My Best Friend's Enemy

Chapter 1: New Place

Richela Mari Pala lifted a medium-sized box that contained her few possessions: a big journal she'd been writing in for two years now, her favorite refillable ink-pens, the couple of best-loved books she owned, which were mainly about all things supernatural, a subject that had always fascinated her. She also had a Mp3 player, that she used at the library, to download music.

Richela had some hobbies that she'd like to explore in greater depth, such as reading, about any and everything, and hiking, which she'd only recently gotten into.

However, moving to a new place had made it hard for her to think about free time and pursuits of personal happiness. Because now that she was having her own apartment, she'd have to find a job here, and pay the bills by herself.

The young woman sighed as she walked down the sidewalk towards her apartment building.

She didn't know anything about this neighborhood, and there was a sense of foreboding that seemed to follow her wherever she went.

Nothing bad had happened to Richela that gave her cause to think that something would eventually happen, but she could never shake her feelings of paranoia.

She constantly looked over her shoulders, always kept her cell phone on and in hand, and was cautious in everything she did.

Richela never tried to put herself in dangerous situations, and prided herself in staying away from troublesome people.

She ran her fingers through her long, brown hair, as her hazel eyes darted back and forth, taking in her surroundings.

Richela lived in the vast country of Sikan, in the northwestern city of Ki. She'd just moved to Ki today.

Richela had exactly $500 for her first month's rent, plus $100 for groceries, and $50 for household items and entertainment.

The place was fully furnished. She'd seen pictures of the inside. It was a nice, two-bedroom, one-bath apartment, with an ample kitchen and dining area, and a more luxurious bathroom than she'd ever had before.

Richela had lived in the city of Cu before she'd come to Ki. Cu was south of Ki, and had been her home for all of her life until now. She was twenty-four years old. Richela had grown up in Cu with her parents and one brother and one sister.

She'd been an excellent student, had graduated high-school with a few honors, and had gotten a job as a sales associate in a major furniture company.

Things had appeared to be going well, and they really had been, in Richela's opinion.

Her brother had moved to Seá, a city southeast of Ki, to attend the University there, where he was, and still is, from Richela's knowledge, studying to become a lawyer.

Her sister had moved to Zu, the city directly east of Ki. She was attending med-school.

Both of Richela's siblings had gotten scholarships from the College Fund Commission. Colleges had been a recent addition to the country of Sikan.

Richela hadn't qualified, because she'd already started working. She didn't know at the time that she would have to be a full-time student in order to qualify, because no one had informed her of this fact, until after she'd worked for almost a year.

Then, on top of all that, the company she'd worked for had gone bankrupt from embezzlement. Plus, the roommate Richela had before moving to Ki had kicked her out upon learning she was out of work. She'd taken the last bit of her money out of her bank account, and came to this city looking for a fresh start. She would've asked her parents for help, but they'd left Sikan to retire.

As she walked down the side of the building, and into the alley, Richela heard footsteps behind her, but they were moving too fast to be other apartment tenants.

She turned quickly, preparing to defend herself. It seemed like her foreboding on this day hadn't been for naught. Here was the situation she was always mentally preparing herself for.

It was the middle of the day, broad-daylight, for crying out loud, but there were two men approaching her, in green camouflage outfits, and they were coming at her so fast...Richela panicked, and her mind went blank.

She was aware of nothing, even though she was seeing it all first hand.

They walked up to her with swift movements, and her feet moved on instinct, backing up, until she had her back against the alley wall.

The men seemed to notice she didn't have a purse.

She heard words that didn't register at this moment.

"She doesn't have a purse," the taller of the two said.

"So, where's the money?" The short one asked angrily.

Richela's pulse was racing through her veins like wildfire, spreading faster to each part of her body as she froze up even more. She was incapable of speech, the fear gripping her, so that she couldn't even scream if she wanted to.

One of the men, (she was beyond noticing which at this point) grabbed her box and put it on the ground, then took her hands and held them above her head.

Richela's eyes shut as she felt her pockets being searched, as she desperately tried to remember details of their faces and appearance, so she could identify them later.

Distantly, she noted that her wallet was in her inner jacket pocket, but they didn't know that. She felt a set of hands roaming her body, checking each pocket on her jeans.

She was sure they'd leave now, but they were pushing her and pulling her hair, as they took her jacket off.

Richela was now struggling, her mind finally alert as she tried to focus on getting away.

She was aware of one of them pushing her hard, backwards...just as they found her wallet with her only source of cash...

No, she silently screamed. I need that money...

She tried to catch herself, but she was still falling...it was too late.

A split second later, her head hit concrete.

The last thing she felt, as consciousness left her, was blood dripping through her hair, and onto her neck.

Chapter 2: Rescue

Richela could distantly hear a male's voice, as she regained consciousness.

Somehow, it seemed familiar, like she'd heard it before during some point in her life...but it sounded a bit more mature than she remembered. How was that possible? She asked herself, even as her head throbbed painfully.

Richela heard an edge to the voice, a menacing sort of tone that indicated that the man, whoever he was, was angry, and that confused her.

Primarily, there was confusion because he didn't seem upset or mad at her, and secondly because the voice of the man speaking was neither of the men who had mugged her.

Memories of the incident came flooding back at the same time that she realized that she was no longer outside, but rather inside, somewhere.

The "where" part she was still struggling to figure out.

Her eyes were still closed, as if fearing what she would see upon opening them.

So, she used her other senses to become familiar with her surroundings.

Richela felt warm, but she couldn't feel the weight of her jacket, so she assumed she was underneath a cover of some sort.

There was a strange variety of scents around her. The first thing she smelled was alcohol, the type used on injuries.

Maybe someone had cleaned up what was sure to be a big gash on her head.

Will I need stitches? She wondered.

The second scent, which completely overwhelmed the first to a point where she didn't understand why she'd smelled this one second, was the aroma of burning wood.

Maybe she'd smelled the alcohol first because it was closer, but she really didn't let that bother her.

Richela also smelled blood, but something told her it wasn't her own. This unnerved her a lot, but she let it go for the moment.

Then she realized that the man speaking was actually talking to himself, or perhaps muttering was a better description. Richela listened to him talk for a minute, trying to remember where she'd heard his voice before.

"Why would they attack her?" He muttered to himself. "For the money? Or were they planning to do something else to her? Not like they can do anything to anyone now, where they are, but still. It makes me so angry."

Richela heard a loud sound. If she had to guess, she would've said he had hit something with his hand, hard, but he didn't make a gasp of pain, not even a grunt, and that made her even more uneasy, as she wondered about his physical strength.

She was breathing evenly, her eyes still closed. She didn't want him to know she was conscious. Why, she didn't know, maybe because she felt slightly afraid right now.

Richela was primarily scared because of what she had heard him say.

What did he mean, "Not like they can do anything to anyone now?"

A couple of simple facts registered: there'd been two men robbing her, and now there was only the presence of a new man, one with a somewhat familiar voice, and it sounded like he'd gotten rid of them.

Then questions began to plague her in rapid succession.

What had happened when she'd been unconscious? Where were her attackers now? Jail? Why had this possibly unknown man saved her? Who was he? Would he expect something in return for helping her? Was he as dangerous as he sounded?

Suddenly, his voice was right next to her, whispering in her ear.

"Richela, can you hear me?" He asked softly. "If you can, please open your eyes."

He knows my name?! She thought, in a half-shocked way. Who is he? Why does he sound concerned for me?

Richela counted to thirty, then as she felt ready to face whoever this was that knew her, she slowly opened her eyes.