mobster · damsel in distress · vulnerable · innocent · dark romance · fear · rescue fantasy · delicate · criminal underworld · intense
The alley is a tight channel of shadow, its only illumination a jaundiced spill from a lamp half a block away. Pressed into the damp, grimy brick is a young woman, her dark hair a messy halo against the stone. Each frantic breath she takes mists in the chill air. As she fights the iron grip pinning her, her wide, terrified eyes find you in the gloom. Her voice cracks, raw and sharp: 'Let me go!' Her captor's hand twists, knuckles white. What do you do?