Aᴘʀɪʟ 12, 2020.
Sebastian is sick in the head, but he is a man of his word.
From all the crying and jerking she did, Alessia passed out in the metal chair, exhausted. Her whole body had shut down and nothing Sebastian's jolly ass did could wake her up.
When she finally does gain consciousness, her surroundings had changed drastically; unfamiliar. She can hear the sounds of passing vehicles, the chatter of pedestrians; it's refreshing. Laughter and spoiled cries of children hang around the air, the honking and swearing of impatient drivers... Good to hear voices that don't belong to anyone of the gang members. Everything seems so beautiful in her mind; her ears tingle at the bell of a cyclist.
Alessia doesn't want to ever leave this dream. Yes, that's how she feels...as if it's just a dream and she'll open her eyes to Mateo (like every morning) waiting to feed her, as how it went the times Sebastian remembered. She thinks she'll be there way longer than he had told her.
"Haha, that's fucked up, dude." A group of young brats push each other around, entering the alley behind the restaurant, where Alessia is situated. They haven't noticed her yet and keeps playing around.
"Bro, why'd you take us here again? It's renk." says the tallest of the trio, fanning profusely at his nose. He rests an arm around his shorter friends, trudging in the middle.
The one who hasn't spoken yet shrugs his arm off, mumbling about taking a piss. Rats scatter at their feet and as they get further into the alley, he's the first one to spot the small figure lying in a bunch of rubble and he pulls the others to a stop.
They both follow his stare. "Wow." states the first one flatly. "Is she wasted?"
"God, I can't hold it any longer—" he gushes instead of replying, rushing off into a darker corner, leaving his friends behind.
"Dude, I think she's out of it, man."
Tall dude peers down at his curious brother, who gently nudges Alessia's right foot with his own. Then, he slaps a hand on his shoulder. "Stop that. It's suspicious. She could be dead. Let's just wait for Peter's drunk ass to come back."
At that, the shorter one shivers, quickly jogging away to find Peter, shouting, "Hey, man! Hurry up, we gotta go!" He disappears around the same corner Peter did.
The tall guy stands before Alessia for what seems like a long time, before he steps forward to get a closer look. He notices many things, like, how she's young, underweight and also, breathing; his eyes widen and thinking fast, he enters the restaurant through the backdoor, shouting for help.
Alessia has been awake since he stated that she looked dead. She had opened her eyes to unveil that her dream is for real and she is lying in garbage beside an overflowing dumpster. She also notes that the tall guy, who was blurry through her bangs, is going to get help, but help is near, yet still too far. Maybe if they were faster, they could've really saved her from the lifestyle she is yet to be accustommed to.
At the opening of the alley, a black SUV with midnight tints idles. A burly man then steps out. Her eyelids can only lift a bit higher at his approach; her limbs are numb. He picks her up like a bride, but doesn't support her head, which hangs loosely over his arm.
As he walks back to the vehicle, she can only watch her world turn upside down and soon, it'll start spiralling.
The place where she had lain, gets smaller.