes and then I'll come back and tend to your cuts and bruises." He smiled, gave her a light kiss on the forehead, and walked out of the room.
A few minutes later, Seifer entered his bedroom and found Aya looking out his bedroom window. She was wearing a white cotton shirt and dark blue sweatpants. Since Aya was a lot smaller than him, the shirt and sweatpants looked really big on her.
Seifer was excited at seeing Aya wearing his clothes. Other women put on his shirt in the past after he made love to them but none of them really gave him such a reaction such as now. Seifer quickly dismissed the thought from his mind. It was not the right time to be thinking about that.
"Aya," Seifer said as he moved closer to her.
Aya walked over to him and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much for saving me, Seifer. If you didn't show up, I don't know where I'd be right now."
"Stop thinking about that," Seifer said as he held her tight in his arms. "It's over now. You're safe."
A few minutes later, Seifer was tending to Aya's cuts and bruises. As he gently cleaned the cut on her lip, Aya noticed the blood-soaked sleeve of Seifer's white shirt. "Oh, God!" Aya said. "You got hurt!"
"Don't worry about it," Seifer said as he continued cleaning her cut. "That bastard didn't cut me that deep. I'll rewrap the bandages later so sit still while I..."
"We should tend to it now, Seifer."
"I wrapped it pretty well so don't worry about it. I'm not loosing that much blood."
"You didn't wrap your cut very well. It's still bleeding." Grabbing the cloth that Seifer was holding in his hands, Aya rolled Seifer's sleeve up and started cleaning the cut on his upper arm.
"Aya, I said forget about it," he said. "I'll tend to it later."
"No, please let me." She said as she grabbed the bandages inside the first aid kit.
Seifer watched her tend to his cut. She went through so much yet she still worried about him.
"I'm sorry, Seifer," Aya said in a soft voice a while later as she tied the bandage.
"Sorry for what?"
"If it weren't for me you never..."
"Don't apologize!" he said as he grabbed her arm and stared into her eyes. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize about. You did nothing wrong, Aya. If anyone should apologize, it should be that filthy son of a bitch for hurting you."
"But still." Aya answered. "If I only waited for you and..."
"That still doesn't give you any reason to apologize. You weren't expecting on getting attacked when you walked down that street by yourself," he said as he cupped her face between his hands. "None of this is your fault, okay?!"
Aya nodded her head just as tears began to stream down her face again.
"Don't cry," he said as he pulled her into his arms. "I know that you're still in shock, but don't worry. I'm here for you. I'll help you get through this."
"Thank you again for saving me, Seifer," she said as she cried on his shoulder.
"Forget about it," Seifer said as he ran his hand up and down her back to comfort her. "I'm just glad that I got there before he had the chance to rape you."
"How did you know where to find me?" Aya asked.
"Well, when you left the bar, I decided to go after you just to make sure that you got home safely. When I got to your apartment and never saw you on the street, I was thankful that you got home okay so I started to drive home. However, as I drove home, something in the back of my head was telling me that something was not right. It took me less than five minutes to drive from work to your apartment and I was pretty sure that by foot, it should take you more than twenty minutes. When I didn't see you on the street, I realized that something bad must have happened to you."
"I drove back to your apartment and knocked on your door several times. When you didn't answer, I quickly started searching for you. About a couple of blocks away from your apartment, I thought I heard you scream. I searched the alleys but I wasn't sure where your voice came from." Seifer said as he held Aya closer.
"Gary and Dennis spotted me and asked me what I was doing out. I told them that you were in trouble so they helped me search for you. We decided to split up and search all the alleys. Then I heard you scream again. That time I knew where your voice came from. When I got there, I saw that son of a bitch on top of you. He struck you across the face and then I saw him reach for his knife. The next thing I remember was beating the living life out of him."
Seifer and Aya held each other in silence for a long time. After a while, Seifer pulled her back and brushed a few strands of her hair to the side of her face. Aya looked scared and very vulnerable at that moment. Seifer wished that he could do something to help her forget about her ordeal.
"Don't be scared, Aya," Seifer said in a soft whisper as he cupped the side of her face with one of his hands and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I will never hurt you like that bastard or your last boyfriend. You're safe with me."
"Seifer...," Aya said in a soft voice as she placed her hand over his.
"Aya," Seifer said as he looked deeply into her eyes and gently covered Aya's mouth with his. Her lips were soft and she tasted so sweet.
Aya pressed her hand on his chest. "Seifer, we can't." Aya protested as Seifer cupped her face with both hands and deepened the kiss.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said as he kissed her again and pulled her body closer to his.
A tear streamed down Aya's face and Seifer quickly brushed it away with his thumb. "Aya, please," he said in a soft whisper as he covered her mouth with his again and gently laid her back on the bed. "Let me love you."
2 WEEKS LATER
Aya stopped clearing the table for a minute so she could steady herself. For the past few days, she has been feeling really weak. She knew that her illness was getting worse and that it was only a matter of time before everyone finds out about it. Looking at the time on the clock, she smiled a bit when she realized that her break was in thirty minutes. She'd spend those minutes getting her strength back.
"Aya, are you okay?" one of her waitress friends asked.
"I'm fine, Mandy," Aya smiled lightly as she started clearing the table again.
"Are you sure? Seifer asked me to ask you since he said that you don't look well."
Aya looked at the bar and saw Seifer looking at her with such concern on his face. Aya smiled at him and motioned that she was fine. "I'm fine, Mandy. Just a little tired, that's all."
"If you say so," Mandy said. "But if you need help, just let me know, okay?"
"Okay." Aya answered.
A few minutes later, Aya found herself blacking out for a second. She stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she could see again but she still felt a little lightheaded.
"Aya, you have a customer," Mandy said to her from a nearby table.
"Thanks, Mandy," Aya answered. She took out her notepad and turned around. After quickly straightening her skirt, she looked up at her customer and smiled.
"ZELL!!" she gasped in surprise as her eyes locked with his. The notepad and pen that she was holding fell on the ground. "What are you doing here?"
Seifer carefully watched the street for Aya as he drove towards her apartment three blocks away. When he reached the front steps of her apartment building, Seifer gave a sigh of relief thinking that Aya got home safely. Looking up at Aya's apartment window on the eight floor, he noticed that the lights inside her room were off. "I guess you already went to bed. Sweet dreams, Aya," he whispered as he went back inside his car and drove home.
Aya struggled to free herself as the man dragged her further down the dark alley. She tried to scream but her attacker's hand over her mouth was making it hard for anyone to hear her. Tears streamed down her face as she scratched at him.
"Quit it, bitch!" Aya's attacker said angrily. "Keep it up and I'm going to make sure that no one will be able to recognize you once I'm done with you!"
More tears streamed down Aya's face. She couldn't believe that she was actually going to spend the last few minutes of her life with this madman. I need to get away from him somehow, she thought to herself. I can't let him hurt me.
As Aya's attacker lead her further down the dark alley, she suddenly remembered a few self-defense moves that Zell taught her a while back.
(FLASHBACK)
"Zell, do you really have to teach me these moves?" Aya asked as Zell held her in a tight hold from the back.
"Yes, Aya," Zell said. "I want you to at least be able to get away if you're held by an attacker. There are a lot of whackos out there and I don't want any of them to be able to hurt you."
"That's sweet, Zell," Aya said. "But don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm sure I can get away..."
"I can relax once I know that I at least thought you some moves. I know that you probably don't even need to learn any of this, but I don't want anything bad to happen to you." Zell said as he kissed the top of her head. "I'll be gone for a while to do missions and I won't be here to protect you. If anything bad happens to you while I'm away, I don't know how I'll be able to live with myself knowing that I could have taught you some things to help you."
"I guess you're right." She answered a while later as she thought of how sweet Zell was for worrying about her. "Are you ready?"
"Yea...UGH!!" Zell fell on the ground in a lot of pain.
"I'm sorry, Zell!" she said as she quickly got down on her knees and checked on him. "I figured you were ready. Oh god, are you really hurt?"
"Ugh...I think you broke my rib!" Zell said. "The one that didn't fully heal yet from that time at Alcauld Plains."
"Oh no!" Aya said worriedly. "We should get you to a hospital!"
Zell began to laugh.
"Zell?" Aya said with a puzzled look on her face.
"Gotcha!" Zell laughed some more.
"I can't believe you just joked around about that?" Aya said as she hit him in the stomach.
"Ouch! That was some hit, Aya," Zell said as he looked up at Aya's face. "I wasn't expecting that one. That hurts!"
"Good!" she said as she stuck her tongue out. "That's what you get for tricking me. I really got worried, you know?"
"I'm sorry," Zell said. "Forgive me?"
"I...I guess." Aya answered. "Just don't do that again, okay?"
"I promise." Zell smiled. "But on a serious note, I just want to say that you really did hit me pretty good on the stomach earlier. Where did you learn to hit like that?"
"What can I say?" Aya smiled as she helped Zell sit up. "You're a great self-defense teacher, Master Zelly." She said as they shared a sweet and passionate kiss.
Zell laughed. "If you think that comment is going to excuse you from learning more self-defense moves for today, you are very wrong. We're not done yet, Aya."
"Really?" Aya said as she sat on his lap.
"Well, maybe we can finish a little earlier today." Zell grinned.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
Stepping on her attacker's foot as hard as she could, Aya then elbowed the man hard on the stomach. As her attacker released her from his hold, she quickly ran as fast as she could. The man caught a part of her jacket and Aya immediately reacted by getting it off of her. As Aya ran, she screamed from the top of her lungs. "HEEEEELLLLLPPPP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"
The man tackled her to the ground and she cried out in pain. But instead of giving up so easily, Aya immediately got on her back and kicked him in the groin. He got off of her and swore in pain.
Aya got up and continued to run. She tried to get back to the main road where there were more people, but her attacker was in the way. So instead of going in the direction that she came from, Aya ran further down the dark alley. But instead of getting out of the alley, Aya found herself running towards darker alleyways. She began to panic when she realized that she was nowhere near any main road. "Oh God!" she cried. "How do I get out of here?"
Aya could hear the loud footsteps of her attacker close behind her when she suddenly found herself feeling a bit lightheaded. Stopping for a minute, she held on to the wall for support and soon felt her surroundings spinning. "Oh no!" she said as she forced herself to start running again. "Not now. Please not now. I have to get away."
Aya hid behind a stack of wooden cases and waited for her attacker to pass so she could run back to the main street.
"Where are you, bitch?!" Aya heard her attacker say. "I suggest you bring your pretty little body out here before I get really angry. There's no way of getting out of here so you might as well just give up and come out."
Aya began to tremble as she heard the voice of her attacker get louder. She knew that with each moment, he was getting closer to finding her. Aya saw her attacker pass, and after a few seconds, she left her hiding place and began to run but not before causing a few of the cases to land on the ground. Aya looked behind her and noticed that her attacker was gaining on her. "HELP!" she ran.
"There you are, you little bitch!" Her attacker said in a menacing voice as he yanked back Aya's long ponytail, causing Aya to land hard on her back. "You thought you could get away, didn't you?" he said as he kicked her hard in the stomach.
Aya got on her side and held her stomach. He kicked her so hard that he knocked the air out of her for a minute.
Her attacker kicked her a couple more times. "You're not so tough anymore, eh?" she heard him say.
She was dizzy and was in a lot of pain. She tried to get up and run, but she was too weak and his foot pressed on her right arm was holding her down. Looking up at her attacker, she got a good look at him and realized who he was. "It's you!" Aya said in fear.
"Yes, it's me." The man wickedly answered as he bent down and touched Aya's cheek to wipe the tear that streamed down her face. "You thought you saw the last of me, didn't you?"
Aya's attacker was the same guy who Seifer kicked out of the bar earlier in the evening for hitting on her. He was a tall, slightly built middle-aged man with dark brown eyes that hinted danger. The minute Aya saw him enter the bar, she knew that he was going to be bad news.
Aya could feel his eyes on her the whole evening as she served her other customers. Her eyes locked with his a couple of times and in both cases, she felt chills run up her spine. Aya was taking his order when he suddenly pulled her to sit on his lap and started kissing her neck. Aya got off of him and a second later, Seifer kicked him out.
"This is not the last time you'll see me, missy!" he said as he enjoyed seeing the shocked and scared look on Aya's face.
"Dream on, buddy," Seifer said as he threw the man out on the street. "That's the last time you'll see her. Come here again, and I wouldn't be so nice."
Aya's attacker waited for Aya to leave work that evening. As the long night went on and all the customers left, he grew impatient when it was passed closing hour and she still didn't leave. He turned to leave and thought of trying again the next night when he saw her walk out of the place by herself. When Aya reached the part of the street where no one was around, that was when he attacked her from behind.
"Please get off of me!" Aya cried when her attacker got on top of her. "I promise I won't tell anyone about this."
"That's okay." He said as he got a hold of her hands so she would stop hitting him. "I'm going to make sure that you wouldn't be able to tell anyone about this when I'm done with you anyway." He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "As a matter of fact, no one will even know where you'll be."
Aya continued to struggle with her attacker. "Please let me go. I'll give you anything you want." She cried.
The man laughed at her. "All I want is right here." He said as he ripped her blouse open and she screamed.
A second later, Aya was struck hard across the face. Her face was numb from the pain and blood was trickling on the side of her mouth. "Zell..." she cried as tears streamed down the side of her face.
"Who is Zell?" her attacker asked. "Is he your boyfriend? Forget about him if I were you. He will not be able to save you. No one will."
Aya tried to push him off of her as he tried to kiss her. "Please stop!" The man just laughed and continued to grope her.
"Be a nice girl and cooperate with me," he said. "Keep struggling and I'll make your death slow and very painful."
Aya screamed when she felt his rough hand run up her thigh. She didn't care if he was going to hit her again. The last thing she wanted was to give him an easy time in hurting her.
"Bitch!" her attacker said angrily. She was struck hard across the face a couple of times and a second later, she felt the sharp tip of a knife on the base of her throat. "Scream one more time and I swear I'll slash your little thro..."
The next moment, Aya felt her attacker's body being violently lifted off of her. Through eyes blurred with tears, Aya turned her head to the left and saw her attacker on the ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Seifer stood over him, and then bent as he went after the man again.
"You filthy son of a bitch!" Seifer growled at the man. "You'll pay dearly for messing with my woman!"
The man instantly got up on his feet, brandishing the knife that he earlier pressed on the base of Aya's throat. The knife had no effect on Seifer. He continued to walk towards the man. "You think that knife will stop me?! You have to try better than that, you bastard!"
Aya's attacker cut Seifer on the arm. His arm started to bleed badly, but he didn't show any sign of pain. The only feeling that Seifer was feeling at that moment was complete hatred.
Seifer fought the man for the knife. For a few seconds, Seifer got a hold of it and ended up cutting the man's left cheek. The cut was so long and deep that the man's face was covered with blood in a matter of seconds.
The man got a hold of the knife again and ended up cutting Seifer on the shoulder. Again, Seifer was so fixed in making the man pay that he didn't feel any pain.
Seifer pushed the man against the wall and started beating the life out of him. The knife fell on the ground so the man was completely defenseless. He threw a couple of punches at Seifer, but Seifer retaliated by punching the guy even more. "You deserve to go to hell and I'm going to make sure that I'm the one who'll send you there!"
"You're messing with the wrong guy, boy!" The man said with such intensity. "You better do what you just said or else I'll come back and get you for getting in my way!"
"Oh don't worry," Seifer answered angrily as he continued to beat the life out of Aya's attacker. "Nothing can stop me from doing just that!" He continued as he pushed the man to the ground and started choking him.
"That's enough, Seifer!" A middle-aged guy yelled as he tried to get Seifer off of Aya's attacker.
"It's not enough!" Seifer yelled back as he continued to choke the man.
"Yes, it is." The guy yelled when he finally got Seifer on his feet.
"Let me go!" Seifer growled as he tried to shake himself off the guy's hold. "I'm not done with him yet!" Seifer continued as he watched another man hold Aya's attacker.
"I'm not letting you go until you get a hold of yourself!" Said the guy holding Seifer. "Seifer, she needs you right now." The guy continued when Seifer turned his head to face him.
Seifer calmed, looked at the stranger, and realized that it was Gary, one of his regular customers at the bar. "Seifer, Dennis and I will take this bastard to the police station. Deal with him tomorrow. Right now what you need to do is go and comfort the girl. We tried to comfort her but she's afraid of us. She wouldn't let Dennis or me go anywhere near her."
"Where is she?" Seifer said as he breathed heavily.
"She's sitting in that corner," Gary said as he pointed to a dark area near a stack of wooden cases.
"Okay, you can let me go now. I'm going to see her." Seifer said as he waited for Gary to let him go. However, instead of walking towards Aya the second Gary released him, Seifer turned and jumped at Aya's attacker again.
Gary and Dennis were both surprised, especially Dennis since he was holding Aya's attacker from behind. When Seifer jumped at the man again, Dennis was so caught off guard that he landed hard on his back.
Gary and Dennis tried to get Seifer off of the man, but he was too strong. It took them three hard yanks before they finally got Seifer off.
Seifer looked at Aya's attacker and gave him a deadly look. "I'll be back for you!" he said as he pointed at him. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
Seifer walked over to where Aya was. She was leaning against the wall with her head bent as she hugged her knees. She was trembling and Seifer could hear her cries.
"Aya?" he said in a soft whisper as he got down on his knees and tried to pull her into his arms.
Aya screamed. "Get away from me!" she said as she began clawing and kicking like a caged animal. "Please go away!" she cried.
Seifer, stunned by Aya's reaction, tried to get a hold of her shoulders. "Aya," he shouted as he looked at her terrified face. "Aya," he said again as he gave her a sharp shake.
"Please don't hurt me!" she continued to cry as she pushed him. "Please, I'm begging you."
"It's me--Seifer!" he said loudly. "You're safe now. Do you hear me? He can't hurt you anymore."
Seifer shook her a couple more times before she finally raised her frightened, tear-filled eyes to his.
Tears began to stream down her face. "Seifer?" she cried as Seifer pulled her into his arms.
"You're safe with me, Aya." He said as Aya tightly wrapped her arms around his neck. "Always, you hear me? I'm not going to hurt you."
Aya's body continued to tremble. "I'm so scared," she cried as she held him tighter. "He.he said he was going to kill me."
"It's going to be okay," Seifer said as he continuously stroked her hair. "He'll never hurt you again, my love."
As Seifer held Aya, he slightly turned his head to see Gary and Dennis take Aya's attacker away. Seeing the man was making Seifer angry again. Seifer held Aya tighter and positioned himself in such a way so Aya wouldn't be able to see her attacker.
"I'll be back for you, missy," Aya's attacker said with a grin on his face. "Next time around, you wouldn't be so lucky.
Seifer was about to stand up and give the man more beating, but Aya held him down. "Please don't leave me," she said as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I need you."
Seifer lightly nodded his head. "Don't worry," he said as his heart ached at seeing her in so much pain. "I'm staying right here with you."
For a long while, Seifer stroked Aya's hair. When she finally stopped trembling, Seifer lifted her up in his arms and started to walk her back to his car. "You're badly hurt," he said when he saw the light bruises on her face and the cut on her lip. "Let's get you checked in to a hospital."
"Seifer, I...I don't want to go to the hospital," Aya said as tears filled her eyes again.
"But you're hurt." Seifer said as they reached his car and he gently sat Aya down on the passenger seat.
"Please Seifer," she said in a soft voice. "I don't want to see anyone else tonight. I just want to go home."
Seifer looked into Aya's deep brown eyes and saw her fear. "Fine," he said. "I guess I'll take you home, then."
Aya woke up and suddenly found herself in someone's bedroom. Quickly remembering her traumatic experience, Aya got off the bed and headed towards the door. As she reached the doorknob, it suddenly opened and she found herself looking up at Seifer who was holding a wet cloth in one hand and a first aid kid in the other.
"I see you're awake," Seifer said as he lightly smiled at her and led her back towards the bed. Aya realized at that moment that she was in Seifer's bedroom.
"How...how did I get here?" Aya asked as she sat on the bed and watched Seifer grab some clothes out of the closet. "I...I thought you were going to take me home."
"I was," Seifer said as he walked towards her. "But I realized that it would be best if you stayed with me for the evening. I didn't want to leave you alone in your condition."
"I'm safe now. You didn't have to..."
"I wanted to. Here," Seifer answered. "Change into these clothes. I don't know if they're too big for you but I'm sure that you'll feel better wearing these than your uniform."
Aya looked at herself and saw how torn up her uniform was. The buttons of her blouse were all gone, revealing her black satin bra and flat stomach. Aya quickly covered herself. She then looked at her skirt and saw the big rip on the side. A tear streamed down Aya's face as she remembered how close her attacker was to raping her.
"Hey, it's okay," Seifer said as he knelt down in front of her and lightly placed his hands on her shoulders. Aya flinched the minute he touched her. "You're safe with me, remember?"
Aya nodded her head as she raised her tear-filled eyes to Seifer.
"Go and change," He said a while later. "I'll give you a couple of minutes and then I'll come back and tend to your cuts and bruises." He smiled, gave her a light kiss on the forehead, and walked out of the room.
A few minutes later, Seifer entered his bedroom and found Aya looking out his bedroom window. She was wearing a white cotton shirt and dark blue sweatpants. Since Aya was a lot smaller than him, the shirt and sweatpants looked really big on her.
Seifer was excited at seeing Aya wearing his clothes. Other women put on his shirt in the past after he made love to them but none of them really gave him such a reaction such as now. Seifer quickly dismissed the thought from his mind. It was not the right time to be thinking about that.
"Aya," Seifer said as he moved closer to her.
Aya walked over to him and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much for saving me, Seifer. If you didn't show up, I don't know where I'd be right now."
"Stop thinking about that," Seifer said as he held her tight in his arms. "It's over now. You're safe."
A few minutes later, Seifer was tending to Aya's cuts and bruises. As he gently cleaned the cut on her lip, Aya noticed the blood-soaked sleeve of Seifer's white shirt. "Oh, God!" Aya said. "You got hurt!"
"Don't worry about it," Seifer said as he continued cleaning her cut. "That bastard didn't cut me that deep. I'll rewrap the bandages later so sit still while I..."
"We should tend to it now, Seifer."
"I wrapped it pretty well so don't worry about it. I'm not loosing that much blood."
"You didn't wrap your cut very well. It's still bleeding." Grabbing the cloth that Seifer was holding in his hands, Aya rolled Seifer's sleeve up and started cleaning the cut on his upper arm.
"Aya, I said forget about it," he said. "I'll tend to it later."
"No, please let me." She said as she grabbed the bandages inside the first aid kit.
Seifer watched her tend to his cut. She went through so much yet she still worried about him.
"I'm sorry, Seifer," Aya said in a soft voice a while later as she tied the bandage.
"Sorry for what?"
"If it weren't for me you never..."
"Don't apologize!" he said as he grabbed her arm and stared into her eyes. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize about. You did nothing wrong, Aya. If anyone should apologize, it should be that filthy son of a bitch for hurting you."
"But still." Aya answered. "If I only waited for you and..."
"That still doesn't give you any reason to apologize. You weren't expecting on getting attacked when you walked down that street by yourself," he said as he cupped her face between his hands. "None of this is your fault, okay?!"
Aya nodded her head just as tears began to stream down her face again.
"Don't cry," he said as he pulled her into his arms. "I know that you're still in shock, but don't worry. I'm here for you. I'll help you get through this."
"Thank you again for saving me, Seifer," she said as she cried on his shoulder.
"Forget about it," Seifer said as he ran his hand up and down her back to comfort her. "I'm just glad that I got there before he had the chance to rape you."
"How did you know where to find me?" Aya asked.
"Well, when you left the bar, I decided to go after you just to make sure that you got home safely. When I got to your apartment and never saw you on the street, I was thankful that you got home okay so I started to drive home. However, as I drove home, something in the back of my head was telling me that something was not right. It took me less than five minutes to drive from work to your apartment and I was pretty sure that by foot, it should take you more than twenty minutes. When I didn't see you on the street, I realized that something bad must have happened to you."
"I drove back to your apartment and knocked on your door several times. When you didn't answer, I quickly started searching for you. About a couple of blocks away from your apartment, I thought I heard you scream. I searched the alleys but I wasn't sure where your voice came from." Seifer said as he held Aya closer.
"Gary and Dennis spotted me and asked me what I was doing out. I told them that you were in trouble so they helped me search for you. We decided to split up and search all the alleys. Then I heard you scream again. That time I knew where your voice came from. When I got there, I saw that son of a bitch on top of you. He struck you across the face and then I saw him reach for his knife. The next thing I remember was beating the living life out of him."
Seifer and Aya held each other in silence for a long time. After a while, Seifer pulled her back and brushed a few strands of her hair to the side of her face. Aya looked scared and very vulnerable at that moment. Seifer wished that he could do something to help her forget about her ordeal.
"Don't be scared, Aya," Seifer said in a soft whisper as he cupped the side of her face with one of his hands and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I will never hurt you like that bastard or your last boyfriend. You're safe with me."
"Seifer...," Aya said in a soft voice as she placed her hand over his.
"Aya," Seifer said as he looked deeply into her eyes and gently covered Aya's mouth with his. Her lips were soft and she tasted so sweet.
Aya pressed her hand on his chest. "Seifer, we can't." Aya protested as Seifer cupped her face with both hands and deepened the kiss.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said as he kissed her again and pulled her body closer to his.
A tear streamed down Aya's face and Seifer quickly brushed it away with his thumb. "Aya, please," he said in a soft whisper as he covered her mouth with his again and gently laid her back on the bed. "Let me love you."
2 WEEKS LATER
Aya stopped clearing the table for a minute so she could steady herself. For the past few days, she has been feeling really weak. She knew that her illness was getting worse and that it was only a matter of time before everyone finds out about it. Looking at the time on the clock, she smiled a bit when she realized that her break was in thirty minutes. She'd spend those minutes getting her strength back.
"Aya, are you okay?" one of her waitress friends asked.
"I'm fine, Mandy," Aya smiled lightly as she started clearing the table again.
"Are you sure? Seifer asked me to ask you since he said that you don't look well."
Aya looked at the bar and saw Seifer looking at her with such concern on his face. Aya smiled at him and motioned that she was fine. "I'm fine, Mandy. Just a little tired, that's all."
"If you say so," Mandy said. "But if you need help, just let me know, okay?"
"Okay." Aya answered.
A few minutes later, Aya found herself blacking out for a second. She stopped what she was doing and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she could see again but she still felt a little lightheaded.
"Aya, you have a customer," Mandy said to her from a nearby table.
"Thanks, Mandy," Aya answered. She took out her notepad and turned around. After quickly straightening her skirt, she looked up at her customer and smiled.
"ZELL!!" she gasped in surprise as her eyes locked with his. The notepad and pen that she was holding fell on the ground. "What are you doing here?"