closed: @roadsidemotels
based: after taking a shortcut down an alleyway on her way home after work, buffy finds herself being stalked by a masked stranger wielding a knife, but she's not about to go down without a fight.
who: buffy bloom, she/her, 26, exotic dancer/adult film star
of course buffy had heard plenty of horror stories about women in her profession being brutalized on the street, and how they rarely ever received the justice they deserved. all women had been raised to be wary of walking alone at night, but for those in the industry, it could be even more treacherous. they didn't have the same protection that others had, routinely dehumanized and treated as nothing more than a vessel to extract pleasure— who would care about another dead whore besides her peers? despite that knowledge, buffy had never felt unsafe when traveling alone. she had enough stories to share of her own, had been through hell and lived to tell the tale, and she had no doubt that she could handle herself. whatever big bad was lurking out there in the dark, she was badder. her heels click-clacked on the asphalt as she stomped down the alleyway, treading the same path she'd taken countless times before on her way home from work. it was much quicker than taking the more well populated, properly lit streets, and she'd never encountered any trouble taking that route before. for whatever reason, on this particular night she came to the chain link fence cutting off the alley from the main street and found the gate to be locked. with a huff of frustration, she grabbed the gate and shook it, as if her efforts could somehow break the heavy chain keeping it shut. after a moment or two of jostling, she finally gave up and turned back, resigned to retread her steps and just go the long way, but she only made it a few steps when she saw a dark figure looming not far in the distance, menacing in their presence, though they simply remained standing still. it was only when they revealed the knife they'd been concealing that her heart leapt up out of her chest and into her throat, instinctively turning back in the other direction, though she knew escape would be futile. she threw her full weight at the gate, pushed, and yanked, and kicked, but it was to no avail. there was no one around, and nowhere to run from the figure slowly stalking over to where she remained cornered like prey.
