●x D a n a x H o w e l l x●
It was supposed to be an easy night out. Dana had left the sanctuary of her apartment for the first time in weeks, more out of necessity than anything - because honestly, if she had to listen to that screamo music of her roommate's blasting through the rooms one more time, she was liable to commit murder. The plan had been... Well, there actually hadn't been much of a plan. She had simply decided to push herself into walking around and getting some fresh air.
Shopping hadn't been crucial but she had gotten a little done. Then, instead of going home when the sun had be gone for hours already, she had decided to take a little walk along one of the industrial piers overlooking the park.
Of course, what she really should have done was run straight home and forget about leaving the house for the next several days. But then, hindsight was always freaking twenty-twenty.
Dana never noticed the two people following her until they were practically on top of her. The few bags of grocery she had been carried spilled to the concrete path as her mouth was covered and her body dragged. She hadn't cared whether they were after her bag or not, if they wanted to rape her or not. All Dana could really remember was a blur of action, her struggling to get away, her captors trying to keep her contained. Their tangle of limbs and pointed metal objects had pushed them close to the railing. All it had taken was one violent twist in an effort to free herself, an angry shove from one guy and the thrust of a knife from the other.
The next moment, pain had lanced her and Dana had found herself airborne for what felt like eternity. Then she had plummeted down and everything went black.
When Dana opened her eyes again, she had not known what to expect. Searing pain, perhaps? A world of bright white light? Instead all she got was an off sort of numbness, as well as the sensation of lying awkwardly on top of something extremely uncomfortable. Night sky greeted her up above, as well as the outline of the pier. She had fallen, right? Did this mean she was dead? A ghost? The thoughts ran over and over in her head for the next hour as she sluggishly pulled herself up off the rocks she had apparently landed on, waded her way to shore and began the long trek home.
Her roommate was fast asleep by the time she managed to let herself in with the spare key they kept hidden amongst the leaves of the plant outside. It was tempting to try waking Alison up, to see if the girl would have any reaction to her friend's possibly undead status, but she decided not to. Not until she had at least tried figuring out what had happened.
In the bathroom and stripped down to a tee and her jeans, Dana perused her reflection in the mirror. She looked... awful. Dirt streaked, pale, smudges under her eyes and smelling strongly like saltwater. But did that necessarily mean dead? Dana's eyes traveled downwards and eventually locked onto the tear in her shirt. The knife had made contact then. She inspected it, for some reason only now feeling the twinge in her side, probing the shallow but long cut. It was still bleeding a bit. Did dead people bleed?
Not sure if she really wanted to know the answer to that, Dana stripped completely and got in the shower, biting back curses as the hot water hit the wound. Once she had dried and dressed, she cleaned it and covered it with a bandage as best she could. And then she sat down in the living room, staring blankly at the television as she flicked through the channels. Sleep snuck up on her almost an hour later, and she curled up in the sofa, hugging one of the multicoloured cushions Alison loved collecting.
MultiAsh
