Unsuspecting Culprit

Chapter Four

            He grips her with a fierce anger, and she stumbles back against him. Rayleigh’s insides feel as if they’ll double over and come sprouting up from her throat in terror. She tries to rip away from him but his grip around her neck and shoulders is too strong. His hand clasps over her mouth to silence her grunts and screams.

            In the solitude of the alley, he pulls her farther away down a side road, void of any streetlights. Car horns and sirens are heard in the distance. Too far away to come as any comfort to Rayleigh though.

“Try to squirm away one more time, little girl. One more time.” He speaks with a threatening tone and his arm tightens around her neck and shoulders. She can hardly breathe in clean air. There’s no space left between them as her back is pressed up to his chest. He must be at least six feet tall. The small of her back just barely meets the metal of his belt.

Ray’s mind flies back to the man continuously following her, shadowing her. She’s terrified. Will he let her go? Is it the same man?

“You’re quite the woman, you know that?” he says in a deep voice. His breath is soiled with the stench of liquor lingering in the air. It feels warm and musty on the exposed skin of her neck.

            His lips are inches away from her face. His hands grip his forearm holding her in place. She scratches and pulls in a vague attempt to loosen the hold he has on her. Rayleigh thrashes in his arms before realizing she has the perfect opportunity to elbow him in the side. She bends her arm just slightly and comes down hard on the side she has an open shot with. He stumbles back but doesn’t release her.

“You little, fuck. I’ve been watching you. I’d be more careful with who you associate with if I were you.”

“Let me go” she tries to gasp out between the spaces of his large hand.

“Stop trusting so easy. You’re going to get yourself killed.” he spits out at her.

            He releases her and she turns around, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. Any recognition of it being who she’s been accusing that she can find. But it’s too late. He’s already begun to walk swiftly down the alleyway.

Rayleigh screams after him, but it’s to no avail. He’s already taken an abrupt turn and gotten away once again.

“Fuck!” she screams into the empty air around her as she hits the brick wall to her left with fiery. He’s gotten away again, and she has nothing. Pressing any charges is out of the question. What had he done? Rayleigh looks over her body for any trace of him being there, of any bruise he may have caused. But there’s nothing. She can’t file for a sexual assault, nothing. It’s as if he was never there. Again.

“Ray?” Charlene slurs from inside the car. “What’s going on?” she says dazed and confused.

            Not realizing before, Ray sees that she’s shaking.  She musters every piece of calm reassurance that she has before speaking. “Oh, nothing. I was just- getting something fresh air before we go. Go back to sleep, everything’s fine.” She slides into the driver’s seat quickly, starting up the engine and turning the car around into a U-shape to get them the hell out of there.