It Has Always Been You..

2. A Ray Of Hope

Ariana Willows

She was running.

Running for her life.

She doesn't even know where her feet is taking her, she just knows to run far away from that house.

She only stops when her feet give up. She slumps down the street with her head hanging low. All the adrenaline rush became vanished. And then she gets struck with the reality.

She has nowhere to go.

She is homeless.

She is wandering the streets at night.

She has no friends to go to.

Where would she end up now?!?

She cries harder, her body trembles with her sobs. After what feels like eternity, she looks around her surroundings. She doesn't know where she is.

She just knows that it is a main road where late night heavy vehicles are passing. She doesn't want to stay here and be the prey of some drunk trucker. So she stands up and starts walking.

After walking 2 kilometers, she reaches a market place.

That place is buzzing with people. Shops are lining on both sides of the street selling various items like food, snacks, clothes, accessories etc. She is in awe by looking at the place. It's been ages since she set foot in the outside world. Her aunt never let her do that...

She walks ahead and hit with the aroma of several delicacies that makes her mouth water. She goes to one of the stall..

"Hello sir! May I get a hot dog?" She asks politely.. The hot dog seller looks at her attire and frowns, "It will be 4 dollars."

Her eyes become wide as she realised that she doesn't have a penny. But she is hungry so she decides to do some bargain.

She again asks, "I don't have money. I can help you with your work in exchange of hot dog".

The seller frowns and murmurs something in his breath but agrees nonetheless.

Ariana becomes happy to hear this.

She helped the seller in selling hot dogs by calling customers to his stall. After 2-3 hours, the seller manages to sell all his hot dogs and is satisfied with her work.

He gives her 2 hotdogs to eat and go back to his home.

She eats the hot dogs in a jiffy and places her hand on her belly, satisfied.

"It's been so long that I have eaten this much"- she thought.

Slowly the market seems to shut off as the owners are closing their shops. So she resumes her walking aimlessly.

She reaches a deserted area. No one is there to be seen. It seems spooky to her. She is afraid.. So she picks up her pace to move out of that area.

All of a sudden, a bike passes and stops at a distance. Ariana stops and prays that the rider go away without turning. But much to her dismay, the bike comes backward where the girl is. And whistles. "Let me drop you home, beautiful! Come on!" He grins evilly.

"N..no, thank you, sir! I will g..go on..on..m..my own. " She stutters nervously and starts to walk away. But she is stopped by the rider again when he grips her wrist tightly..

"Stop being difficult.. Hop on my bike. I will give you the most amazing experience". He smirks.

" P... Please.. Let me go.. Ple.. Please.. I b..beg of you! " She pleads with teary eyes..

She tries to free her wrist but to no avail. With her every effort, his grip tightens. He starts to drag her to his bike.. She is thrashing in his hold..crying for help...begging to let her free..

Suddenly she gets an idea.. And she bit his hand as hard as she could.. The rider curses freeing her hand in process..

She runs again.. As fast as she can.

But the rider put his hand on her mouth from behind and drag her to an alley.

He pins her to the wall and grips her hands above her head. With another hand, he grips her chin tightly and glare at her.

"How dare you bite me, you filth!?! I was thinking to treat you nicely but now I have changed my mind. You want it the hard way.. Then the harder you will get " With that said , he slaps her hard.

Tears blur her vision and as if she became numb.. No voice came out of her throat.

That's it.. I m going to die.

I can't escape now.

I don't want to live.

Mom, dad.. I m coming.

When the rider gets close to her face, her breath stops. He starts caressing her cheek with the knife in his hand.. She closes her eyes..

Waiting for her end.

But suddenly, the weight gets lifted off her body. She falls to the rocky ground.. She falls like a lifeless body.

She opens her eyes to see the back of a man who is beating the living daylight out of him..

She whispers- Thank u mom n dad for sending me 'My Ray Of Hope'...

With this thought, she got engulfed in the world of darkness..