City in the Fire

by Fred Crawley

  He didn’t reply and he didn’t remove his hand.

  She stopped struggling. She couldn’t get away from him and it seemed like a bad idea to waste what little strength she had trying. Gradually she felt his hand move up her leg.

  “I’m pregnant,” she whispered.

  “I don’t mind,” he said.

  She swallowed and closed her eyes, it made little difference in the dark. She could feel his hand getting closer and closer to her crotch and she had the stupid thought that she was wearing big knickers, granny panties as Craig called them. As if this would somehow be better if she was wearing silly lace underwear.

  Abi gasped as a hot hand grabbed her left breast roughly. She let out a pained squeak. Before getting pregnant she hadn’t had much in the way of a chest and now that she did it was always sore. Her breasts felt bruised. Much to Craig’s disappointment she never let him touch them while they made love. Now this man, this stranger, had just helped himself.

  She bolted out of her seat and the surprise of the movement must have caught him off guard because she slipped away from his probing hands. She was suddenly furious that this man would take from her something she hadn’t even given Craig.

  She heard the barrel scrape across the floor as he stood up.

  “Stay away from me,” she said.

  “Abi, please,” he said. “Don’t over react.”

  “Over react?” she said. The nerve of the man. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “I thought you liked it,” he said.

  “You thought I... what the hell do you think you’re doing? You’ve got a wife and a son.” Suddenly it occurred to her that he might not have either.

  “I just wanted to make you feel comfortable. Didn’t your boyfriend ever touch you like that? Guess he must have done at least once.”

  She realised that she didn’t know where his voice was coming from. Sound echoed around the room in a manner she wasn’t familiar with.

  “Why don’t you sit back down and we can talk about this.”

  “Stay away from me,” she said.

  “You don’t really mean that. You like it, I can tell.”

  She gripped the torch in her hand. It was heavy enough that she might be able to do some damage with it but she had no idea where he was and this was his comfort zone not hers. If he got close enough for her to do anything it would already be too late. She didn’t think he would be quite so gentle if he got hold of her again.

  “You did, didn’t you?” he said. “Got you all hot and bothered feeling me on you?”

  She didn’t reply. She had an idea that he was just keeping her talking so he could creep up on her. She held her breath and took a step back, half-expecting to feel him behind her.

  Come on Abi, she thought. You’re a smart woman, you can get yourself out of this. But her mind was racing, what would Craig think of her if he found out she’d been with another man, even against he will.

  “My baby,” she said.

  “You owe me,” said Victor. “I saved your life.”

  She shook her head, even if he couldn’t see her. He sounded deadly serious and, most worrying of all, completely sane. He really seemed to believe that raping her was a fare trade. “I won’t,” she said.

  “I’m not asking you,” he said.

  “Please,” she whimpered. “Just let me go, I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

  “What’s to tell?” he said. “You thought you were going to die, you took comfort in another man’s arms. Hell, you practically threw yourself at me.”

  Still shaking her head she tried to guess where he was but in the dark room it was impossible.”Come on,” he said and out of the darkness she felt his hand on hers. She was too surprised to do more that utter a shocked gasp. “I won’t hurt you.”

  Abi was frozen in place. She felt his rough unshaven face against her neck. She couldn’t believe that he was actually kissing her. She started to cry. “Please,” she said. “Please.”

  “That’s it baby,” he said, completely or purposefully misunderstanding her. “Tell me how you want it.”

  “I...” Don’t, she wanted to say but maybe she couldn’t fight him. Not directly anyway. His hands went to her stomach and she felt sick to think how close he was to her baby. Maybe she wasn’t stronger than him but she’d seen how crazy men got when they were horny, if he was thinking with his other brain she might still be able to outsmart him. “I want you,” she said, the words tasted like ash in her mouth.

  “I know it,” he said, his voice heavy panting. “Tell me what you want.”

  “No,” she said, taking a gamble that his brain was so soaked in dopamine that he wouldn’t question her change of heart. “I want to show you how grateful I am.”

  She reached out a hand, placed it on his crotch and grimaced as she felt him rise beneath her.

  “That’s it,” he said, “that’s it.”

  She bit her lip and tasted blood, it was better than the vomit she was suppressing. She squeezed and massaged him. “Take off your trousers,” she said.

  “Oh yeah,” he said. “I knew you wanted it.” He pushed her hand away and she heard his belt buckle being undone and then dropped to the floor.

  “And your pants,” she said.

  She could almost hear him smile. Then she heard his pants drop to the floor. “Give me your hand,” he said.

  She reluctantly held out her hand, knowing what she was going to feel but not being able to prepare herself properly for it. It’s just a piece of flesh, she told herself, just some tissue, some muscle and some skin. It was so warm in her hand that she thought he must have burned it in the fire.

  “Oh yeah,” he said.

  She moved her hand back and forth and hoped that he wouldn’t finish before she could do what she needed to do. God only knew what he would do to her once this was over. She tried to imagine that she was somewhere else, that this was happening to someone else and not her.

  “I can’t...” she said, hoping he wouldn’t hear the falseness of her tone.

  “What?” he said, suddenly angry as she stopped moving. She realised that she only had one chance at this so she’d better make it count.

  “I want to... to use my mouth... but it’s difficult for me to move.”

  “Your hands good enough,” he said.

  She shook her head, trying to get into the part even though she knew he couldn’t see her. He towered above her and if she stood any chance of making this work she had to get above him. “You saved my life, you deserve it.”

  He grunted, she hoped in agreement. “What do you want me to do about it?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, close to tears but her life depended on her not giving in to them. “Maybe if you lay down?”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment and she was sure he was on to her. Then, “you can’t lay on your front.”

  “I could get on all fours,” she said as if the idea had just that moment occurred to her.

  He was quiet again but after a few seconds she could hear him lowering himself down. “Take off your dress,” he said.

  He wouldn’t be able to see her but maybe he just liked the idea of her being naked as well. She did as he instructed, being careful not to let go of the torch. She dropped her clothes on the floor and stood there shivering.

  “Come here then,” he said and she moved slowly towards his voice. “Get on,” he said and she knew what he meant. He was changing her plan but maybe that would be better.

  She felt his hand on her ankle and almost lost balance but he guided her foot over him so that she straddled his chest.

  “Down,” he said.

  She started to lower herself but she was most of nine months pregnant and her balance wasn’t good. She had ever been a gymnast or anything but she had never had trouble lowering herself to sit before. “I’m not...” She gasped as she felt his hot hands on her, touching her waist and lowering her down.

  “Is that better?” h
e said.

  “Much,” she said and she felt the hair on his bare chest against her skin. She knew that she couldn’t do what he wanted, had already done far more than she could forgive herself for, but this wasn’t for her any more. She was doing this for her little girl, whatever she ended up being called, even if her mother couldn’t live with what she had done, she should have a chance.

  She felt the weight of the torch in her hand, it no longer seemed heavy enough to do any damage but she would only get one chance. She swung the torch back over her head and tried to imagine where his head was on the floor. His hands ran over her naked belly and up to her breasts. With all the strength her disgust and outrage could muster she brought the metal torch down on what she thought was his head.

  He cried out and she tried to hit him again but he wasn’t struggling, if he had been he could probably have flung her right across the room. His hands fell from her and, with a sickeningly damp thud, his head fell back against the floor.

  She was panting hard but didn’t waste time recovering. She climbed off him and found her clothes on the floor. She picked them up and held them against her as she carefully walked towards the door. The torch was still in her hand but she was too scared to switch it on and see where she was going.

  She stumbled across the room and fell into the wall. She could feel the panic continue to rise. She found the door, felt the hot metal handle in her hand and knew that it was going to be locked. Even though she hadn’t seen him lock it she knew it would be and then she would have to go back across the room, stumbling and worrying and bend down on the ground to try and find his clothes and hope the keys were still in his pocket, that they hadn’t fallen out somewhere else.

  Abi tried the handle and it turned. It took her a moment to believe that it was happening. She was going to get away, she as going to be safe. She wrenched the door open so hard that it slammed into the wall and bounced back, glancing off the side of her arm. She grabbed hold of it before it could slam closed and quickly went back into the kitchen.

  She closed the door behind her but there was no time to look around for a key and maybe it would be too cruel to lock him in anyway. Instead she pulled her dress over her head and ran towards the door, the emergency lights more than enough to see by after the dark storage closet.

  CHAPTER 18

  VICTOR OPENED HIS EYES INTO DARKNESS. FOR A moment he couldn’t work out where he was nor remember what had happened. His head hurt and he thought he might be bleeding. He was also naked. The memory came over him like a wave, all at once. The bitch. The little red headed bitch must have done something to him.

  He reached down to pull up his trousers. She couldn’t have gone far, he was still stiff. If he caught up with her again he would do more than just fuck her, he was going to do that first, of course, but then he would fuck her up. Just like he had done to Mr Fisher.

  Mr Fisher! What had he done with the old man’s head, hands and feet? He remembered having the bag when the little prick tease led him into the store room but where was it now?

  “Shit!” he said to himself. There was no time to deal with that now, he had to get the woman. She couldn’t have gotten far.

  He was disorientated but he still knew where the door was. He fell towards it and almost yanked it off his hinges.

  The emergency lights in the kitchen had begun to falter but, after being in the complete darkness of the store room, it was enough light to see what had happened. The stupid ginger bitch must have left the door open and now red smoke was creeping across the floor towards him. He stopped and rubbed his eyes.

  The smoke seemed to carry a face, a wide mouthed screaming skull that looked as if it belonged to a dinosaur or something. A noise like a thousand tiny mice screaming filled his ears and he thought he might scream along with them. The face grew larger as more smoke filled the room, billowing down the aisles and up towards the ceiling.

  Suddenly Victor was terrified. He backed away towards the storeroom but the head kept coming and the screaming kept getting louder and suddenly it was upon him and he couldn’t move. He cried out in pain, surprise and anger but there was nothing he could do. The skull consumed him and he consumed it. When it had done its work only one of them stood there; it looked like Victor but it felt like hell.

  CHAPTER 19

  ABI RAN BUT AS FAST AS SHE COULD. Her lungs burned from the exertion and the poisonous smoke she was trying to fuel her flight with but she didn’t think it would be fast enough. He was back there somewhere and this wasn’t like a movie where he would stay unconscious for very long. She thought she had been lucky he’d stayed down for long enough for her to get to the door. Soon Victor would be back on his feet and angry and coming for her.

  She couldn’t see further than a metre in front of her so she ran blind. She angry that she’d trusted him, that she’d done what she had. It wasn’t just her own self that she had put at risk at risk; what would have happened to her baby if he’d tried to kill her when he was done? She’d heard of babies being spontaneously born when something happened to the mother but how long would her little girl last all alone in a world like this? And with Victor the only one around. The thought made her angry, angry with him for putting her through it. She wished she was bigger and stronger and that she could go back there and make him suffer for what he’d done to her.

  She heard screaming, a long way behind her but impossible to be sure without seeing for herself. Her eyes were watering and the wind blew pieces of debris against her face and bare arms. She’d lost her jumper somewhere along the way but that didn’t seem to matter now, nothing did. She was alone in the dark and she didn’t know what to do.

  Exhaustion forced her to stop running. Tears streamed down her face. There was no way she was going to find her way to the coffee shop now and even if she did Craig wouldn’t be there. He would be safely underground where the authorities would have told him to go, expecting her to have done the same. What on earth had made her to think he would do anything else?

  The sound of footsteps made her turn on the spot. Someone was running and she couldn’t tell whether it was one person running around her or two people, each running past in a different direction.

  She felt defeated. There was no point carrying on, she might as well lay down in the street and let what would happen, happen. Lights had begun to appear, bobbing up and down in the misty smoke she strained to see who was there but she couldn’t see anyone. Maybe she was losing her mind. Then she heard voices, muffled and quiet but they were there, she was sure of it.

  Abi didn’t want to see anyone, not after what had happened, what if they turned out to be like Victor? She spun on the spot trying to keep the lights and voices in front of her. She felt sick to her stomach.

  It wasn’t herself she was doing it for. She didn’t have the strength or energy to fight for herself anymore. Her daughter, on the other hand, whose face she had never seen, she would die before letting anything bad happen to her.

  She picked a direction and started to run. Voices called out behind her but she didn’t stop to listen to what they were saying. As far as she was concerned she couldn’t trust anyone now, least of all complete strangers who who were offering to help.

  CHAPTER 20

  VICTOR DIDN’T FEEL LIKE HIMSELF. HE FELT A raging energy so intense that his skin seemed to vibrate. The sense of power was unbelievable. He felt unstoppable. The metal door screeched as he pulled it open, breaking the hinges so that it would never close properly again. All thoughts of Mr Fisher and the question of what had happened to his head were gone. Nothing could touch him now, not even the police.

  He stepped out into the smoke filled alleyway and he could see. He could see the people at the other end of it wandering blindly through the streets. If he wanted to, he realised, he could destroy them and maybe in time he would. First though there was the little matter of the red headed bitch to deal with. She would not deny him again.

  Victor leaped into the air and landed
smoothly on the roof of the building opposite. The bones in his legs crunched and hurt but not badly, not enough to keep him from his prize. At the edge of the building he looked down. A dozen people with torches walked around, seemingly unaware of each other. How could they be so blind, he wondered.

  Victor was not alone in his head but that was alright. The other presence kept quiet and didn’t try to direct him. If anything it allowed him to feel more like himself, with infinite rage and strength he could do all the things he wanted to do and no one could stop him.

  She was running away. Like a mouse trying to escape from a cat. She ran blindly and in a panic, her defences were up but she wouldn’t even realise he was coming for her.

  Victor jumped onto the next roof and the next. The were gradually getting higher but that didn’t matter. He was closing in on the ginger whore and he was going to make her sorry for crossing him. Her and the little bastard in her belly. He sucked his teeth and tasted blood but that wasn’t going to stop him, nothing was going to stop him now. When he was done with her he would find another and another, he didn’t think his passion would ever be diminished. His legs ached as he ran but when he could no longer run he would fly. He didn’t know how but he knew that he would.

  He could see her down there, smell her stinking sweat drenched skin and it scorched his nose hair. This was no longer about sex, he didn’t feel the least bit of desire for her. She was an animal, his prey, the victim waiting to happen.

  It amused him to watch her run, as if she actually believed she could escape from him. He would enjoy showing her that she was wrong, right before he enjoyed tearing the flesh from her bones and her limbs from her body. She had defied him and that would no longer stand. He would have his revenge and then the world would be his.

  CHAPTER 21

  HE WAS WATCHING HER. SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHERE he was or how he could possibly see her but she knew. She knew just like she knew Craig was still alive and that there was little chance either of them would live to see the other side.