Foreword: This is a short story that I wrote in 2016. There may be some issues with grammar but overall it should be pretty reasonable. This was based on a dream I had. Hopefully it reads well…

The alleyway was mostly dark, only being dimly lit by the street lights and the moon. The wind was calm, a small breeze every now and then stirred the leaves and brought a chill with it.

There was a girl and two guys in the alley. The girl was trying to back away from the two men that wished to exploit her, the men were inching closer to her at the same pace. She felt a wall behind her which meant she had reached the end, the only way out of the alley was past the men that were inching closer to her, there was no way she could get past them. She let out a small yelp before one of the men cupped her mouth with their hand.

Me? I had been laying on the top of a 3 story block of flats that bordered the alley stargazing. It was high enough that the light from the street lamps wouldn’t be a nuisance. I had been awoken from my trance by the girl’s short outcry. I got up, brushed myself off and stood on the edge of the building and analysed the situation that was unfolding in the alley below.

One of the men was holding the girl by her waist and covering her mouth. “The more noise you make, the longer we’ll punish you” one of the men stated “what d’ya say we get her back to base before she attracts any more attention, Bill?”. “Sounds like a plan Fred, go get the tape and bag. We can’t have her making a fuss when we get her into the van.”. So, Fred and Bill are their names, good to know. My patience had reached its limit, I quickly but quietly made my way down the fire escape stairs until I was on the last walkway before the ground. The girl caught site of me, I held my finger to my lips to signal that she shouldn’t try to notify the 2 men of my existence. Fred, who had been holding onto the girl was paying too much attention to her that he didn’t notice me. Bill was rummaging around in their van, presumably looking for the bag and tape they intended to use on the girl. I wasn’t going to allow that.

With ninja like elegance I got a run up and jumped off of the walkway, doing a front flip before landing on the ground near silently. The sound of my landing was drowned out by Bill dropping something noisy in the van which let me keep the element of surprise. I grabbed Fred by the head and pulled him backwards, catching him off guard and making him let go of the girl. Whilst he was still trying to get a hold of what just happened and scrambled to his feet, I had moved round to the girl. “Are you hurt?” I asked quickly, knowing that I would soon have to deal with both Fred and Bill. “No, I’m fine, they didn’t do much to me yet. How are we going to get out of here?” she asked, scared of what the men would have in store for us. “With minimal effort,” I said, pulling my katanas out of their sheaths and readying them at my side, “get on my back and hold on.”. I turned around and she jumped on my back, wrapping her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I let out a small manic laugh as Fred & Bill inched closer to us.

“E’re love, put those things down before you cut yourself” said Fred, a grin across his face. “There’s nothing you can do against us love, I bet you don’t even know how to use those!” Bill taunted. I’d had enough of them, all I wanted to do now was get the girl on my back to safety. “Nice try, but I don’t back down that easily. Do you really think you 2 measly men can get me? I want to see you try.” I taunted with the same grin across my face that Fred had during his taunt. It was a Mexican stand off, me versus them. Bill was the first to act, lunging forward to try and grab me and the girl. I had other ideas.

My moves were quick and precise, I swung my Katanas at Bill’s hands creating a small but deep cut in his hands. I reverted back to the stance I started with, blood dripping down the blades. It took him a short while before his mad grab for us was superseded by the pain from his hands and he retreated backwards, trying not to show his pain. With Bill out of the fight for now, I turned to face Fred whilst keeping the sly grin on my face. “Come on, y’know you want to try and get us” I taunted, adjusting my hands on the grips ever so slightly. Fred eased his way closer, not that it would help him at all. I swung my Katanas the same way as I had with Bill, I didn’t make as deep of a cut this time but I could see that it had served it’s purpose as Fred stumbled backwards. “Well, it was nice meeting you too, shame it has to end so soon” I said as sarcastically as possible, “If I ever see you trying to exploit someone again. You won’t get off as easy”. I turned and walked out the alleyway, slinging the blood off of my blades before carefully putting them back in their sheaths so as to not hurt the girl on my back.

We were silent for a short distance before she broke it. “Thank you, I hate to imagine what those men would have done to me if you hadn’t been there.” She said, hugging me and resting her head on my shoulder, “My name’s Ria by the way”. “Nice to meet you Ria, you’re welcome. The name’s Lizzy. If those men have any sense, they shouldn’t go after you any more, or anyone else for that matter.” I responded. “Are you the Lizzy?” she asked excitedly “news of you and what you’re doing is getting around, most people pass it off as a myth though…” she trailed off, she was silent for a short while before she spoke again. “Thank you for being my figurative guardian angel Lizzy”. “You’re welcome Ria, now which way to your house?” I asked, wanting to get her all the way home in case the men returned. “That way!” she said excitedly whilst pointing the way.

~~ fin ~~