Her Dragon To Slay(2)

She had been so lost in her thoughts of the past that she had almost forgotten she was walking home after sunset. A ‘thump in the night’ caused her to jump and brought reality crashing down around her. She was certain she had heard something that time. It sounded like someone being thrown against a wall or a tree, something soft hitting something very hard and unforgiving. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that it was just her overactive imagination, made worse by her fear of the dark, she could not shake the belief that she really had heard something. She shook her head and thought, “Get your head out of your ass, Girlie! You will not stand here and freak out over something you don’t even know is real.”

She took two more steps and stopped so quickly she almost fell flat on her face as yet another noise came from the black abyss of the park. This time there was no denying that someone had yelled for help. She turned her head, narrowed her eyes and tried to see through the inky blackness. All she saw was more darkness, made even creepier by the overlapping shadows of all the trees and foliage that looked like long tall figures or skeletal fingers reaching for something unseen. As if that was not enough to make her think she was losing her mind, now it was completely silent except for the sound of leaves as they were blown across the sidewalk by the breeze. Standing in the same spot for what seemed like an eternity and hearing nothing else, she knew she really needed to get the hell out of there. It was just too creepy.

She mentally slapped her forehead, hoping to restore her sanity and her backbone. After all, she was standing beside a public park in the middle of town where anyone could walk or drive by at anytime. Surely, no one would be stupid enough to do anything nefarious with the police station just a few blocks up the street. She straightened her back, squared her shoulders and reminded herself that she was strong and independent and more than capable of taking care of handling whatever might be out there. “Enough of this scaredy cat shit,” she scolded herself. Done jumping at shadows and freaking out over sounds that just were not there, she started in the direction of her apartment again. The click of her heels on the sidewalk reverberated off the brick wall of the library as she hurried past and in their own way reassured her that she was not crazy, just a little rattled.

She was feeling much more confident and had made it all of ten steps when she heard a groan. There was no mistaking that sound, someone was groaning in pain. They were very close to where her feet seemed to have glued themselves to the sidewalk and they seemed to be in a lot of pain. Her instincts screamed that she needed to help the person that sounded so miserable but her common sense screamed that it might be some kind of trap. True to form, her mind picked the most inopportune time to remember the story Sally, the office busybody, had heard on the evening news. She shared with everyone that would listen about a gang of thugs that kidnapped unsuspecting women by luring them somewhere private with the guise of needing help. After the scumbags had the poor women alone, they proceeded to rob, beat and in some cases, rape them. A chill ran down her spine and the little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. That was so not what Kyndel had planned for this evening or any evening. “Nope, no way, not happening!” She thought to herself.

The only way she could keep her conscience from condemning her for not helping someone in need and her common sense from kicking her in the ass for putting herself in danger, was to get home as soon as possible and call the police to help whoever was hurt. Once again she made a mental note to never be without her cell phone and never ever let Grace borrow her car again. She straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath and started to move forward when another moan came floating out of the deserted park. If it was one of those guys that had been hurting the women from the news, he was a damn good actor. Kyndel could hear the pain and feel at least some of the agony the person that continued to moan was feeling. It was so real. It made her heart hurt and the hair on her arms join the ones on her neck by standing on end. She found it really hard to justify leaving a man in need even though she knew she was going to get him someone more qualified to help him. Standing there, listening to an unknown man moaning in the dark damn sure was not helping him and with the way her luck was going God only knew what would happen next.

Decision made. The best thing for both of them was for her to get home as quickly as possible and call the police. They could take care of the injured man and she could have a much needed glass of wine while plotting how to torture Grace for putting her in this situation in the first place. Hell, she could even stop at the police station. It was on her way home. She started moving again, clutching her satchel to her side, head up and eyes forward, moving as quickly as possible. She kept thinking about the delicious glass of wine waiting for her in her safe, well-lit apartment.