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whisper against my ear.
    His quiet, “I’ve got you, petal. Game over,” sent fear coursing through me.
    My eyes closed and I reflected resignedly. Damn, I was so fucking close . Before I managed another thought, there was a deafening sound, like the enraged roar of a bear. My muddled brain wouldn’t process why a bear would be loose in London. It felt as if the animal making the horrendous sound was right in front of me. It was that loud. Let it be quick. Oh God, I do not want to feel this, I prayed. Abruptly, the hand gripping my neck, with those oh so sharp nails, disappeared. I felt myself flying through the air before hitting the side of the building outside the alley I had been hiding in.
    I looked around me, wondering what the hell had happened. My eyes were blurry and my head felt like a marching band was making its way through it. The ringing in my ears was enough to worry me, let alone what I was seeing in front of me.
    Damn, I must have hit my head harder than I imagined . Because I swear, what I was watching could not be happening. In front of me, El freako, Marcus, was fighting a man I’d never seen before. He was a stranger, but coming to my defense definitely racked up a huge plus in my book of points.
    What’s so odd about this picture you ask? Two guys fighting in an alley in the middle of the night. Oh nothing, except that you couldn't follow their movements with your eyes. They were kind of blurring in and out, as if they were moving too fast to watch. Very Matrix like. I shook my head to clear my blurry vision and looked again. Nope, it was still blurry. Are those claws? I squinted to try to get a better glimpse. Oh man, what am I looking at ? Closing my eyes briefly, I whispered a quick prayer before I tried to slide across the wall. My goal was the lights and relative safety of the pub.
    It is so past time for me to get out of here, I thought. "God," I whispered. "I know I haven’t been to Mass like I should have been." With a look up in the general direction of Heaven, I prayed hard. "I promise, first thing in the morning I will be in confessional. Please, please help me get out of here so I can make good on my promise, Lord."
    My eyes stayed on the two fighting men. The last thing I wanted was for them to notice or land on me. I stumbled to my feet and whimpered from the pain. With a cringe, I told myself to suck it up and get help. I limped as quickly as I could to the entrance of the pub.
    Once I made it inside the doors, I took stock. My body was shivering and shaking but mostly in one piece. As I looked around me, I couldn't believe no one had noticed the fight. I shook my head and told myself, no, I imagined that. People didn’t have claws and fangs. I must have hit my head harder than I thought when they hurled me against that wall.
    All I knew was that I needed to get out of there. I wanted to go home and pretend that tonight never happened. What a hell of a way to end my celebration. Yippee, Happy Birthday to me.
    Unfortunately, since I managed to lose my bag in the struggle, I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I had no phone, keys, or oyster card to catch a tube. There was no way in hell I was going back out to look for them. Fuck, I am so screwed. There was one person I could call that had all three and would be available at this time of night.
    I would almost rather walk home and sleep in the hallway than make this call. However, I wasn’t that stupid. So I went to the bar and explained to the barmaid that I had been mugged and could I please use their phone.
    “Oh my God, are you all right, love?” The woman eyed me up and down. She looked to be in her forties and a no nonsense woman.
    “Here, love, come with me and we will get you sorted. Jackie,” she shouted over her shoulder, “take the bar, I’ll be back in a bit. I’ve got to help this poor girl.”
    She put her hands on my shoulder and led me around the back of the bar into the office.
    “Here, sweetie, take a