4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Victoria
N ine and a half hours later I wave my goodbyes to the bartenders that show up to take over. Normally I’d hang out a bit, maybe have a beer or something, but tonight was tiring. After I served the two already drunk college girls, a whole fucking frat walked in and their groupies trailing after them.
It was a packed house, which normally would be a good thing. Though, these were college kids, they barely had any money and what money they did have they were trading for Jag bombs. I’d barely made sixty in tips, and that was counting the twenty Viktor and the blond had each left me. I don’t know how they knew each other, but if I was a betting girl I’d bet it all on the blond being a relative. The next time I see either of them I’ll be sure to ask.
Clutching my bag to my chest I leave the loud warm bar, my eyes take a second to adjust to the now night sky. It’s around one in the morning, the sky is dark and the only light around me is coming from the street lamps and the light that spills out from the bar’s windows as well as the neon glow from the various bar signs in said window.
I remember walking home from my first night at work, being scared to death that some drunk asshole would follow me home and either rape or kill me. Every shadow made me jump, every sound made my palms sweat and my pulse pound in my ears. Now? Now I just wore my purse over my shoulders, clutching it to me with one hand while the other held the pepper spray that was attached to my keys. It was a bright pink canister that was easy to see and identify its contents and purpose to anyone who had two brain cells. It was a clear warning to leave me alone or deal with the consequences.
I’ve never been attacked while walking home. Dealing with drunk, horny assholes who don’t know the meaning of no or even go away has earned me the, ‘don’t mess with that one,’ title. Using mace a couple of times leaves a lasting impression. Even if I don’t have the spray I would definitely put up a fight, I wasn’t some karate expert but I wasn’t a pushover. When push comes to shove, you just have to listen to your instincts. Your will to not die would have you doing things you thought weren’t humanly possible.
Chuckling to myself I shake my head to dislodge the random ramblings. Everytime I walk home my mind tends to wander as my body goes on autopilot. It helps me decompress and switch off from computer service mode. Even so, that particular train of thought has been rather dark. Why am I trying to work myself up by thinking about what I would do if I was attacked? It’s silly, dumb even. There is no way I’m going to be attacked on my ten-minute walk home. Stuff like that doesn’t happen here.
I’m so busy trying to calm myself down and reaffirm that I’m just being paranoid that it dawns on me that I've not been paying attention to my surroundings. The sudden pressure on my mouth forces me to look down, seeing the gloved hand covering my mouth. I freeze. It’s not the gloved hand that makes me freeze, it’s the knife at my throat. No, no, no, no fucking way is this happening.
I am not just fucking manifesting this! Fear floods my veins and I’m quick to raise my spray, aiming it behind me as I hold my breath. His grip loosens as he pushes me away from him. He drags his knife along my collarbone, leaving what feels like a thin slice. I don’t even realize I’m bleeding until I feel something running down my chest.
I yelp as my body slams into the hard ground. The sting of my palms tearing on the rough ground causes me to gasp as I try to fight through the pain.
Forcing myself onto my feet with shaky knees, I need to move, to get away! I begin running, ready to put as much distance between us as I can before he recovers from his coughing fit.
“You fucking bitch! Get her!”
The gravel has barely began to crunch under my feet before my head is yanked backwards, my scalp screaming in pain as my hair is being used like a swing rope. “Ah!!” I scream as another man grabs my hand, pinching it so hard the bones begin to protest and creak. I try to fight through the pain. I can’t allow the spray to be taken away from me.
“Let it go! Now!” Each word leads to my wrist being painfully twisted as his nails add insult to injury as they dig into my skin. At the same time the asshole that has my hair yanks my head back once again causing me to arch my neck. His nails digging into my wrist, trying to make me let go of the pepper spray while the other man continues to use my hair to pull my head back. It hurts but I refuse to let go.
There’s no stopping the sobbing as my hand goes numb and the spray is ripped from my hands, taking a part of a fingernail with it. The pain is so sudden and burns so badly, tears roll out of my clenched eyes. Yanking my hand free, I bring it to my chest, trying to cradle the injured and bleeding finger. My legs wobble as I try to regain my balance, my head is still being yanked behind me and my legs are almost out in front of me.
Gravity quickly takes over and I fall back into the man who has my hair in his fist. Throwing my weight into the fall, I angle my elbow to hit him directly in the gut. We end up falling into a tangled mess of limbs and legs, but my elbow is digging into his side. The gasp and scream he releases from the pain forces him to let go of my hair.
Releasing my hair did two things. First, I land on my ass because I was mostly on top of him and two, it allows me to crab crawl backwards. Scampering away isn’t the quickest, but it’s something. As I decide to get to my feet, someone reaches out grasping a painfully firm grip around my ankle. That’s going to bruise.
“You fucking bitch that really hurt!”
Staring into his watery and bloodshot eyes, without any prompting, my body jumps into action. My left leg pulls back and slams forward into his face. The crunching sound that flows from under my shoe is almost deafening. The sudden silence lasts for a second before he begins to scream and yell curses at me. His hands come to cup his broken nose, blood gushing into 9
“Shut the bitch up! She’s trying to give out details!”
Gritting my teeth at the sound of his hoarse voice, he’s not some stupid crook. He’s smart enough to know that by me yelling out not only the sex of my attackers but the fact that it’s more than one, anyone nearby that’s too scared to intervene, will at least know some details to give to the cops later.
As I’m tackled from behind, a yelp escapes me. My body flies forward and the only reason I’m able to brace my fall is that there’s a wall in front of me. My forearms are throbbing from impacting the wall, but at least it wasn’t my face. My forearms are now bleeding from the scratches and tears to my skin. The pain is intense and my vision is beginning to fade in and out.
I quickly snap back to my senses as a hand is placed over my mouth. The same hand damn near covers my nose, which most likely would have ended up suffocating me.
“You better calm your little ass down, we were told not to rough you up too badly, but I’m sure they'd rather you be battered and bruised than no longer alive.”
I freeze as his foul breath washes over me. He’s panting in my ear, and he tries to regain his breath. He’s completely disgusting. Smell or no smell, I’m not about to give in. Whoever sent them wants me alive, so that would most definitely work in my favor.
Swallowing the mouth full of saliva that’s about to make me choke, I ready myself to throw my head back and hopefully bash my assailant's nose in. I’ve read about it, I’ve seen it done in movies and on tv so many times I know it will work. It has to.
As I throw my head back, expecting to feel pain as the back of my head slams into his nose making it shatter and blood gush out. I gasp when he moves his head to the side, making me hit his shoulder. The painful throbbing it causes my neck doesn’t keep me from moving from that position as quickly as possible. I’m not giving him the chance to force me to stay in the position.
“Think you’re so smart huh? This ain’t our first rodeo, now shut up and give up. It’ll save us a lot of time...and you a lot of pain.”
The words feel slimy, grimy, dirty and greasy. It makes something deep inside of me stir awake. Pure unadulterated fear floods my veins, this is it. That is my fight or flight instinct, if I don’t do something now, It’s over. The hand once again over my mouth, gives me an idea.
The rich taste of iron fills my mouth as my teeth dig even deeper into it’s flesh. The blood is warm and freely flows into my mouth, filling every nook and cranny before overflowing to dripping down my chin. It made me gag, yet I was able to fight the urge to puke and even bit down harder.
“Get her the fuck off of me!”
I bite down harder as he tries to dislodge me, when I feel a fist slamming into my head. My ears begin to ring as pain assaults me, I use the pain to bite down even harder. My body jerks as he flails about, the blows to my head growing in number but they’re losing power. With one last powerful jerk, I'm tossed to the side, and my teeth take a small chunk of his flesh with them.
I'm quick to spit it out, gagging as I try to get the taste of his blood out of my mouth. My vision is blurry, it keeps fading in and out, as well as my ears are ringing. I feel like the world is spinning as I lay here confused and close to puking.
“God damnit, she’s just a chick, do I gotta do everything?”
Flinching at the loud voice, but in the next second my body starts convulsing as I feel volts of electricity surging through me. The owner of the voice chuckles as my body slumps to the ground as it goes limp, my muscles sore from locking up while being tased. Laying here, my brain seems to be stuck on stupid, using every ounce of energy I have just to remember how to breathe.
I feel weirdly calm as my chest is heaving up and down. Looking up at the stars peeking through the clouds, I realize they look like diamonds through my watery eyes. Have they always been this bright and breathtaking?
“I told you to be careful with her.”
My vision’s blurry, but I recognize that voice. Viktor? Another groan escapes me as I feel pain go through me as the taser hits my skin again.
“She better be worth all this goddamn trouble...” His voice seems to echo as if it’s far away. I could hear Viktor talking, but I can’t understand his words anymore. It hurts to keep trying to open my eyes. I just need to let them rest, just for a bit...