Chapter 25: A woman with dwindling patience.
"That's just a lie," she hissed, her voice vibrating against my back.
The initial shock of hearing her name had passed, hardening back into suspicion.
"The fact that you know my name makes you even more dangerous. It means you've done your homework. Stalker."
"Oh, geez!" I managed to choke out, the pressure on my chest making it hard to breathe, let alone speak convincingly.
"Are you really this paranoid? Look at this!" I gave another futile wiggle, emphasizing the utter disparity in our positions. "You basically captured me with the ease of a cop grabbing a purse-snatcher. I am, at best, a mildly irritating bug to you. No matter how you phrase it."
" Do you really think letting me stand on my own two feet, out in the open, in a public alley, would endanger you in the slightest? I'd be more worried about you endangering me!"
"Stop trying to get into my head," she snapped, but her grip loosened a fraction, just enough for me to draw a slightly deeper breath. "You're just another creep, for all I know , you're some kind of pervert trying to have your way with me. I've met your type before."
"Pervert?!" I sputtered, the accusation so ludicrous given our current circumstances, not to mention that I found her words highly offensive that genuine indignation broke through my fear.
My eyes, wide and disbelieving, stared at the grimy brick wall in front of me. "What kind of pervert has a death wish? What kind of pervert would go after a washboard?!"
i didn't know what came over me but before I knew it, my mouth had already gotten a mind of its own.
"Have you felt your own chest? My neck is practically developing permanent pains from being pressed against it. It's like hugging a bag of concrete. What kind of idiot would chase after someone with these... Better yet, I should even say someone without, because it's clear you barely have any."
"Why, you—!" Her voice shot up an octave, pure, scalding fury replacing the cold threat.
Only then did my mouth shut up. I panicked as the arm around my chest became a crushing vice, and the hand near my throat shifted, fingers digging into the side of my neck with so much force that I feared she would actually be able to rip my head off it's shoulders.
Black spots danced at the edge of my vision. I had seriously miscalculated.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" I gurgled, tapping her arm frantically in a universal gesture of surrender.
"Let's not do something we'll both regret! I'm not a cop, I'm not a stalker and i'm not a pervert! I promise, I'm just here to help you! That's all! Just let me go so we can talk this out like civilized people."
"Help me?" she whispered, the words a frosty puff of air against my ear. The pressure didn't increase, but it didn't lessen either. "Why should I believe a single word from an asshole like you?"
My mind hurried to think of something to say.
' Wait a minute.' Something's suddenly clicked in my head.
' The panel said 'Hurt and worried.' Not 'Murdery super-soldier.' The hurt is the key.yo getting me out of this.'
"Because I know!" I blurted out, the words torn from me by desperation and lack of air. I raised my voice as much as I could, trying to inject raw, undeniable sincerity into my strangled tone. It was a last-ditch, all-or-nothing gamble. "I know you've been hurt! Badly! And I know you're carrying it around with you ever since, and you think everyone who gets close is just trying to twist it!"
The words hung in the damp, foul air of the alley.
For three terrifying heartbeats, nothing happened. Then, like a switch flipping, the implacable strength vanished. Her arms unlocked. The pressure on my neck disappeared.
' I made the right bet!'
I stumbled forward, free, my legs buckling. I caught myself against the slimy alley wall, my hands scraping on rough brick as I gasped in huge, ragged lungfuls of air that tasted of garbage and freedom but I didn't mind because it meant I wasn't dead... Well yet anyway.
"Thank you..." I wheezed, the words barely audible between coughs. I stayed hunched over, hands on my knees, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Every instinct screamed to run, to put as much distance as possible between me and this tiny, terrifying force of nature.
"Don't thank me yet." Her voice came from behind me, still cold, but the lethal edge was gone, replaced by a wary, simmering curiosity. To think she'd already taken up a position at the alleys entrance.
"First, I want to know how you know that. How you know my name. How on earth do you even know so much about me."
I slowly, carefully, straightened up. My neck ached and my ribs felt bruised. Turning around, I saw her properly for the first time since the ambush. She stood a few feet away, her arms crossed over her chest, not in a defensive gesture, but in a way I bet she thought made her look intimidating.
Her cute, round face was set in an expression of icy skepticism, her dark eyes boring into me, missing nothing. The 'Hurt, worried' girl from the panel was definitely hidden behind this formidable, prickly facade. That I knew for sure, But she was listening.
In other to have a chance at completing this mission, I had to get to her vulnerable side first.
"Of course. Of course," I said, holding up my hands in a placating gesture. I took a deliberate, slow breath, trying to project calm I didn't feel. "But... let's not do this here." I gestured around at the overflowing dumpsters, the stained concrete, the general ambiance of urban decay.
"It's... demeaning. To have a conversation with such a pretty g
irl in a place that smells so repulsive" I attempted a weak, conciliatory smile.