Page 56 of Hunter

I tried to get my eyes to adjust to the sudden onslaught of light when I was grabbed from behind and pulled into an alleyway.

For a moment, it didn’t feel real.

It didn’t feel like the fact that I had just been grabbed in the middle of the street was real. That it could happen to me, when these sorts of things were supposed to happen in the movies.

The man who grabbed me pushed me up against the alley’s brick wall, and he wasn’t being gentle about it.

I grunted in pain from the impact and tried to get my eyes to adjust to the dark, feeling as if this was nothing more than an out-of-body experience.

Shock widened my eyes when I finally made out the familiar features of the man.

The guy from the bar, also the same guy from my apartment building.

And he was drunk.

And mean.

A mean drunk.

Fear held me immobile, stealing my voice.

I could have asked him what he wanted from me, but it was pretty obvious, considering his eyes weren’t even trained on my face.

I was wearing dark jeans and a simple short sleeve black t-shirt with a V-neck.

It wasn’t low by any means, but under his gaze, this felt almost… indecent.

I crossed my arms over my chest, and he finally moved his eyes up to my face.

“Do you really think you’re in any position to say no to me?” he asked.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“You should be thankful I’m even giving you the time of day, bitch,” he said, moving in closer to me.

I turned my head to the side and pressed my body against the wall when his face was a mere inch away from me. I wished the wall would somehow have some magical secret passageway and open up, letting me escape this horrible man.

How could I not have taken more caution when walking home?

It was still busy at this time of night, but it had been empty where I had been walking, and he must have followed me from the bar, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

“Don’t worry,” he said, his hot, putrid breath blasting over my face. I let out a small cry, unable to hold it in. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

He leaned down and tried to catch my lips with his. I struggled against him, trying to push him off, but he was much too strong.

Certainly stronger than me. I didn’t know how I would escape this unscathed.

This couldn’t be happening to me, could it?

I let out another small cry when he pulled on my hair roughly, hard enough that I was sure he had pulled out a few strands.

“Hold. Still,” he gritted out as if I was doing something bad simply because I didn’t want him to touch me.

And that just pissed me off.

It made me scared and angry at the same time, and I pulled my leg up without thinking, kneeling him in the balls.

He let out a small scream in pain but didn’t move away as I expected.

---