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I blew at a few strands of hair that fell into my face as I dumped a new tub of rainbow sprinkles into the container beside the soft serve machine and placed the metal lid on top.

"Hey, Ainsley!"

I rolled my eyes and turned to look over my shoulder at Randy. His thin lips were stretched into a wide grin that showed off his crooked teeth.

He held up one of the waffle cones to me, "You think you could deep throat this bad boy?" he asked and I tried not to let the disgust show on my face.

Just ignore him, Ainsley. You know reacting will only encourage him.

When I'd decided to pick up my old job from high school for the summer I hadn't realized I'd be working with such immature, sexist teenagers. Bobby had really let this place go downhill since I'd left.

"You know it'd be nice if you actually helped me clean up for once. Imagine if there were two of us working this shift and how much more efficient we would be?"

Randy shrugged and leaned back against the counter and began to munch on the dry cone, "Nah. I like watching you do it in those tight little leggings."

His beady sunken eyes raked up my frame in a way that made my skin crawl. It wasn't that I wasn't used to a guy looking at me. I'd just finished my second year of college and I'd had my fair share of fun, but there was something about Randy Webber, something in his eyes that gave me the heebie-jeebies. At first, I'd tried to switch shifts, but Bobby said none of the girls wanted to work with him and the boys got too confrontational with him. Since I never complained I was the only option. Basically, my boss flattered me into sticking with it.

He also flattered me into taking the night shift.

I hated the night shift.

It was moments like this I had to ask myself why I even wanted this job. I didn't need the money per-say, my parents were well off. But since I hadn't gotten an internship this summer I wanted to make sure they knew I wasn't sitting on my ass for the next three months.

Randy was harmless anyway. A creep. But a harmless creep. The kid was a bean pole, nothing but skin and bones and I was pretty sure I could take him and that was a saying a lot coming from me.

Ignoring my useless coworker I headed into the backroom to take out the trash. It was my least favorite job, even worse than cleaning the bathrooms. It was smelly and heavy and I had to go out into the back ally behind the parlor to get to the dumpsters.

I double bagged the trash, a dim yellow glow casting over the pavement as I flicked on the light outside. Still, the shadows embraced the corner where the dumpster was and once I was out there I wouldn't really be able to see much. It was silly of me, but I had an odd feeling. Normally I didn't like going outback, I'd always had a fear of the dark since I was little, and although it's usually associated with children many grownups retained the fear, so I wasn't alone.

Tonight though. It felt different. I shook my head and smiled to myself. I was being ridiculous. It was just a normal night. Nothing happened in Allan Town, New Jersey. Not since my mother was young anyway, younger than me.

In the distance, I could hear Randy still messing around up front, probably helping himself to a dessert. He was a piece of work.

He was scummy, made me and many other girls feel uncomfortable and everyone in town knew he had run-ins with the law. Nothing too serious; petty theft, some drugs, and stuff, but there were kids like Randy where ever you went. Bobby had hired him to help him out. I guess in some way he thought by giving the kid a job he'd keep him out of trouble and save his life.

Shaking the kid from my head, I decided to bite the bullet and hurry out.

Once I did this we could lock up and go home. I just wanted to snuggle down in bed with a bowl of popcorn and my laptop to watch a movie before going to sleep. I'm sure my mother was waiting up for me too. No matter what I did she always insisted on it.

I loved her for it.

It was a bit of an effort to swing the bag up and over the edge of the dump and there was a bang as I let the lid drop. It echoed into the darkness. I slapped my hands together a few times as one does after they've finished something. Just as I was about to turn around I heard something that made me freeze.

A crunch of glass?

Or just the early summer breeze?

Swallowing I slowly turned around and called out, "Randy?"

There was no one there. That didn't stop the hairs on the back of my neck from standing on end and that anxious feeling from early returned to my stomach.

It was crazy, I'd never felt unsafe here. I mean sure I'd had some irrational startles, but this was different. This was like was I was a dumb girl in a horror movie. Damn it. I shook my head and forced myself to chuckle. I'd probably sound crazy if there really was someone hiding in the shadows.

Taking a deep breath I made myself walk back towards the door, it was open a crack and I saw the thin sliver of light from inside. The yellow glow of the outside bulb cast the whole thing in an ominous shade of gold.

I was just about to reach for the door handle when-

smash.

Alright. That's it. I definitely heard something this time, only. It wasn't coming from behind me. But from in front of me. In fact. It was coming from inside the parlor.

Heart beating loudly in my chest I reached for the handle and went inside. The lights in the front of the shop were off. That was odd. Why would Randy turn them off before we left? We always left out the front door and locked it from outside.

A flutter of annoyance came over me.

The little shit.

He probably skipped out on me. Some
Of my coworkers had mentioned wasn't the first time he had done something like that. Except this time it was to me, and I'd be telling Bobby about it. I was past the point in my life where I carried the weight of lazy people. I'd done that in high school with every group project and every time some smooth talker asked for my notes. Well. College had taught me not to care anymore. Don't get me wrong I liked helping people. But the type of people that take take take, those were the people I'd learned to not have the patience for anymore.

I was so wrapped up in how I was going to try and convince Bobby to switch my shift again and taking off my bubble gum pink apron that I almost missed it.

The soft swish of fabric brushing against fabric. The realization that Randy leaving early explained the light, but not the smash.

And then.

Just as I was about to glance over my shoulder-

A black hand shot out and clamped over my mouth.

I screamed into it, but barely a squeak escaped before it was snuffed out like a match in water.

Never before in my life, had I felt the way I did at that moment. It was surreal and terrifying and it felt as though someone had turned on a switch inside me I never knew I had. It brought my senses to the surface so fast and viciously that it almost hurt. 

A second arm came around my waist and crushed me up against a wide, hot body. I could tell immediately it was a boy- no a man. A big man at that with a chest of muscle and stone. His grip was a vice and I felt as though I was a mouse about to be devoured by a cobra. It didn't matter how much I squirmed, it only tightened his hold and my ribs, oh my ribs would be bruised with the way he was holding me. Choking me, suffocating me.

Nothing came out of my mouth, barely the sound of my own breathing. My head was pounding so hard I thought it might explode, or burst, or even just burn itself out.

I felt the roughness of wool against my cheek and in my peripheral vision, I could see the form of a head with a black mask over it, a balaclava. Like in the movies. Holy shit.

This wasn't real. I was dreaming. I'd made it home earlier and passed out in my room. None of this was real, it wasn't- I tried to buck my body, gripped the wrist of the hand he held against my face, which I realized weren't black, they were gloved. He was wearing gloves.

"Shut up." he growled in my ear.

At that moment it was the voice of a monster. Deep, guttural, sulphuric, like he was talking from the deepest depths of his throat on purpose. To make me more afraid, to make me fear him. Well, it worked. I hadn't realized I was crying yet, but I became aware the heat on my cheeks wasn't just from my skin. They were hot tears, damp, burning my eyes and they poured and they poured. The heaving that came with sobbing made it even harder to breath. It would never stop. It felt like they would never stop falling.

His voice made me tense, my limbs freezing in their flailing and it was silent as I tried to control my breathing. Dead silent without the rustling of my clothing against his.

What did he want? Money? Were they robbing us? I'd give him the money, I'd open the register and I'd deal with Bobby tomorrow. I'd tell him I didn't have a choice and I'd even pay him back myself if I had to.

Where the fuck was Randy?

Had he really left?

Was I alone?

My thoughts were incoherent and frantic.

Physically, I thought I might be sick. I felt my stomach roil with panic and terror and worst-case scenarios.

He made no move to bring me to the front of the store where the cash register was. If he didn't want money, did he- oh god did he want me? It caused the icy breath of dread to frost my skin and kill the heat of panic. I was so still, so petrified with the terror of that thought that I was a board in his arms.

His grip loosened ever so slightly, as though he was unsure why I had stopped struggling and i had the insane thought that it was funny to think he was confused.

Just earlier I'd thought about how I could take Randy in a fight. I'd take Randy's pervy advances over this masked stranger day or night because Randy, I stood a chance against. This man, I couldn't see him but I could feel him and he had me beat. One punch from his massive hands and I would be incapacitated.

No.

No.

I wouldn't go down without a fight. I didn't let myself think about it. He thought I was done fighting, that I'd given up. Still, he made no move to take me anywhere. Right now I wished more than anything I'd agreed to take that self-defense class with Carly and Laura last semester. I'd just been so busy, and I'd found every excuse in the book not to go and embarrass myself with them. The lump in my throat thickened as I thought about it.

Still, there was one thing everyone knew about self-defense. And in this case, it was lucky my attacker was a man.

My legs were free.

I clung to the thought of being kidnapped, stolen from my family, never seeing the face of my mother and father again. My life, I saw it as it was, as it could be and it had never looked so beautiful in my life. This man, if I let him take me he could do anything he wanted. He could kill me. Right now I could almost feel myself suffocating, just a slight flick of his wrist and he could snap my neck. And that was without any weapon. I didn't know if he was armed. There was no limit to what he could inflict upon me and I was no Amazon woman.

With one last thought to my mom and dad, I brought my heel up behind me, fast and hard right between his legs.

"Mother fu-!"

Bullseye.

His grip all but fell away as he doubled over, I slammed my elbow backward and felt it crack against something hard. His nose?

The air rushed into my lungs and I shot forwards, straight towards the door that led to the front of the shop. If I could get out the front door I'd be in the town, on the street. It was late but there might be a car, another store might still be open. I could get help. I could even run home.

I slammed through the door, I could hear the man cursing and shouting. I didn't know what he was saying. My ears couldn't understand words anymore, all it heard was the pumping of my blood and the heaving of air in and out of my lungs. 

Then I saw them, two men. All in black.

I skidded to halt no more than three feet away from them.

Randy was on his knees, his arm twisted behind his back and staring up at a tall, imposing figure.

Black. Metal. A gun. Pointed right at him. At his head.

The figure, the shadow, the monster with the weapon of death in his hands was looking at me. He wasn't wearing a mask. I could see his face. A deadly beauty.

There was a moment. A moment where I didn't know where to look. Randy began to struggle as he saw me. He moaned against the gag in his mouth and I'd never seen such terror before. Like a wounded animal in a hunting trap. It was worse. It was worse seeing that look in a human's eye.

Maybe I could-

There was a loud tick sound, or was it more of click? I couldn't tell and it didn't matter. It was followed by a thump. A wet, soppy thunk. It wasn't what I expected something tearing through flesh would sound like. It was like it wasn't significant enough, but I'd always remember it. I knew in that moment that if I survived this the n that sound would wake me up from many fitful nights to come.

Black eyes stared right into my soul as Randy's body slumped to the ground.

I screamed.

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A/N- A lot of my stories can take a chapter or two to warm up, but not this one. I'm really diving right into the deep end and I'm loving it!

What do we think? Don't hate on my action writing too bad, please! I'm learning :)