Waking up, I never thought the day would end the way it did. But I guess that's how life is, it waits for you to think everything is fine, and suddenly throws you off. Sometimes, if you're lucky, it's a good kind of off, and something nice actually happens. But more times than not, that's not the case. Guess I was lucky today.
Returning home, I stilled my shaking hands long enough to push the key into the keyhole. This day wasn't going my way. I got fired from the only job I could find, and that wasn't even the worst of it. Frustrated, I entered the little apartment I rented using my fake name, Sam. I shrugged off my biker jacket, placing it next to my helmet. Putting my head in my hands, I tried to think of way to get out of this mess. No job meant no money. My line of thought was interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing, annoyed I answered, but was only met by unmistakeable silence. Hanging up, I decided not to panic yet, if it was repeated, all I had to do was throw the phone away and get a new one. This way they can't track me. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was almost time to pick up my sister from school. Sighing, I tied my boots' laces and got up to the door, taking both my jacket and helmet with me on the way out.
Waiting for me in the building garage was my pride and joy, the most important thing in my life, only second to my sister. It is my motorcycle. The one I've been working on since I was 15, it was sheer luck that I managed to snag it on my way out of the hell hole. Propping myself on the motorcycle's seat, I revved the motorcycle to life. In 5 minutes time I was in front of the school, since I was speeding. As always. Waiting by the school gate, I could sense something was off. Growing up the way I did, you learn to sense these things. It's the only way of survival. Knowing that showing them I knew of their presence was not a good choice, unless I wanted to die, I feigned ignorance, impatiently waiting for the school doors to finally open.
Those moments were agonizing, the minute the door opened, I slipped inside and grabbed my sister. She panicked but soon calmed after realizing it was me. Shushing her, I wrapped her in my jacket, as I ambled through the string of parents and children to reach my motorcycle, using the crowd as a cover. Seeing my motorcycle, I quickly hopped on it, pulling my sister along. She was quiet, she knew not to question me when I was being this serious. Starting the engine, I sped away, looking for any place that can work as a hideout without alerting those watching.
Thankfully, we stumbled upon a little cafe a long ways from the school. The chase was hard and tiring, but nobody can ever beat my motorcycle. Hiding the motorcycle in a nearby alley, we entered the little shop. It was empty, except for the brunette woman standing behind the counter. She looked up, startled, as we ran into the shop. She started to talk, but a warning look was all it took for her to stop. Hiding my sister behind a table, I quietly looked through the windows blinds, seeing them gone. So he's still looking for us, how stupid of me to think he finally gave up. God, this just adds to the mess. Walking up to the counter, I whispered to the woman; "Hey, am really sorry about that."
"It seems serious, is everything alright?"
"It was nothing, thank you for the help."
Chuckling, she introduces herself;"I'm Mia, and I can tell it's more than nothing, who're you running from?"
My smile fades as the door opens and I'm once again alert, excepting one of the goons. Instead, I look as Mia flings herself into the arms of the newcomer. Deciding he's harmless, I turn to gather my sister and leave. Thats when I notice the blood pooling under my jacket, and the faint throbbing of a tender wound. Too late, I realize that my wound had reopened, pressing my hands in the hope of stopping the blood flow. It does nothing to help. As I slip into darkness, the last thing I hear is Mia's alarmed scream, soon followed by a pair of strong arm catching me.
As I gain conscious, I start panicking. Muscled arms are holding me down, and I thrash and scream. I don't want to believe I was back in that hell hole. I can't be there, I just can't.
"It's okay, you're okay, you're safe here, I won't hurt you."
I still a bit, not recognizing the gruff voice, not wanting to hurt someone else. I've hurt enough people. Squinting through the bright light, I look into deep brown eyes. Taking a moment to take in the sight of the guy. Deciding I can beat him in a fight, I talk quietly.
"Let go, I don't want you touching me."
He seems unsure of what to do. Like he knew something. Finally, he let go of my arms. Slightly backing away, I look for my sister. Noticing my distress, he turns around and shouts,"Dom, she's up, get the kid in here."
"Fine, just a minute. Don't let her out of your sight." A deep voice answers back.
Trying to calm my breathing, I make to stand up. Only to realize that my upper body was wrapped up, blotching red in many places. The pain almost stops me, but I'm used to it by now. I suck in a breath, pulling myself to stand.
"You don't really think you can move, right? Dom will have my ass if you hurt yourself."
"Yeah? Well, I don't know who you are or who Dom is. I can take care of myself." I scoff.
"Calm down, am just tryin' to help. I'm Vince."
As the sound of footsteps near the bedroom's door, I look expectantly, waiting for my sister.
The footsteps come to a stop, and in comes Mia, some bald guy I've never seen and my sister.
Hurling herself across the room, she grabs in a hug.
Sniffling, she looks up with tears and says, "I thought you were gone, you…you just fell."
"Sweetie, I'm never going to leave. You know that, don't you? I'll always be right here." I say, poking her in the chest.
Giggling, she nods. Looking up, I meet three gazes.
"Thanks for keeping her safe, now if you'll excuse me we need to leave."
"Leave? You can barely walk. I'm so glad you're okay." Mia exclaims
"I'll live, I've been through much worse." Sadly, that's not even a lie. "Thanks for all the help."
"You can stay the night, then leave. It's already midnight." Says the bald guy. I think that's Dom.
"In case you didn't notice, I don't know you, you don't know me. And I'm not a fan of strangers."
"The name's Dom, this is Mia, and that's Vince. We're not strangers anymore. You're staying."
Before I can get a word out, my sister turns to look at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Can we please, please, please stay? Mia was just showing me how to braid my hair. Please."
Mia smiles at me, " It's only one night. And we'd never do anything to hurt you. Or her."
Weighing the options in my head, I consider staying. I mean, Nour likes them, and they helped me. They didn't even ask about my wound. Or anything else.
Shaking hands with Dom, I introduce myself, "I'm Tessa, she's Nour. We'll be gone by the morning."
Dom chuckles, "Don't worry, no one's going to jump you."
"And your kid likes us, that has got to count for something." Adds a voice from the doorway.
"She's not my kid, she's my sister. Do I really look that old?"
Laughing he says, "No harm done, just saying, my name's Brian." Turning to my Nour he asks, "you do like us, right?"
"Yeah, I like you Uncle Brian."
"Uncle Brian?" I choke out. "What did you give her?"
Looking excited, she answered, "He let me ride his car, and it was amazing. It's even faster than your motorcycle, Tessa."
"Sure, kiddo. You know nothing's faster than my motorcycle."
Dom and Vince just exchanged amused glances.
"You sure about that? I never lost a race." Was all Dom said.
"Well, there's a first time for everything."
Holding my hand, my sister tried to pull me off of the bed.
"What's the hurry?" Vince asked.
"She still didn't meet the others. Come on, Tessa. Get up." She excitedly answered.
Knowing there was no way I'll be able to walk down without hissing from pain, I urged her to go before me, " how about you go with Mia? I'll just take a minute to use the bathroom."
Pulling at Mia's hand, she ran out of the door, with Vince not too far behind. Dom gave me a knowing look, "We're talking when she goes to sleep." And softly closed the door behind him.
Swallowing a hiss of pain, I got up from the bed. Looking at myself I realized that I wasn't wearing a shirt. Raising an eyebrow at Brian he threw me a shirt.
"That's not mine."
"I know. You can't walk around like that though, your sister will freak out. Not to mention Mia."
Thanking him, I pull the shirt over my head, barely containing a whimper.
"Are you going to keep doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Pretending it doesn't hurt. Your sister isn't here. You can tear a bit if you want to."
"I'm not doing that. Pain doesn't bother me anymore." I turn away, hoping he won't see through my lies.
"Dom is going to have a long talk with you. A really long one."
"Lets just leave, I can't wait to meet everyone." I say with obvious sarcasm.
Laughing, he says, "I like you, just lean on me, I'll help."
"I don't need any help, I'll be fine on my own."
Taking a few steps, I feel dizzy, the blood loss catching up with me. Right before stumbling, Brian's hands shoot out and right me.
"You sure about that? Still think you don't need help? I don't even know how you made it that far with crying."
Chuckling I say, "I can use that shoulder, but am not crying. No way."
Lightly leaning on Brian, I make it to the stairs, the wound dully throbbing. Getting down the stairs was a challenge. I've always wondered why wounds hurt as much as they do when they reopen. Shouldn't they hurt less? The voices of people talking got louder as we get closer. The moment we were downstairs, I let go of Brian. He looked surprised, " What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"What? No, I just done want anyone to think I'm weak. Plus, I don't want Nour to find out just how hurt I really am."
"Nobody's gonna think you're weak."
"Doesn't matter, I'm fine"
Taking in a deep breath, I walked towards the voices, to see a brunette sitting in Dom's lap. Mia braiding Nour's hair. Vince drinking a beer that sure as hell wasn't his first. And two other guys playing cards. Spotting me, Nour ran to me and pulled me to introduce everyone.
"This is Tessa, she's my sister" I received many nods and a wave from one of the guys.
"This is Letty, she has really pretty hair." She said pointing to the brunette in Dom's lap. Letty just smiled at her. "And that's Jesse, he's really sweet, he gave me some chocolate." Jesse waved at me. She was right, he seemed sweet. "And the last one's Leon, and he thinks I'm really pretty." She seemed happy about that.
"Of course, why wouldn't he? You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen."
"You're just saying that because am your sister." She giggled.
Looking up at the friends strewn everywhere all over the room, "Thank you guys, for keeping her safe."
The room was soon filled with "no problems" and "you don't have to thank us."
Patting the spot next to her, Mia waved me over to where Letty and her were sitting. Slowly approaching her, I sat next to her. Letty seemed like the type of girl I would either become friends or enemies with.
"How's your stomach, I wasn't sure if there was internal bleeding, so I applied extra pressure." Mia rambled.
"I'm fine, really. Umm…thanks for wrapping me up. I didn't notice it."
"You sure, chicka? That looked like somebody cut you up and left you to die." Letty pointed out, rather bluntly.
"Letty!"
"It's fine, Mia. It's not like she's wrong." I turn around hearing a shriek. Nour was jumping, apparently happy she won the video game against Jesse. Jesse just winked at me, while I laughed. I can't remember the last time I laughed because of someone other than my sister. This was the first time, in a long long time.
Tips and point outs are always useful. Am still not sure who Tessa should end up with. Tell me who it should be in the reviews. Thanks.