Julie sighed, pulling her dark hair up into a bun, strands sticking sloppily to her forehead. It was hot and wet, and the sun had been beating down on her for too long to think about. She looked up from the hut, the shadows of the trees behind the little booth stretching nearly half way across the parking lot. Half an hour, she thought, watching the park patrons mill about, returning to their vehicles to bake on the way home. She was almost glad she wouldn't be getting out of here until the sun had been down for a while - at least that gave her car time to cool down.

She wasn't sure which was worse about this job: that she was stuck out here in the middle of Hicksville, surrounded by city yuppies hungry for a taste of the "countryside", or the fact that she wasn't getting paid to stand here and pretend she was as stupid as the park visitors. Julie snorted and spat on the dry, caked ground in front of the hut, not particularly caring that people were going to have to walk on it. Almost closing time, anyway.

Settling back into the creaky wicker chair they'd so graciously provided her, Julie managed to nap a bit on and off as the sun set below the trees. She hadn't managed to get to sleep the night before, but the heat of the day was enough to knock just about anything out. Her bra strap was digging painfully into her soft, slightly pudgy skin, and she was looking forward to peeling off her sorry excuse for a uniform.

With a bit of effort, Julie struggled to sit up in the sad little chair, noting that just about everyone had finally cleared out for the night. The chill of the new night was helping her work out her grogginess to a point, but she still took her time putting everything away and tidying up the little shack. She resisted the urge to just leave it as is, but they weren't about to let her get out of this shitty 'community service' rag if she mucked it up on purpose.

She'd hardly managed to lock the hut up before she was nearly blinded by a flash of headlights, just about jumping out of her skin. There was a crunch of gravel as the mud-brown pick-up truck pulled around next to her, a grinning face leaning out the passenger-side window at her.

"Hey, little lady, where're you headed t'night?"

"Skip it, Brent, I've got my car." She pulled her purse over her shoulder. "Unless you feel like dropping me down by employee parking?" She wasn't exactly thrilled about having to share a truck cab with Brent and Larry, but it was better than walking the 20 minutes to where they let the employees park their cars.

"Shore, hop in." He opened the door for her, grinning like he was the world's biggest gentleman, and slid into the middle seat. Julie stepped in, not bothering with a seatbelt. She wasn't sure if Larry's getup even had them anymore.

"So, how was day fifteen?" Brent was grinning.

Julie presented him the finger. "Remind me to take the jail time next time around, will ya?"

"Only if ya send us videos!" Larry piped up, taking his eyes off the road for what was probably too long. Brent laughed. Julie contemplated pretending to.

"C'mon, don't they have air conditioning in them huts?" Brent's grin was widening.

"Yeah, just like you've got in that shit-hole you call a house."

The two boys razzed her and laughed. Julie watched the scenery, hoping that once they came around one of these bends she'd see the parking lot. It always felt like an awful long ride, especially when Brent or one of his buddies decided to 'help her out'. At least they were just taking her to the parking lot this time, not all the way home.

"So, Julie," Brent started, looking as though he was trying, on some level, to be serious. "What're you up to Saturday night?"

Julie shot him a look. "Are you trying to ask a hooker out on a date, Brent?"

Larry spat out a laugh. "At least he knows to pick the ones who put out!"

"Shut it!" Brent gave Larry a punch in the arm that nearly swerved them off the road.

"Jesus, man, watch it! This piece of shit don't drive itself."

"No chance, Brent," Julie said, watching intently as the parking lot came into view.

"Aww, c'mon, Julie, look -"

"I said no, Brent. No fucking way."

Larry turned into the parking lot, nearly knocking out a fence post as he did.

"Julie -"

"Don't. Larry, just lemme off here."

"You sure? You car's all the way -"

"Yeah, I'm sure." She gave Brent a look. "You'd have to pay me regular to go out with this guy."

The truck came to a stop, and Julie hopped out in spite of Brent's poorly worded pleas. Without a word she walked off toward her car. It was all the way on the other side of the parking lot, but she didn't feel like putting up with Brent's whining all the way there. Besides, she needed to get some air. After a minute or so, she heard the truck door slam, and the truck pulled off into the woods. Fucking idiot.

Shoving her hands into her jean pockets, she stalked across the parking lot, eyes on the ground. Sometimes it seemed like every guy she knew was thinking that he'd be the lucky one she gave it away to for free. After a couple of years of falling for it, she'd about given up. It was a real piss- off for some of them to find out that, lo and behold, a hooker's favourite thing to do isn't sex.

Julie looked up, spotting her car fairly close by. Since she wasn't a real employee, she always got stuck with the shitty parking spaces about a mile away from the parking lot lights. She could see the outline of her car dimly - it was later than she'd thought.

She wasn't more than thirty feet away when she realized with a start that there was someone leaning on her car door. She stopped suddenly, her heart skipping a beat. She slid a hand into her pocket non-chalantly, slipping her fingers around her pocketknife. There's more than one way to try to get some for free.

"You lost, hon?" She put a hand on her hip, sliding one foot back a little. If this guy was gonna try something, she was going to be ready.

The figure pushed himself off of the car without a word, hands in his pockets, and started walking toward her. Julie flipped the knife open with her thumb, keeping it concealed in her pocket. "Listen, buddy, I'm not up for grabs tonight. Got the cops on my ass."

"You seem to be alone right now."

Julie's knuckles tightened as she clenched the knife. "Look, I've got a friend you can call, if that's what you're lookin' for. She's a wild ride."

"I'm looking for you."

She set her jaw. "One hooker's as good as another."

"I'm not looking for a hooker." He was slowly closing the distance. Julie decided it was time to make the first move.

With a start, she whipped the knife out of her pocket and ran at him, slicing fiercely at his gut. With a sickening rip it tore through his shirt, sending a splatter of blood onto the gravel. He grunted, grabbing her by the opposing arm. She stabbed the knife into his forearm, wrenching herself out of his grip, but his other hand managed to snag her hair by the bun. She cried out and sliced at his face - and missed - as he gripped her hair tightly, holding her close as he fought to knock the knife out of her grasp. The knife sank into the flesh of his side again and he snarled, kneeing her soundly in the gut.

Julie's eyes went wide as she doubled over in pain, gasping shallowly, the knife being forced out of her hand. She squeezed her eyes shut as she cradled her stomach, hardly aware of her the strong arms that gripped her shoulders and forced her to the ground. She called out in pain as he forcibly stretched her out on the gravel, pinning her down by sitting on her stomach and holding her arms.

He leaned down and looked at her, his face twisted with rage. "Will you listen now, whore?"

Julie gritted her teeth, afraid to speak against him, but her pride keeping her from answering. He sat up suddenly and struck her across the face with a force that snapped her head to the side, catching her off guard. Her eyes were wide, her breath caught in her throat from shock. She went rigid, afraid to move, her pulse racing in her ears.

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Fuck. Just fucking listen to me, and I won't fly off the fucking handle again, okay?"

Julie managed a weak nod, staring intently at the sprawl of darkness and gravel that fell on her line of vision.

After another few moments, he started talking again. "I didn't come here to rape you, and it would be a lot easier to not want to kill you if you hadn't fucking stabbed me." He growled again, the sound echoing eerily in the night. Julie tried to catch her breath without making too much noise. He sounded like he was composing himself. "Look at me."

Shakily, Julie turned her head back to look up at him. He was looking down at her with a softer expression than she'd seen before, though he still looked none too happy. He looked like he was gauging her somehow.

"What do you want, then?" Julie's voice sounded a lot more uncertain than she'd meant for it to.

"Like I said: you."

"For what?"

He appraised her for another minute, making Julie even more uncomfortable. He scrunched up his face distastefully at her. Finally he sighed deep in his throat. "I was sent her to tell you, but I'm starting to think it was a bad idea."

"What was a bad idea? What the hell are you talking about?" Her confidence returning a little, she started pulling at her wrists, which he was still holding down.

"Don't fucking move," he said, glaring down at her. She went limp again, reluctantly. He sighed again, sounding exasperated. "I have to run this by some people, this is fucking insane. You have your car keys, right?"

She nodded cautiously, thinking afterward that she should have probably said no. Oh well, too late now. "Why?"

"Nothing." He looked down into her eyes, his expression blank. She couldn't tell what colour they were in the darkness, but they made her edgy somehow. "You've had a long day. don't you think it's time you went to sleep?"

Sleep? Was he kidding? Here she was, pinned to the ground in the. . . parking. . . lot . . .

Now that he mentioned it, sleep sounded like an awfully good idea right now. Before she could reason out what was happening, she found herself slipping into a dark, dreamless slumber.