Everything moved so slow around her. Sound reverberated and echoed painfully in her skull. The light pierced her eyes, burning them to cinders. Her limbs were heavy and filled with molten lead. After a very long moment of struggling to draw a breath, he finally managed to gasp and choke.<br/><br/>She stayed where she was, focusing on her breathing alone-- until a sound interrupted her. She jumped as she heard someone try the door, and discovered through the reflexive motion that much of her mobility had returned. She closed her eyes, listening intently. She could hear a voice. Someone was singing to himself, the words he uttered far from wholesome. She heard a wet sloshing, and could tell a large volume of liquid was being moved within a container, much larger than a bottled soda.<br/><br/>Before she could ponder further, the door burst inward. She froze in place, thinking fast. She was far too weak still to feel fully confident that she could defeat any attacker. Sure, chances were she would be fine, but why take the risk? She was fierce even at her weakest, but there were things out there that even she would have a hard time fighting. The sound of heavy footsteps quickly cut off, leading her to assume she'd been noticed. She lay perfectly still, waiting.<br/><br/>The footsteps resumed and still she lay where she was, barely breathing. Along with the sound of footsteps so heavy her apprehension grew, came a voice.<span style="font-style: italic">"Normally I'd be all over some naked-ass chick on my floor, but I've got work to do. So how about you wake the hell up and get your narrow ass out before I assume this is an invitation and get some pleasure all up-on my work."</span><br/><br/>A new smell met her nose and she thought she understood. Gasoline. he was here to torch the place. She was just in time, then. Any later and she'd have been unable to track her prey.<br/><br/>The second she felt something solid collide with her side, she drew in a gasping, panicked breath and released a groggy scream. It was pathetic, really. She hated doing it, but the ruse was necessary. Scrambling awkwardly, she rolled to get a look at him. One look at him told her this would be a hard act to sell. This man was hardened. She kept herself from eyeing him over for weapons and weak points, knowing he'd notice that. Instead, she kept her eyes wide, focused on him in that general, unseeing way that always irritated the hell out of her when she was on the other end of it. Panic was pathetic and weak. She loathed herself for even feigning it.<br/><br/>One thing was clear to her, though. She needed to keep this man uncertain, and off his guard. She needed him to feel unsure of what to do with her. Chances were he knew something about the man she was tracking, and could make her job easier, but he wouldn't tell her anything willingly, not if he suspected anything close to the truth.<br/><br/>"No... please!" she moaned in a hoarse croak, "Please. No more! Don't hurt me! I wont tell anyone, I swear! Please just let me go!"<br/><br/>She curled up, as though trying to conceal her nakedness, and forced her breath out in great, heaving sobs. Normally she really didn't care one way or the other if her body was seen. To her kind, nudity was not nearly the big deal that it was to humans... but she knew it would not be convincing for her to show that.<br/><br/>She was still slightly weak from the strain of changing twice in an hour, which meant she didn't have to try too hard to make her hands tremble as she raised them to guard her face. She remained curled in a ball, yet continued to try to wiggle and scoot away from him. It was the most humiliating thing she'd ever done. If this didn't work, she was going to tear his blasted mohawk off and stuff it up his nose just for the satisfaction of it. She needed information and it seemed he would be the only one to get it from. So for now, she would have to play the victim.