Ready?

        Footsteps echoed down the dark, dreary alleyway. Keara fearfully looked back as her attacker pursued her. Scarlet hair whipping about her face, she could barely dodge the filth that littered the pavement.
         Her foot hit a metal can sending a loud crash into the silent night; Keara toppled over bruising her knee even more. She let out a cry of agony as she realized her assailant quickly caught up.
         “Get up, girl,” a gruff voice said as she was yanked by her torn dress.
         All she could do was whimper and quietly pray.
         The man slammed her against the wall of a building. Keara could smell the alcohol, sweat, and sheer man on him; it was a bad combination. He continued to push her face farther into the brick as if he wanted her in the room it walled. By this point she was weeping and begging for him to get it over with.
         He laughed a merciless laugh and began to unzip his pants. Keeping one hand harshly on her back, he prepared for the assault. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to prepare herself for what was coming next, but there was no point. He roughly yanked up the skirt of her dress ripping it wide open and pulled her underwear down, scratching her thighs in the process.
         “Ya ready for this, princess?” the soon-to-be rapist all but sneered into her ear.
         She just wanted him to go ahead and leave her lying among the trash. Without any warning, he rammed so hard she felt skin tear from every part of her body. Her face practically ripped open from the coarseness of the brick. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to envision her fiancé, Mark.
         By the time the man was done, Keara had been drifting in and out of consciousness. She felt herself fall to the ground barely covered as he had managed to make his way to her breasts at some point.
         “Yer a good screw and if ya tell an’ one I’ll kill ya,” he ran to the other side of the alley and into the night.
         Keara slipped back into unconsciousness thankful she didn’t have to see him again.
         


         A few hours later she awoke to someone yelling about numbers; she couldn’t really concentrate on what everyone was saying due to the immense pain she was in. Her body felt as if it was on fire. From what she could tell, she was lying on trash, and it smelled horrible.
         A face came into view, one she didn’t recognize.
         “Ma’am are you ok?” the low female voice asked.
         A grumble was all she could manage.
         “Ok, let’s get you into the ambulance,” the woman responded.
         Keara was lifted into the back of the van and taken to the nearest hospital. The ride was excruciatingly long; the paramedics kept poking and prodding while all she wanted to do was be in her bed and never touch anyone again.
         After only about ten minutes she arrived to the emergency wing. Immediately, nurses and doctors surrounded her asking about vitals and injuries.
         Keara became so overwhelmed with it all she fell unconscious again.
         When she next awoke, she was in a hard bed with machines all hooked up to her. It was then that the doctor came in carrying a clipboard.
         “How are we feeling Ms. McFadden?” he asked. His voice sounded familiar for some reason. She looked at his face and began screaming.
         It was him.
         How did he find her?
         Nurses rushed in and started to strap her down so she wouldn’t do any damage to herself or anyone else for that matter.
         Keara’s mind was reeling by this point. It was the guy…the one who put her in here. How did he get here?!? Some blonde lady pumped a sedative into her I.V. to halt the shrieking. Keara calmed but only to start babbling incoherently about the doctor being the one who raped her.
         He looked appalled at such an accusation and swiftly left the room.
         Keara looked around with tears in her eyes as a few of the nurses left shaking their heads. One stayed behind to try to console her.
         “Honey, Dr. Matthews isn’t the one who did this to you,” she said with sympathy. “They’re going to catch that guy, sweetie.”
         “But that was him! I’m sure of it!” Keara protested.
         The nurse just shook her head and gave Keara something to help her sleep.


         Mark was rolling Keara down the spotless hallways to the exit of the hospital. She’d been in the same room for the past three weeks. Everyone was saying she lost her mind, but what they didn’t realize was that being cooped up in the same room was what was making her crazy. Mark seemed to be the only person who understood. He set up a cot next to her bed so he’d be with her when she needed him, which was just about all the time. He couldn’t understand why almost every man she saw she thought was her rapist. He planned to have her checked out by a shrink. The hospital had one come in, but he didn’t get very far since she claimed ignorance of what he was talking about.
         Mark sighed as he helped Keara out of the wheelchair and into the car.
         “When we get home, you’re going to have a nice long bath,” he said trying to make her comfortable.
         “Ok,” Keara sighed and turned to look out the window to watch all the people in the parking lot.
         Suddenly she started to hyperventilate as she noticed a man watching her from the farthest side of the lot. He was tan with a slightly balding head. There were stains on his white tank top, and his hand reached to scratch his overgrown belly. Keara didn’t see his eyes; she felt them.
         “Mark! Mark!” she gasped trying to get his attention. Mark was currently talking to the nurse taking the wheelchair from him.
         The seatbelt seemed to be choking her. Fumbling with the buckle, she tried to release herself of the pressure overcoming her. Fear had her drenched in sweat because she knew, just knew, that the man was here for her. Keara yanked open the passenger door and ran to Mark practically tackling him.
         “He’s here!” she wheezed. “He’s here!”
         “Who’s here? Keara, what are you talking about?” he grabbed her by her shoulders trying to get her focused.
         “It’s him! The man who raped me!” she pointed in the direction she saw him and looked over there herself.
         “Where?”
         All Mark could see was a man talking on his cell phone and pacing around.
         “He’s in a white tank top and is looking straight at us!”
         The man Mark was looking at had on a blue collared shirt and in his own world. Mark wondered if his world was any better than the one he was currently in.
         “Honey, there’s no one over there.”
         Keara looked again and the man she saw was gone.
         “But he was there! I saw him!”
         “I know, sweetie, I know. Come on and we’ll get you in bed.”
         He led her to the car again and strapped her in tight. Quickly going around to the driver’s side, he slipped into the seat and, after starting the vehicle, pulled out of the parking lot as fast as he could. All he wanted to do was get her home so she could start her life again. Mark was thinking that if she got back into the swing of things, all this would go away.
         The ride home was silent as both thought about all that’s been happening.
         Keara was just exhausted. The hardness of the bed and constant hospital noises were hitting her, and she wanted to crawl into her soft bed and escape this world. Leaving Mark to gather everything, she found her way to her bed and fell there to sleep this nightmare away.



         It’s been nearly a month since Keara’s horrible encounter. She still managed to have nightmares, but that’s the worst of it. She no longer saw the man around and was finally back at her job.
         The pattern of pharmaceuticals put her at ease as it was a pattern she was accustomed to. She liked to smile at passersby and those filling prescriptions. Somehow it made her feel as if she helped the healing process.
         She smiled to herself while she quietly measured pills of various shapes and colors.
         “What’s got you so happy?” her best friend, Rebecca, questioned.
         “Nothing, just glad to be back,” Keara replied with a growing smile.
         “Me too. You were in rough shape, love.”
         Rebecca had come to visit her on occasion in the hospital. The millions of flowers that now littered every room in her house were mostly thanks to her bestie.
         “Hey, what do say to Mexican for lunch?” Rebecca asked knowing it’s Keara’s favorite food.
         “Definitely!” Keara felt like today was going to be a good day. Lord knows she needs one.
         The first half of their shift went by in a breeze, and before either of them knew, they were sharing a basket of chips and dip.
         Keara ordered her food then excused herself to the restroom. She walked down the slightly dim hallway the bathrooms were located on and almost bumped into someone. Muttering an “excuse me” she proceeded to the women’s door.
         “Oh no, excuse me,” the person she almost ran into said sarcastically.
         Her ears pricked to the voice, but she shook her head thinking she was imagining it.          It couldn’t be.
         She looked up and smiled apologetically to the man and instantly froze.
         Keara could see his face clearly now. Before she hadn’t been able to distinguish features, but now, she could. A scar ran from the corner of his eye to the corner of his lip forever leaving his mouth in a grimace. His dark hair was scarce on his dirty head, and his clothing was just as dirty. His current stance was one of preparation. Preparation for her.
         “Heller, princess,” he drawled.
         She quickly looked around for the door leading outside that she knew was there. Spotting it, she lunged.
         Lunged back into the nightmare all over again.
         The same alley.
         The same man.
         He lunged after her and grabbed the back of her shirt slamming to the paved ground.          
         Sitting on her back, he bent over and whispered menacingly,
         “Ya ready for this, princess?”