6 Chapter 6: The Aftermath

Aliyah grabbed the stranger’s wrists when he yanked at her shirt. He jerked her up off the floor towards him.

With his face inches from hers, he said, “Well aren’t you a pretty little thing? What brings you to this old dump?”

His breath stank of cigarette smoke, and his voice was low and wicked.

Aliyah thrashed and tried to get herself away, but the man pulled her into a suffocating bear hug. She was smashed up against his shoulder and she could barely peek over. Aliyah coughed from the smoky smell and the tightness of his grip.

“Oo she’s got a little fight in her,” the man taunted.

Aliyah tried to hold her head away from him, and when she leaned back she finally caught a glimpse of the owner to the second pair of footsteps. Though he was a bit blurry in her peripheral vision, there was something familiar about him. He was tall and brooding and wearing an old jean jacket.

Aliyah tried again to push herself away from the man holding her in a death grip, but he only latched on harder. She groaned in pain. Then she felt his lips on her ear.

“You wanna have some fun?” he said with a sinister edge to his voice.

Aliyah’s eyes widened in fear and she began to twist and thrash harder than before.

“Get off!” she shouted.

Then there was a hand on the man’s shoulder, right in front of her face. There were scratches on the skin and dirt underneath the short nails. She looked up, and that’s when she recognized him. The guy from the filling station.

The man from the filling station gripped onto his associate’s shoulder, knuckles slowly edging on white. She felt her attacker wince, and his arms loosened a bit when he turned to face his friend. The guy from the filling station had almost no expression, though his dark eyes seemed to grow deeper and darker. He slowly shook his head once, a warning not to go any further.

Aliyah looked up at him, but he wouldn’t look her in the face. He simply locked eyes with the other man until a burst of red and blue lights flashed across the wall. She heard it, the police siren.

In a brief moment of relief, Aliyah let out a breath. She didn’t realize she’d been holding it in. Then, alarmed by the siren and lights, the man who’d had her in the bear hug shoved her onto the floor and took off toward the door.

Aliyah hit the floor with a thud. A sharp pain shot through her left elbow and right wrist, which hit the floor first. She grabbed for her elbow and rolled onto her back.

Suddenly, the man from the filling station was standing over her. She thought for a moment that he was going to hit her, but he quickly bent down and pulled her up gently by the back of her arms. She stood eyes in line with his collarbone.

Aliyah looked at him, and he finally met her gaze. His brows were knit tightly in concern, and his jaw was working in frustration. When there was shouting underneath them on the first floor, he broke his gaze and looked toward the hall. She caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his neck again. She could just make out the sharp tip of a feather.

His hold on her arms was like a sturdy brace, but after one more quick glance back at her, his hands were gone. He darted out the door.

All Aliyah could do was stand there in a daze. When two policemen called out for anyone in the house, she didn’t say a word. They found her standing in the middle of the empty room, holding her elbow and breathing hard.

***

In the aftermath of the intruders’ invasion, Aliyah had to file a report and get checked out by a medic. She tried her best to describe her attacker in detail, but she found her mind wandering to the man from the filling station. He stopped the other guy from hurting her any further, and he seemed at least a little upset by the whole ordeal.

The medic gently rotated her arm. Aliyah scrunched her nose in pain. Her elbow was definitely fractured.

A policewoman stood next to them, scribbling in her notepad. “And the second man upstairs. Did he hurt you? Can you describe him?” she asked.

Aliyah shook her head. “Um, I didn’t get a good look.”

She wasn’t sure why she lied.

The medic examined her wrist, which was also sore but not nearly as tender as her elbow.

“No hair color or eye color? No approximate height?”

Aliyah shook her head again. Then she thought she should tell them something. He did invade the home too, after all. “He was tall?” she said.

Her right wrist appeared to have suffered a mild sprain, and she was given instructions on how to care for it. The medic recommended Aliyah see a doctor to get an x-ray of her elbow. After a few more questions and further inspection by the medic, Aliyah was cleared and driven to the police station where she was asked to identify one of the intruders.

She felt nervous to see anyone that might have been involved. What if it was her attacker?

What if it was the man from the filling station? Would she lie again and let him go free?

One of the officers that drove Aliyah to the station gingerly led her through the small building. Her heart began to race and she didn’t realize she’d begun to slow her pace. The officer laid his hand gently on her shoulder and encouraged her forward. “They’re behind one-way glass, so they won’t see you. And I’ll be here along with Officer Arnold to ensure your safety.”

Aliyah nodded and eventually she made it to the observation room. She pulled open the door. When she saw the captured intruder, she sucked in a surprised breath.