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{How can you see into my eyes
Like open doors
Leading you down into my core
Where I've become so numb without a soul
My spirit sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it here and lead it back home...}
Lita groaned as she pulled her exhausted body along the street.
It was close to four in the morning, and her double-shift had finally come to an end. Fortunately, she wasn't expected at work tomorrow - which was actually later today - until six in the evening. All she wanted to do was get home, collapse onto her bed and sleep like a rock for... Oh, ten solid hours.
Because she lived walking distance from her job, she traveled by foot.
The redhead had trouble keeping her eyes open as she trudged up the small hill ahead, hefting her purse higher on her shoulder. She was tired enough to literally fall asleep on her feet and mentally cursed Torrie Wilson for not showing up for work yet again.
Damn it... Lita glanced with half-slitted eyes several feet away at the very alleyway Chris had told her to avoid. It was a usual shortcut she often used, but after that guy Christian had been attacked, she should steer clear of it. Intellectually, she acknowledged this, but she was too exhausted to care at the moment. It would get her home more quickly.
She walked briskly in the direction of the alleyway, her steps actually slowing a bit as she entered it. Little did Lita know, that was a big mistake...
*
The man hid out in the darkness of the shadows, making sure to keep out of sight.
He watched the approaching woman like a hawk, his blood boiling with a violent anger as he thought about what he had planned to do.
She was moving so slowly. Too slowly, considering the ungodly hour. He couldn't help but wonder why she'd chosen to take this route - this alleyway - when he knew she must have heard what had happened to the man last night... The man he'd brutally attacked...
He held his breath as she came still closer to where he stood, pressed against a structure that must have been a garage. God, she was so completely oblivious. He wondered how anyone could walk down the street, and not look behind them - particularly in the dark and at such an hour.
The woman was a mere silhouette herself as she suddenly passed directly by him. He sprang out in a flash, surprisingly silent in his movements, and in seconds he was upon her...
She opened her mouth, probably to scream, her shock clearly evident in the way her body stiffened. One of his strong arms gripped her tightly around the waist, the other hand coming up to clamp over her mouth so as to stifle any screaming she might try to do. He couldn't afford her making enough noise to startle and rouse the people sleeping in their homes, that was for sure...
Damn it... She was struggling mightily in his grasp. He hadn't expected this much of a fight. She'd never been much of one to resist this much... And damned if he wasn't going to have any choice but to remove his hand from over her mouth. Not only was she struggling like mad to free herself, she was even trying to bite him!
Reluctantly, he removed his hand, quickly slipping that arm around her waist.
"You may as well give up..." he whispered as he moved his face closer to hers.
"Like hell!" she shouted. Then, before he could even react, the woman, who only moments before had clearly been exhausted, kicked him hard in the shin.
"Shit!" He reacted reflexively, his hold on her loosened somewhat so that she was able to move away just a bit. But he still had the presence in mind to grab her by the arm.
Nonetheless, the woman reached into her purse for something, and when she came up with a small, hand-held object, his heart nearly stopped.
"Oh, God!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening in the dimness of the pre-dawn. What little light there was had helped her to better see his face.
Edge stared in shock down into Lita's equally surprised face, her eyes - which he'd rememebered from meeting her at the diner earlier that night were a beautiful shade of hazel - shining with fear.
"Oh, my God...You...you?" The redhead seemed to shake slightly as he still held onto her left wrist with his right hand. "You're the one...?"
The tall blond man nearly flinched at the question. Obviously, she was referring to the attack on the young man, Christian. Yes, he'd attacked the other man, but this woman would never understand his motives behind that. Besides, he'd never know where or how to begin explaining. And anyway, his personal matters were none of her business or concern.
Instead of releasing her, however, Edge tried to appeal to her.
"Lita, I'm...God, I'm so sorry..."
"You're sorry?!" she cried. "What the hell are you doing? Get your hands off me!" She jerked her arm free from his loosened grip.
"Please...don't be afraid...I-"
"'Don't be afraid'?" she parrotted as she took a step back, her face now looking angrily as well as confused and shocked - and perhaps a little scared as well. "What were you going to do? Mug me? Oh, wait - you were probably also going to rape me - since I am a woman..."
The Canadian held his hand up in a placating gesture.
"No...I would never do that...I thought..." He shut up abruptly as she continued to stare at him, speechless for the moment.
"What did you think?" she demanded, taking yet another step away from him, and he didn't miss how she instinctively hitched the strap of her bag higher up on her shoulder. She was also clutching it tightly, which she hadn't been doing before he'd attacked her. God, he felt like crap.
"I thought you were someone else..." Edge admitted, and he wondered why in hell he was explaining his actions to her. For some reason, he found it important that she believe him, trust him.
"Oh, so if I was someone else, you would have done it then?"
"No...You...you don't understand," he said, a feeling of distinct hopelessness coming over him. He ran a hand through his mass of long golden-blond hair, then after a beat, "I'm really sorry..." With that, he turned and stalked off, running into the night and away from her.
The redhead stood rooted to her spot as she clutched her purse against
herself, her breathing still fast and heavy as she watched him go.