Suddenly the sound of a bullet escaping its shell resounded into the night air, and I felt a sufficient amount of weight released on top of me. As I felt warm liquid trickle down my sides I kept my eyes closed tightly, hearing the man above my head stand up quickly.

Now that my hands were free I hurriedly pushed the dead weight on top of me onto the ground and backed up as fast as I could, not caring if I ran into one of the horrifying men. Eyes wide in terror I felt my back hit the front of an ice cold dumpster, and saw chaos unfold before me. The shadow aimed what I now knew was a gun at the man who had held my arms before and I saw for only a moment the man's burly silhouette hide the shadow, then the shadow reappeared as the man was blown apart in front of me. Blood covered the ground I was only moments ago laying on, and as I stared in horror at the red pavement I glanced down at my body and saw with revulsion I too was covered in blood. As I looked up again I saw the shadow blast two of the men on the sides into oblivion, then stop as he aimed at the next man.

'I'll give you till the count of three to run,'� The shadow spoke in a soft yet firm voice as I heard the cocking of a gun. 'One,'� The men looked nervously at each other, then at their fallen comrades. 'Two,'� I felt myself tense instinctively again, preparing myself for an addition to the worst night of my young life. 'Three.'� The gun's discharge filled the night air and I saw one of the men crumple to the ground, blood pouring out of his smashed skull. As the shadow aimed at another one of the men I heard a grizzled voice say, 'Fine! Leave the rest of us be you've made your point.'� I saw the man look at me with fire in his eyes, then walk into the darkness of the alley.

The shadow lowered the gun and put it back in his jacket, then looked over to me. 'Are you alright?'� He said in a kinder tone. I couldn't even hope to be able to give a response to him, all I could do was lower my head into my hands and begin to sob uncontrollably. 'There there,'� He said as I heard the click of steel toed boots coming towards me, then the soft brush of his hand on my shoulder as he kneeled beside me, 'I took care of those creeps they're gone now, no one's going to hurt you.'�

I kept crying pitifully as I replayed the moment I had felt the man on top of me collapse when the life had been forced out of him. I heard the sound of moving cloth and felt a warm coat being spread across my bare shoulders and heard the man sigh. It was all just too much for one night.

'I..I..'� I stuttered, trying to speak my gratitude to this complete stranger for saving both my life and my virginity. 'Shh,'� he whispered as he extended one of his sculpted arms over my shoulders, 'it's alright there's no need to speak, all I need to know is if you're ok.'� I gave him a jerky nod, still trying to keep my trembling to a minimum. He hugged closer to me, sending warm chills down my spine and I was even more grateful to him for saving me from the scum of the streets.

'Thank you.'� I muttered as my shivering began to fade away. 'You're welcome.'� He laughed, giving me a wide grin. I looked across the crimson alley way to where my battered clothes lay, a shredded heap next to one of the men's corpses. I felt the shudder begin to return as I closed my eyes in an attempt to block out the image of so much carnage, so much life taken away. 'Hey,'� I heard his voice say softly next to me, 'don't get discouraged, don't think about what just happened.'� Almost as if he wished to add an after thought he asked, 'What's your name?'�

To be continued...

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