Blythe's POV:

"Oh my god, Blythe? Blythe? Where are you? Come look at this! I think a zombie just walked into the kitchen!" Silver shouted at me. "Ha-ha, very funny." I muttered as I sat down beside her. I felt like death and according to my best friend I must've looked like it as well.

"When did you come home last night? I was getting worried, because you didn't answer your phone." Clearly she hadn't been 'getting' worried, she had been completely worried. – "I think it was like 2… maybe 3am when I arrived here... My phone died while I was at work yesterday. You know how I am, I hate loading my mobile." I answered. – "Did something happen? Or wait – did you go back to Marcus's?" She suddenly lightened up and became all gossipy. – "Please don't ever mention him again." I sighed. – "Why? Would you finally tell me what happened?" She inquired. – "Okay, whatever. I was at work and you know how I don't get a lunch break? Something about the company not wanting their employees to get fat." She nodded and giggled. "Well I realized I was meeting with Marcus for lunch. I rang up and cancelled, but he insisted that we go out, so… we arranged to have dinner." – "And?" She further questioned. – "So I went there at about 8. He had already been waiting, so I sat down beside him. At first we ordered our food and had small talk, but then he brought up the big elephant in the room." – "You mean that one time you completely misread all the signs and asked him out for Valentine's Day at school?" She loved to torture me, obviously. – "Yeah… that." – "You know, if he contacted you now, you might've not been wrong after all." – "Let me finish!" I interrupted her. "He was really nice about it, but stated he was 100% straight. We chatted some more about what had led me to believe he was into me, but all of a sudden he put his arm around me. You know how I hate it when people come too close to me. He then put his hand on my thigh and told me that he was 'feeling lonely' and wanted me to 'help him with a little problem'. I was fucking disgusted by his behavior and told him he should fuck off. I left the restaurant as quickly as I could. He caught up with me while I was on my way to the car and said he was sorry. Then he grabbed me and told me I had two options because he needed to punish me for what I had done, he would either fuck me or beat me up." Silver's mouth was hanging wide open. – "Why would he do that?" – "How the hell do I know? I thought he was just going to apologize and that I then wouldn't ever have to see him again. And I… was… so… scared, S. I thought I was going to be raped for sure," Tears now started rolling down my face. "and… and I pushed him off me and ran, but he– he got me. Oh god, I'm sorry for being so emotional, Silver. I didn't get much sleep and –" Silver came and gave me a hug. – "Hey, sweetie it's alright. You don't have to tell me, okay? Don't think about it, if you can. But you know I'm here for you. You can always talk to me." She calmed me down a little and I sat down on the living room couch. She then went to make me a cup of hot chocolate. After I had slurped it down, I felt like I was ready to talk again. I knew I had to get it off my chest. "I… didn't have a chance, S. I fought back, but all the self-defense classes were useless, he was too strong! He beat me up and tossed me around." – "Oh my… Are you alright?" She then tried to inspect my body for injuries. – "Yeah, yeah I think I'm fine, but I would've been much worse off, if another boy hadn't come along and saved me. I have no idea how he did it – I was lying on the ground, when it happened. But he kicked Marcus' ass and got that motherfucking son of a whore to run to his car and drive off!" – "Wow, he was in the right place at the right time." – "He was really concerned, because I didn't manage to say or do much. I was a terrified, beaten-up mess. And… and then he comforted me. He held me and it felt great. I felt so secure. He was so nice." – "Aww, really? That's cute." – "Yeah, I suppose. But Silver, he kissed me." – "He - what?" She gasped. – "Yeah and… and then he left. He just excused himself and left." – "Did he give you his number?" – "No, like I said he… just left." – "Wow, holy crap – that's like straight from a movie!" – "Nah, it's… not that big of a deal actually. A-Anyway I gotta get to work. See you later." I left the dazzled Silver and headed out after slipping into a coat and getting my bag.

I still had more than an hour before I had to be at work, so I spent my time driving around in the car, like I had done in the middle of the night. Eventually, I ended up on a small hill just outside of town. It was a popular place for tourists because the whole city was visible from this vantage point. Normally I would have avoided hotspots like this, but on a stormy spring day, like today, there was no man, woman or child to be seen, but me.

Wrapped in my coat, I stepped out of the car and into the rain. I watched as cars, indicated by the yellow and red lights raced along the city streets, people trying to live their life even though the world seemed to have other plans. I saw the illuminated airport at the edge of the city, with what I imagine hundreds of travelers stuck because of the unfortunate weather. My eyes wandered from the poorer neighborhoods with their projects, to the central business district and the huge skyscrapers, to the suburbs and finally to the rich district with it's million dollar mansions.

The highly illuminated city seemed like a fortress against the evils, a glittering mountain in the storm of darkness.