continued from chapter I: Screamer or moaner?

Big Eddie’s scream had died in his throat. Something soft and rubbery had been shoved into his mouth. He couldn’t spit it out. Then his world went dark and his ears started ringing as his body slumped to the floor. For the next few minutes he just sat there in darkness as his mind fought the pain.
He came to suddenly at the sound of an engine starting. He looked up. The bitch was gone. His first instinct was to try and stand up. But that just brought him more excruciating pain. He didn’t have control over his hands. She hadn’t just broken them; she had just plain ripped them out of their sockets. Now they uselessly dangled along his sides, mocking him.
Somewhere in the far end of the alley the engine revved up. And a pair of headlights went on and started to grow larger. Big Eddie panicked. Oh my god! She was going to run him over. He didn’t have the use of his hands but he tried to scramble away with his feet. Only to find that they were shackled to the dumpster. The headlights grew larger. Like the eyes of some giant cat bearing down on a rodent in the night. Big Eddie knew he had only moments to live.
But the car stopped. Screeched to a halt about two metres from him. The tiny figure is red jumped out from behind the wheel. She was up to something. Big Eddie couldn’t see clearly because of the headlights. She was moving around with quick certain actions. He got a better look at the car. It was a minivan. You saw these things in the suburbs. Soccer-moms drive them around, picking up kids from school, dropping them off at sports, shopping at the supermarket. This one even had a “baby on board” sticker!
The woman was now standing next to Eddie and she threw something up in there.
Next she slid the noose around his neck.
Big Eddie struggled. Trying to shake it off. But the pain in his back didn’t let him. But what was she going to do? Big Eddie outweighed her by 80 kilos at least.
There was a low whirring sound. A small motor going off. And Big Eddie felt himself being raised above the ground. She was using the winch! The car winch on the minivan. The noose around his neck tightened cutting off his breathing. His head and eyes started to throb. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t breathe!
The whirring sound stopped. Big Eddie was hanging from the lamp-post above him, his life slowly fading away. Suddenly he felt his leg come free of the shackles. He kicked around desperately and found the ground. But just barely. Standing almost on tiptoes. But that was enough. By stretching his body as far as humanely possible he could just keep himself from being hanged.
He could breathe. His vision cleared.
He saw that exquisite face in front of him again. Those long unending eyelashes. Those chiseled lips. That delicate fragrance filled his nostrils. He could breathe.
“My name’s Xi”, she said “and we need to talk.”