Chapter 2 One

Once she stepped out of the grocery store, Allison sighed at the weight of the grocery bags in her hands. She scanned around but of course all faces were unknown to her. People passed, chatting and laughing.

Then she felt the rush of wind, which sent shivers with goosebumps over her delicate skin. This reminded her of the constant warning her grandma gave her -a man's best friend in Coastville is his Jacket at all times- but poor Allison never listened.

She cursed under her breath for not heeding her advice. Without wasting much time standing, she hurried straight home. By taking a quick turn to the right sidewalk, she bumped into someone.

"Watch where you are going." The stranger snapped at her, giving her an expression of annoyance before he passed by her .

"I'm sorry," she stuttered, blinking away the shock and the rude attitude she just received. Looking back at the stranger, all she saw was his back and she wondered if his face also matched his manners too. Who knows.

A touch of the chilly breeze, in addition to the honking of cars in traffic, pulled her out of thoughts so she continued to walk. It was getting dark, the fog wasn't helping and the streets were becoming a blur.

Passing through an empty dark alley, it made up images and shadows of which got Allison paranoid, not to talk of the flickering street lights which were making things much worse. Feeling on edge, she hastened but her paranoia still had more to offer. Just then, a thudding sound echoed and she squealed out loud.

She turned real quick, taking a defending stance adrenaline charged. To her relief, it was merely a cat, leaping from one trash can to another in search of disgusting leftovers.

"Tsk. That's why I hate cats," she murmured to herself.

Suddenly she screamed in surprise as she felt a sudden tug at the back of the collar of her shirt. She was jerked backwards and dragged toward a darker alley. Loosing grip of her items, she turned her head and took a glance at her captor, more specifically, captors. Terrified was an understatement for what she felt at that moment. They dragged her towards a dumpster while she struggled effortlessly to set herself free. Setting her roughly against the wall beside the dumpster, the impact made her gasp with pain while they smirked at her devilishly.

"We caught ourselves a big fly," one of her captors said, rubbing his palms, as well licking his lips.

"Yeah we did, even from her shrieks you'll know." The other affirmed with his eyes filled with absolute greed.

"So I am going to be raped?" She pondered.

Her heard sank deep, deeper than the titanic. She looked at her captors frighteningly and took in their figures.

The first to talk had unkempt hair, with his humongous stature, he appeared like a giant hence he acted as a shield, concealing the shines of the moonlight and from his shaggy dressing, she knew he and his accomplice were burglars, nevertheless with another motive. Alison tried to make out his face but the night wasn't on her side.

But on the other hand, the moonlight maneuvered, giving Allison a glimpse of what the other accomplice looked like. She saw the ugly scar across his face, one that slashed from his eye extending to his neck. His teeth kept sparkling once he opened his mouth, so she assumed he had golden teeth. His eyes went deep. Dark. Although he wasn't as huge as the first, his shoulders were broad as he stood like he had a hunchback.

She knew she stood no chance against her captors. "Please let me go... please. I beg you. I... i.. i.. will give you anything, anything! Money. My purse. My phone. Yes? Groceries? Please, my grandma is waiting for me, don't hurt me please. Let me go! I won't tell anyone." She shook her head, pleading as warm tears trailed down her cheeks.

"Shh shh shh. We're not going to hurt you little girl, we just want to have some fun. Don't you too?Should I show you how?" The first one replied, signaling his accomplice to come closer.

There and then, all hopes of been saved were shattered. She was weak, nobody was going to save her from the devil's men again. She knew enough not to fight back because a vague memory came clear. So poor Allison closed her eyes, awaiting the pains to thrust through her.

Then it happened.

At first she thought it was all in her mind, playing a magician's trick on her, giving her false hopes as always or perhaps, just perhaps, it was an illusion.

So she shut her eyes tight, hoping to ward off her imaginations but the burglars confirmed to it.

As soon as the siren started echoing from a distance, they got alerted and took off hurriedly, leaving her behind. Slowly she opened her eyes and searched for her captors, they were no more.

She was saved.

Staggering out of the alley to the sidewalks with shaky legs, she was expectant of the cops or their cars. But there wasn't one, it was something else. It was a stranger, holding up a loud hailer, playing a cop's siren directly into it through his phone .

"Wait, what!" Alison couldn't find more to say to what she just saw so she stood there, blinking, while trying to apprehend what just happened. Yes, she was still petrified from the near assault, happy and at the same time stunned, feeling all waves of emotions at once.

"That's crazy. I mean it's suppose to be... oh my God." Shaky laughters started escaping from her mouth rapidly as she couldn't help it. She sniffed after a moment, wiped off her tears as she approached her saviour.

The stranger stopped the siren, pulled off his hood, put down the loud hailer and waited for the young lady to come close.He feared approaching her first would trigger a bad reaction.

"Miss, are you ok? Do you need to go to the hospital?" He inquired out of concern.

"Yeah I am ok, just a little shaken." She wrapped her arms around her. "Uhm hey. Thanks, you saved me back there and, and that was cool," she said, pointing at his loud hailer.

"I am Allison by the way." Extending her hand for a handshake.

But he never shook it, leaving her hanging. "You're welcome," he said as he took a step back.

"Ok." Awkwardly, her hand withdrew.

"You shouldn't be here in the first place but sure, glad to help. I better be going now." He took up his loud hailer, attempted to leave but he stopped.

"Uhm, you coming or what?" He asked with a shrug.

"Yeah of course. Let me grab some things first."

She ran back to the scene of her near assault scene, halting and glancing at the dark alley. She wanted to erupt to tears again but she took deep breaths to calm down knowing a stranger would see her in her weak hour. The assault brought back dreadful dark memories, but she didn't want to relive that in front of a stranger. With words of comfort, she picked up her grocery items, went back to the guy then they kept walking.

"Can I help you with those?" He nodded towards her grocery bags.

"Don't bother, I want to hold on to something ."

"Right."

A moment of silence passed before Allison spoke again.

"Hey, I don't even know your name."

"Bryan," he said.

"I guess you don't talk much, do you Bryan?" She joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I guess you don't watch where you're going, do you?" He responded in an evasive way.

"Huh? Funny, that's the second time I've heard that today."

"That was me the first time, keep up," he replied, looking at her with a faint smirk on his face.

"Holy moly! That was you?"

"Of course," He took a stance, posing like a superhero. "Now i've saved you from the snare of evil men." He trailed off, comically.

"You sure look like grumpy captain underpants." She declared, bursting out to laughter.

He gasped, holding his heart dramatically. He was surprised she was bold enough to utter a joke after her assault, regardless, he couldn't help but admire her.

"Take that back!"

Allison simply threw her head backwards as she laughed at his reaction. He chuckled and for the first time, she really took a look at him, instantly realizing how handsome he looked.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" He looked at her from the corner of his curly eyelashes, curiously drawing her out from her thoughts.

"Nah, it's nothing." She lied immediately.

"Was wondering what I would've done without you back there. Can I ask you something?" She added.

They were almost at her house so she decided to make it quick. Of course her grandma would be worried sick about her.

He was silent so she took it as a yes.

"How -I mean why...

"By the looks of it, you are new here so you probably don't know. If you must, I lead a revolt against the increment of tax in Coastville. After our awareness tonight, i forgot my loud hailer," He paused to push back strings of black hair falling out of place. "After retrieving it, I saw some odd activity with those men following a lady. I mean I've seen it happen before so I do what I can to save the ladies." He elaborated.

"Oh."

The scenario of him saving other girls in distress crossed her mind. She felt jealous. But it doesn't matter now, she was saved.

"What's your story, uhm Allie?"

Allison didn't know if she cracked a smile because of his question or her given nickname, despite that, she was tired from carrying her grocery bags, a slight regret for not complying to Bryan's offer.

"I would really love to tell you but here we are, my home." She pointed at a distant house.

"We could talk some other time, hope you don't mind?" She replied, searching his face for approval.

"Sure, we can. May I've your number to keep in touch then?"

"Of course, just give me your phone."

Bryan brought out his phone from his back pocket, just as Allison stepped her groceries on the ground. He handed it to Allison and she punched her digits and gave it back.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, see you around then?"

"Certainly. Goodnight Bryan and thanks again."

He just waved, shoved his hand into his pocket and stared at her as she walked up to the front door.

Allison felt his gaze on her so she turned slightly, waving one last time before she entered, closing the door behind her.

Inside the apartment, warmth enveloped Allison as she slipped off her flip flops and walked into the kitchen to set down the groceries she bought, hoping none got damaged from the disturbing event.

"Ma Tilda, am home." She shouted, but in response the voice echoed through the house, sending her words back to her.

It was an apartment of a living room, a dinette with a kitchen, 2 bedrooms which possessed a bathroom with a shower each. An apartment too big for two people and too empty. It didn't help that her grandma was old, in her mid eighties and hard of hearing.

"She's probably sleeping without her hearing aid," Allison murmured, at the same time arranging the items inside different cabinets. Relief washed through her when she realized none of the mason jars broke, although they showed little cracks.

It was only when she finished and wanted to leave, that she saw a plate covered on the dining table. Removing the foil wrapped around it, the aroma of lasagna engulfed her. It gave her stomach a quick appetite. Beaming with smiles, she took it upstairs to her room. After a refreshing shower, she sat on the rug and ate her dinner. Eating up to her fill, she went downstairs and washed her plate clean. Skipping up to her room again, she decided to check up on her grandma. Slowly she reached out for the door knob and twisted it, and although the door gave a few crack, it didn't wake her grandma up.

She walked into the room illuminated by the lamp by her bed.

Truly, grandma Tilda was fast asleep on bed, with few strings of sliver hair falling out from her hairnet, her chubby cheeks, kindly wrinkled face and the lines on her forehead made her look sweet. She smiled when she inhaled her grandma's faint smell of lavender perfume, it gave her the urge to hug and sniff her. Gently Allison raised the blanket, tucked her in properly and switched off the lamplight, but not without kissing her forehead and walking out.Then she left for her room to sleep.

•••••

What's your intake on it?I anticipate your comments. And don't forget to vote.😘

Stay Gold.