She jumped as something shattered next to her. It was too close to her liking and she counted her lucky blessings that the drunkards had missed. It was not by much though that did not matter. What did matter was that it did not strike home.
Her muscles protested and her lungs threatened to cripple her hopes as she pushed on in her attempt to flee.
She knew that life could be cruel but it seemed to mimic her precarious situation.
The seconds ebbed on yet the road – her lifeline – seemed to grow ever more distant. It drifted away from her and remained dangling just outside of her grasp.
Rahel sucked in a sharp breath of air as pain suddenly tore through her body. Her nerves cried out and her legs sagged as they narrowly avoided buckling underneath her.
She grabbed at her hips in a blind attempt to massage away the pain but it took a little more than a split second to realise that it was not radiating from her side at all.
The harrowing agony bloomed from her skull which sent rippling shockwaves to every other part of her body.
Another bottle fell to the wayside next to her and her mind feverishly put the two and two together.
With a sense of dread, she raised her hand and gently put her palm on top of her head. Her lips recoiled in a grimace as she touched the tenderised area. Her skin was met with something warm and gooey, something which was unmistakable.
She dropped her hand in front of her to survey the extent of damage.
Thick, maroon droplets dripped to the bitumen and she could feel it soak start to soak through her hair.
Rahel struggled to remain upright as she bit her tongue. She had to ward off the pain and bring her attention back to where it was needed the most.
“Come on sweetheart! Come on, you pretty little thing!”
She had to fight.
She had to soldier on and reach those headlights.
Rahel did the only thing she could do. She clenched her teeth together and tried to push through the crippling pain. She could not let it take control of her; let it beat her down and succumb to the animals luring behind her. If she fell into their grubby hands, who knows what they would do to her.
The streetlights, the tall buildings, the headlights.
They all began to blur together and the world around her started to shift. Nausea crept into the bowels of her stomach as the laneway drifted; swinging as if it were props suspended on a giant stage.
She heard ringing in the distance though could not tell whether it was in the distance or contained within the depths of her mind. The ringing grew louder and then fainter, louder and fainter, but the uneven footsteps behind her were only gaining.
The leering animals were getting closer and it would not be long before they would be on top of her.
She threw a quick glance behind her and wiped her eyebrows as the blood trickled down the folds of her forehead.
They were almost shapeless, just blobs to her eyes, and she struggled to make out any small details. But judging by their size, it was obvious that they were very close on her tail indeed.
Rahel felt water patter gently on her body as the heavens opened. With each step, the heavens wept heavier in an attempt to douse away the sorrows of the evening. It was pointless for even the rain could not cleanse away her pain.
With the world around her drifting in and out of darkness, Rahel finally staggered out onto the footpath and desperately searched for any living soul. She whipped her head up and down the sidewalk but there were no unsuspecting loiterers nearby who could come to her aid.
She glimpsed across the road and felt a small seed of hope blossom within. A loved-up couple casually strolled along the sidewalk, their arms linked and their faces illuminated in eased joy. Here was a couple who could easily be the definition of carefree and drugged on affection.
Here was a couple who were blissfully unaware of the carnage which was unfolding right in very front of them.
Rahel tried to call out but only a forced croak drifted from her lips. She tried to lift her hands to wave at them but it was hopeless.
Nothing could break them from the blinding spell known as love.
With the thought of her attackers abruptly coming back into her mind, she stepped onto the footpath and tried to swagger to the other side.
She was tempting fate and dicing with death – she could feel it in her bones. But there was nothing else she could do; her options having been ruthlessly snatched away.
She took another step and another onto the road.
The rain was pouring, the road was wet. It was the perfect storm for an accident but she had no other choice. Even if she was hit, it would have been less painful than the alternative which beckoned to her with open arms at the mouth of the alleyway.
She helplessly shielded her eyes as headlights blazed in front of her and heard the piercing screech of rubber on bitumen. Waiting for the rolling box of metal to hit her, she closed her eyes and drew a final breath.
Her skull screamed in complete agony for the final time and her knees folded underneath the heaviness of her torso as the trusting voice of consciousness left her body.
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