He was exactly as Julie had imagined him; fat, bulky and generally unpleasant. He stank of alcohol and toilet cleaner and every inch of his body seemed to be covered with ugly, misshapen tattoos.
But the strangest thing about him was that he was the spitting image of the shopkeeper she'd seen only moments earlier.
"Well, hello, there," he sneered. "And what is a fine young lady like you doing on the big, bad streets at this time of night?"
Julie heard more footsteps. Another man appeared.
He was otherwise the same as the first except for the blindingly obvious fact that he was as thin as a stick.
"It looks like this young lady needs some help on her way home," he hissed. He stepped forward and grabbed her arm.
"Where do you live, girl?" The first man growled.
Julie put on a poker face and didn't answer.
The second man tightened his grip. Julie could smell the cigarette smoke eminating from his pocket.
"Where do you live, girl?!" The first man said, angry and annoyed with her answer.
"Let me go."
Both men smiled evilly.
"Ooh, brave, aren't you?"
Julie could feel her arm going numb. She gritted her teeth.
"If you won't tell us where you live, little girl, we're gonna have to keep you for ourselves...!"
The second man cackled like an old hag.
Julie was thrown to the floor, and then grabbed again, this time by the waist. The first man locked his arms around her, so tightly she felt as if she would stop breathing.
The second man stroked her hair.
"Such a pretty little girl... And you're all ours now..."
Julie had to stop herself from answering, '"When Alex finds out about this, you're gonna get it coming!"'. She knew that it would only lead to more questions, and that if it were true, she would probably be grounded for the rest of her life and locked away like Rapunzel in her tower.
She felt the man's arms tighten. She winced.
The next thing that happened went fast.
There was a blur of grey; Julie looked around and the two men were suddenly lying sprawled across the floor. The first one, the one that had been holding her for the last 30 seconds, was lying in a particularly awkward position and it looked like someone had twisted his body in an attempt to break his spine.
Julie saw a third pair of legs. She looked up and saw a boy; roughly her age, with black hair, wearing a grey suit, his hand stretched to pull her up.
She pushed it away.
"I don't need your help, thank you."
She got to her feet and dusted off her skirt.
"Oh. Well, it looked to me like you were in a pretty sticky situation."
He arched an eyebrow.
"Well, mi'lady? Will you be needing an escort home?"
He held out his hand again, bowing.
Again Julie pushed it away.
"No, thank you," she said, "and please shut up."
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