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Authors: Lily Zante
An Unexpected Gift
An
Unexpected Gift
By Lily Zante
PUBLISHED BY:
Lily Zante
All
rights reserved.
No
part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means,
electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and
publisher of this book.
The
scanning, uploading and distribution of this book through the internet or any
other means without the prior written consent of the author is illegal and is
punishable by law.
This
is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product
of the author's imagination or used fictitiously and do not bear any
resemblance to any real person, alive or dead.
Copyright © 2012
Table of Contents
By Lily Zante
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If
she ran now, he would know that she knew.
And she didn’t want him to know
that she was scared
, or that she knew.
Her breath, fast and
shallow, sent out silvery white puffs of air into the still and silent night.
Caitlin’s heart beat louder still. She quickened her footsteps, almost breaking
out into a semi run.
She
cursed the high heeled boots she had on; running wasn’t an option. She glanced
to her side and in her periphery she saw the lone figure behind her.
I wish I hadn’t drunk
so much.
Why
hadn’t she left the restaurant earlier or got a cab home or an earlier train?
The three glasses of wine were clouding her judgment. She had to put as much
distance between herself and the hooded man behind her. Fast. The December
night frost sobered her slightly. She wasn’t drunk, but her senses weren’t as
sharp as she needed them to be. Not if she wanted to outwit the silent figure
on her tail.
She
walked as fast as her legs could manage and got out her phone. Trying to
concentrate, and walk, without dropping the phone or tripping in her high
heels, was not easy. Especially since her heart was pumping faster than she had
ever known and her hands were shaking.
She
speed dialed Kerrie’s number, her fingers struggling to hit the right keys.
Kerrie would be at home waiting for her. Caitlin heard the ringing.
Pick up,
please pick up!
And Kerrie did. But just then a strong, rough hand,
almost the size of her face, barricaded her mouth. She immediately went into
lock down, knowing it was too late. Then, fighting to breathe, Caitlin's gloved
hands shot up towards her mouth as she tried to prise the attacker’s hands off
her mouth.
He
spun her around roughly, for a moment loosening his grip on her mouth and
grabbed her by the shoulders instead. She gasped for air and found herself face
to face with a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt. In the dark of the night she
didn’t get a good look at his face clearly but saw enough of his features to
know that she didn’t know him. Panicked and fearful, she looked into his eyes
and kicked him in the groin, surprising even herself. He buckled back in agony
and she felt her own legs buckle and her mouth go dry. In the split second that
he bent double, she turned around and ran, screaming as loudly as she could.
Then she stumbled on her right foot but managed to steady herself in time,
running wildly as fast as she could.
It
was way past midnight and the streets were empty.
If only she had hailed
that black cab
. This was the only thought that came to her. The walk home
wasn’t long and the road was busy. London never slept, especially around Tower Bridge. But this small stretch of road was always the quietest and she had taken a
chance on it today. Unlucky.
She
staggered around, trying to get her bearings and get away but she didn’t feel
in control of her body. It felt as though she had floated out of it and was
looking on as an observer; she heard her own gasping and breathing, as though
it was someone else. She didn’t get very far before he grabbed her roughly from
her waist this time, throwing her down backwards and landing on top of her.
That’s
when she screamed in terror. A loud, gut wrenching, primal scream, because she
was terrified at the thought of what might be next. He had pinned her down but
she still had her house keys clasped tightly in one hand, just as Kerrie had
taught her, with the long end sticking out, like a dagger. As she struggled to
break free, he punched her hard across the face so that her head slammed
backwards. Her face red and raw from his slap, stung sharply. She felt the
anger rising within her, like a jet stream of lava bubbling up from her
stomach. Raising her right arm swiftly she jabbed him hard across the cheek.
His animal shriek confirmed she’d got the right target. As he rolled off her,
holding the side of his face in his hands, she scurried backwards, throwing her
handbag at him.
Take what you want.
Quickly
raising herself up, she tried to find the right direction to run in. She felt
paralyzed and heard herself screaming again at the top of her voice.
Why was
nobody coming?
In
the precious few moments that her attacker fumbled around with her handbag,
Caitlin managed to run a short distance. Then she heard a thump of what must
have been her bag falling to the ground followed by thick, heavy footsteps coming
towards her.
Now she felt weak and
empty knowing that it was only a matter of time. This time he grabbed her hair roughly
from behind and she could feel his fury.
“No!
Help me! Someone please, HELP!” she screamed as he yanked her hair so hard that
she stumbled and fell backwards. He dragged her brutally across the hard
ground.
Where
are you taking me?
she wondered
in terror.
Unable
to see a way out and knowing she could not run, Caitlin screamed as loud as her
lungs would physically let her.
In
the distance she heard the loud roar of a car and stared up to see it heading
her way. The car’s headlights flooded the once dark street with an angry glare
of light and she heard a door open. The grip on her hair loosened and she
recoiled in horror as a tall figure got out and looked at her.
When
he stepped in front of the headlights, blocking the bright light for a few
seconds, Caitlin saw the head of blond hair and instinctively shrank back in
fear.
He
had her now. She would not survive this, was the first thought that came to her
mind.
“What
are you doing?” he asked, looking beyond her.
It
wasn’t him. Caitlin let out a small breath, thankful that it wasn’t him.
She
heard the soft sound of running footsteps and turned to see her attacker
getting away. The blond man sprinted after him.
She
crawled onto all fours, not having the energy to get back up and watched as the
blond man caught up with the attacker. He drew his arm back and then let rip
with an almighty punch to her attacker’s jaw, sending him reeling back onto the
ground. She kept away as the two men fought viciously and hunted around for her
handbag, almost invisible in the enveloping darkness. She dialed 999 and in a
faltering whisper, told them she had been attacked, giving them her exact
location.
As
she turned around she saw her attacker land a hefty punch to the blond man's
ribs knocking him to the ground. As he lay motionless on his back, her attacker
kicked him ferociously over and over again, until he lay lifeless on the
pavement. Then he looked over at Caitlin, who lay hunched on the ground
clutching her mobile phone. She saw that he was starting to walk towards her
and she froze, knowing that this time his wrath would be unstoppable.
Covering
her face with her hands, she cowered helplessly on the floor, expecting the
worst. But just before he threw down his fist to unleash his anger for the last
time, a hefty punch to his neck from behind sent the attacker flying to the
side where he doubled up in pain.
The
comforting wail of police sirens in the distance signaled the end of a violent
night for Caitlin. And as he stumbled towards her, the tall blond man fell to
his knees and collapsed onto the damp, hard ground.
The
attacker threw Caitlin one last threatening look before he slithered away into
the dark shadows.
Summoning
up the energy to get onto her knees, Caitlin bent over to look at the man who
had probably just saved her life. His face was covered with blood that
continued to spew out of his nose and he had a deep cut just above his left
eye. With his head tilted back, the blood ran into his short blond hair,
causing thin lines of blood to mingle and congeal. Caitlin looked at his blond
hair and remembered how scared she had been.
But
she was safe now. He had saved her.
"Hey,"
said Caitlin, gently touching his chin, the only part of his face that was free
from blood. “Wake up." She felt for his pulse and sighed with relief
that he was still alive, though his eyes were closed.
I
hope you’re okay because you just saved my life
. She had forgotten about her own injuries and
that her face was also covered in blood.
"Miss?
Don’t worry, you're safe now." Startled, she turned to see a policeman
staring down at her. He bent over the unconscious figure on the floor and
waited anxiously for the paramedics to come over from the ambulance that had
just pulled up beside them.
Caitlin
stayed on the floor, holding the stranger’s hand. She didn't know him but she
wanted to be there for him, just as he had been for her. Caring for the injured
man distracted her mind from the trauma she had just been through. She watched
as the paramedics tended to him. The two police officers came up to her then
and started questioning her.
Beginning
to shiver, Caitlin told the two police officers as much as she could.
"And
you didn't get a look at his face?" asked the older police officer as the
younger one got a blanket from the paramedics and placed it around Caitlin’s
shoulders.
"Just
a bit, he wore a hoodie. He had bright green eyes but that’s all I saw, not
much else."