Her Heart's Demise

Alex sits nervously staring out the window of the plain. Her legs kept bouncing, trying to keep the pins and needles at bay after sitting for so long in the cramped plain seats. Glancing at her neighbor, who is sprawled out like a starfish, she restrains herself from kicking his legs away from her. She won't let the flight spoil her mood though. She's been looking forward to this trip for years. It took her 5 years to save enough money to afford this vacation, 5 years of busting tables and avoiding the perverted men she served at the bar. Sighing, she brushes her long black hair out of her face, tucking the strand behind her ears. Looking at her reflection she admires her piercings. She could be seen as the rebellious type. Piercings, dark makeup, black clothes and a sarcastic attitude to boot. But that's oky, her sister always used to say it keeps the weak away. Her lips curled up into a grin as she realized her sister was indeed right. She looks absolutely unapproachable. Resting her head back against the seat, she decided to close her eyes and try to catch a nap, at least that way she won't be tempted to do something about the foot currently invading her leg room. Alex woke up with a jolt as the wheels of the place touched down on the runway. Looking around curiously, she noticed all her fellow passengers getting ready to disembark. Alex settled back into her seat, content to wait out the rush. She was petite and didn't want to end up behing stampeded into the ground. She eyed the brute next to her as he lumbered over to his bag and unceremoniously dumped her bag in his now empty seat, shooting her a quick smile that didn't reach his bulging eyes. She nodded to him her thanks, but didn't bother to smile. She suppressed an eye roll when he mumbled under his breath about disrespectful youth. After about five minutes the cabin was almost deserted, and she slowly made her way of the plain, breathing in the hot desert air. She was finally in Egypt. She managed to get a donkey cart to take her to her hotel in Cario. Alex was looking around her in awe, but she was not distracted enough to miss the leering looks the driver kept giving her long athletic legs. Her creamy skin was in start contrast to the darker skin of the natives. Not wanting to cause a scene she tried to ignore the looks, instead she became transfixed watching the buildings pass by, and admiring all the street vendors. She new that she would be eating at one of the food trucks tonight, and her stomach growled in agreement as she caught a whiff of something delicious. After about a two hour drive, her butt was starting to go dead from the hard wooden seats of the cart, and the driver had moved on to stare at her cleavage. She was regretting not wearing something more conservative, but sadly the heat was just to much for her. She was used to the cold rainy days in London, and already she was feeling the effects of the Egyptian heat, sweat running down her back. Finally arriving at the hotel she didn't waste any time jumping down from the cart, almost falling down when she hit a loose stone. "Thank you so much for the ride" her voice sounded forced, even to her own ears, and her hand holding out the notes was shaking slightly. She tried to calm down her nerves as she smiled at the man, but he merely snagged the money and went on his way. Maybe he doesn't understand me, she mused as she entered the hotel. The bell boy was American, so checking in was a breeze. The cute blond even offered to show her some tourist sites, which she happily agreed to. Grabbing a quick shower to wash of the sweat and grime from her flight, she dressed in a short black dress, which flaired out at her hips, toeing on her black pumps she quickly checked her makeup. Satisfied with dabbing on some lipgloss she ran out the door, exited to finally start her adventure. Sam, as she learnt his name was, was the perfect tour guide. He was funny yet didn't try to rush her when she would get stuck staring at something that caught her eye. "So is this the first time you traveled outside of London?" His voice carried over the wind as they walked through town to a local dinner, she glanced up to his blue eyes and smiled. "Unfortunately yeah, my parents are quite overprotective of their only daughter. My dad didn't even want me to work, I ended up sneakily doing odd jobs to get my savings started. After graduating I finally found a job that payed well enough for me to finish my Egypt jar. " she heard him laugh at her jar and playfully smacked his arm. "Hey, if you want something it's a nice motivation to remind youself why you're saving in the first place!" Sam held up his hands in surrender when she started to pout, and burst out laughing again. Alex rolled her eyes and flipped him the bird, her own lips curling into a smile at his amusement. "So what's next Mr. Tour guide?" she looked at him, with her black eyebrow arched, hand on hip. "I thought we could go to one of the clubs, the nightlife here is completely different from overseas. Night is when all the tourists come out, while the natives stay in. You could run into some very interesting people." Alex couldn't keep the grin of her face as they quickly ate dinner, some local stew with fresh bread. In London she didn't have much time to be a customer in a bar, always the one serving them. It would be a treat to be the one actually having the fun, not cleaning up after the fun. The bright neon sigh flashed as they pulled up at the bar. Duat. What an odd name she thought to herself. She wondered if Sam would know what it means. They hurried inside and headed straight for the bar, ordering a beer for him and a glass of wine for her. "Hey do you know what Duat means? Is it a local name?" She shouted above the blaring music, holding her hand next to his ear. "It's the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife. The realm between the living and the dead." Sam made his voice whobble, trying to act creepy amd wiggling his eyebrows. The sight was too much for Alex and she went into a fit of giggles, leaving Sam glaring playfully at her. Grabbing his hand she called out, "Come on, let's go dance, see if you gan wiggle your hips as good as your eyebrows" he smacked at her arm amd grunted his agreement, trying to act offended. Soon, after a few hours, her legs were killing her, and her lungs burning. She really wasn't used to the heat, even at night. Just as she was about to pull Sam back to the bar, a stong pair of hands grabbed hold of her hips. Looking over her shoulder she took in the man behind her, suppressing a shiver as she met his hard green eyes. "Now where are you going, princess? Here I thought we were ganna have a nice dance." his gravely voice sent fear through her and she tried to move away, only to feel his fingers bruise into her hips. Sam finally caught on to what was happening and pulled her away from the man, shielding her behind him. " Look we dont want any trouble, me and my girlfriend were just about to leave, so if you would excuse us." While his voice sounded firm, Alex could see the worry and panic in his eyes. He quick tugged her away and off the dance floor. Looking over her shoulder she saw the man had dissappeared. But the hair on the back of her neck told her he was watching them. Moving closer to Sam they hurried out of the club. Duat suddenly seemed a very fitting name. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry I didn't notice sooner." The worry in Sam's voice broke through the fog in her mind. She glanced at him before looking back at the road, the loose pebbles suddenly seemed much more interesting. "Yeah I'm okay, just a bit rattled, the dude freaked me out." Alex shuddered as she remembered his hands on her. Suddenly they heard shouts, turning around they noticed the same man from the club, along with two others, running towards them. Sam grabbed her hand and started to pull her with him, running as fast as they can. Unfortunately the three men were faster and soon caught up to them. One of them, a short stocky man, immediately jumped Sam, the men started exchanging blows with their fists. A fight that Sam seemed to be losing. A tall thin guy grapped Alex's arms, pinning them behind her back as the guy from the club walked to her with a sinister smile on his face. "Now now, you better behave. Or Eric there might just blow up your friends head." Alex looked at Sam in shock, only to see him clutching his stomach in pain after a hard kick, while the other guy, Eric, pointed a handgun to him. Looking back at the guy from the cub she winced away when she realized he was reaching towards her face. Gritting her teeth against the pain of his hand as he squeezed her jaw, she averted her eyes to Sam. Their eyes met and she saw determination in his eyes. "Don't worry sweetheart, we won't kill your lover boy, unless he does something stupid of course. Now be a good girl and show me your lovely eyes." slowly she allowed her blue eyes to meet his green ones. Swallowing the lump in her throat she tried once again to get her arms free, but only succeeded in twisting her shoulder, causing pain to shoot through her arm. The sudden slap took her by surprise, her head snapping to the side. She could taste blood from her busted lip. She heard Sam shout out just as his cold voice reached her ears. "It would do you good to stop stuggling. After all, there are other ways to make you cooperate." Before she could really register his words, she saw Sam move. He tried to disarm Eric, making a grab for the gun. They fell to the street, both stuggling for dominance. Alex took advantage of the distraction of her captor and twisted her arms, managing to get loose. Just as she turned around to help Sam she heard the bang of the gun go off. Everyone froze. Staring wide eyed as Alex clutched her stomach in pain. She looked down, seeing the blood pouring out between her fingers, tasting it flooding into her mouth. She tried to speak, only to cough up more blood as she collapsed to her knees, tears of agony streaming doen her face. She saw Sam shout out as the three men ran away, but she couldn't hear him, all she could hear was the blood rushing though her ears, all she could feel was the pain of the bullet wound. Sam helped her lie back in the road, putting pressure on top of her hands. She saw his lips moving but as darkness started creeping in she lost focus, his face just becoming a blur. The last thing she remembered was the flashing light signaling the ambulance arriving. But she new it was too late, she had lost too much blood. Her eyes felt heavy as she gave up trying to keep them open. She felt Sam shake her, probably trying to get her to open her eyes, but she didn't care. She was tired. She welcomed the darkness, it eased the pain. The last thought she had was that she didn't even get to see the Pyramids of Giza yet. What a wasted trip.