Lucky Shot (A Warrior Nun Story)

The Girl in the Alley

Beatrice stood frozen, staring blankly into the eyes of the woman before her. She watched as the woman tilted her head to the right, squinting her eyes, her smirk slowly falling from her face.

"Ya know, I thought you'd be happier to see me." The woman spoke. Beatrice, still, did not make a motion to move. Rather, she found herself stuck, completely at the mercy of this woman again. The woman, seemingly not liking Beatrice's silence, reached down into her pocket with one hand while keeping her other arm firmly pressed to Beatrice's chest, keeping her stuck to the wall.

A knife was drawn from her pocket and held to Beatrice's neck, pressing softly, almost teasingly, on her jugular vein. Beatrice closed her eyes and suck din a short breath, drawing a low chuckle from the woman in front of her. Beatrice opened her eyes again at hearing this and quickly took in the sight in front of her.

The woman was wearing the same clothes from the other day, though this time she had a large denim jacket thrown over it and a nondescript baseball hat stuck on her head. Funny, Beatrice thought to herself, I never noticed how much shorter she is than me. Truly, the woman was only an inch or two shorter than Beatrice, but her work boots added a solid inch or two already, which made the woman look even smaller.

The woman seemed to notice Beatrice observing her and, to Beatrice's surprise, she seemed to shrink back a bit, almost shyly. Beatrice took this as a small win and took a chance to get the upper hand.

"You know," She started, "I would be happier if I knew your name." The woman narrowed her gaze at this and straightened herself up before pressing the knife more firmly into place. Beatrice winced, but did not audibly protest this time.

"I'm sure you'd like that wouldn't you." The woman spoke gruffly, which was surprising to Beatrice. She had never heard the woman speak like that before. Granted, past interaction with the woman was hardly enough to accurately assess her mannerisms, but a part of Beatrice felt that this tone was unnatural for the woman.

"I just feel like if you're going to kill me you might as well tell me your name. What's the worst that can happen?" Beatrice knew she was pushing it. She knew that this woman could easily end her life in a second. But a part of Beatrice felt that this woman shared Beatrice's curiosity. She thought that this woman wanted to know who Beatrice was just as much as Beatrice wanted to know who she was.

The woman snapped out of her gaze again and pushed Beatrice further into the wall, this time nicking Beatrice's neck with the knife, causing Beatrice to let out a small whimper before trying to push against the woman. The two entered into a scuffle, pushing and pulling one another against the wall, each of them trying to gain the upper hand. Suddenly, a ringing was heard and both women stopped dead in their tracks.

Beatrice realized, perhaps too late, that the ringing was coming from her phone in her breast pocket. The woman looked at her pocket before quickly grabbing the phone out of it before Beatrice could react. Suddenly, the woman stepped back half a foot and pointed the knife flush against Beatrice's sternum before glancing down at the phone screen.

"Who the fuck is Camila?" Beatrice's heart raced. She didn't know why Camila was calling, but she knew that if she didn't answer then Camila, in all her anxiety-riddled logic, would assume the worst and mount a team to go out and search for her. Beatrice didn't want to give the woman any more information than necessary, so she opted to answer her as plainly as possible.

"Just a friend. I'm supposed to be meeting her down the street. She's probably wondering where I am." Beatrice applauded herself for thinking on her feet so well. The woman, however, did not seem convinced and twirled the phone in her hand before offering it to Beatrice.