Charmaine kicked and screamed to no avail.  The man had his hand pressed firmly against and with his other arm branded around her waist, she could barely move.  Nevertheless, she continued to flail her arms and legs in an attempt to catch her attacker off guard enabling her to make a run for it.  In the man's iron grip, Charmaine was carried around the side of the building and into a bushel of bushes.  "Let me go!  Let me go!!!" she screamed against his hand but her cries were muffled by his hand which was now pressing painfully against .  Charmaine soon found herself lying on the grass with her attacker straddling her.  He made a cackling sound that sent tremors up her spine.  This can't be happening… it can't be… she cried desperately.  She made one final attempt to thwart her attacker off her but his weight was unmoving on her.

"Stay still," her attacker hissed.  "Don't make me hurt you."

Charmaine froze.  Although his face was completely covered by a black mask, his voice sounded eerily familiar.  She stared up at him and locked her eyes with his.  In that instant, she knew who he was.

Ron knew the second she recognized him and alarm filled him.  However, the alarm was mixed in with a sick sense of exhilaration.  So what if she knew.  She wasn't going to live to tell anyone.  Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he slowly removed his hand from .  Just as expected, she didn't scream.

"What do you want?" Charmaine asked in a low shaky voice.

Ron chuckled while a lazy grin spread across his face.  "That's a stupid question coming from someone as smart as yourself don't you think?"

"You're not going to get away with this," Charmaine warned in a low biting voice.

Again Ron chuckled.  Bringing his hand to encircle he applied enough pressure to ring some genuine fear in her.  "I got away with it before.  What makes you think I won't this time around?"

Charmaine tried to force air into her lungs despite Ron's relentless hold.  She can't die like this.  Not yet.  A memory of a time when she was with Raymond floated into her head.  The thought of never seeing him again brought an onslaught of tears to streak down her face.  She heard Ron Ng laugh snidely and looked into his cold, heartless eyes.  She won't give him the benefit of seeing her cowering up in fear without a fight.  And a fight is what she's going to give.  With renewed energy, Charmaine spat out, "Because I won't let you," just as she brought her knees up behind him and gave it a hard shove.  The force of her knees drove Ron forward, landing him clumsily on top of her.  Without wasting a second, Charmaine pushed him off her and scrambled to her feet.

Her surprise attack threw Ron momentarily off.  By the time he figured out what had happened, she had taken off.  Luckily for him, she was still within a good distance and outrunning her would be a cinch.  As predicted, he caught up to Charmaine before she made it to the front side of the building.  Grabbing her by the hair he yanked her backwards until she fell back against him.  Quickly sliding an arm around her waist he hoisted her up in the air and ignoring her kicks he brought his free hand down hard on , his fingers squeezing hurtfully into her jaw.

Charmaine squirmed and twisted her head.  She tried in vain to tug away from the painful grip of his fingers but it was useless.  Still, she continued to thrash about in hope to catch him off guard again.

"Stop it!" Ron hissed into her ear.  When she continued to fight against him, he brought his teeth down on her earlobe.

The unexpected excruciating pain immobilized Charmaine.  All at once she ceased all struggles and went completely still.

"That's better," Ron said softly.  "You're only going to hurt yourself if you continue like this."

Charmaine leaned her head all the way back so that she could look at him.  Rather, glare at him.

Ron merely smiled in return.  Tightening his arm around her he proceeded back towards the area behind the bushes.  He felt her stiffen in his hold and whispered, "If you try anything again, I swear I'm going to kill you."

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Wayne glanced at the clock on his dashboard.  It has been more than ten minutes since he dropped Charmaine off in front of her building.  It couldn't possibly take her this long to get up to her apartment.  Preparing himself to be ridiculed by her for being overly protective, Wayne took out his cell phone and dialed her number.  It rang several times with no answer.  Strange, he thought.  Something just didn't seem right to him.  Pulling his car to the side, he then made a wide U-turn back in the direction of Charmaine's apartment.

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Raymond parked his car and slowly got out.  He looked at the piece of paper and then up at the building.  This was it.  On his way over he decided that he was going to have it out with her.  One way or another, he was determined to hear from her whether there could ever be a future for them.  Either Charmaine was going to forgive him and they start afresh, or this was the total end for them.  He wasn't going to badger or beg anymore.  Inhaling a breath he walked up the drive towards the door.  A sound caught his attention.  He stopped and listened.  The sound came again.  It was more like shuffling noise and then he heard a soft moan.  Curious, he followed the soft sounds that led him to the side of the building.  He saw rustling in the bushes and stopped in his tracks.  Great, what he didn't need was to interrupt a couple during their throes of passion.  He turned, intending to walk back the way he came from when that soft moan came again followed by a recognizable low cackle.  Strange, he thought.  It sounded like Ron.  Even more curious now, Raymond tiptoed his way over and peeped over the bushes.  He saw a man hovering over a thrashing body.  From the looks of things it appears they were in the midst of getting it on.  He was about to walk away when out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the person underneath the man.  It was Charmaine!  And was covered by a black gloved hand.  "What are you doing?" Raymond roared as he jumped over the bushes.

Ron heard Raymond's voice.  In a flash, he jumped and barged past Raymond, disappearing down the drive.

Raymond didn't bother to run after him.  His main concern was Charmaine who remained lying on the ground, crying uncontrollably.  "Charmaine," Raymond said her name softly while taking her shivering form into his arms.  "Are you alright?"

Charmaine nodded her head, her cries diminishing.  "It was Ron Ng!" she blurted out, her hands automatically clutching onto Raymond's arm.  "It was him!"

Raymond's hold on her went rigid.  No wonder the cackling sounded so familiar to him.  He would have recognized that sound anywhere.  Still, since Charmaine was the victim, her testimony would bear more weight than his.  "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes!" Charmaine nearly shouted out.  Seeing Raymond's expression harden told her that he was angry, perhaps angry that she had accused his friend.  Taken aback, she dropped her hands from him and asked bleakly, "You don't believe me?"

"Of course I do!" Raymond answered instantly, his arms tightening automatically around her.

Charmaine searched his face and what she saw there made her break down completely.  It was trust, full blown trust, and a tenderness so great that it made her whimper his name and fall into his arms.  That moment when Ron Ng had has fingers around her neck, squeezing the life out of her all she could think of was Raymond.  The idea of never seeing him again made her realize she had never stopped loving him.  "Raymond," she whispered his name again.

Raymond hugged her fiercely to him.  They remained that way for a few more seconds before Raymond reluctantly pulled away.  Holding her at arms length, he looked down at her and said gravely, "We're going to the police station."

Charmaine instantly shook her head.  "They can't help me.  It's my word against his.  Besides, he wore a mask."

Squeezing her arms, Raymond said tersely, "I recognized his voice.  I can be your witness."

Charmaine lifted her eyes to his, "Thank you Raymond."

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Wayne turned a corner and stopped at a red light.  He could see Charmaine's building up ahead.  While he waited for the light to change, his eyes caught a movement in the shadows.  Peering curiously he saw a man dressed entirely in black running down the block and into an alley.  The man was in such a rush that he dropped something behind.  Strange, Wayne thought.  The man bared a striking resemblance to Ron Ng.  Pulling his car over, Wayne got out of his car and crossed the street to the alley.  He bent to look at the item that was dropped.  Picking it up with two fingers he realized it was a mask.