Caia Hendersn's life is a mess. She's lost her father, her fiance, and she still has to be at work Monday morning. Things take a turn for the dangerous when Caia finds herself the victim of a random mugging the night of the funeral. Little does she...
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A black bag from the liquor store had become a common accessory for Caia these days. She trudged along the sidewalk, her feet long numb from the hours spent in heels. A few more blocks and she would be home; the end to what seemed like a month of Mondays crammed into one day. The phone in her pocket vibrated, she reached for it. "When did I miss a call?" she wondered aloud, ducking into a side alley so she could hear. She quickly entered her pin and pressed play.
Hi, Caia. It's Alex
"Hello, Alex." she responded to the recording.
I'm sorry to call you this late, but I just needed to update you on tomorrow's schedule.
What a life, she thought. Attend a funeral on Sunday, have a financial meeting on Monday.
Mr. Davis has arrived early and wants to have the meet up moved to lunch tomorrow. As you know this is a great opportunity for the company. So if you could come in earlier tomorrow that would be---
The message was cut off abruptly by a hand slapping Caia's phone away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she yelled, whipping around to face that assailant. The man wore a grey sweatshirt with the hood tightly cinched around his face; obscuring everything but a set of thin lips surrounded by five o'clock shadow.
"Give me your money." he hissed, pressing Caia further into the alleyway. Maybe it was the stress of the day or maybe it was the liquid courage she'd had with dinner, for whatever reason all sense of fear had left Caia's body. She twisted her face in disgust and spat at the man, "Piss off!"
He rushed her then, grabbing her purse by its strap. Caia clung defiantly to the other end. Had she not lost enough lately? Everything else may have been beyond her control, but she was going to be damned before she left go of this purse. The two tussled back and forth, the man cursing and growing more bold with his attempts to shrug her off. He yanked the strap hard, causing Caia's forehead to come crashing into his mouth.
A loud wail of pain followed by a splattering of blood and curse words poured from the assailants mouth. Caia was rocked. She swayed unevenly as tiny fireworks clouded her vision. Though the earth was spinning, she could still make out the enraged face coming towards her with increasing speed. Is this how I die? She thought passively.
Everything happened so quickly, yet so slowly it seemed. The man. His angry face. The hard shove. The sensation of being airborne. And finally, the pain in her head and the passing of a taillight before she succumbed to the darkness.
Author's Note
Dear reader, thank you so much for giving my story a chance! If you had a good time, please consider voting for this chapter. I look forward to growing as a writer on this platform and alongside each of you!
