"Where is Elton? Why isn't he answering my calls? He said he would pick me up after work, but why hasn't he come yet, and it's about to rain?" The woman with shoulder-length hair looked up at the sky, which was getting darker.
She walked toward the highway to look for public transportation. Soon her phone rang, and it turned out to be her boyfriend, whom she had been waiting for.
"Elton, where are you? I've been waiting for you. I've left the office and am heading to the highway," said the woman.
"Alea, my dear, I'm sorry I'm late to pick you up. I'm on my way there. In that case, wait for me at the mini market near the housing complex. You can take shelter there because it looks like it's going to rain," said the man on the other end of the phone.
"Okay, I'll wait there. I'll buy some hot coffee while I'm there."
After saying that, the woman walked towards the alley that would quickly lead her to the mini market her boyfriend had mentioned.
When she arrived, the mini market was closed and it was raining heavily. The woman named Alea decided to take shelter there and wait for her boyfriend.
"Hey! Look, there's a pretty girl shivering," said a man who was with two other friends.
"Yeah, we should go over to her, maybe she needs some warmth," replied another man who was there.
Alea, who heard this, was immediately overcome with fear. She saw the three men walking closer and closer to her. She had no choice but to run away to find help.
"Hey! Don't run!" shouted one of the men.
The three men ended up chasing Alea. Alea, who was very frightened, ran away, screaming for help. However, because the street was quiet, and it was raining heavily with thunder, Alea's screams were completely meaningless.
Alea then chose to enter a park there to hide, hoping that the three bad men would not think she would go there.
"I'd better call Elton."
"Hello, Alea, where are you? Why didn't I see you at the mini market? Did you go home alone?"
"Elton, help me," Alea's voice sounded sad as she tried to hold back her tears.
"What's wrong, Alea? What happened?" Elton's voice immediately panicked.
"While I was waiting for you, three bad guys tried to harass me, and now I'm hiding in the park near the housing complex. Elton, hurry up and come here, I'm so scared." Alea couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She was really scared.
"Okay, wait there and don't come out until you hear my voice, Alea."
"Yes, hurry up and come here! I'm so scared."
After hanging up the phone, Alea tried to peek through the small window of the toy house with a swing and slide. Alea hid there because she thought it was a safe place.
Soon, the three men arrived. They split up to search for the woman they were looking for.
"Honey, where are you? Come out, we won't hurt you, we'll make you happy, like you're floating on a cloud," said one of the men with a tattoo on the left side of his face.
Alea covered her mouth with both hands so her crying wouldn't be heard. She hoped Elton would come there soon.
From the front of the three bad guys, a car stopped and Elton got out of it. Elton saw the three people he was sure were the bad guys who were chasing his girlfriend.
"You guys must be the bad guys, right?" shouted Elton, and Alea, who saw her boyfriend there, immediately came out of hiding.
"Elton!" she shouted.
"He must be her boyfriend, beat him up!" shouted one of the bad guys. Then one of them punched Elton in the face, knocking him down and knocking him unconscious.
Alea, seeing her boyfriend fall unconscious, wanted to go to him, but she changed her mind when she saw the bad guys were about to catch her. Alea ran out of the playground again.
The rain was still pouring down so hard that Alea's vision was blurred. She ran and didn't see a ditch covered with water because the water was rising. She fell into it.
Alea's last scream ended there, and the three men were confused as to where Alea was.
"Where did that woman go? I saw her turn here, and now she's gone."
The three evil men looked confused because they were now in a small alley with no way forward.
One of them wiped his face, which had been drenched by the rain. "She couldn't have just disappeared because there's no other way out of here."
"Did she fall into one of the gutters here? But if she went in there, she would have drowned and died. We'd better leave so we don't get into more trouble later," replied one of the criminals' friends.
They finally decided to leave because they thought the girl they wanted to molest had died from drowning in the gutter.
The girl named Alea's eyes slowly opened, and when her eyes were fully open, she was shocked to find herself where she was and immediately tried to reach the shore. Fortunately, Alea was a good swimmer and never missed swimming club at school, and that was what saved her life.
She could hear her breath rising and falling. Her hands were clinging to the edge of the pool. Alea tried to regulate her breathing, which had almost caused her to feel death.
"Finally, I was able to escape. I was really scared of those criminals." Alea tried to close her eyes for a moment to calm her mind.
"Elton!" Alea suddenly remembered her boyfriend, whose condition she did not know. Was Elton still alive or had he died after being beaten by the criminals? "I'd better find help and go to where Elton is. Yes, I'll look for the nearest police station."
Alea gathered her strength to get up because she was very worried about her boyfriend, who was lying unconscious after being beaten by the criminals who wanted to assault her.
"Huh? Where am I? Why does this place look so strange?"
Alea realized that she was in a place that looked different from the one she had been living in. She looked around the place and still had no idea where she was.
"What kind of place is this?" Alea's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.