Memories

Chapter 1 - Evan

Bell was walking down a dimly lit street about one in the morning. It was a cool, spring night; she didn't even have to wear a jacket. She was about twenty when she first met Evan, and this was the night she did. Bell was wearing a knee length skirt, and a very pretty halter-top. Her strawberry-blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with her bangs all over her forehead and to the side. She was heading back to her apartment, after a night of partying at a friend's. She was walking home, because her apartment wasn't to far away. She turned down an alley, to avoid all of the construction debris the construction workers had scattered all over the sidewalk in front of her apartment.

Bell reached into her purse for her flashlight, only to find that it was at home. Slowly Bell made her way down the dark alley, and just when she thought she reached the fire escape behind her apartment, she found that it was a brick wall. She had turned down the wrong alley! She wasn't sure, but she thought that she had heard voices behind her. She looked back, but didn't see anyone there. Bell got this spooky feeling, but only ignored it.

After making sure that her apartment wasn't back there, she turned around only to find herself surrounded by a bunch of men, all in black, their faces hidden by the night.

Bell gasped, and backed up against the wall. Before she could scream, one of them clapped a hand over her mouth. In desperation, she bit the hand, and the man released her.

"Damn girl bit me!" Bell heard him say as several strong arms grabbed her. Bell looked up to see that man's hand connect with her face. Her head snapped to the side, and she cried out. Her head was suddenly snapped back the other way when his fist connected with her temple. Bell felt the men starting to drag her out of the alley before she lost consciousness.

When Bell finally woke up, she found that her hands and feet had been tied, and she was sitting in a chair. Near by, the group of men was playing Black Jack, not paying any attention to her.

About five minutes after she woke up, one of the men looked up at her, set down his cards, and stood up. He had shaggy, black hair, and piercing blue eyes. He walked over to her, but Bell didn't see him there until his shoes appeared in front of her intent gaze on the floor. Startled, Bell looked up. He grabbed her shoulder, and roughly pulled Bell to her feet, even though she was tied up.

Then he brought his hand up, and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, then turned her head to view her profile. No one but Bell saw him shutter slightly from the bruises that she had on her face. She tried to break free from his grasp, but hadn't prevailed. He turned her face back to his, and looked in her eyes with an almost apologetic look.

Her eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly brought his face down to hers, kissing her harshly.

Once again, Bell tried to break from his grasp, but he was too strong for her.

When he finally raised his head, Bell had a few tearstains trailing down her face, which was flushed red by anger. All of the other men in the room were whistling, carrying on, at the site of him taking advantage of Bell. Fear entered her eyes as he dragged Bell by the shoulder into a back room. She struggled the whole way, as she wasn't going to go without a fight.

Once in the back room, he released Bell. When he stepped closer to her, she did a backward crawl thingy to get away from him. She didn't get that far.

He reached down, and untied the rope that held her feet. Then he reached for Bell's hands. She jerked away, moving herself that much further away from him.

"Be still, I'm not going to hurt you! I promise!" he said, and grabbed her wrists. It took awhile for Bell to realize that he was helping her, and he finally got the knots undone; then he helped Bell to her feet.