The city at three in the morning was a desolate, lonely place, yet as Lucas left his gas station cashier night shift job and took the long walk back to his car, he managed to derive some enjoyment out of it. It wasn't a full moon night. But something about the yellowish glow of the street lights and the occasional non-empty window in the building facades gave him a fuzzy feeling.
He passed Big Jonah's Pizza, which he used to work at when things were better. Just eight hours ago it was a bustling hive of deliciousness. Now it was empty. He wondered if anyone would notice if he went inside and cooked something for himself, and knew the answer was probably yes. Old man Jonah was the sort to keep track of every particle of flour.
Lucas was three blocks away from his apartment when he heard footsteps behind him. He was a little nervous, but it would be rude to just turn around and stare, so he kept walking.
Then they jabbed him in the back with a hard fist.
Pain shot up and down his spine as he yelped weakly. He stumbled, shocked that something was happening to him, and as he turned around, he saw the switchblade knife. The fist was for attention. The knife, which shone with the faint rainbow oil slick hue common among knives bought at malls, was the threat, and it was being held by a man with twice the muscle he had.
Lucas fumbled for his wallet. The man in front of him lunged closer.
"Hands up! I'm going to root through those pockets and see what I can find. You keep your hands up. Bitch."
Lucas obeyed and stayed frozen in terror. He looked around. There was nobody else on the streets at this hour... except some pink-haired woman in baggy clothes a block away who probably couldn't see what was happening. He didn't want to risk trying to wave or yell to her.
As the man turned each of his jean pockets inside out, greedily snatching the contents, Lucas wished that he had backed up his phone onto his mediocre gaming PC: he hadn't done a backup in six months. There went five gigabytes of crap.
The woman turned a corner, and she was gone. A shame; if only she had heard that man yell. The only possibility for help was the alleyway about twenty feet ahead. But there was no way someone would pop out now.
The woman popped out of the alleyway. Lucas saw him and the man didn't. Now that he had a closer look at her, she was gorgeous; tall, busty, and slender, but the baggy trousers and the hoodie seemed to be deliberately hiding her beauty. Overall, she was the wrong person for this particular moment; there was no way someone like her could save him.
Lucas realized something. She was a block away just a moment ago. How was she over here now? It must have been a different pink haired woman.
She silently walked up to Lucas and the mugger just as the looting was coming to a close. Lucas prayed that she wouldn't get involved, that she would just walk past.
Instead, the woman grabbed the mugger by the shoulders.
"Leave my sweetie alone," she said in a worried yet kind voice.
"Who the fuck are you?" he said as he dropped Lucas's stuff and put the knife to her throat.
She calmly stared into his eyes. "No need to panic. How about you accompany me to this alleyway? I'm sure we can reach an... alternative arrangement. Simply leave him alone."
Anxiety filled Lucas. There was no way that would work, regardless of how hot she was.
"Alright," the mugger said as he dropped his knife. Lucas stared in disbelief as the man followed her into the alleyway, then five seconds later, there was a loud thud, then a louder metal thud. The woman emerged moments later, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, and the man did not.
Lucas was too shocked to pick up his stuff, let alone the free knife. She came over and held his stunned body by the shoulders, evidently her favorite spot to hold people.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked. "I heard him mugging you, so I came over as soon as I could... Did he hurt you?"
"I, uh, no? He just dropped all my stuff on the ground... at least my phone didn't break. Good thing too, because I haven't backed it up in ages..."
"Oh, you seem absolutely shaken! You're not alright at all..."
Lucas nodded. "I wasn't expecting this to happen tonight. I was having such a nice time walking alone from work, I work at that gas station right over there, you see, and..."
"How terrible... Would you like to just walk together for a bit?"
"Sure?" Lucas had no idea what was going on, but he figured that picking up his stuff and unwinding might be the best move. He grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys, and then he also took the free switchblade. It was free, after all.
"Can I have that? I don't want you accidentally hurting yourself. It's an unfamiliar knife."
"Sure?" He said again as he handed her the knife. She skillfully twirled the deadly blade between her fingers, folded it up in one quick motion, and stuck it in the right pocket of her baggy hoodie.
"Terrible knife," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if it snapped in half if he had tried to cut me. But we don't need to worry about that anymore. He's sleeping in a dumpster and missing what seemed to be his favorite knife. We're here alone. So, you were headed home?"
"I was," he said. "I live in... that building over there." He pointed to the run-down apartment building three blocks away.
"Oh, how terrible... I've been to that building, it's overrun with..."
"I know, but it's cheap."
"Here you are working nights, living in that awful place, putting your life in danger every time you go on a walk..."
"I wouldn't put it like that, it's not all bad..."
"Oh, I so badly want to help you... Can you follow me? I want to show you something in an... even quieter place than this."
"What for?"
"Just follow me," she said. Lucas shrugged and decided to follow her into the alleyway. Her strangeness was somewhat charming, as was her unexpected proficiency with annihilating muggers. Her boobs were also charming, but there was no way he'd say that part out loud.
He heard snoring coming from the green dumpster, and Lucas and the woman walked past it. He was glad that it wasn't his stabbed body in that convenient hiding spot. It finally occurred to him that maybe she had just saved his life instead of just his stuff.
"Hey, I really, really want to thank you, I don't know how you did it, but... I owe you a lot. Why did you help me anyway?"
"Oh, I saw you, and I felt pity... That's it, really."
"Well, thank you very much," he said as they reached the end of the L-shaped alleyway. No windows overlooked it. It was a place of complete solitude.
"You're welcome. By the way, what's your name?"
"Lucas."
"Aurinda."
That was a weird name, but he wasn't going to judge. She could knock a guy out in seconds, after all.
"So why'd you bring me back here?" Lucas asked.
"I lied. It's not just pity I feel... I've always wanted a human pet."
"What?"
"Now, sweetie, do not be alarmed by what's about to happen. It's for your own good."
