It was on a Saturday evening; Wendell and Jessica were watching movies at Wendell’s house. An hour before midnight, Wendell decided to take Jessica home. She walked out first and stood at the gate waiting for Wendell. The wind blew softly and Jessica felt it penetrate her skin, deep into her bones. She called out to Wendell telling him to hurry. She just wanted him to hug her and fill her with bodily warmth.

She stood there wondering why Wendell was taking so long. She knew which path they were going to take – it was the safest. When Wendell finally came out, she was relieved. He took her hand and they stepped out of the yard. When Wendell chose which road they would take, Jessica didn’t tell him that she didn’t feel safe taking that road. She kept her fears to herself and walked on, hoping she could get home in her bed.

They walked on. The streets were quite. The cold wind blew the bushes on their right side. The two walked on, speaking softly and giggling. They were clearly in love with each other; all that mattered in the world at that moment was the two of them. They were so focused on each other that they didn’t notice the evil eyes that followed them in the dark.
They were two blocks away from their destination, when a group of rowdy drunkards pounced on them, with knives.

They demanded that the two give them all their valuables. Wendell gave everything he had with the hope that the drunkards would leave them in peace. However, Jessica was stubborn and refused to cooperate, that’s how she always was when she is scared; she never cooperated.

A car travelling at high speeds appeared. Wendell made desperate attempts to make the driver stop and help them but the car passed. The five drunkards had already run away. This gave Jessica and Wendell a chance to escape.
Wendell ran ahead of Jessica and she followed behind him. She was scared and her feet were failing her, she couldn’t run fast. She felt a hand grab her hoodie, she felt like screaming but her voice wouldn’t come out.

“Where do you think you going smart lady? We’re not done with you,” the guy said. His breath smelled like a tavern. Jessica pushed him away. He almost fell but his grip on Jessica was tight and he used her to balance. Jessica kicked him and used her hands to make him let go. She fought with all the strength in her bones; she didn’t even notice she was being stabbed. She felt weak and struggled breathing, but she fought on. Thoughts of her being raped invaded her mind and she fought even harder.

“Oh! Lord, please don’t let me get raped. Please Lord,” she said as she inserted her fingers in his eyes. She fought hard kicking and screaming. They overpowered her and pressed her face to the ground. She cried silently, as she felt helpless and overpowered. They picked her up and moved towards the bushes, as she noticed this, her screams got worse.
She prepared for the worst but still hoped she won’t be raped. As she felt them put her on the ground and run away, she didn’t know whether she was crying from the pain or she was crying tears of joy, but she cried…

After a while Jessica got up and ran home as fast as she could. When she got home she almost banged the door off the hinges. Her mother was angry and she was shouting from the room, “Who the hell is there?” When she opened the door, Jessica exhaustedly fell on the kitchen floor. She looked really dirty. She took a deep breath; like it was her last and burst out in tears. Her mother was shocked. She leaned down and tried to calm Jessica down.

“It hurts,” Jessica screamed when her mother touched her. It was only then that she realised that she was bleeding. She was stabbed in her back and chess. She quickly undressed her ran to the bathroom to get the first aid kit. She gave her some pain killers attended to the minor wounds.

After a couple of hours, Wendell’s family came to look for him at Jessica’s house. They thought both kids were missing and had come to ask. Jessica’s mom told them that Jessica was sleeping and she so eager to find out what had happened to Wendell. She hadn’t heard the story from Jessica yet, so she went and woke her up.

Jessica told them what had happened. Still very traumatised, she recounted each detail in tears. Now the question on everyone’s mind was: where was Wendell? As they were still trying to think of ways and ideas of how to look for him, the police knocked on the door.

Wendell, it turned out, had run to the police station and had reported what had happened. He then drove around with the police to look for the drunken boys, as they thought they had abducted Jessica. The two embraced, happy to see each other and grateful that they were both fine. Wendell felt guilty that he left Jessica behind. He defended his behaviour by proclaiming that he went to look for help.

[The end]