Her Broken Wings by D.K. Hood

Twenty-Six

It had been a long day and Ruby Evans rubbed her sore feet on the bus trip home. Glad the sleet had stopped at last and the evening was clear and crisp, she slipped her shoes on and stood to make her way to the front of the bus. The vehicle slowed with a squeak of brakes and she moved down the steps. The doors banged shut behind her, and as the bus disappeared into the distance, she had the awful sense of being totally alone if someone attacked her.

It seemed darker than usual, and although the sky was clear, a heavy mist swirled across the blacktop from the forest. Halloween was a few days away, and the mist resembled ghostly forms drifting along the sidewalk as if searching for souls to steal. To make things worse, the streetlights were out between the bus stop and the pathway she took on her way home, through the woods. After the upsetting meeting with the strange man the previous evening, her nerves were on edge. Ruby couldn’t push the thought from her mind that someone was following her again, and she had to force one foot in front of the other along the shadowy sidewalk. As she walked, she searched her purse for her phone; the screen would offer her a modicum of light but the battery was low.

Ruby walked the fifty yards to the alleyway and stopped, listening for any sound. An owl hooted in the forest and a breeze rustled the leaves, but nothing seemed to move in the darkness. She took a few hesitant steps and then paused, looking ahead at the patch of inviting light from the streetlight, one hundred or so yards away. She could take the long way home. It would take maybe another half an hour, but her feet ached and she had an early shift in the morning. She peered into the darkness. The picturesque walkway she’d taken earlier had turned into a musty-smelling tunnel leading into an unknown void of uncertainty. Should she take the shortcut home and maybe risk running into the strange man again?

Fear churned her stomach. It was so dark in there, and the canopy of trees hid any hint of light. Anyone could be hiding in the gloom, waiting for an unsuspecting victim to walk by. How easy it would be to pluck her from the pathway and drag her into the bushes. Biting her bottom lip, she sucked in a deep breath as indecision made her falter. Home was on the other side of the alleyway; a meal and a hot bath called to her. She ignored the little voice in her head telling her to avoid dangerous situations, gathered her courage, and entered the pitch-black tunnel. The light from her screen was of little comfort but better than nothing. As she quickened her pace, the blue glow faded and blinked out. Surrounded by a suffocating wall of black, she stuffed the phone inside her bag and, using one hand to guide her, she hurried along the wall of leafless bushes, stretching her eyes wide to see in the dark.

The musty smell of rotting vegetation filled her nostrils, and underfoot wet leaves covered this part of the gravel path, muffling the sound of her shoes and the footsteps of anyone following her. Rising panic made it hard to breathe. She had to get out of the claustrophobic tunnel and increased her pace, stumbling over the uneven pathway. Petrified of every creak of the surrounding tree branches, she moved forward and then her hand touched fabric. A hint of cologne drifted on the air. She froze, too terrified to speak. Under her palm, the fabric moved and a low chuckle came on a breath, so close she could feel the warmth of it on her cheek.

“Hello, Ruby.”