“Birdie.”

I froze when I heard my name, and when I turned, I noticed it was the same bum I’d just passed a minute ago. The question was how the hell did he know me? It freaked me out, and everything in my gut screamed at me to get out of there.

“You have the wrong person.” I kept walking, but so did he. I could hear his footfalls behind me, growing more urgent as mine did too.

“Hold up,” he said. “I have a message for you.”

Whatever it was, I didn’t want to hear it. I stepped up my pace, racing for the pedestrian bridge ahead. At this point, I had two choices. Run out into traffic and become roadkill or get away from him on foot. For once in my life, I was glad I wasn’t wearing heels.

I made it across the crosswalk and onto the pedestrian bridge, but as my luck would have it, nobody else was on it. And from the sounds of it, my stalker wasn’t giving up.

“Leave me alone,” I yelled over my shoulder as I ran. “I’m not whoever you think I am.”

I waited for a response, but there wasn’t one. I understood why a moment later when he reached out and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking me back against him. At that instant, I knew two things. He was a lot bigger than me, and he meant me harm.

Before I could process anything else, he slammed my face against the metal grate on the bridge. The wind shot out of my chest on a sharp exhalation, and I struggled to breathe as he did it again, hitting my head so hard I crumpled onto the concrete in a heap.

My aggressor was a blur, a distorted face that might be familiar, but I couldn’t tell. Evil always looked the same. I tried to curl into myself, but he stomped his foot against my knees until my hold gave out. When my body fell back open, he rolled me onto my back and kneeled onto my chest, crushing me with his weight. Just like when I was a little girl.

Tears sprang to my eyes, and I hated myself for being weak as I shook my head and pleaded with him. But I had nothing else. I couldn’t save myself in this situation. I couldn’t do anything but try to appeal to the humanity I knew didn’t exist.

He proved it in the next second when he finally moved his knee and allowed me to drag in a breath, only to slap me across the face so hard blackness seeped into my vision. I tried to focus, and I tried to punch and kick, but my body was weak and sluggish. In my mind, I thought I was fighting back, but I realized after a while that they were only small indistinguishable movements. I was losing the fight rapidly.

Another slap. And then another. They kept coming, and I could feel my head flopping from side to side, unable to deflect them. My consciousness seemed to be coming and going, and I was only getting bits and pieces of what was happening as he started to unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans.

That was when I resorted to the only defense I had left. We weren’t too far from the Strip. Someone had to be close by. I gathered all the strength I could manage and screamed until it felt like my throat was bloody.

“Stupid bitch.” A large hand wrapped around my neck and squeezed. The only thing I could see was a pair of dark eyes looking back at me as he spat in my face. “You fucking ruin everything.”

He slammed his palm against my chest and clambered to his feet, disappearing from my vision. The only thing that remained was a familiar note of black licorice from his clothing that made me want to vomit. Hurried footsteps approached from farther down the ramp, and I could only hope it wasn’t another monster lurking around the corner. But when I looked up and saw two frightened girls staring back at me, I’d never been so relieved in my life.

One held a can of pepper spray in the direction my attacker had fled while the other fumbled with the phone in her hand. She was on the verge of calling the cops when I shook my head.

“Please, no police. Just help me up. Get me to the Strip. That’s all I need.”

They both froze and looked at each other. It was obvious they didn’t want to listen to me. I probably looked about as good as I currently felt right now, but after a quiet moment of debate, they did as I asked. Helping me up, they balanced my noodle of a body between them as they walked me the remaining distance. I could barely move my arms when they found a place to prop me as I requested.

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