Disclaimer: I only own the Original Characters belonging to the Baldaserre family and "Alexia Cortez". All other facts belong to their rightful persons.
The rain was still cool for mid-July, but that was normal for New York. School had been out for almost a month. It was because of this, that the streets had been covered by kids that were loitering, until the threat of the overcast sky became a reality.
Alexia Cortez was making her way down the street, a light blue umbrella over her head. Even though her friend's parent had offered her a ride, she'd turned them down. The rain always washed out all the pollution from the air and left behind the scent that she missed from when she lived in the countryside of Illinois.
The walk home only took about twenty minutes. However, now that the roads were slick and there were crazy drivers out, she didn't risk dashing across the street regardless of the light colour.
A yawn escaped her as she waited for another light to allow her the almost-guaranteed safe passage across the busy intersection. There was an alley just a bit away on the next block. The only worry she had was that the rain would escalate the actual scent of the trash.
She clutched tightly to the strap at her side. Her purse was in the bag, safely pressed against the side. She'd been in a hurry when she left the gym. Sarah always took shorter showers after the tennis practices than she did. The hurry meant that she hadn't turned her phone back on; the coach hated being interrupted.
The emergency pepper-spray was pressed against the handle of the umbrella for easy access.
She smiled, remembering the laughs her paranoia had gotten from the team. They didn't have parents who remembered the rapes that her neighbourhood was once famous for.
"Finally!"
Alexia's long legs quickly carried her over the black street. Her expensive athletic shoes helped her as well.
"No, please, I beg you!"
She paused just outside of the alley, her heart beginning to pound. Whoever had spoken had a foreign accent, something that she could almost recognize.
There was a small grunt, followed by the sound of feet scuffling on the cement. A scream, one that raised the hairs on the back of her neck, erupted from the dark. Almost instantly, it was abruptly cut off. At the disgusting gurgles, she backed up and hid in a heavily shadowed stoop of the closest shop.
There was a high-pitched giggle from the alley, before a pair of feet began to move. As the sound grew louder, she stopped trying to see around the corner.
Her heart was pounding in her chest; it almost hurt. The last time it felt like that, she'd just done a killer warm up consisting of fifteen suicides followed by another fifteen "hail Mary"s. The coach had an odd sense of humour; by the time she'd gotten done with two of them, three other girls had already puked.
Now, however, she wanted to do the puking.
She briefly remembered to hold her breath, closing her eyes involuntarily as someone rushed past in a wave of cold air.
Seconds ticked by and turned into minutes. Eventually, she remembered that someone was hurt in the alley. Only she could possibly save the foreign man's life. Glancing around once more, nervously, she ran out of the stoop and paused at the entryway to the alley.
"Hello?" she called hesitantly.
Perhaps the man could still talk. However, as time passed by in silence, that hope fell.
Alexia stepping into the darkness; later she would wish she hadn't. A couple hesitant steps took her away from the immediate light. In fact, she could barely see a few inches in front of her face.
"Wonderful," she grumbled to herself.
With a sigh, she managed to remember there was a small flashlight in her bag. She unzipped it only enough to reach her hand inside. Almost angrily, she shoved away the stupid clothes in order to find the object. Finally she did.
Pulling it out, she zipped the bag back up and pushed it out of her way. A click, and there was life.
"Oh my God!" she said, almost screaming.
The man who had screamed definitely had reason to. His tongue was lying on the ground, with his eyeballs on it.
With shaking hands, she got her cell phone from her pocket and dialed 911.