The alley was shrouded in darkness. She walked down it purposefully, fairly certain she'd find Jason's studio apartment halfway down the block.
Her eyes slowly adjusted to the black. It was much darker than the expected orange glow of L.A.'s night skies.
'Must be the trees,' she thought. Then her left foot slipped on wet leaves. She tried to regain her balance with her stride, but her next step landed in a wet pothole and she pitched forward onto her face and belly.
Gia lay motionless for a moment, stunned and embarrassed.
"Ugh," she groaned into the ground.
"Stay down lady," a low-pitched voice said from directly behind her.
Gia jerked in surprise and instinctively put her hands under her chest to lift up.
"Unh uh," the man said.
Gia was shoved back into the dirt by a heavy shoe on her back, followed quickly by a knee. A man - some weirdo - was holding her in place, pinning her to the ground like a cartoon person under a boulder.
"What do you want," Gia huffed out as she struggled from side to side. It was humiliating, being a grown woman, but pinned so easily. She wasn't even a little lady. She worked out!
An object appeared before her eyes. The man was showing her something. It was a knife, with a fixed black blade and black handle. Only the silver-white sharpened edge glinted. The blade was long, maybe six inches, and wide. A hunting knife?
He held the knife by her face.
Hunting for... women,' Gia thought to herself. She had walked right into his trap. A dark alley? What a cliche.
The weight lifted off her back slightly, and Gia took a deep breath. She could see a little white studio up ahead. There was light coming from a window, just barely reaching some of the alley. The man's face was at her ear.
"Don't move at all, do what I say, and no fucking noise. Got it bitch?" His breath was hot.
"Mmm hmm," she agreed.
The man shifted his weight again. Gia still couldn't get away. Nor could she win a struggle for that knife. Gia tried to relax her body. Her heart was pounding.
She could feel wet leaves against her face, and the gravel beneath her knees. She tried to focus through the humiliation and fear.