Chapter Fifty Nine

Huddled in the darkness, Jenn shook with fear as the footsteps she could hear getting closer suddenly disappeared. She had ended up on a side street of sorts and there were no street lamps to help her decipher the shadows. Whoever was there had surely heard the tremendous clatter of the toppling steel cans but they seemed to have melted into the darkness.

You stupid woman Jenn! You stupid, stupid woman! Chiding herself for allowing this situation to happen she pressed her head against the cold wall and steadily counted silently to ten. When she could still hear no further movement, she slowly inched her way upwards praying her knees would support her on the slippery pavement. Once upright she cautiously took a step forward and released her grip from the wall. Snowflakes fluttered against her cold cheeks, coating her eyelashes as she blinked rapidly scanning the darkness. Cautiously she stepped around the fallen lids and scattered black plastic bags that she could just make out at her feet. The street corner that she had turned down was just metres away, a chink of light from an overhead lamp on the main street beckoning the way.

Silently placing one foot in front of the other she edged her way towards it, each painfully slow step taking her further away from the dark alley and whoever or whatever was down there. Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief at reaching the corner, too late she heard footsteps pound up behind her. Making a lunge for the corner, she cried out as a heavy hand covered her face yanking her backwards. The force of it caused her feet to fly out from under her on the slippery surface, her arms flying to her neck to grab the arm that was holding her in a vice like grip. She half landed in a heap, only kept upright by her assailant who was dragging her backwards past the trash cans once more.

Prevented from screaming by the hand roughly scrunching up her face, she kicked out with all her might sending the rest of the heavy cans tumbling noisily on their side. In the distance she could hear a dog barking but apart from the heavy grunts of the monster that held her captive there was no sign of help coming. Twisting and fighting she clawed into the darkness, her boots scrabbling to find a grip on the ground. With a sudden thrust, she was propelled around to face back down the alley, her attacker now behind her forcing her forwards still with an unyielding grip around her neck and face. Almost choking her nostrils flared in an attempt to get air into her lungs, a stale gut wrenching smell from the man’s fingers making her wretch. On her knees now, she could feel a leg either side of her as he kept dragging her forwards practically straddling her in his efforts. Her arms grabbed onto them, punching and kicking as she tried desperately to escape. He never once uttered a word, his heavy breathing the only sign of his labours. When he slowed to readjust his grip on her neck she seized the opportunity and launched herself forward, managing to get her feet in front of his legs as she kicked backwards with all her might. A loud grunt confirmed she’d hit home as she felt him stumble and momentarily release her face. 

Twisting around to look up at him, she could only see the faintest outline of his head as he towered above her. With as much force as possible she kicked upwards in the direction of his groin, her boot finding its target as he made a swipe at her head. Groaning loudly he fell to one knee, landing awkwardly on top of her as she squirmed sideways. She was free from him now except for the fist he had curled around her hair. Before she could prise his fingers free, he slammed her face down into the ground beside him. Her cheekbone reverberated from the force of the weight behind her head as wet snow and dirt smeared her forehead. A band of pain travelled sharply across her forehead and down the length of her nose as she pushed on her arms with all her might to propel herself backwards. The man began to rise slowly, his left hand keeping her face pinned to the ground as he bent over her.

“Try again and I kill you.” He growled his first words into her ear in a heavily affected accent. She instantly recognised it as Eastern European, Polish maybe but she couldn’t be sure. She froze as he spoke, intensely aware that given his height and weight he could snap her neck in an instant. A renewed sense of panic surged through her as he wedged his right knee on the back of her neck with enough pressure to nearly but not quite cut off her airflow. Coughing and spluttering in the ground up dirt she flailed her arms around her feeling her right hand feebly hit against him. A draught of icy air flew up her spine as she felt a hand creep under her shirt. NO! This was NOT going to happen!

Anger surged through her brain, giving her body a renewed wave of strength. Ignoring the sharp jolt of pain in her neck as she violently shimmied left, her right hand jabbed out and latched onto the first thing she could feel, was it was she didn’t know but it felt like skin. Her fingers sank into him, twisting and pulling until he shouted with pain. Refusing to let go, he dragged her upright with him as he stood and amidst the confusion she could make out she had hold of the skin of his neck, just under his jawbone. The next thing she knew, stars were exploding in her left eyeball as he punched her with such force that she had no option but to let go as she went careering back down to the pavement. Dazed she still knew she was facing back towards the street where there were lights that were literally less than fifteen metres away. Survival instincts kicked in and she rolled away from the man who she knew was only inches behind her still roaring furiously. A string of foreign expletives met her ears as she stumbled to her feet and staggered for her life towards the corner.

Bursting out onto the street, she tripped and caught herself just before she hit the ground crying out hoarsely for help. A blaze of flashing lights to her left spun her around as she continued to put as much distance between herself and that alleyway as possible. An immeasurable wave of relief flooded her senses as the wail of a siren identified the lights to be that of a patrol car. Waving her arms, she stumbled towards it only sinking to her knees when it stopped in front of her and two officers jumped from it.

“Ma’am, stay where you are!”

Gasping for air, she pointed frantically behind her to the alley, “Down there, he’s down there!”