Corrupt

Chapter 5 - Run, Little Sparrow.

Flashing red spots before my eyes. I cannot see, I cannot focus. My hands sweat in his, and i feel the pits of my arms perspiring uncontrollably. Shock pumps around my body, pulsing through my veins faster and faster with every hard thump thump thump of my heart. I hear the blood rush through my ears and nothing else but that. Parched throat and mouth, and sharp intakes of air. I cannot breathe, I cannot relax.

Who is this man? What does he want with me? Who does he think I am? These are the questions that flurry through my mind all at once. Should I pretend to be who he expects me to be? A raging blizzard of adrenalin shoots through me at an alarming rate, and for a split second I forget who I am.

"So?" The man shakes my hands in his. I can tell he is bothered by the sweat, but it’s not the first thing on my list of priorities right now. "I said I've got the pills."

"I know," I replied in a small and trembling voice, "But I think you've got the wrong person." No, that was wrong. That was not the answer. By the way his expression falls then hardens in such a smooth second, I can tell something horrible is going to happen next. Will he beat me? Will he punch and smack and strike at me until I'm a bloody mess, unable to recall any of the night’s events? Will he tear and rip and wrestle at my clothes until I feel humiliated beyond belief so that I am too ashamed to tell anyone about this man? Or will he just end me on the spot? Ram the pills down my throat so that I choke and suffocate, or reveal a blade so sharp it could slice through my skull so cleanly that I would not feel a thing? I have to stop him, but all I can think is panic, panic, danger, panic. I have to say something, anything, but there is no sign of any sense in my clouded mind. What do you say to a stranger who has just admitted to dealing out pills, just before you confessed that you have no part in his bargain? Dumbfounded, I look at him, and he looks back at me with a stone expression. His breathing is as horse as mine, and we both know of the risks we are about to take.

I take one last hard stare at his face and in one slick movement, thrust my hands from his. The realization of what is about to happen strikes us both at exactly the same moment. As I gather the skirt of my dress into my free hands and turn to run, the man has already caught onto what I am doing. Running as fast as I can down the alley to get away from him, I kick off my heels as I go. They were stupid anyway. The winter’s night is so cold, and the frozen air slams into my check and lungs as I gasp heavily. I can feel him chasing after me like a jaguar after its meal, his feet slamming hard on the pebbled floor. I begin to cry and scream as I run. Don't look back, keep going forward. Danger, danger, danger. I can feel him. Closer and closer. The end of the alley is near, but no one else is in sight. Who will help me? Or is there no help for me at all? Just keep running until there is nothing left of me. Just keep trying to get away from this raging bull. SLAM. My face smacks the ground and there's a clear crack as my ankle twists the wrong way. Stupid. I am on my stomach, and he is on top of me now. His legs are either side of mine and his hands pressing my own hands to my lower back. The tears and whines flow freely from me now like a shrieks of a bird caught in a storm. He bends over me so that his lips are once again so close to my ear. "Relax," He whispers. I feel one of his hands let go of me, and seconds later there is a short, sharp pinch in my skin, and then everything is black.