done (open)

[alice]

Alice stood in front of her workplace, Dark Temptations, sighing slightly. The past few months had been rather difficult, coping with the murder of some of her close friends and the betrayal of others. Alice had come to the conclusion that she couldn't work in the club anymore. She needed to finish school, then she could go audition for things, maybe become a dance or vocal coach. Her goals had to be set higher, her standards needed improving. Dark Temptations was to be a thing of her past, something that she didn't want to continue. It just wasn't for her, all the lying.

Breathing deeply, Alice pushed open the doors and made her way inside. She felt eyes stick to her, all of which she ignored. Pulling her cardigan closer to her body, she made her way to where the owner was standing. "Alice, darling! You're not scheduled for tonight, what's going on?" Alice smiled awkwardly. "Well, actually... I've come to collect my things and my paycheck. I have to leave," she stated firmly. The owner looked at her, smile fading. "I see," he replied.

"It's nothing personal, sir," she continued quickly, not wanting to offend him. "I just... I need to move on." The owner was silent, processing the information. Alice reached forward to shake his hand. As she went to pull away, however, his hand tightened. "No, darling. Come on, I'll take you to my office. We'll get your things together. I want to... see you off." Alice nodded, and allowed her former employer to lead her by the hand to his office upstairs.

Alice was ushered in and sat down, waiting for the man to reach into his desk and hand her the money. Instead, she heard the bolt locking. Fear set in as the much larger man advanced on her. "No one quits. You're my girl, remember?" he asked, eyes bloodshot. Alice stood, backing away. "My girl. And disobedience isn't taken lightly. You were my favorite too..."

Alice made a dash for the door, only to be grabbed by the waist and flung to the ground. She cried out in pain, and felt something crunch. Her wand. The man heard it too, and he reached into her boot, pulling the snapped thing out. "A stick in your boot. A weapon... you were gonna kill me!" he screamed, towering over her. Alice backed away, tears streaming down her face. "No, I wasn't! Please, let me go!" she cried. The man grabbed her by her hair, hoisting her to her feet and shoving her against his desk.

"Fine," he hissed, hands fumbling around her body and groping whatever part he could find. "You can leave. But not after I've gotten my payment..." Alice screamed as she was shoved over the table, and the nightmare began.

-Some Time Later-

"And stay out, you filthy whore!"

Alice landed on the ground, broken, bloody, and alone. Her things landed in front of her in a heap, the envelope containing her last check covered in dirt. Alice sat there, tears streaming down her face, clothing in a disarray. The money didn't matter anymore. Nothing did.

Alice's Outfit

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Isaiah meandered through the streets, hands in the pockets of his jeans, it was a nice day out, the sun was shining, and it was warm, though they were getting close to the days that would bring the damn near intolerable summer heat. He couldn't help but chew on his tongue, the boy needed a cigarette, problem was, he didn't have a single one left. Covering that month's rent had completely cleaned out his bank account, and his next paycheck was going to be dedicated to food, there simply wasn't enough money for his vice. Luckily, Luke was still in school, so his half-brother at least didn't have to go hungry, whereas Isaiah had eaten Ramen for a week.

So he had taken to walking, more like fervent striding, to distract from the fact that he had no money whatsoever, and was dying to have a proper meal and a pack of cigarettes. He honestly didn't know where all the money had gone this time, it wasn't like he ever bought much of anything... Though Isaiah had only been needing to pay rent for the past six months, and for the last few weeks he'd gotten less hours than usual... He'd have to talk to his boss, increase his availability. Isaiah didn't want to try and juggle two jobs, the one he had worked well enough...

Isaiah thought vaguely on the books that he had written, their manuscripts locked away in the trunk that had used to hold his school things- he had eleven of them, was working on a twelfth, maybe if he got just one of them published, even if it didn't perform well, at the very least it might mean a little extra cash in his pocket. Cash that could very well be used. Isaiah had honestly never thought of writing for a career, hence why he hadn't sought employment at The Daily Prophet or something of the like, it seemed to him that writing news articles would suck the soul out of his writing...

"And stay out, you filthy whore!"

The harsh words jerked Isaiah out of his thoughts, gazing down the alley just a short ways to witness a young woman get thrown out of a building, her possessions tossed after her. Intuition alone told him that something was amiss, and being the helpful, socially unafraid person that he was, Isaiah approached where she was on the ground, unable to not notice her tears, how everything about her person was in some form of disarray. Something had obviously happened, and he sure as hell couldn't just leave her there.

Isaiah crouched in front of her, his sudden concern about a stranger making him, for the most part, forget about his nicotine withdrawal. "Are you all right?" asked Isaiah, even in his head it sounded like a dumb question, though it was only a natural response that someone might say, it had come out of his mouth before he had even thought about it.

[alice]

Alice stared blankly in front of her, staring at a spot on the side of the building. It was painted black, for whatever reason. A patch of the brick painted black. It seemed somewhat morbidly appropriate, given the situation. She was then becoming aware of the pain she was in. Everything hurt. The man had tossed her petite frame around like a rag doll, a disposable toy. That's what she was, wasn't she? Something to be thrown out like yesterday's garbage. That's just what had happened. It's just what she deserved, a filthy, lying, cheating woman like her.

Alice flinched ever so slightly at the sound of footsteps coming towards her. Still, her gaze kept steady with the black bricks. It became her only mental capability. Stare at the bricks. Maybe they'll help you, worthless creature, she thought to herself. It became a mantra, something she chanted on a rhythm. The footsteps drew closer, and her mind screamed her mantra at her, desperately trying to distract her. A man crouched in front of her, blocking her view of the bricks. She merely stared blankly at the space where they had been, right at this man's chest.

"Are you alright?"

Alice allowed the question to process. She half-wanted to ignore him. Her perspective on men had completely changed just as rapidly as her perspective on herself had. Maybe this man was no different than her former employer. She'd been around enough men to know that all they really wanted was a woman. Still, this man did seem awfully, genuinely concerned. Alice pondered the question, taking a lot longer to respond. Her lips parted as she attempted to speak, and... nothing. No words left her lips. Finally, she simply shook her head very slowly. Non. I'm not okay. she thought, hoping the words would come through. Nothing happened, she was silent. She pressed her lips together, eyes staring blankly at his shirt as the filled up with tears.

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Something was wrong, probably dreadfully so, Isaiah could just feel it. The way that the young woman was simply staring without really reacting to anything, the tears still streaming down her face, it wasn't normal. And upon closer inspection, she seemed young, younger than he had initially thought. Isaiah wasn't the greatest at pegging ages, but she couldn't have been more than eighteen or so. She was taking an awful long time to respond to his question, as if she were in some sort of shock. Whatever had happened, Isaiah was determined to help if he could. The nameless woman seemed so helpless, she shouldn't be left alone.

Isaiah merely watched her carefully, it seemingly took forever, but she finally opened her mouth as if to speak, though she made no sound- and what felt like an eternity later she shook her head, only confirming that his question had been more than stupid. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would be able to tell that the young woman was not all right. People didn't get thrown into alleys with their person a real mess, tears streaming down their faces, and remain perfectly fine. But what was wrong would be something else entirely to figure out, especially since the woman wasn't responsive.

Isaiah absently played with one of the piercings in his lip, moving it around a little with his tongue, something he did when he was nervous or thinking deeply. He didn't even realize that he was doing it. "What happened?" asked Isaiah, and then in thinking on how long it had taken her to shake her head, decided to add, "can you talk?" He shifted his position so he was on his knees on the ground, something told him this could take a while.

[alice]

Alice didn't move her gaze, not for a second. Fresh tears streamed down her face. Maybe it was shock. Sure, that was it. Whatever it was, those horrible moments were still replaying in her head. She must have looked like a mess. Make-up running down her face, lips swollen, throat sore, hair a mess. The heels of her boots had broken, and her wand was with the rest of her things, broken in half. Jeans torn, cardigan missing buttons. It really was sickening, but Alice wasn't concerned with it. She wanted to find her voice. That in itself was terrifying enough.

Her voice was everything. It was communication, it was a career, it was her life. Without the ability to talk, or sing, she would have nothing. Still, she couldn't find the will to talk. She wanted to scream, to yell, to at least talk to the man looking at her in the most concerned way. Without her voice, she was nothing, more of a nothing that she was now, thrown onto the street. She was a broken toy, used and tossed out when her uses ran out. She supposed it was only a matter of time before she was put in her proper place.

Maybe this was God spiting her. It made sense, in her mind. Her family was devout, a strict Catholic group, and she had turned her back on it for bigger and better things. Under age sex and drinking, becoming an exotic dancer, lying and cheating her way to get what she wanted. She was a terrible excuse for a human being. This was His way of telling her that He had turned His back on her as well, just as she had done.

"What happened? Can you talk?"

Alice saw the man shift onto his knees. Mustering up courage and plenty of strength, she managed to look up towards him. Her eyes scanned his face, looking for any betrayal. Would he hurt her too? Still, all she saw was generosity and genuine concern shown in a pale man covered in tattoos and piercings, with compassionate eyes watching her as he awaited her response. She opened her mouth, trying to speak, wanting to tell him what had happened. Yet again, she found her voice gone. She closed her lips, biting her bottom lip gently as she slowly, nearly imperceptibly shook her head.

She really was useless. She couldn't even speak. Her eyes darted to the door she had been thrown out of and she shivered, quickly looking away as more tears streamed down her face. She looked down to her lap in shame, closing her eyes. Alice wanted to crawl into a dark corner and hide. That's what the rest of the world would want her to do, after all. She was worthless.

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Isaiah continued to absently fiddle with one of the piercings in his lip, he honestly didn't know what to do about this. He was a compassionate soul, but he was no detective or anything, just a helpful soul that jumped into any and every social situation with both feet without really thinking about it. Really, he just wanted to help, but he couldn't do much if the girl wasn't talking, and didn't show any signs of wanting to start. In the books he had read, whenever people got like this the protagonist would slap them to get them to snap out of it.

Somehow to Isaiah, that didn't seem like the right answer. The girl seemed aware enough, she just wasn't making any eye contact with him, and seemed to not be able to get the words in her head to come out of her mouth. He didn't remove his gaze from her form for even a second, Isaiah felt that it was important for him to keep an eye on her, something bad had happened, and it was clearly obvious that nobody else was going to stop. He wouldn't leave someone in her state alone in an alley, it was obvious that she needed help.

Had he looked away, he might have noticed the snapped wand atop her possessions, notifying him that the young woman was a witch, though Isaiah couldn't be bothered with that. Material things were the very lowest priority at the moment. He needed to get this woman someplace safe, out of the open, and get what help he could for her. Though honestly, Isaiah was at a loss, he had no idea what to do. He supposed that he would just have to fake it until he made it, and keep a calm, level head, the one thing this situation definitely did not need was him getting panicky.

Impossibly slowly, she lifted her head, making eye contact with him for the first time. Isaiah readily held her gaze, hoping that it might snap her out of the state she was in, it was truthfully a little unnerving. He could only watch as she again gaped for words, moving her mouth like a fish trying to breathe out of water, but she didn't make a sound. Well that was troubling, he willed himself to be patient, he was feeling that surge of brotherly protection, something needed to give, and it was not going to be his patience.

After a moment, she merely shook her head. Isaiah resumed playing with his piercing, thinking deeply. He was either tending to someone who was physically mute, or had gone through severe emotional trauma. Either way, he was in a bit over his head. "Is there someone I could phone? Your mum, a friend?" Isaiah offered. He didn't have one of those fancy muggle cellular phones, but he was pretty sure he had enough pence to use a payphone.

[alice]

This man was being incredibly patient with her. Alice wasn't sure what to make of it. Men had a habit of treating her like an object, even before her former employer had attacked her. She'd only met a few decent souls in her lifetime, and this man seemed to be one of the few. Still, the fact that he was a man... she was on edge. There wasn't anything she could do about her feelings. She was forever affected, it seemed. She swallowed absently, her mouth incredibly dry. Waiting for a reply from the man seemed to take forever.

Alice didn't blame his silence. He probably wanted to leave her there, probably wanted to go back to minding his own business. There wasn't anything she could do about her condition. Her mind was fuzzy. There were times where she could think properly, and times where she wanted to die. Regardless, her voice wasn't coming back anytime soon. She allowed the tears to fall into her lap, and she couldn't help but feel filthy. After everything that had happened, she felt disgustingly dirty, ugly even. All the confidence she had gathered had been completely tossed out the window.

"Is there someone I could phone? Your mum, a friend?"

Alice pondered his question, looking up at him. Someone should get her, someone should find her. She couldn't let her parents know, she decided. Her father would thirst for blood, and she couldn't put anyone's life in danger, even if the man who'd raped her deserved it. Her mother would simply cry. Alice couldn't do that to either of her parents, couldn't put them through that kind of pain. To tell them what had happened would mean she would have to explain her lying. That simply wouldn't do.

That left a friend. All her friends were either dead or worth being dead. She thought of Rose, for a moment, then turned away from the thought. The half-breed was dead to her. That left Marcus. She had barely spoken to him in the past few months. She hadn't been very social, going about her life as usual. He knew that she was a minor, and that complicated things a bit. She still wasn't sure where they stood. Besides, he was a man. Did she really want to deal with a man at the current moment? Someone she'd slept with? Just the thought made another wave of tears start.

Alice looked up at her new companion, shaking her head once more. She felt bad, saying no to him so often. She wished that her voice would come back. Biting her lip, she reached forward, tracing her finger in the dirt. Sorry, she thought, writing the word slowly. She wiped it away with her hand, then wrote something else. Evil, she thought, writing that word, then looking towards the door. Her hand hovered above the dirt, but she didn't think she could muster up the energy to write the word that could be her salvation. Rape, she thought, her stomach churning. Sighing, she shakily wiped the second word away, tracing her finger in the dirt, managing to write the dreadful word before removing her hand and hugging herself, crying.

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Isaiah carefully switched his position, it was getting a bit painful to kneel on the hard ground with his notably bony knees. After adjusting his legs so the pressure was more evenly distributed, he continued to watch the girl across from him, as if that would suddenly give him answers. Really, all he wanted to do was help, but what that might be was beyond him. Isaiah didn't really have experience with nonverbal people, so to say that he was out of his element was a bit of an understatement. Though he was determined to do at least something, get this young lady to someone who could take care of her.

Then he might be able to rest a little easier. If only he had a cigarette, then he might be able to quiet his brain's screaming for nicotine and be able to think more clearly. Should he take her to one of those muggle people? Oh, what were they called... Police men? Those muggles were trained to deal with this sort of thing, weren't they? But Isaiah also had a problem leaving this stranger with other strangers. He would feel a lot better taking her to somebody she knew and trusted.

After waiting for what felt like another abnormally long span of time, Isaiah saw the woman shake her head again. Well, there went that plan... Abandoning fiddling with his piercing, he instead bit his lip, trying to come up with something. Though before he would have to invent a new plan, she had stretched out a forefinger and began tracing letters into the dirt- S-O-R-R-Y. He tilted his head to read it better, and nodded. It was all right. And then, using the dirt like a chalkboard, she ran her hand over the word, next spelling out "evil."

Puzzled, Isaiah's gaze followed the woman's to the door that she had been thrown out of. He looked back at her, his eyes begging for more information. She hesitated a long while before inscribing the final word. Isaiah's throat tightened, now he really didn't know what to do. He wanted to reach out and comfort the woman, but he figured that she wouldn't want him to touch her, even innocently, so he kept his hands to himself. Isaiah looked around helplessly, then he saw the wand that presumably belonged to her, snapped cleanly in two. It was no ordinary stick, he could see the dragon heart string poking out.

Making a bold move, Isaiah took out his wand from where he had had it stowed up the leg of his jeans and laid it on the ground in front of the poor thing. "I know you probably won't trust me," said Isaiah, "but at least let me take you someplace safe. I won't hurt you." As if to prove his point he nudged his wand closer to her. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to go anywhere alone with him, but there wasn't much choice, and he definitely wasn't leaving her alone in the alley.

[alice]

Alice didn't know what to do. She felt the man tense up, could feel the energy in the air get more stressed. He didn't know what to do either. She felt incredibly helpless. She continued to hold herself, eyes pressed shut as tears streamed down her cheeks. The darkness engulfed her, and she wanted nothing more than to disappear into it. Still, she knew that she couldn't do that. She needed to be strong, as strong as she could be. It was difficult to think rationally, when all she wanted to do was die.

Another thought popped into her brain. What if the man had impregnated her? That was a high possibility. The mere idea of it sent her into another crying fit. Even her body-shaking sobs were silent. The thought of having a child that belonged partly to that man... it scared her beyond belief. If she had believed her future to be ruined before, she was devastated at her fate then. If God had already spited her by letting this sort of thing happen, what else was He capable of doing? He must've really hated her. Alice didn't blame Him. She hated her too.

There was a soft movement in front of her, followed by something being pushed towards her on the ground. Alice opened her eyes, looking down to see the man pushing a wand towards her. A wand, of all things. That provided all the comfort in the world for her, regardless of this stranger's sex. She trailed her gaze up his arm, meeting his eyes. He was watching her warily, as if she were some wild animal that might scamper away at any moment. She looked down in shame.

"I know you probably won't trust me, but at least let me take you someplace safe. I won't hurt you."

Alice looked up, meeting his eyes once more. She alternated her gaze from his eyes to his wand. He was magic, and he was compassionate. Could she trust him, even though the mere thought of being in contact with a man made her cringe? Alice pondered her choices. Either she could ignore his attempt to help her and sit alone in the alleyway until a female came along - or another man, or even her former employer, for that matter- or she could go with him, accept his offer to help.

She finally detached her arms from her body, reluctantly reaching out and touching his wand, then his hand, very, very lightly. She cringed away from his touch, immediately regretting the action. It felt wrong, and only made her feel more disgusted with herself. Still, she recovered by looking up at him and nodding in acceptance of his offer.

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Isaiah still remained uncertain as to what he should do, he just hoped he was going down the right path in offering to take her somewhere. Where exactly he was going to take her was still a bit beyond him. It probably wasn't a good idea to take her to his place, he didn't want to freak her out, she was likely already unstable. His earlier police station idea still didn't sit right with him. Isaiah felt a certain responsibility after coming across the young woman, if only to allow himself to rest easier, he needed to see to it that she was all right- or at least taken someplace she'd be taken care of.

Really, his heart was breaking for her, that she had gone through something so terrible, and yet didn't seem to have anyone that she wanted to go to. Isaiah's gaze wandered momentarily to the door which he had seen the young woman get thrown out of, his dark brown eyes narrowing, almost as if in suspicion. He had half a mind to go in there and get the creep that had assaulted the nonverbal girl across from him- particularly if she had been mute to begin with, it would take a really sick person to take advantage of someone who couldn't tell anyone what had happened.

He snapped his eyes back to her, however, as she moved to take his wand, but instead her hand progressed further, going for his. Her fingertips had barely grazed the back of his knuckles before she snatched her hand back, honestly, Isaiah hadn't even expected her to even try to initiate any sort of contact after what had happened to her. But wildly, she nodded, accepting his offer. "Good, you hang on to that for now," said Isaiah, tilting his head toward his wand, he wanted to make himself vulnerable, she had his wand, she had the power, he didn't.

Granted, she'd have a hell of a time using it against him without having properly won it, but he didn't have any means with which to harm her. He carefully gathered her things, tucking them under his arm before standing. Now he really needed to come up with a plan- but what was he supposed to do with a mute victim of a sex crime? Isaiah tentatively offered his hand to help her off the ground, not sure if she would even accept it, but he would feel wrong not doing it.

[alice]

Alice felt as if she had touched fire. She knew now that the man wouldn't hurt her in the slightest, that he couldn't possibly. If he had been wanting to, he would have done so already. Besides, with this offer, she had the power. Alice was still frightened, but she knew that she had to give this man a chance. She hated it beyond belief, and her heart was thumping wildly, beating against her ribcage, but she still had to try. Without this man, she would sit there in the alleyway until some scumbag picked her up.

Alice trusted this man. He looked more like a boy than a man, and had the kindest eyes she'd ever seen before. Eyes didn't lie. She'd seen evil eyes before, eyes full of hate, full of lust. These eyes were simply kind. She had to trust him in order to be safe. Maybe this was a step in the right direction. That didn't mean she wasn't terrified of what was to come. Alice looked up at him, watching his face. He tilted his head towards his wand, looking at her compassionately, and she followed his gesture down to the elegant thing in front of her.

"Good, you hang onto that for now."

Alice looked up at him, watching for any sign of betrayal, before she slowly reached forward and plucked the wand from the ground. If only hers wouldn't have broken, if only she would have had it out and ready... She held the thing close to her, hugging it, a security blanket. She watched the man stand and gather up her things, then hold a hand out to her. She looked at it as if it were a wild animal, and she wasn't sure whether it would cuddle her or lunge for her throat.

Alice slowly reached up, taking his hand and allowing the man to help her to her feet. Her skin burned from the contact, and it made her want to pull away, but she didn't do so until after she was on her feet. She had to at least try to be self-sufficient. Maybe this man was just waiting for her to show physical weakness before he attacked her, and did the same thing that her former employer had done to her.

She pulled her hand back up, cradling the man's wand to her chest, near her wildly beating heart. It became a sense of calm, something that she knew could keep her safe. She began to shuffle forward, and took note of how badly her body ached. Still, she followed the man, wondering just where they could go where she'd be safe. Everywhere had men that could possibly hurt her. It was rare for Alice to go somewhere and find a man, Muggle or wizard, that she didn't recognize, either from school or from her nights at Dark Temptations. More than half she'd been involved with in some way. Alice's stomach twisted and she winced. She really was filthy.

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Isaiah still kept on high alert around this woman, and still wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing, having never been in a situation like this before. But he was managing to keep himself calm, which was really the important thing. If only he had some paper on him, then he might be able to get a better response from her, might be able to get a better plan. Looked like they would be going to his place after all. Though he figured if he didn't even lay a finger on her, and let her have his wand, then in might be okay.

Isaiah watched as she pondered taking his hand to help her up, and surprisingly she took it. He carefully helped her to her feet, and she was quick to snatch her hand back, and he allowed her to do so. She likely wanted the space from him. Isaiah stayed beside her as she began to slowly walk forward, but maintaining the distance that she probably wanted. He refrained from putting a hand on her shoulder or taking him by the hand, however tempting that it may be, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

With something more of a plan in mind, he figured that he ought to keep talking to the girl, keep her engaged so she wouldn't become so unresponsive again. "I don't live far from here," said Isaiah, "you don't have to go in, I'll just go up and get some paper so I can ask you a few more questions, okay?" He kept his tone level and gentle, nothing that could be interpreted as aggressive or panicky. Perhaps if he got the girl a means of communication then they might be able to figure out something that would actually be of some help to her.

Isaiah lead the way out of the alley back to a quiet, but still main road. His flat was just up the street, so it wouldn't be far. Really, he wouldn't have a problem opening his home to the stranger, let her get cleaned up, let her have a helping of Ramen if she were hungry. Isaiah might not have much to give, but what he had, he was willing to share. But he was making her comfort a priority, he assumed the last thing she wanted was to go into the home of someone she didn't know after what had happened to her.

[alice]

Alice felt a little bad that this boy wanted to keep his distance. She knew that he wasn't someone who'd hurt her, that he only wanted to help. Still, he was a man, and Alice was beginning to realize that all men were relatively the same. Maybe that wasn't fair, in retrospect, but she couldn't think any differently at the moment. The terrible scene back in the club was now replaying in her mind, and it was all she could do to keep her head up, eyes forward, and feet moving.

Truthfully, she wanted to die. Maybe murder would have been better than rape. This was all her fault, in the end. She'd angered the man, she'd been a selfish, lying woman. She wasn't even a woman. She was a sixteen-year-old girl. Still, she'd lied, she'd slept with men twice her age. She deserved everything that had happened. Probably more than that as well, she deserved it to happen again. Alice deserved all she had received. She didn't even deserve to live. There was no place on the Earth for girls like her.

"I don't live far from here. You don't have to go in. I'll just go up and get some paper so I can ask you a few more questions, okay?"

Alice didn't look back at him, only allowed her to lead her. She nodded slowly. There was no way she was going into his apartment. She'd be alone with him, and she wasn't sure if she could do that. Then again, hallways in apartment buildings were so small, so tight. Maybe there was a balcony of some sort in his little apartment, or a very large window. If that were the case, Alice would go inside. She was being selfish, she should accept the stranger's help. Still, he was a man. Did the fact that he was helping her mean anything, so long as he was male? Alice didn't know how to answer that question any more. She could cry, her brain shouting too many different things to her at once. One thing was for certain, however. The pain.

Alice hadn't realized just how hurt she was. Every joint ached, and her skin was cut in placed, bruising in others. Her hips felt displaced, her insides coiled too tight. Her lower insides felt violated beyond belief. She felt as if her pain was on display for the world to see. She was determined not to let the pain show, but she knew she was failing. There was a limp in her walk, and it took great effort for her not to hang her head. This was her walk of shame.

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Isaiah kept his pace slow to match the young woman's staggering limp, normally he walked fairly quickly, taking long, frequent strides, he walked with purpose. He wasn't one to just go on a walk for the hell of it, if he was going to walk he needed someplace to walk to. The pace was almost painfully slow, but Isaiah didn't dare try to move any faster, simply the way she moved told him that she was hurting physically, and he didn't want to put too much stress on what may or may not be injured, so slow it was. Thankfully, he didn't live far.

And once he had figured out where she needed to go, they would be able to apparate there, meaning there wouldn't be too much walking involved. At any rate, it was killing him to not be able to go in and support her, the unsteadiness of the nameless stranger made Isaiah want to put his arm around her waist, if only to help her amble along. But he would stay back, she had been through enough, she didn't need him aggravating any fresh mental wounds. At least she nodded, going along with his plan, life would be easier if they could communicate more easily.

It didn't take longer than a few minutes to reach the parking lot of his complex, and not but a moment later he found himself pulling open the door for the young woman. As she passed, Isaiah got a better look at her, she was in rougher shape than he had thought, bruised in some places, cut and oozing blood in others. His stomach churned uneasily, it must have taken a real monster to do that to her. He looked briefly to the stairs, his flat was on the fourth floor, and management still hadn't repaired the lift, it seemed cruel to have the young woman go up so many stairs...

"Why don't you sit down? I'll be back in just a minute," said Isaiah, gesturing to the solitary dilapidated couch in the lobby. He didn't like the idea of leaving her alone, but she looked like she was in pain simply from walking, going up four flights of stairs in a row would probably hurt more. Were she not in possession of his wand he might have summoned the paper, and now he mentally slapped himself for having not thought of it earlier.

[alice]

Alice continued to walk forward, only looking to the man helping her along in order to know which way to go. Everything hurt. She didn't think she had been through nearly that much, but it was obvious that her body had been through a lot. It wasn't clear whether her pain was all outward, or if it was internal as well. Her mind wasn't working clearly, arguing the difference between rationality and irrationality. She needed to sort through her thoughts, but it was proving to be an extremely difficult task. It was a miracle that she was upright, much less following this man.

Alice knew deep down that she should trust this man. She'd already taken the first steps into danger by allowing him to lead him to his apartment complex. All men were the same, and she knew that... didn't she? This was beginning to be a little ridiculous, and plenty repetitive. There was a rhyme and a reason to her brain functioning the way that it was. She had been injured beyond believe, violated in one of the worst ways a woman could possibly be violated. What was worse, it could be even worse. The word "pregnancy" flashed across her mind, and she winced outwardly.

That couldn't be true. There was no way Alice would ever accept that to be true. Something like that couldn't happen to her at the young age of sixteen. Granted, rape wasn't something that she would have ever thought to be possible. A baby would just be the icing on the cake. Shaking the terrible thought from her mind, she stumbled up the stairs and through the door of the apartment complex. Immediately, she regretted to ever have agreed to following this stranger.

Claustrophobia was beginning to settle in. It was slowly becoming over-whelming. Alice held the wand close to her chest, her security blanket kicking in. She needed to get out, but knew that she had nothing to fear. At least, she thought she knew that. Alice awkwardly began to shift back and forth on the balls of her feet, eyes darting around. The lobby was empty, but it didn't make her feel any better. She needed to get out, or at least needed to get to a window of some sort.

"Why don't you sit down? I'll be back in just a minute."

Alice turned towards the man, eyes wide. She shook her head rapidly, then stopped herself. What would be the worst option? Could she stay by herself, or could she trust this man to the fullest and potentially put herself into harm? She had to pick the lesser of the two levels. Unfortunately, she didn't know which that was. Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she realized what she had to do. Taking a deep breath, she gave him his wand back, lightly waving it and mouthing "Accio" to emphasize what she meant. It was taking a huge leap, but it needed to happen. This way, she wouldn't be alone.

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