Brielle's bare back hit the cold wall behind her, the rough, cemented bricks creating a prison. Was she going to lose her innocence here? In the darkness, to a man she had mistaken to be the love of her life? She thought she would rather die.

A tall figure was walking towards her, wielding a flashlight. It was only a matter of moments before the light would fall on her and give her away. Her breath hitched in her throat, she felt a cold sense of dread descend on her.

As her high heels slipped suddenly, she panicked and fell to the hard floor. She felt a solid structure beneath her body and realized the ground wasn't all just a pitch road.

Her face lit up with a bittersweet smile. Thank goodness.

"Check mate." said the silhouette of the man finally approaching where Brielle had been. But, she was long gone.

"What the---?" he exclaimed."Zachary, you said she was here."

Zachary came running to the scene, holding up a strong flashlight and waving it around. "Where the hell is she? She was right here. I swear I saw her come into this alley. There's no way she can escape."

"She's not a bloody magician. How can she disappear into thin air?" said the man gruffly. His salt-pepper beard and grubby appearance gave the impression that he was not very well off.

"Dad said we needed to make a tape of her." said Zachary lighting a cigerette to abate his frustration. Where could she possibly had gone? Only the great magician Houdini could carry off this kind of escapades.

And Zachary knew Brielle was anything but that. She's clumsy and easily manipulatable, too naive and kind. The world isn't meant for people like her.

Zachary glanced at his watch as his accomplice tugged at his black and white mustache.

"Don't worry." said the man, taking his phone out and playing a video. "We'll manage with whatever footage we have."

Zachary breathed out the smoke in concentric rings, surveying the alley. His eyes stopped at the concrete sewer covering in the ground. His eyes widened with shock as he realized how Brielle had escaped. There was no way she would make it out on her own. I have no intention to help.

It was far too dark for Brielle to see. She was covered from head to foot in fast moving blackish water. She allowed the current to usher her forward. Her scanty clothes provided almost no protection against the harsh, cold liquid. She was lucky she knew how to swim and hold her breath, otherwise she was sure she would have died.

Keeping her head over the water, she swam, occasionally stopping to feel the surrounding walls. The stench filled her nostrils, slowly making her light-headed and the overwhelming tendency to vomit engulfed her.

"I will get out of here," she thought, pursing her lips tight as she waded through the water, which was slowly losing force and becoming shallow. Her feet touched the floor and she felt the water level recede.

The grime and waste clung to her skin and matted into her hair. She fought the urge to throw up. She needed to find an opening somewhere.

"Damn it. It's too dark for me to see anything." she thought.

"There it is!" she spoke out loud as she spotted dim light coming from a circular periphery overhead. "A way out."

How do I reach the ceiling?

Just then, she heard a the slapping sound of water thrusting through the pipes. A large amount of sewage was headed her way. Using her instincts she timed her jump. As soon as she felt the first splash on her body, she jumped as high as she could, and allowed the water's upthrust to propel her upwards.

Her hands grappled at the light coming out from the man-hole covering, begging for a way to open it. The water level was rising steadily. She would drown if she didn't get out soon.

She used all the energy in her body to push the lid. Her chest and arms hurt, her legs tired of keeping her afloat, but she managed to open the covering. She stuck her hands out and slowly dragged her torso up. She climbed out to find herself in the middle of a familiar street.

Few cars zoomed past her, as she sat cross-legged beside the uncovered man-hole, trying to regain her strength. The roads were deserted and the shops all closed, it must have been very late into the night.

She looked at her arms and legs under the street lights and gasped. She was covered in black grime. She reckoned that she smelled horrible as well. After all, its not fresh flowers that are sent down sewage pipes.

She was half-naked, cold, shivering and had no money. What was she going to do? She got up unsteadily and went to the safety of the sidewalk. She felt relief wash over.

Brielle leaned against a closed shop door and breathed deeply. She knew she wasn't in the best of conditions, but she had made it out safely. She had run away from the bastard she'd mistaken to be her lover.

Love, my ass.

She walked along the desolate pavement looking for an open shop or a kind passer by. Brielle felt oddly grateful for the tar on her skin. She felt a little less vulnerable knowing that the grime and waste was protecting her.

Just then, a car drove up and beside her and a fat, balding man in a suit looked at her up and down.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked blowing a raspberry. Brielle walked away briskly, ignoring him.

"Bad day for business huh?" he said snarkily keeping pace with her in his car. "I'll pay you half for tonight. You can clean up at my place for free."

Brielle didn't know what to do. She had no way out of the mess she was in. She could do with some money. As for her innocence, maybe she had no choice. Maybe her fate was predecided. Maybe she wasn't meant to have her first night with someone she loved. Maybe---

She stopped. Right across the street, was a tall handsome building bearing the comforting words, :.

Brielle could have cried out of happiness.

"I'm sorry. I'm not offering services." she said to the surprised man. With that walked behind his car and crossed the street. She hoped that someone at the building would help her, even if purely out of goodwill. After all, she had no proof she knew the CEO and owner personally.

Who would believe that Jack Dixon had kissed the cheek and forehead that very morning of the girl clad in nothing but her underwear, barefoot and covered in sewage waste?