Snippet!

[allichaton]

I found myself in a dismal part of town, and I couldn't for the life of me remember how I'd gotten there. I tried to retrace my steps, but only got even more deeply lost. Dusk began to fall. I stared around me, shivering against the growing chill of nightfall, searching for anything that seemed familiar. My heart raced as movement flickered through the shadows. Every motion became an enemy. Every tiny sound sent my heart racing and my pulse thudding in my ears. My breath tore my throat to ragged strips. I wanted to go away. I wanted to be anywhere but there. I staggered along the streets, lost and unsure, and prayed to the gods for salvation.

"Oy, there!" A voice shouted behind me, a heartbeat before a rough hand grabbed my elbow and spun me around.

I stared up into the unshaven, leering face of a stranger. He dressed darkly, almost blending in with the shadows that clung to the street. His eyes glimmered as he looked down at me. I shifted restlessly. I didn't like the look in his face one bit.

A grin cracked across his face, and it wasn't at all pleasant. "What luck," he said with a chuckle, "to have such a pretty piece fall into my lap on a night like tonight."

I caught my breath, then lifted my chin and attempted to appear as disdaining as a noble should. "Leave me be. I've no wish for your company, nor any other man's. Be gone."

He laughed, a cruel sound that made my heart sink. "I don't think so, sweet." His hands slid from my elbows up my arms. He pressed his hands over my breasts; I fought the urge to kick him.

"Leave me be." The words, forced through my clenched teeth, sounded guttural and dangerous to my ears. He apparently felt differently; he laughed again, malicious humor transforming his face into something even more ugly. Even more alarming.

"You think I'm scared, pet?" He swept his open ankle-length coat to the side, revealing an armament of swords and daggers strapped to his waist. He was a walking armory. Fear caught my breath in the back of my throat, and I could do no more than stare.

"Ah, there. That got you thinking, didn't it, sweet? You'd best think long and hard. Make trouble for me, and I'll do the same to you." He grabbed my shirt and threw me to the ground. I landed hard, fire exploding along my forearms and elbows as the rough cobbles tore my skin. I scrambled back, but terror paralyzed me, and I was too slow. Too slow, too weak, too tempting a target. He pinned me to the ground, a single knee planted on my chest, and tore my shirt off of me.

I swung my legs up, hooked a leg around his chest and used my strength and leverage to topple him over. He fell in a tangle of limbs and coat, but I was still sluggish. He grabbed my ankle as I scrambled to my feet and pulled me back down. In a movement too quick for me to counter, he had me pinned again, and the tip of a long stiletto dagger pressed against my chest. My heart pounded against the point, a painful prick that was inconsequential in the face of how much worse it could be. I stilled, staring up at him.

"Don't move, pet." He snarled at me. "Don't even twitch, or I'll slice your heart and feed it to my mutts."

"Kill me!" I glared up at him, defiant and foolish. "I'd rather die than let you touch me."

He watched me for a long, heart-pounding moment, his expression one of consideration. Finally, he smiled at me. It was not comforting. "How 'bout I just slice you up a bit then, love?" He twisted his wrist, sliding the blade of the dagger around my breast. I trembled and fought with every shred of will I possessed to hold still. "I could slice off so much flesh from you, pet, strip by strip, and keep you alive for all of it. You'd prefer that?"

I shuddered and shook my head. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"No. No, I don't think you are." He pulled my breeches off and slid a hand down my stomach, then pressed his fingers between my thighs. "Which is why you're going to keep your mouth shut, isn't it, pet? You're not stupid. You're not going to throw your life away, just like that." I pressed my thighs together as tightly as I could, snarling up at him, but he was stronger than I. He pressed his fingers into me with a hard shove. I cried out, pain and anger combined. His calloused skin abraded me, rough against flesh that had felt only tenderness until now.

He leaned over me, leering into my face. "Don't be stupid, pet."

I didn't listen. I fought against him, to stubborn and brave and foolish to barter my body for my life. I'd rather die. I'd said it, and I'd meant it. A roaring filled me, a hoarse, mindless cry that wasn't entirely my own. Between heartbeats, the weight on top of me disappeared. I pried my eyes open--I hadn't realized I'd been squeezing them shut--and pushed myself up until I sat.

Kyl was there, the last person I'd expected to see. He'd been the one to pull my attacker off of me, and now he had him prone on the ground, a short distance away from me. One hand wrapped around the man's throat, pinning him to the ground as Kyl beat on him. I scrambled back, away from them. I wanted more distance between us than the tiny alley offered. The circumference of the world would not be enough distance between us.

I shook. Even naked, it wasn't cold, but I shivered as if plunged into ice water. I curled in on myself, thighs draw to my chest, arms wrapped around my legs. I sat naked in the middle of the alley and shook and cried silent tears. Kyl continued to pound on the stranger. Blood stained his knuckles. The man had stopped fighting, and now lay limp. Unconscious.

"Kyl." My voice trembled. I sounded as weak as a newborn kitten, I thought with disgust.

Slowly, he stopped slamming his fists into my attacker's gut and straightened. He turned to me and stared at me, as if in a daze.

"Kyl," I whispered. "For the love of the gods, leave him alone."

He released the man's throat and stood as if unfolding. He took slow steps towards me, still staring. "Rin. Gods, Rin. Are you all right?"

Was I? I pressed my eyes clothes and shook my head. "I don't think so. He-- Kyl, he--"

"Shh." He knelt at my side and wrapped his arms around me. His heat warmed me, easing the shivers. His strength protected me. I held on to him and knew no one could touch me within his embrace. We sat like that, holding each other, our faces buried, and for a few moments, I let myself forget that he had fucked with my mind, that I was running away from him, that I hated him. In the face of this, the memory of the cold blade against my breast, fingers burrowing inside me as I tried to push them away, pain and rage where pleasure should have been, it didn't seem to matter so much. He was here. He had saved me. The stranger had violated me, but it could have been much, much worse. Kyl had saved me from that. Kyl had saved me. He had protected me. I tightened my arms around him and held him close.

Comments

Oh, shit!

[silenciawrites.livejournal.com]

That was extremely well done! *shivers*