Perfectly Imperfect 1

48- No Way of Knowing

KAYLA:

I choked back the tears that were threatening to tumble down my eyes, dashing my way down the alley. I had no idea where I was going, but my legs did, so I let them take me away from here, whilst my mind tried to block out horrific images of Cal being tortured.

"Hey girlie! What's the rush?" a middle-aged man with a beer belly called, stepping some meters in front of me. He was so wide that he blocked three quarters of the alley just standing there. Yesterday, I probably would have turned around, taken another corner, but this time, I ran straight on. The man grabbed hold of my arm when I tried to run past him and I stumbled, almost grazing the asphalt road. The man grinned and leered at me creepily, smelling of weed and booze.

For once, I wasn't even remotely scared. Not a bit.

"Get your filthy hands off me," I snarled.

The man blinked, as if he had never been admonished before, but then he started laughing.

"Ah, a fiesty one, eh? I love those kind, makes me feel all... Excited inside..." he grinned, stepping closer to me.

"You are vile, sir. I'm warning you, one step closer to me and you wish you'd never been born."

"Baby, you're turning me on," he whispered, his face much too close to me. He pressed me towards the graffitied walls, placing his free hand under my shirt. 

Enraged, I jerked me knee upwards, kicking him where the sun doesn't shine. The effect was immediate- the sicko immediately let go off my hands, howling in pain. Grabbing the opportunity, I tore off down the street, obscenities being hurled at me from behind.

God, I hoped I crippled him.

"KAYLA??!"

I screeched to a halt, almost tripping over my own feet. Turning around, I saw Ivan and Sean running towards me, hair dishelved.

"God damn it, Kayla! What the heck are you doing here?" Sean sputtered, looking at me incredulously. Ivan was beside himself, looking so red I honestly thought he was going to hit me.

"Look, I don't have time to explain! I was forced to come here, okay?! And we don't have time for this! They know where we're staying! If they know I've escaped, then..."

I shuddered. Pulling Ivan and Sean's hand, I started to run.

"Who're they? And what are we going to do now?"

Ivan shouted, his face now a combination of anger and nervousness.

"Cal told me to go to the Inspector you guys dealed with yesterday," I replied, dodging his first question.

"What??? You've seen Cal?! How?"

"I got kidnapped-ish, okay? Anyway, I've got the cuttings and the... Stuff from the basement, we've got to make the police take us seriously," I answered, my breaths already ragged.

"Stuff? Clippings? What are you talking about?" Sean demanded, breathing evenly. 

"Aiden... Or Evan... Was. Living. There... And he kept the newspaper..." I sucked in a deep breath, following Ivan as he took the lead and turned right on to a busy street. "... And diaries... Very... Disturbed..."

"Okay, okay, you should really stop talking. You sound athsmatic. Look, do you want to stop here? Sean and I can..."

I didn't hear the rest of his sentence, as I immediately sped up, running as fast as I could, clutching my sides.