| Ice In Her Vains

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After what felt like forever, the cab driver finally pulled up in front of Joan's address. Bonnie softly woke Joan and aided her into the building as quickly as their legs could carry them. Using the keys in Joan's purse, Bonnie unlocked Joan's apartment, tucked an already sleeping Joan into bed, and then went into the kitchen to get some aspirin and water for Joan. Bonnie contemplated staying over till morning, but then she remembered she had a client's work she had to deliver first thing tomorrow and knew she couldn't stay.

Bonnie locked Joan's apartment with a spare key and took the elevator to the lobby, wondering if she'd get a taxi this late. The taxi driver that had brought her hadn't been an option if not, she would have just asked him to wait. But doing that had been a no-no for her because Bonnie couldn't help but feel like something was very off with him the moment he started asking her personal question.

Bonnie walked out of the building and glanced around the dimly lit street. She crossed her arms and considered waiting for a cab. Calling one wouldn’t do any good on a Saturday. She couldn't help but ask herself why she hadn’t worn a coat tonight. It was cold at the moment and Bonnie knew she wouldn't be able to wait out in the open for long. Sighing, she started to walk. It was better to walk than to stand around the empty street waiting for a cab that might probably not come. Her home was a posh one-bedroom flat situated around the North Village. She planned to catch the very first cab she'd see coming her way, even if it had someone in it. She intended to jump in front of it if she had to.

Bonnie tucked her clutch bag under her arm and kept her head down. She didn't want to draw any attention. She was thankful she'd been smart enough to swap her heels for Joan's flats. If not, the whole street would have been alerted of her arrival by the kind of sound those heels made.

As she walked down the darkened street, she couldn't help but feel nervous at being out this late alone and that fear was made worse when she remembered the supernatural she had sensed today. The very fact that supernaturals still existed in this world was enough to drive all humans into panic mode, especially her father. Bonnie removed her purse from under her armpit and fished out her phone. Maybe it was time for her to stop being stubborn and just call her dad. He would have Peter, his driver, here in three minutes. Bonnie was about to dial her father's number when she spotted an alley on the left as she moved closer. Goosebumps immediately flooded her as the hairs on her body began to stand attention.

Ice shot through her as scenes from horror films flashed before her eyes. Don’t be such a wimp, Bonnie. She told herself. No one’s going to be there. You’re scaring yourself for nothing.

She decided to keep working but as she did, it felt like shadows were growing around her as she crossed in front of the alley. She looked left even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. No one was there, and she relaxed, smiling and chiding herself inwardly for watching those damn films in the first place. To face the fear, she stopped walking and stared into the darkness of the empty alley, taking deep breaths. There was debris on the ground, and a graffiti-covered metal trash bin to the left, but no monsters or ghouls. She grinned at her immaturity and called into the darkness, “Boo!”

So engrossed in her psyche-out, she hadn’t seen a hooded man crossing the street. Hadn’t heard his filthy sneakered feet swiftly making their way over. Hadn’t seen the look in his eyes as he clocked her and glanced around to make sure she was alone. It wasn’t until he was two steps from her did she hear him and turned, startled, nearly falling over as her heels caught the seam in the sidewalk. Before she knew what was happening, he shoved her into the shadows. She cried out as she hit the gravelly surface. Her clutch bag fell to the hard ground, its contents spilling out. Stunned and scared, she stared up at her attacker, but couldn’t see his eyes in the sunglasses he wore. He was Caucasian and from his skin, maybe mid-thirties.

He sneered and lunged at her. She tried to get away but he pinned her down and covered her screams with his hand. “Shut up!” He pushed her legs open with his as she fought him, tears rushing from her terrified eyes. The stink of body odor penetrated her nostrils and she gagged. Hearing his zipper open was the worst sound she’d ever heard in her life. She squeezed her eyes shut. If I don’t see it happening, it won’t haunt me for the rest of my life. She felt faint but kept fighting him through the dizziness that descended upon her, kicking and hitting. It did no good. She had no training.

A strange unearthly sound came from somewhere outside of them, a wild animal’s snarl but greater, because it was paired with a voice so thunderous her body vibrated with its every syllable. It couldn't be possible. First, she smelled a supernatural at the club, and now this?

“GET OFF HER!”

The assailant was dragged off her like someone had tied his feet to a truck and put it in high gear. He shouted, and the preternatural voice echoed off the walls of her chest cavity.

“RUN.”

Raving mad, with hot tears blurring her vision, Bonnie leaped up and ran, kicking off her heels and not looking back. Her bare feet slapped against the cold cement as the most terrifying, masculine scream came from the alley. She ran twenty whole blocks as fast as she could past late-night partiers, homeless people, and even empty taxi cabs, not seeing any of them. When she got to her building on 1st Avenue, she grabbed onto the marble exterior and gasped for air, immediately hitting all the buttons on the security box. Someone buzzed her in and she shut the glass door behind her, staring out to see if anyone had followed. There was no one, but it didn’t make her feel better. She rushed to the staircase and up three flights to her apartment limping from the pain in her legs and the adrenaline that pumped through her. Shaking fingers found the spare key hidden along the top of the doorway. Rushing inside, she locked the deadbolt, grabbed a chair, and braced it against the door, knowing she’d left her keys in the alley along with her driver’s license that bore her address. If all she saw today was true, then mankind was in deep trouble. She needed to call her father, now!