Never Alone Again |N.R|

Who are you?

Rue climbed to her feet, slowed by the familiar ache she felt all over and her tender ribs. As she crossed over the street she realised that the group was now walking towards her, totally oblivious as they laughed and chatted among themselves. This was perfect. Rue could "accidentally" bump into one of them and take what she could, distracting them further by apologising and flashing a smile.
They were getting closer now, and Rue could clearly see that one of the women had a bag slung over her shoulder and she was pretty drunk. The woman had reddy brown hair, nowhere near as red as the woman's she was talking to, and it was blowing in the wind. Rue felt bad, taking advantage of someone who looked so genuine and was having a good night it seemed, but she was so desperate for money. If she didn't eat soon she'd be too weak to stand.

Just as Rue was about to pass the woman, a group of men stumbled out into the street and blocked her path. She could smell the alcohol on their breath, but just looking at them she could tell they were drunk. Their ties pulled loose around their necks, top buttons undone on their shirts and stains of alcohol down their fronts. She just hoped that they'd leave her be. But Rue never got that lucky, and she stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone dressed smartly in dresses or their work attire, and she was there in dirtied jeans, a tattered black puffer jacket, work boots that were a size or two too big, a beanie shoved down over her ears and an old rucksack on her back. To put it simply, Rue looked homeless (as she was) and these people looked rich (because they were).

"Oh look at this beauty. How old are you darling?" One of them sneered whilst pulling back his greased hair.

Rue put her head down and tried to walk on, just hoping that they'd get the message and stop taunting her. But she was wrong. The same man who made that comment put his arm out and grabbed Rue's shoulder, pulling her back so that she was now surrounded by the group of drunk men. The woman she was aiming for had passed by now with her friends, so caught up in conversation she didn't even notice what was going on in front of her.

"Where'd you think you're going little girl? We just want to talk." Another man had piped up, but this one was taller and bigger. Rue wasn't going to be able to get away without a fight, but she decided to give them one last chance.
She dipped her head once again and tried to slip away out of a small gap between two people but they quickly blocked her path. Oh shit.

"If you let me go I promise I won't hurt you." She'd said it with her head still dipped, keeping her voice and eyes low. But all she was met with were snickers.

"Oh what, you're going to hurt us are you princess?" The man with the greased hair spoke up again, but as he said this he reached for and gripped onto Rue's wrist tightly. He twisted her arm upwards, pulling her closer to him so that all she could smell was the alcohol on his breath.

"Let go of me right now or I'll have to." This time her voice was loud and stern, and she stared up into his eyes without blinking. He needed to let go soon or she wouldn't be able to control her anger and all hell will break loose.

"I don't think so darling" he continued. His grip on her wrist tightened, so much so that the pinching of her skin made her eyes water. She'd given him a chance, more than one, and he hadn't listened so there was only one option left.

Without another word Rue pulled her arm downwards quickly and kicked the greasy haired man right between the legs. He bent over in pain so in one last move she kneed him in the face, sending him flying back onto his arse. The adrenaline was fuelling her at the moment, but it wasn't enough for her abilities to work. She needed to be as quick as possible getting out of here before one of these men got the better of her. Just as she was planning her escape route the big man from earlier grabbed her ponytail and yanked her to the ground. Rue was winded when she hit the ground, in shock as well, but she managed to put her arms over her face as someone stomped on her. They had aimed at the chest but she managed to move out of the way slightly, their foot instead making contact with her ribs that were already bruised and probably broken.

"OWWW!" She screamed. The adrenaline was wearing off, and she could feel every bit of pain. In one last effort she swept her legs round, knocking a couple of them over and leaving two more still standing. Rue shot to her feet and prepared herself for another attack. Someone punched her in the side of the face, they'd come out of nowhere. She soon realised that it had been the one that she'd knocked down. Something warm ran down her face so she wiped it with the back of her hand. When she pulled it back it was smothered in red. This arsehole had made her bleed.

Before anyone else could lunge at her again, someone flew out of nowhere and tackled one of the men to the ground. Tackled doesn't really do it justice. This woman leapt into the air, wrapped her legs around this mans neck and flipped him onto the ground. She had bright red hair, and that was when Rue realised she had been talking to the woman Rue had planned to rob. Now she felt even worse.
The rest of her group soon arrived and began fighting off the drunk men who'd circled Rue.

They seemed to be able to handle themselves, so Rue thought this was the best time to make her escape. She lent down and picked up her hat that had flown off at some point and set off in a run. Her body was screaming in pain, and blood was still pouring down her face from the fresh cut above her eyebrow. It kept dripping into her eye as she ran, making her stumble over kerbs and bump into people.

"Don't run, we can help you. You're hurt." It was a woman's voice, but Rue couldn't afford to turn round and see who it was. She preferred to face things on her own, too many people had broken her trust, so she wasn't going to start changing that now.

Eventually she ran out of energy to run, then walk so she hid away at the back of a tall brick building a good five blocks down from the bar. It was dark so she thought she'd be safe to stay there. She lent against the cold wall and slid down until she was sat on the wet ground. Usually she'd search for a dry patch but wet jeans was the least of her worries at the moment. Her ribs were in constant pain, making it almost impossible to breathe. Her back ached from impacting the ground. But worst of all, the cut above her eye was still pouring with blood. She carefully traced along the gash with her fingers, quickly realising it was much worse than she'd thought. That arsehole must've been wearing a ring because it was deep and wide, definitely in need of stitches. Rue would have to try and find a place for those.

But for now, she pulled her beanie down over her forehead in an effort to stem the bleeding and closed her eyes. She was desperate for sleep, and so was her body.