Chapter 2 - The Crimson Band
A shadow fell over the right side of the young woman’s face.
The smell of cheap cologne and iron rust cut through the peppermint.
A young man stepped directly into her peripheral vision.
He wore a sharply tailored black suit, but the fabric around the shoulders was wrinkled, smelling of old sweat.
Wrapped tightly around his left bicep was a pure white cloth armband.
In the dead center of the white fabric, a dark red stain was rapidly expanding.
The moisture from the red swelling caught the bright, unforgiving midday sunlight.
He didn't speak.
He bypassed her flailing right arm and drove both of his hands directly under her armpits.
His knuckles dug painfully into her ribcage.
With a sudden, violent jerk, he pulled her upper body backward.
Her spine arched at a sickening angle.
The heel of her beige shoe lost contact with the paved sidewalk.
She kicked wildly backward.
Her heel struck the young man’s shin, a dull, hollow thud against bone.
He didn't make a sound.
He simply tightened his grip, his forearms locking around her chest like a steel vice.
The red stain on his armband pressed directly against the delicate floral pattern of her dress.
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It began to bleed into the beige fabric.
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