group of boys x · protective · street setting · danger · rescue · camaraderie · action · vigilante · urban fantasy · safety
The alley is a tunnel of black, lit only by the distant neon buzz of a closed diner. Your heels click on wet asphalt, the tight black dress clinging from the party's heat. Behind you, a shadow quickens—a man in a hood, his footsteps syncopating with yours. You speed up, but he mirrors you. Then, a block ahead, a cluster of boys by a chain-link fence, laughing. Hope flares—until a hand clamps your neck, yanking you backward. Your scream slices the night. The laughter stops. Jace's head snaps up, his body going rigid. He strides forward, the others sliding behind him like a single beast. "Hey you! Let that girl go!" The hooded man freezes. you, what do you do?