{ Who } Alene and Audrey { What } After this { When } Thursday night { Where } The carnival { Rating } TBD { Status } In progress
Alene didn't know how long she lay there after the sailors were finished, half in and half out of a daze. They laughed and redressed, jovial as if nothing had happened. To them, nothing wrong had occurred. They'd even tossed a half-dollar each onto the ground near her face, one flipping an extra quarter as if to add insult to injury. A tip.
She hurt everywhere. So much so that she hardly believed that her body could hurt this much. The reason she moved to begin with was the cold. She was freezing, and with everything that had happened, she'd be damned if she'd freeze to death too. Shivering so hard her fingers shook, she reached for her dress and sat up with a small choked sound of pain, pulling her dress over her bruised and battered skin. She found her shoes, not quite remembering how they came off, and she slipped them on after a couple of tries, finally bending over to empty the contents of her stomach into the leaves and grass. Scrubbing the back of her hand across her mouth, she wished she had a cigarette, or bourbon, or anything to get the taste out of her mouth.
Standing was no mean feat, but she managed, wobbling for a moment before she took a few numb steps towards the direction of the trailer. She didn't know how much time had passed, but the carnival had closed up, with but a few people still meandered around. She took the long way back, despite her aches. She didn't want anyone to see her like this.
Each step hurt, her thighs bruised and bloodied, and she felt as though her midsection was going to split in half. Her cheek was still sore, hot and aching, and her lip was split from where she'd been hit. She'd been struck a couple more times, when she'd half tried to fight back, but she'd stopped that after the first threat on her life. The tall one, Chase or Chip or something, had strangled her nearly to the point of passing out. She was certain she had bruises on her neck too.
She looked a mess. She felt a mess. Her stumbling steps led her back towards the trailers and she choked back her tears. Later. She could weep later. Right now, she was numb.