Chapter Four

The girl was pale in the silvery moonlight that illuminated her chalky white and sharp angular face. She had a rounded jaw that ended with a pointed chin. She towered over Shira, her black eyes searing into Shira’s flesh as she stared down at her. Her eyes had a certain hunger, a wildness and a craving to them.

 

A paralysing sensation began to spread through Shira’s body, coating her limbs and slowly sapping every muscle of its energy and feeling. Shira’s teeth chattered as she trembled from head to toe, her mind the only element that the fear hadn’t yet poisoned. It was almost as if a barrier had been set up between her mind and her voice box. She could neither scream or cry out for help, nor could she move as the girl’s hands shot out and grabbed her wrists, yanking her closer to her face.

 

“Give. Me. Your. Money.” the girl hissed, her lips curled back into a hideous snarl and her breath hot upon Shira’s cheeks.

 

Let me go! Shira wanted to scream. Let me go or I’ll kill you! I’ll rip you to goddamn shreds!

 

Terror pulsed through Shira’s mind as her mouth opened and closed. Her voice only came in pathetic choking sounds, the only sounds that her paralysed voice box could muster. The girl’s iron grips upon Shira’s wrists dug into her skin, sharp and agonising as Shira’s struggles weakened with each passing second.

 

“I said,” the girl yanked Shira closer, almost sending her flying through the air from the force. The girl’s nose was millimetres from the tip of Shira’s nose. “Give me your money.”

 

Shira felt a heat between her legs begin and a feeling of moisture spread through her shorts, darkening the already grey and loose material and making it cling to her skin. It hadn’t occurred to Shira that she had wet herself.

 

The girl shook Shira violently, enough to send Shira’s cap tumbling to the floor where it lay, abandoned and lonely on the pavement.

 

Someone…

 

Darkness had begun to eat away at the edges of Shira’s vision, threatening to engulf her and send her to sleep, to a land where danger no longer existed.

 

Someone help me…

 

“Give me your money.” The girl repeated, spraying flecks of spittle onto Shira’s cheeks.

 

For a few moments, Shira stared up at the girl with widened eyes, meeting her gaze. The noises of cars in the distance seemed to fade and dissolve until their breathing were the only sounds: Shira’s short and ragged gasps and the girl’s hisses.

 

The girl’s eyes suddenly flashed and the illusion was shattered, smashing Shira into reality once more and returning all sounds to the world. The girl let go of one of Shira’s wrists and curled it into a fist and slowly raised it above her head, readying for a punch.

 

Something inside Shira snapped.

 

Shira watched the girl’s eyes widen with surprise and her mouth drop open as Shira deflected the blow with graceful and practised movement.

 

How..?

 

The girl’s exposed side and unbalanced movements were an opportunity for Shira to make her next move �" an opportunity that she could not afford to waste. With her free hand, Shira grabbed the flailing girl’s unoccupied wrist and yanked her in. The girl released Shira’s other hand in an attempt to regain her balance.

 

How am I doing this?

 

Shira reached underneath the girl’s arm with one arm, twisting her body so that she stood directly in front of her, her tiny hips pressed against the girl’s pelvis. With her other free arm, Shira gripped the girl’s arm across her chest and bent her knees, lifting the girl off the ground. She could hear the girl screaming hysterically, her voice lined with a newfound terror that she had never experienced before.

 

Shira threw the girl.

 

The girl landed with a sickening crunch upon the ground in a crumpled heap, her cries coming to a sudden halt as the force of the throw knocked her out. For a few moments, Shira stood where she was, her muscles paralysed with fear as she stared at the girl.

 

Did I..?

 

The blackness surrounding Shira’s vision pulsated and the sounds seemed to grow faint as Shira slowly looked down at her hands.

 

Did I do this?

 

Shira’s gasps and the rushing of blood in her ears were the only sounds she could hear. The world around her swirled, threatening to swallow her whole in its diminishing colours.

 

How did I know those moves?

 

The sudden clap of thunder and the pitter patter of rain snapped Shira back into reality.

 

I have to get out of here.

 

Glancing around her and feeling relief pour through her body as she realised no one had witnessed the scene, Shira began to slowly back away from the unconscious girl. She swept her flat cap up from the ground before she turned and ran towards the busy road, her throat burning and her heart beating painfully against her ribcage. To safety.