17. Stranded (1/2)

17 – stranded

they'd been walking ten minutes,

and felicity was beginning to get the shivers. she shrugged deeper into her

denim jacket against the twin chills of apprehension and the night air. the faster we get this over with, the

happier i'll be. they had no idea where the closest pay phone would be, or

whether someplace out here would even be able to give them a tow in the middle

of the night.

they went three more blocks and

turned a corner onto a sidewalk lit by a lone streetlight. a group of three men

and one woman were coming down the street toward them. they bickered loudly

amongst themselves with apparent disregard for the fact that it was just after two

a.m. a couple of the men stumbled a little too clumsily to blame it solely on

the pitted sidewalk.

she felt ben's hand tense in hers

as the group neared them. one of the men wolf-whistled at her as they went

past. "hey, girly-girl, want to hang with us?"

"ignore them," ben hissed,

marching past beside her.

"hey, you. with the hair. i'm

talking to you!"

felicity was glad the jacket

covered most of her top. if i don't

answer, they're going to keep at it. the memory of the fistfight in st.

louis was fresh in her mind. she had no desire to have it repeated. with a wary

glance at ben, she looked behind her. "some other time, guys."

"aw, don't be like that."

felicity released ben's hand to

adjust her bag on her shoulder and risked a glance behind her. the group had

slowed down, but they were still shuffling off in the opposite direction.

"sorry. thanks anyway."

the speaker lagged behind a few

steps, looking her over in a way that made her skin crawl. he made a dismissive

noise and moseyed off with his fellows, muttering.

she faced forward again and let

out a bone-deep sigh of relief. she glanced up at ben, and his whole body

vi

ated with tension. he was stuffing something back into his inside coat

pocket. "what are you doing?"

"nothing." he gave her a crooked

smile and relaxed. "let's just get out of here."

they turned another corner and

saw, three blocks away, a stretch of buildings with much better lighting. ben

took her hand again, and they walked faster.

halfway there, they were accosted

by a disheveled man emerging from a dim alleyway to their left. he smiled,

holding out his hand. "hey, can you spare some change?"

"no, man. sorry," ben started to

say.

at that moment, the man pulled a

knife on them. felicity squeaked and froze where she stood. she gripped her

backpack so hard her fingernails dug painfully into the leather strap. ben

jerked her forcibly behind him, blocking her with his body.

the man leered. "your wallet.

now."

felicity began shaking

uncontrollably. she stared at the weapon in disbelief and horror. what?!

ben raised his hands in a

placating gesture. "all right. all right. just hold on." slowly, he reached

into his coat and withdrew his wallet.

felicity gaped as he handed it

across. i can't believe this is happening

to us. all the rest of our trip money, ben's credit cards, his driver's

license… is this real, or am i having a nightmare?

the man snatched it from ben's

fingers and took off running down the street the way they had come.

the minute he was gone, ben

seized her hand once more and bolted in the other direction with her, toward