She looked back over her shoulder and squinted into the darkness. There was nothing there, but for just a moment she thought she'd heard a noise. She shook her head, it'd been far too long a day and the strain was obviously starting to wear her thin.
She gave her head another shake to clear away the tiredness and pulled the extending handle to her suitcase before walking towards the station car park. It was just her luck to get one of the last trains into town, and now she'd either have to find a cab or make her own way home. As she exited the station platform and made her way into the dark carpark, she heard the scrape of a shoe on the path and turned. She hadn't seen anyone else get off at this stop, so she was curious, however nobody was behind her, nobody seemed to be around at all. She shook her head again, but the uneasiness stayed.
Stepping off the pavement so that she could peer round the corner of the old station house and the taxi rank beyond, she sighed. This time when she shook her head, it was out of anger. Trust there to be no taxis waiting. Her uncertainty at her solitude was gone, and only the stress of a long day made longer remained. Trying to take a few deep breaths to calm herself, she looked about for somewhere to sit. There was a bench at the other end of the station and a telephone box. It'd probably be best to phone for a taxi anyway, so she dragged her case round and started making her way back along the carpark.
Her beau was working away diligently and couldn't come and get her, and it didn't look like any taxis were either as she stepped slowly towards the benches. She sighed despondently and considered the journey ahead. If she had to walk it'd take her at the very least thirty minutes to get home and possibly more. Her luggage wasn't particularly heavy, but it was a cumbersome thing, and the jolts through her arm made it numb as she dragged it over the ground.
Suddenly her hair caught in something and there was the sharp pain across her scalp as it pulled. She stopped so it wouldn't tug anymore but the pain simply grew more intense and she realised it hadn't caught on anything, but was instead being used to drag her backwards. A sick feeling hit her stomach. She'd been so distracted by her own thoughts she hadn't been aware of her surroundings at all. Now all of her senses screamed out at the proximity of another person. She let go of her case so that she could reach back and try to loosen her attacker's grip. Instead she fell into darkness as she was pulled into the arched walkway to the platform. All of the things she'd been told to do in the event of such an attack fled her mind. But as she was propelled towards the wall by a forceful thrust she opened her mouth to cry out. The scream never escaped her lips, as the air in her lungs was expelled explosively when her ribs made contact with the wall. She fell to her knees gasping desperately for the breath that had been stolen for her. She was utterly immobilised, barely able to think as he got down on his knees behind her, humming a familiar tune. It almost calmed her but she heard his belt being undone and was very much aware of her vulnerability.
