by Carly Burton
Dana was exhausted after another gruelling 16 hours at the gym where she worked as a Personal Trainer. She was so tired that her only thought on reaching home was to go straight to bed; she was too tired even to contemplate eating. Her schedule throughout the day had not allowed any time for her to have a proper meal. All she had managed was a snack in between her service hours, spent cleaning equipment and office duties, and her private clients. Endless cups of strong coffee kept her going; she knew this was not ideal, but she needed the money.
Her heart sank as she pulled her car alongside the parking bays outside the flat she shared with her boyfriend, Ryan, only to find there was no available space again. She recognised two decrepit old cars belonging to friends of Ryan and sighed in exasperation. His friends would undoubtedly expect to be there all night as they would all be blind drunk and incapable of driving home. Anger was building inside her, she would be forced to endure unwanted guests and would have to park further down the road... again! This was becoming a serious problem and a strain on their relationship.
She found a spot to park her car about a hundred metres from their flat and began unloading her equipment. Two heavy bags weighed her down, but she dare not leave them in the car for fear of them being stolen. She began to walk, her steps weary as she trudged towards home and to top it all, it began to rain.
Although of small stature (Dana was barely five feet tall), she had a honed, athletic figure, with a trim waist and pert breasts. A pair of intelligent dark brown eyes sparked from her pretty face, complemented by light brown hair. When she wasn't tired, run down and angry like she was at that moment, she was stunning, and usually animated and invigorated. She looked much younger than her twenty-five years, youthful and petite, but a force to be reckoned with in the gym. Her clients included huge body builders, who could have been forgiven for assuming this small slip of a girl could not teach them anything. She had thrown out a challenge when she first started work, a free training session with her, and if she didn't make them work hard enough, she would train them free for a month. She only had to make this offer once. She proved herself tenfold, the first man who had scoffed at her ability to effectively train him had been proved categorically wrong and suffered accordingly from the level of workout he was put through. He spread the word that this little firebrand was a dynamo in exercise terms!
Her anger was building the closer she got to home. Ryan had lost his job three months ago, due to bad timekeeping and poor performance and had made no real attempt to find more work. He was drunk most of the time now, always inviting friends around, having nothing better to do. He was a slob all day and a drunkard all night. His friends were of the undesirable variety; she really had tried to like them, but they made no attempt to return the favour. She was treated like an interloper. Ryan expected her to clean up after him and his friends, simply expecting her to put up with all his crap. She paid all the utility and food bills, the flat was in her name and she paid the bond and rent. They had lived together there for past six months and it was just not working for her. Her bank balance was overdrawn, her savings depleted and her credit card maxed out, due to Ryan using it without her knowledge or permission. She decided enough was enough. She was going to tell him tonight that his behaviour was unacceptable and he had to get a job or get out! She felt so much better having come to this decision.
She could hear the loud music as she approached the front door of the block of four flats, which was actually a big house conversion. It was a wonder the neighbours hadn't complained again, but it was only 10 30pm, quite early yet. They were on their final warning from the landlord that they would be evicted if there were any more complaints, and she lived in constant fear. She unlocked the door and climbed the stairs, trepidation curling in her gut at the confrontation ahead. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door.
The sight that greeted her was shocking: three drunken men surrounded by empty cans, bottles and take away cartons, furniture knocked over, cigarettes discarded and dangerously smouldering. The television was on as well as the CD player and they were all laughing and swearing as they pawed over a porn magazine. They didn't notice her presence for a few moments and she took in the devastation before her, giving her time to plan her attack.
"This party is over," she stated, calmly. Three startled faces turned to her, sneering and making rude gestures. Ryan dismissed her protest, waving his arms wildly.
"Hi Dana, don't be a spoilsport. Come and join us, have a drink," he offered, staggering to his feet to offer an already open can to her.
"I don't think so Ryan. Tell your friends to go home. I'm tired and I want to go to bed," she explained, keeping her temper in check, with great difficulty.
She really wanted to scream at him, rant and rave, let him know the extent of her anger, but she kept a firm hold of her temper as it would serve no purpose to provoke him. She stared at the pathetic figure before her. This was the man she had thought she was in love with. He was the same age as her, but as yet had made nothing of his life. His cute, boyish face was appealing when he was sober, but turned into a sneering ugliness when he was inebriated. It was as if she was seeing him for the first time, her eyes finally open to the kind of loser he actually was.
"Yes!" he cried, "Bed, that's a great idea, we need some entertainment," and he tried to drag her towards the bedroom, a leering expression on his face, his intent obvious.
"Ryan," she snapped, trying to pull away from his rough grip, starting to get worried now as his eyes were glazed ... he was off his head. "Get off me, right now," she demanded, but he kept on dragging her, though he was unsteady on his feet. He was only 4-inches taller than she was, but strong enough to cause her harm if he chose. A cold hand closed around her heart as she saw his friends advancing towards her. They were all drunk and had been viewing porn. A shiver racked her body.
"Want some help there mate?" sneered Tony as he stood behind Ryan.
"Too much for just you Ryan, we can all have a piece of her ass," leered Eddie.
"No!" shouted Ryan, in a drunken rage, "She's mine, I can handle her, so hands off!" He turned on his friends and they backed away, laughing.
"Ok, ok, your girl, we get it, but can we watch?" Tony asked, his excitement building.
Dana was not going to wait until Ryan answered and she kicked his shin as hard as she could, thinking it was a shame she was only wearing her trainers and not her boots. He howled both in anger and pain as her foot made contact with his shin and he loosened his hold just enough for her to break free and make a dash for the door. He lunged after her and caught her just as she grabbed the door handle and such was her fear for her safety, she screamed loudly. Hopefully the neighbours would respond to that!
He swung her round to face him, an evil and bitter expression contorting his face into an unrecognisable mask of ugly fury.
"You bitch!" he spat at her, raising his arm and landing a backhanded swipe across her face. She felt her lip split and cried out in shock, her head knocked back against the door with a loud crack and she reeled as the world spun around her. Seconds later, she felt the full force of his fist in her face and she crumpled in a helpless heap at his feet. She whimpered as she desperately tried to stand, alarmed as all three men stood laughing at her. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, Ryan was supposed to love her, how could he treat her like this? Her breathing was erratic and real fear gripped her heart. They all meant her harm and she had to get out, right now.
Ryan and his friends staggered about, jeering and cursing in their drunken stupor, egging each other on, crudely describing the things they should to do to her. Dana edged her way up from the floor, using the door to assist her, inch by inch. She felt for the door handle, gripped it slowly and chose her moment to open it and make a dash for freedom. She stumbled down the stairs, banging on her neighbour's door, but there was no response. The sound of several feet behind her prompted her to leave the building as they were now in pursuit.
She dashed outside into the dark and pouring rain, running as fast as she could, thankful now that she was wearing trainers rather than boots. She could feel blood trickling from her mouth and an insistent pounding in her eye and head, but fear drove her on. She sprinted down the street, urged on by the sound of the pounding feet behind her. Where could she go? She desperately searched for a safe place to hide, the rain dripping from her soaking hair, and she spotted the big house on the corner. The garden was big enough to hide in, it was her only hope. She crashed through the gate and cried out in surprise as a security light illuminated her for a split second before she crouched behind a tree. Waves of dizziness assailed her, but she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. She prayed the light would turn itself off before they reached her, otherwise it would expose her hiding place.
She could hear the agitated voices of her pursuers, they were worn out in their diminished capacity of drunkenness and the light had, thankfully, gone. Maybe she was safe? It seemed like ages before the shouting and cursing diminished and they were hopefully giving up and going back home. To her home. Not any more, she realised.
She was shivering now as she huddled in the grass, soaking wet, hugging her knees to her chest and finally giving in freely to tears of despair, frustration and pain. The security light came on again and she cried out in surprise as a shadowy figure appeared right in front of her. She panicked and began to scream as he knelt beside her, thinking Ryan had somehow doubled back and found her.
"Hey, shush," he whispered as he reached for her, "Are you hurt?" he enquired gently, and she realised it was not Ryan at all. Tears of relief now poured from her and she felt gentle hands lifting her to her feet.
Simon studied the pitiful figure of the girl cowering behind his oak tree and knew something terrible had happened to her.
"Let's get you inside and cleaned up shall we?" he offered, extending a hand towards her. Startled eyes stared back at him. She accepted his hand, but then felt the world spinning out of control and she finally gave up fighting the faintness. He caught her before she fell to the wet ground, sweeping her up into his arms, surprised at just how tiny she was.
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