Lea was a strong woman.
She didn't take any BS.
The initial shock of the event began to subside and she could feel her senses coming back to her.
'You took that self defense class last year for a reason,' she reminded herself. 'Now's the time to put what you learned to the test.'
It took only moments for a plan to formulate in her mind. A few seconds after that, she put it into action. She bit into the man's flesh, not allowing herself to stop until she tasted his thick, warm blood gush into her mouth.
He hollered in pain and Lea took her chance. She rammed her knee against his groin and he faltered, letting go of her and falling back into the shadows.
She propelled herself off the wall and took off as fast as she could toward the safety of the sidewalk. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She didn't want to believe her stupid curiosity got her into this mess but deep down she knew she was the only one to blame. She wouldn't let herself turn to check if she had any pursuers.
'Just get to safety,' her inner voice kept repeating. 'Just a little bit farther...'
Just as she was about to turn the corner to exit the darkness of the alleyway for good, Lea felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She fell instantly, the blow leaving her stunned on the cold, hard New York City ground. Darkness threatened at the corners of her consciousness and she knew it wouldn't be long before she surrendered.
She heard footsteps, somewhere in the distance. The footsteps grew louder with each step the faceless person took and when they stopped, she was sure they were standing directly above her.
Then she heard a voice.
Not the deep, manly voice of the guy who had attacked her earlier, but a softer sweeter one. That of a female? It must be.
"I told you not to grab her, Dylan! She wasn't a cop, just an innocent woman!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that!?" a familiar voice shot back.
Suddenly the voice of Lea's attacker had a name attached to it.
Dylan.
"Better safe then sorry, don't ya think?" Dylan continued, annoyance evident in every word he spoke.
"Well congratulations! You were so safe, I had to knock her unconscious so she wouldn't run off and get us busted!" said the female. She sighed. "Now what are you we going to do with her?"
"We can't just leave her here...I guess we'll bring her with us and deal with her when she comes to."
"Fine, let's do that. You're gonna have to carry her though."
Lea wanted to feel fear, but the only thing she felt was the pain from the throbbing wound on the back of her head. She was completely drained; defeated. Somebody scooped her up and threw her over their shoulder.
The last thing Lea felt was the smack of her face against a rock solid back before she surrendered to the darkness that called to her.
...
"I think she's waking up!"
Lea heard a vaguely familiar female voice squeal and then the sound of echoing footsteps as the woman scampered off.
Where was she? What happened to her? Why couldn't she move anything and why did she have such a terrible taste in her mouth?
With a huge amount of effort and after what felt like an eternity, she managed to open one eye. Lea found herself in a warehouse of some sort. Boxes lined the walls on both sides of her, and machinery that looked like it hadn't been used in years was piled high in every corner.
Lea realized she sat in a chair in the center of the warehouse. Her hands were bound behind her with a single piece of coarse rope. It dug into her skin and caused a stinging sensation to shoot up her wrist. Her head spun and she was terribly confused.
What the hell was going on and why couldn't she remember anything?
"Glad to see you're finally awake."
Lea heard the voice and instantly all the memories flooded back to her. She had been hit over the head and was taken ruthlessly, against her own will.
A name then danced through her memory.
Dylan.
The large, wide eyed, black haired man she stared at now was Dylan. A small woman with similar features, including the jet black hair, stood behind him as well. It was the female who had hit her over the head. Lea was sure of it.
"What...what is going on here?" Lea croaked, trying her best to sound angry, but feeling way too out of it to achieve any other emotion.
"My name is Dylan," Dylan told her, taking a step forward. Then he gestured behind him toward the slightly younger woman. "This is Jade. Before you freak out, please...let us explain."
