She watches him walk on. The cold water quickly starts drenching her hair. She squints, raindrops hitting her eyelashes, and tries to cover her face with her hand, but the wind whirls the rain about and she can't see much ahead. It's cold, she shivers. And dark. It's very dark. The lot is a block ahead, the same direction he is walking, and she is left alone in the dark with the hollering of the rain.
"Actually!" She shouts loud, "Wait!" While she walks, she picks up her phone and dials 9-1-1, holding it in her hands and crossing her arms. She holds her keys in the other hand, she can see the lot already, her car is parked right up front.
"Change your mind already, huh."
Annie laughs, "It's really cold."
He laughs. They walk on in silence.
This silence makes Annie a bit more comfortable, all the while, she focuses on watching his movements. She looks down as they walk in the dark a few more steps, reaching a small lot at a corner. Weeds grow along the fence, at the other end, an old paying booth sits empty. Annie slows her pace and lets him walk on, stepping sideways into the lot.
"Well, this is me..." She sings walking backward to her car, "Thanks..."
He turns around.
"Oh, you're welcome!" Standing at the entrance, he waves. "It was a lovely chat, Miss Angela." Slowly, watching her, he extends his right hand for a handshake, taking a step forward.
Annie's heart jumps and she quickly turns around and fits her key in. While she turns it, she looks behind her. He paces toward her, hand extended, giant grin on his face. Annie cries, "Oh my God." and turns around to look at her phone. She knows.
"Oh, such a dumb, dumb little girl." He says, holding her by the hair and pulling her against him, "And. As usual, so pretty." One hand clutches her throat. The reflex of fighting for air makes Annie drop her phone to hold his arm. He looks at the ground, chuckles and kicks it to the side. He walks her further into the lot, "Scream. And I will kill you."
Annie knows it's true. She may die tonight. This man may kill her. This lot in the night may be the last sight she'll ever see. He lets go of her throat to hold her face. She whimpers inside his hand.
"I don't want to kill you. Don't make me do it." He says in her ear, "I just want to have a private talk in this alley." He grunts and fiddles with his belt. Annie holds his arms, not strong enough that she is fighting but strong enough to still feel that her face is there.
In the dark of the alley the rain hits the dumpsters like drumsticks. He turns Annie around and pushes her against the wall. They are sheltered from the rain, he gets close to her face and breathes on her, staring her in the eye. His other hand gently picks up her purse, slides it off her arm. Her instinct is to try to hold on to it, but he slightly knocks her hear against the wall and gives her a long, warning look. She lets go and it falls on the ground. He kicks it to the side as well.
"Here is what will happen, dear." He says with his eyes locked with hers. She shuts hers, so he talks inside her ear again, "I will let go and you will be quiet. Quiet! Now. Don't be scared of this part," his voice shakes, "I'll take your clothes off and I'll fuck you." Annie sobs clutching her clothes, not noticing she's doing it. His face is pressed against her head and his lips touch her ears while he talks, "But you'll be ok, don't cry. You'll be a good girl and not make a fuss and daddy here, daddy here will not hurt you." He pulls his face away from her and looks her in the eye. "Will you be a good girl?"
Annie's red eyes look inside his. She hesitates a while, then nods yes.
He takes a step back slowly and lets go of her face, watching her face dearly for a while. Annie's body is static, panic won't let her move. She is pale but for a mark on her face where his hand was. She pants, he waits.
"There you go..." He says calmly like to a child, "Calm down, Angie. Now," He walks around her body to one side then the other, examining her, "Let me take a good look at you."
Annie's head lowers and she watches him watching her body. Detestable scum. He makes eye contact with her, she looks the other way and locks her eyes on a light on a different building.
"Angie..." He calls, but she doesn't look at him, "Ann - giee." He gets close to her and gently pulls a strand of hair to behind her ear, she is still looking away, so his finger runs down her neck, follows the cleavage from her shoulder, down to her chest and grabs her breast.
She whimpers.
He looks up, startled. Startled, she looks in his eyes too, and he slaps her across the face.
She shouts.
Then he slaps her again.
This time only a sob comes out and she touches the wall to keep standing.
"Angie!" He chants reproachfully, "I thought I told you to stay quiet." She sobs leaning against the wall. "Don't cry, Angie. You don't have to cry." He touches the side of her face that's looking away and brings her face back to where she can see him. She shakes her head with pleading eyes. He pulls her body gently and holds her against him, she cries against his chest. "You're a good girl, Angie," he says petting her hair, "You're such a good girl."
Annie's face is buried on his shoulder. She clenches her fists, but doesn't have room to move. His hand runs from her hair down her back, he feels her ribs, her waist, her butt. He curves himself and reaches her leg. She looks down, she can't help but look. Feeling her leg, he lifts her skirt and runs his fingers up and down her underwear. Annie's stomach drops. He pulls her body against his with an arm around her waist, his other hands feels the skin under her panties.
"Please," She whispers.
"Shhh."
His fingers move into her. He grunts.
"Please!" She begs in a small cry.
"Shhh, this will be quick and easy if you're quiet." He whispers in a raspy voice, pushing his fingers in, Annie gasps, he takes them out, "You don't want it to hurt," He does it again, pushing hard, and Annie cries louder on his shoulder. He takes them out. "Do you dear? Do you want it to hurt?"
Annie shakes her head and in her sobs, whispers, "No."
Smelling her, breathing on her ear, he does it again.
"Say that again, love."
Annie sobs harder and shakes her head, unable to say anything. He rubs his crotch against hers as much as he can still with his hand inside her panties. He pants.
"Say it!"
"No!" She cries, "Please!"
His hand lets go of her back and move to inside his pants. He leans against her, pressing her against the wall. He pulls his fingers out of her, clutches her underwear, rubs her, holds her. He groans, huffs.
"I'll do... this... slowly, Angie. Carefully. So that... you don't... hurt. And... you can... feel... every inch of it."
He starts to unbuckle his belt, jerking himself, looks down at it, moans.
Panic takes over Annie, she slides down the wall, dropping to the ground, by where her purse is. Without a thought, she grabs her purse and darts away from him, crying, she tries to run feeling for the phone inside her purse. He jumps on her, knocking her to the ground on her side. She screams, her purse falls open and the contents spill all over in the dark like little tin toys. He snatches her arm, turns her around. She falls on her back, he leans over her holding her wrists above her head. The rain showers over them. She wails.
"You want this rough, Angie." He sings.
"No!"
"You're a bad little girl!" He squirms and kneels between her legs.
"No!"
"If this is the way you want this, Angie," He says letting go of one of her wrists and undoing his pants, "I'm going to fuck you harder than you've ever been fucked before!"
Wailing, Annie looks around her head for her phone, but what she sees close to her in the dark is a heavy pocketknife.
He unzips his pants, the entire weigh of his body on top of her wrist, pushes his pants down, lifts up her skirt, reaches for her panties, "If you think this is scary, wait and see..." He pulls her legs open.
Annie shuts her eyes as hard as she can, looks away and uncontrollably waves her free hand in front of her, holding the pocketknife as hard as she can, slicing whatever may be in front of her face. A second after, he screams a the top of his lungs. In terror, she screams too, still slicing, although mostly just air, unable to open her eyes. He throws his body back, away from her, in silence now, scrambles back. Annie opens her eyes, his hands hold his face while he tries to still move away from her and stand up.
Crying, she turns over and, without looking back, runs from the alley, onto the parking lot. Her car is waiting in the distance. Feeling he's at her heels, she runs in panic, still screaming. Getting closer to her car, her phone and keys appear on the ground where he jumped on her. She picks them up, gets in the car, turns it on and steps on the gas as hard as she can. The car screams running backward, screeches and darts forward, screeching on the way out as she turns. She never looks back because she feels him following her, even though he's not there.
Huffing, she speeds down the street, runs a red light. The rain doesn't allow her to see much on the rear view mirror, but she watches it more than the road in front of her for a while. A minute goes by and her panting slows down. She struggles to take deep breaths and finally is able to look forward while she drives. Her hands clutch the steering wheel, her back is stuck to the seat, she sobs loudly, she feels unable to blink. Her heart won't slow down for a while still.
Shaking, she spots her phone on the passenger seat. Next to it, the pocketknife. She stares at the pocketknife. There is no blood, even though she is sure she slashed him. She felt it. Is he unharmed?
Is he unharmed?
With her hand shaking, she dials 9-1-1.
"9-1-1, where's your emergency?"
"Where, uh..."
"Maam, where is your emergency?"
"Green... no. Whittier. Whittier, Greendale, Colorado."
"What happened?"
"I just... was... attacked."
"Where are you now?"
"Driving away."
"Where did the attack happen?"
"On the back of... Woodsley's, the bar on 32nd Av."
"On the back?"
"In the alley, the guy... I think, I don't know, I think he's still there."
"Do you know this person?"
"No, he's not there, I'm sure... I'm sure he's gone!" She cries out and looks at her rear view mirror again, starting to sob.
"Maam. Do you know this person?"
"No!" She screams.
"We have a car driving to the location, are you sober enough to be driving?"
"Yes."
"Did he take anything?"
Thinking of this question almost makes Annie feel sick. Did he? What difference does it make? She is soaking wet, driving in the rain, no idea where she's going. This guy was about to rape her, she tried to slice his face open. She starts sobbing again.
"Maam."
"No."
"Was there a sexual assault?"
"I don't..." She thinks. She knew the exact definition of sexual assault this afternoon but she doesn't know how to answer this question now.
"A car is on the way to the alley behind 2500 32nd Ave, and maam? If you were to visit a police station and start an investigation, we'd love to try and help."
Annie sniffs.
"Ok."
She hangs up. This is over, she repeats in her mind this is over,
this is over,
this is over,
but she lies it. She sobs, she stops, she sobs, she stops. She wipes her tears with the back of her hand. She picks up her phone again, unlocks it again.
"Hello?"
"Jeff!" She shouts, "Jeff!" And she breaks into sobs again. Jeff calls her name, but Annie can't talk, can't breathe, so she slows down the car, lowers the phone and presses it onto her chest. What's going to happen now?
What's going to happen now?