Author's note: the author does not condone rape or any other form of abuse or sexual assault depicted in their work, in much the same way mystery writers do not condone murder. If rape is a trigger or makes you otherwise uncomfortable, please look elsewhere; there are plenty of amazing works on this site that will meet your needs.
This can be read as a continuation of "Her Favorite Band" or as a piece of its own; they (and the characters involved) are written ambiguously for a reason.
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It was late, the traffic of the city practically unrecognizable in its sparseness from when she first left. That wouldn't bother her so much if she were taking the bus, but with her phone and wallet both lost over the course of the evening, the rare sight of another person put her on edge even more than she already was.
She didn't have any choice in the matter. But, thankfully, her motel was within walking distance--if a
long
walk.
It didn't take her long to wish she had her headphones, even if only to have the comfort of a little more noise. Neither did it take her long to wish she'd put on a coat, the chilly autumn breeze amplified in much the same way as the sound of her every step by the monoliths of concrete and glass that stretched into infinity around her.
Shivers chased up and down her skin. The echoes of her footsteps began to fade into the background with the distant hum of the highway, and she kept her head down, hoping to avoid attention by avoiding doling out her own.
A wolf whistle is what yanked her out of her sullen introspection. It was sharp, cloying, and it made revulsion bubble in the pit of her stomach.
She did her best to ignore it. Did her best not to glance in his direction--because it undoubtedly came from a
he--
and move on with her life.
When the sneakers appeared just ahead of her on the sidewalk, she had to look up, if only to see where to get around him.
He was tall, wearing a sweatshirt that hid his face entirely in the shadow cast from the nearby streetlight. Even so, she could feel his eyes on her body, brushing it up and down, poking at every inch of skin exposed to the air.
And he just stood there. Watching.
She made to sidestep him. He moved with her. She tried again, a stone sinking in her chest, and he blocked her again.
She cleared her throat, preparing herself mentally to don the furious mask of a crazy woman--and cut herself off when she heard the scuff of another pair of shoes to her left.
Thank fuck, someone's here to help.
"Where you goin' this late at night, sweet thing?" the new person said, his own leer clear as day in his tone.
And she froze.
More footsteps. More
men.
"You gonna answer him?" a new voice asked, before spitting on the sidewalk and adding a muttered, "Bitch."
Do something,
she thought.
Move. Fight.
Anything.