To an outside observer, Ellie's departure from the convenience store seemed fairly mundane - just two young women walking with each other. Perhaps a little odd, as they didn't speak to each other or appear to otherwise communicate. Or because one of them had an extra head, but to an average observer that seemed somewhat irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
For Ellie, the walk home started as an amazing experience. She quickly learned that the best way for her to control two bodies at once was to avoid trying to micromanage both bodies at once. Both of her bodies were smart and capable - afterall, they were both Ellie. It was most intuitive and natural for her to simply act while sharing emotion, thought, memories, and senses through her psychic link with her other body. Her other body did the same, completing the loop and maintaining her consciousness as a single entity across both bodies.
When she reached the crosswalk at the intersection, hydra Ellie thought that normal Ellie should press the button, because her normal body was closer. But normal Ellie was already reaching for the button, having had the same thought at the same moment.
The intersection was a busy one, and while Ellie waited patiently for the crosswalk signal to light up, someone came up and stood a few steps behind Ellie. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see the shaggy and unkempt person looking her over. She stole glances at the stranger with one of her hydra body's head, and quickly recognized the person - Marcus, a jock who went to high school with her. He had always been a bit of an uncultured brute, and had been expelled halfway through junior year when 3 different girls had reported he had attempted to rape them, and 2 accused him of actually doing so.
Marcus had been held back during primary and grade school several times, so when the accusations were submitted to the police he was already 18 years old. A police investigation rapidly proved guilt and he narrowly escaped going to prison due to a technicality: when the proven crimes were committed, he was still a minor and thus could not be tried as an adult. Thousands of hours of community service and registration with a sex offenders monitoring division of the police department were his sentence. A punishment that all the victims were outraged by, all rightfully insisting it was way too lenient and would only create more victims.
His family disowned him and kicked him out. Homeless and unable to get a job due to being a convicted sex offender, his life had completely fallen apart. He showed up several times near the homes of the girls he had preyed upon in high school, but had always fled when the police arrived on the scene. That he was at the same crosswalk as Ellie sent her minds into twin spirals of panic.
Please don't recognize me. Please don't recognize me.
I should have called Carrie for a ride.
The light of the cars going by seemed to keep the brute at bay. Or maybe he just didn't recognize Ellie. Either way he didn't address her and simply stood back and ogled her from behind.
The light changed, and Ellie quickly walked across the street. She wanted to get away from him as quickly as she could. When she reached the end of the crosswalk and turned to head down the street to her neighborhood, she saw him halfway across the crosswalk, still watching her.
Oh shit he's following me.
I gotta split up. Lose him in the dark.
Thinking she had a good plan, Ellie leapt into a sprint, running down 2 different roads. She took the first side street in, hoping that she could lose him.
Then, after a mere 20 seconds of sprinting, Ellie ran into herself at an intersection of 2 side streets in the suburban neighborhood. She had run all 4 sides of a rectangle in an attempt to split up and lose the potential predator, but had clearly failed.
Looking down the streets, she saw Marcus turn down one of the streets and start walking towards her. Adrenaline kicked in and she took off again, this time both bodies together and heading down the same street. She recognized the neighborhood and knew a windy road with a number of offshoots she could take to lose her pursuer.
As Ellie ran, her hydra body pulled out her phone and dialed 911. "911, what's your emergency?"
"I'm being chased by a rapist I recognize from school!" Normal Ellie looked back over her shoulder and confirmed that yes, he was still chasing after her, at a hefty jog.
"Where are you?"
"Parkinson neighborhood off Pine and Tristram. I'm *huff* trying to lose him in the dark."
"Okay. Try to get somewhere where there's light and people. A store, parking lot, anywhere there will be someone else."
Aww crap.
Of course... I'm an idiot.
More like a pair of idiots.
"*huff* I'll try!" Ellie was in good shape, but after jogging half a city block, she was starting to run a little low on stamina. Periodic glances back confirmed that he was still behind her, and had also slowed a little.
"Stay on the line with me. Tell me any street signs you can see."
Ellie quickly reached the next turn-off and recognized it as a 1-way street. "Tenneson Drive. I know that *huff* street. It's a *huff* dead end."
"There's a patrol car just a couple minutes out. What's your name, miss?"
"*huff* Ellie... *huff*" Another glance. He was closer this time.
"Ellie, you can do it. Come on, keep going."
A slurred and deep voice seeped out from the darkness behind Ellie, oozing from her pursuer like a thousand years of bad breathe, rotten fruit and alcohol, "I rrrecognize yo-- you. Haw- hot *belch* geek gi- girl. Don- Don't run away."
"Crap he *huff* knows who I am! I think he's *huff* drunk." Ellie dashed across the street to get under a set of street lights. The lights told her she had just entered an adjoining slightly higher scale neighborhood. Even more importantly, they were a good sign, cause it meant she knew where she was. "I just entered the *huff* Crispy Pine *huff* neighborhood. On *huff* Marshal road." Ellie passed the information to the 911 operator in the hopes the police would arrive soon.
"Okay Ellie. Don't hang up."
Ellie glanced back to see the mess of a figure was right behind her. She yelped and tried to leap out of its way. Normal Ellie succeeded in evading the tackle, but Hydra Ellie hit the ground flat. Her phone flew from her hand and landed in the street with a clatter. The impact completely knocked the wind out of her, and her chest hurt from the hard impact on the concrete sidewalk.
"N-now pretty g-*belch* girl. I li... like you." Ellie felt his breath on her necks, and smelled the alcohol on his breath. The weight of his body pinned one of her bodies down on the ground. Her other body quickly recovered from her tumble and scrambled back to her feet.
"Get off of me! Help!" Ellie yelled. She struggled constantly with her pinned body, doing her best to get out from under him, but could clearly see with her standing body that she stood no chance to escape or overpower him singularly.
Ellie's fight or flight instinct kicked in. With the prospect of half of her (the permanent half) being abused by this brute looming over her, her instinct quickly settled on fight until flight was an option. Ellie rushed forward with her normal body and launched a kick into the brute's ribs. Her foot stung at the impact, even through her sneakers. The kick was enough to elicit a response from the brute, causing him to roll off hydra Ellie and gasp in pain. "Yo-u gonn pay for th-that."
Hydra Ellie quickly pushed herself up to her arms and legs and scurried away from the winded brute as fast as she can. But it wasn't fast enough: he caught her right leg in his arm and held tight. Ellie instinctively kicked to try to free herself but only flailed about and failed to connect with her other leg. Normal Ellie wound up and tried to kick him again.
That was a mistake. He gruffly caught her kick with his other arm and pulled Ellie's normal body down to the ground. "Aaah! Help!" "Help!" She screamed from the top of her lungs. Lights in nearby houses turned on as people heard and looked to see what the screaming was about.
The brute climbed over Ellie's bodies, quickly immobilizing both of her. She managed to turn her hydra body onto her back and swung at his head with 2 right fists, but barely managed to connect with the lower fist and missed entirely with the upper fist. The impact didn't even seem to phase him. But it did make him bar his teeth, releasing a horrid stench. With surprising agility, he leapt up in the air and slammed down onto both of Ellie's bodies. His elbow jammed right into one of Hydra Ellie's heads, instantly knocking the head unconscious against the concrete. "Nigh ni... ght se... xy..."
Both of Ellie's minds felt the pain of the impact and the sensation of being knocked unconscious simultaneously. It was particularly peculiar, because Ellie was still very conscious in the other head on her two headed body, and her other body felt the sensation despite having only one head. The pain was very real and caused tears to instantly well up in her eyes.
The brute rose up to slap Ellie hard across her upright face and stopped mid-motion, entranced as a car headlight and flashing red and blue lights came to rest on him.
"FREEZE!"
"HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
"GET OFF THE GIRLS!"
Dazed, the brute looked at the lights, then back down at both Ellies trapped under his legs. He raised his hand up further to swing into a slap. Before he made contact, a police officer tackled the brute, knocking him completely off Ellie.
Ellie wasn't able to stay conscious any longer. The flashing lights quickly dimmed out as she fainted.