I always felt uncomfortable when my friends dragged me to one of these bars. The heavy stench of alcohol and smoke aggravated my senses and triggered my gag reflex more often than not. The hoard of sweaty bodies in the small space started to make me feel a bit claustrophobic. I hated it there.

But it was Ty’s twenty-first birthday and he wanted to get drunk legally for the first time. I didn’t understand why. It would be just like all the other times he’d gotten wasted. But either way, Ty had begged me to come, and I never was able to say no to him.

That didn’t mean I had to like it though.

“Come on, Grey!” Ty whined. “Have a little fun! It’s my birthday!”

“I’m having fun,” I said.

“No you’re not!” Ashely, Ty’s girlfriend, butted in, grinning. “You look like you would rather be anywhere but here.”

Way to hit the nail on the head…

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, “I’m sorry, Ty. I just don’t do bars.”

Ty grinned at me, “I know.”

“I actually think I’m just gonna head home.”

Ty’s downtrodden expression made the beginnings of guilt start to trickle into my heart, but I swallowed them down. “There’s no point in me being here if I’m not having any fun. I’m just a party pooper,” I said firmly. “And besides, now you and Ashley can have some fun without having to worry about keeping up with me. I’m doing you a favor.”

Ty sighed and stepped forward to give me a hug, “Alright, man. Text me when you get home, okay? Gangs are known for hanging around here at night. Make sure you get a cab and go straight home, okay?”

“Yes, mom,” I laughed, hugging him back. “Have fun!” I called as I walked away from them and toward the door.

I sighed in relief as I stepped out into the clear November air. The change between the stuffiness of the bar and the cool night air outside was a welcome one. I never will understand why Ty likes bars like this one so much. 

I shook my head as I turned to head down the alley to my right. It was a lot faster and cheaper to go this way than to pay for a cab and have to wind around the complicated streets of NYC.  I knew it was dangerous, but I didn’t have the money to pay for a cab. I figured Ty would have remembered that. Oh well…

I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter around myself as I made my way down the ridiculously long alley. I swear it wasn’t this cold when I first stepped out of the bar.

“Hey, pretty boy,” a deep, gravely voice growled from one of the shadows lining the walls of the alley. “What are you doing out here by yourself?”

I whipped around towards the voice and took several steps backward. “I-I’m just trying to g-get home,” I stuttered.

“Is that so?” the man chuckled, stepping out of the shadow. “Well, why don’t you just come home with me instead?”

He was large—not large, as in the guy has a lot of muscles and is tall, but large as in fat flabs of skin hanging down large—with an ugly write goatee looking thing and a bald head. Beady black eyes glared at me and the dragon tattoo on his left forearm rippled as he slowly made his way toward me.

I stumbled backward, “S-stay away from me.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” he grinned. “You know you don’t wanna go home alone tonight. A pretty ass like that needs someone to own it.”

I could almost feel my pupils dilate with fear as he said these words. “P-please,” I whimpered as he grabbed my shoulders and slammed me up against a wall. “J-just leave me a-a-alo—ah!”

He’d bit down harshly onto my neck and was now sucking on it, making these gross slurping noises that made me want to throw up the small amount of alcohol I’d consumed at the bar. I struggled as best as I could, but it was almost impossible with the bruising grip he had on my arms.

He reached down to cup my groin and I panicked. My knee came up almost on reflex and before I knew it, he was on the ground, howling in pain. I slumped down onto the ground, gasping in fear, and tried my best to stumble sideways along the wall, but I didn’t get very far. He recovered quickly and glowered at me with a look that made me want to slit my throat myself.

“You bitch!” he growled and before I knew it I was on the ground as well with pain exploding all over my face. It wasn’t until later that I would realize he’d smacked me so hard that my head had whipped around and smacked into the brick wall behind me.

The first thing I realized after this was that I was curled up into a ball on the ground and he was kicking me wherever he could reach. “Stop!” I cried desperately, but he only seemed to get angrier.

“You knee me in the groin like that and then demand something of me, bitch?” he growled lowly. “You should be begging me for forgiveness and then offering to let me fuck you as payment for what you did!”

“Stop!” I cried again, only just now realizing that fat, agonized tears were rolling down my cheeks with fervor. “Please!”

Suddenly, the man’s crushing weight and the punishing kicks were gone and the only sounds I could hear was flesh hitting flesh, angry shouts, and my own sobs. I curled tighter into myself, thankful for the absence of the man’s abuse, but still wondering why it was gone all of the sudden.

I peeked up from the safety of my arms to see my assaulter lain out on the ground unconscious, face bloody, arm bent at an odd angle. There was another man coming towards me slowly, cautiously, like I was some scared animal that was spooked easily.

“Easy there,” he murmured lowly, kneeling down beside me. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Wh-wha—” I could feel consciousness start to slip from my grasp and my eyes start to close.

“Hey, hey,” the man leaned forward and took my face in his hands. “Don’t go to sleep, okay? You need to stay awake. You might have a concussion.”

“I—” I could hear my own voice getting softer and softer as awareness began to leave me.

“Hey—”

Darkness.