"No! Let me go, you jerk!"
She screamed helplessly as she tried to wriggle free from his grasp, but he was too strong. The man towered over her and the girl was fully engulfed by his shadow. Only bits of light scattered in from the broken lamps in the street behind them. From the small gaps between the men, the girl could barely see the blurred cars speeding past the entrance of the dark alley; like looking up from the bottom of a well.
His friends watched on the sides, laughing loudly at the girl's desperate struggles and the man's expressions from her occasional strikes at his face. They shouted sarcastic remarks, cheered and hollered at the scene in front of them as if it were a movie; though they were slightly more impatient as they waited their turn on the victim.
The girl screamed in pain as tears and sweat streamed down her face. Her frail small body couldn't handle the torture much longer. She pleaded for the man to stop, but he only felt his pleasure and had no sympathy for the girl.
To them, she was simply one of their many victims; she was just a tool for their pleasure. Her screams and struggles were all just part of the routine.
Her tears blurred her vision and the sweat stung her eyes, but she just saw a figure passing by the alley. She wanted to scream for help, but she was already tired and out of breath from resisting the man. For a second, she thought she saw the passerby glance a moment in their direction, but he quickly shuffled past the alley, as if to avoid conflict or if it was too much of a bother to effect his busy life.
The girl felt more and more hopeless as the figure disappeared from her vision. She squeezed her eyes shut and the tears that had collected in her eyes, overflowed down her face again, lining the tear stains already there from what seemed like an eternity of pain.
She wanted to keep her eyes open and not give up resisting, but her energy was quickly depleting. The pain soon turned to numbness and the little bit of light left in her vision, slowly faded to black. The sound of her own sobbing and the hollering of the men surrounding her became distant.
"Argh! What the hell?"
"Get it off me!"
Then it was silent.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The girl woke up to complete silence other than what sounded like an animal panting near her face. She blinked slowly and some light came into her vision. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she could only stare at what she saw before her.
The men were gone. In their place, a wildcat stood in front of her. It was the size of a large grizzly bear, but with slender yet muscular features. The wildcat was facing the opening of the alleyway as if standing guard of its territory.
It seemed to sense the girl's sped up pulse of her coming to consciousness. The wildcat unfroze itself from its elegant statue-like position and spun around to face her. It lingered over, coming closer and closer to the girl.
It paced back and forth slowly, examining the girl, as if pondering what to do with her. Then, it spoke.
You shouldn't be here.
"What? Who was that?" The girl looked around, but the voice seemed to have come from her head.
Can you stand? Get home quickly. I can't stay with you.
The girl looked back at the wildcat, eyes wide open in shock. It couldn't have been the animal, it wasn't even moving its mouth. Yet, she could hear a voice in her head and the wildcat was still standing in front of her, as if waiting for a reply.
"That wasn't...you, right?"
Yes, it was. Now, try to get up. I'm getting impatient, I can't stay for much longer.
But she kept staring, not believing what was happening. The wildcat seemed to sigh in annoyance and nudged the girl's leg.
Finally, the girl pressed her hands to the ground and pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled a bit, but could stand and limped a few steps forward. The wildcat acknowledged this small physical ability.
When you get home, contact the police right away. And don't shower away the evidence.
"Wait, but those men... How did you..?"
I WAS NEVER HERE!
Its voice boomed in the girl's head.
Suddenly, it bolted down the back of the alleys and disappeared into the darkness. The girl wanted to ask the wildcat more questions; What was it? How did it speak? Why did it save her? She wanted to chase after it, but she was in too much shock to go anywhere but home. The girl had no choice but to keep quiet about the wildcat to avoid being labelled insane. Only a trail of bloody pawprints were left behind.
(A.N. This is inspired by the story Silent Heroes: Wildcat by unbrokenworld on Wattpad. I just wanted to practice my writing, so I guess this piece doesn't really belong to me because of the wildcat character...)
