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Rain plopped heavily into the puddles breaking up the reflection of the neon lights in the distance. The streetlamp overhead flickered a few times until it finally went out. The air was heavy with the smell of the alley as you stood watching just around the corner. Your fingers clicked the volume down on your radio as footsteps started moving closer. Deeper back into the shadows you moved until they melted around you. Your breath hitched in your chest as your target moved into the opening of the alley. A hoarse whisper that you shouldn’t have been able to hear, but yet you could, “You think you are targeting me? What makes you think I’m not targeting you?”
Your hand slid behind your back to the knife hidden there while you tried to pull the shadows around you until only your eyes were shown. With miniscule movements you crouched low until you were eye level with his knees. Worn boots splashed into the puddle breaking up the lights of the dystopian city. Each step was one step closer to you and still he spoke in that same gruff whisper. “I know you’re there little hero; an avenging guardian that thinks they are stronger than anyone else. I know you. You are not as innocent as you think you are.”
He stopped just out of range of your reach and reached one hand down. Leather encased the skin that would have caught the reflection of the moon. How had he known you were here? “C’mon little guardian, take the hand I’m offering. Let me show you what the supposed heroes do.”
Time ticked by in a breath; drops of rain started falling down leaking down your back to the hollow between your shoulders. With scant movement you rose from your crouch and met his eyes. The pale colour looked luminous in the late night as if he could see through you like a pane of glass. In the space of moments between a breath and a blink he had your hands raised above your body and pressed into the concrete building behind you.
Your voice finally broke the harsh breath and drops of rain with a calmness that was obviously put on. “If I’m not a guardian, does that make you one?”
A bitter laugh broke the silence that the rain hid within its confines. “Oh sweetheart, I never said I would protect you. You should know that by now.”
His lips traced your jawline while the hand grasping your wrists ground the bones together until you winced away from his touch. Teeth dug into your lip trying to hold back the whimper of pain. It would not be good to appear weak now. floated through your head in a fleeting thought. Sudden movement caught you frozen in his stare. “I never expected you to protect me; just not kill me.”
Once more the bitter laugh filled the damp air. “Oh honey if you think I’ve been kind so far, I’ll have to show you just how kind I can be.”
A clash of teeth and lips came together as he forced the kiss on you. His whisper against your lips shattered your heart to the floor, “I’ve been way too gentle on you already.”
A metallic taste coated your tongue. At some point someone’s lips had split under the kiss. His hands ground your wrists again as he swallowed down the whimper you gave him. “I won’t make that mistake again.” He turned, presenting you the target of his back and walked away. Over his shoulder he called back “Keep trying to be good sweetheart. This city will tear you apart and one day you’ll come to realise that good is only a pipe dream.”