The Odyssey – Part Ⅱ
Three years ago I witnessed a crime. A murder committed by a gang of mobsters. I was only fifteen when it happened. I was walking home from school on the day that changed my life. My mother died two days after I was born in a horrible car crash so it was always my dad and I. He was a loving father and did his best but it was never enough. I lived in one of the roughest parts in far north New York and the only way the two of us could pay the mortgage was I had a part time job at a run down post office till nine p.m. every night to pay the rent for our ratty apartment.
I was walking past an old trading goods warehouse when I heard yelling. There was a crash, and then I heard someone starting to plead for something. I have never been able to stand not knowing something. I was always so curious. I maneuvered between wooden beams that were nailed to the door and slipped inside. I quietly snuck over to a wooden box and tried to peek out from over it. When I did, I heard gunfire and something dropped to the ground. I pressed my back flat against the crate in a crouch. The box was dusty and smelled old almost like my apartment.
I crouched there frozen, trying to breath shallowly. Then a door opened and I heard a girl gasp and she started to cry. I gathered up the courage to peek over the box. I swiveled my legs and got into a kneel then put my hands on top of the box and peeked over. What I saw was a girl that looked about my age maybe younger with glossy brown hair and wearing jeans and an anime hoody. She was kneeling over the body of a boy that looked about twelve wearing a blue t-shirt covered in blood. Behind them there were a bunch of mean looking dudes with guns. The girl said between tears, "you promised you wouldn't hurt him! You said if I got you the money you wouldn't hurt him!" she went on saying.
My breathing was hard but I tried to get it under control. Then the man behind her raised his large machine gun. I wanted to call out, but my voice couldn't seem to work. Then she looked up right at me. I looked into her hazel eyes. She was pretty with soft features and rosy cheeks thought with a few scrapes and mud here and there plus a large cut on her forehead. But I knew she would grow up to be beautiful.
She started to gasp at the sight of me she was interrupted by a loud bang! She dropped forward to the floor right onto the body of the other boy. I was still frozen in the moment. The man who killed the girl grabbed a small sack off the floor then walked away as if he had done anything but shot a little girl.
When they were gone, I stayed hidden for not nearly enough time. When I got up, I pressed my hand against her neck to see if there was even a remote chance she was still alive. Nothing. I felt a strange burning in my stomach. It was anger, a deep anger. I wanted to kill the men responsible even thought I didn't know the slightest thing about either child on the floor.
I guess I got a chance to make my wish come true because some man walked in on patrol of the warehouse. He seemed shocked that there was a fifteen-year-old girl in their murder scene, I mean who wouldn't be.
He then tried to mask his surprise with a smirk. He lifted his gun" Leave now." he said firmly as if it was an order. In that moment I knew I had a choice. I could just walk away, forget this ever happened. But then I looked down at the two kids on the floor and I knew what I had to do.
God, I thought. Of course it's me this happens too. Then I noticed that there was an open box about three feet away. There was shipping straw bursting all over the place but I saw a tip of metal. It was a reach, I mean it could have been a statue of a circus elephant or something but I set my sights on making it to that box. The timing had to be perfect, I kept thinking. I put on my best-scared face and raised my hands up in surrender. He took just a millisecond thinking as if wondering if he should kill me or not. I took my chance and raised my hands to their full extent then cartwheeled over. It was a strange cartwheel; like that's what it started as but in the middle I slacked my arms and rolled to the floor. I herd shoots and a few pierced the box I was hiding behind.
I flipped the box over the best I could so the top faced me. I got covered in straw and dust but something clattered to the floor next to me. A wave of shock, panic, and self-hatred swept over me. Beside me was an old fashion bow that looked so old Abraham Lincoln could have used it in the Revolutionary War. It was a bow, a stupid bow. It looked like it was made from, what was it, a ram's horn. I touched it and it was surprisingly sturdy. Actually, very sturdy. Next to it were a full quiver of arrows. It was my best hope so I slung the quiver over my shoulder and grabbed the bow.
I would be a sitting duck if I just stayed there and tried to shoot. By then all the other guards had heard shots and where headed this way. Ducking behind boxing I crawled to a statue of a five foot Bu-da. I pulled an arrow from my quiver. It was about two feet long made from dark wood. It had red plumes at the edge that were black at the edges. The arrowhead was the strangest part. It was made from a metal I had never seen before, and in the middle it had a funny looking O. For some reason I felt a surge of power holding it.
In one fluid motion I notched the arrow bent the string and let it fly. I heard a toing. The arrow whistled through the air and amazingly hit the first man right in the notch of his right shoulder. He dropped to the floor howling. A gun was fired and messed up meditating Buda's fung-si by clipping his left hand right off.
By now there were more than thirty guards and there was no way on earth I could have held them all off. I needed a way out and fast. I couldn't think as shots fired all around me. I started to run. More shots. I sprinted past a shopping container and a fist flew out at me from behind it. The hand responsible started to talk
"How could you have let this happen!" He yelled at someone behind me. "Had she gotten away our cover could have been blown. I couldn't tell much about the man. He was tall and slender but a fedora hat shadowed his face. His thin, pale lips were the only things visible and they smirked down at me. He wasn't going to take mercy on me this much I could tell. One good move, just one I prayed. I groaned and got flat on my back pretending to be in pain, which was no challenge. He continued to talk to his goons and I quieted my self.
Trying to be aware of my surroundings I did my best to look over my shoulder. My bow was still three feet away; there was a conniver belt somewhere in the distance. Not thinking had almost gotten me killed. So I made a strategy. I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes and waited.
"So, do we kill'er, boss?" Said a man to my right in a thick Jersey accent. The man who had hit me was obviously the leader and said " Well we wouldn't of had to if you numb skulls had paid attention!" The other men went silent. The "boss" looked at a man beside him, a tall gruff man and nodded his head. As the leader started to calmly walk away the man stepped forward and leveled the gun to my head.
I took my only chance. I bent my elbows behind my head and used them to propel my body upwards and grabbed the gun with my feet and slammed my body back to the ground taking the shooter with me. I bent into a squat and spun my legs around me tripping one man who fell on two others. I sprung up my fist raised and punched a man in the face and he fell tripping another man. In the tight circle no one had room to fire their guns with out shooting one of their own.
Still in the center I had room to move and kicked a man in the stomach. He sprawled out and knocked two men and women down. The first guy stayed down but the other three just hoisted his body and knocked it aside. The goons were already gaining their posture back and were started to get ready to shoot.
With that I took one of the guns aimed at me and swung it so the man toppled to the floor. I hit a girl in the face with the butt of the gun and dove to the protection of a large wall sculpture of a bunch of girls in tunics with a bunch of different instruments. My bow was now way to far away but there was no other weapons on this side of the warehouse. I looked around and there was an old shield propped up against a crate in the shadow of the statue. I grabbed the shield and again waited. The men knowing I had no weapons started to approach?
When the first one came close enough I hit him in the face with my shield. Another came and circled around the statue and I pressed them up against the statues back wall with the shield. She choked up and I punched her in the face. I hoped that the shield was big enough because I charged through the room holding the shield up to cover most of my body. When I reached the bow I went into a slide grabbing it as I flew past. I ran and hid behind a display of a rug in a glass case. I still had the quiver on my back so I dropped the shield and strung and arrow. It flew again in a straight line hitting the target perfectly. I still didn't have time for admiring. I still couldn't hold them off.
I peered over the corner putting my hand on the flat back of the sculpture and it rested over an indentation in the rock. A jolt of energy hit me like a thousand lighting bolts. Everything around me was absorbed in a sheet of pure white. A five-letter word in an ancient language shimmered into my vision. The word "μούσες" sat in my vision in a golden, elegant fount. At first I didn't know what it was but then the English word "Muses" echoed through my head. As soon as the strange vision came it dissipated and I was left in the same exact moment that I had been earlier. None the goons had advanced any. I shook my head and tried to concentrate.
I scanned the room for an exit and found a large set of wooden double doors. I grabbed the shield and again flashed across the warehouse with amazing speed. I burst into the room and it was filled with ancient Greek artifacts. The men still had not caught up with me so I slowed down. I jogged past a statue of a man with a curly beard and shoulders way to broad for his head. He was in a simple Greek robe but it caught my eye. Thought his eyes where plain white I could not leave them. They bore into my sole and I admit I almost cried. There was something special about this statue but I didn't have time to admire because just then the group of men with guns stormed through the door and but I still took a second to move. "Don't get distracted, again" I scolded myself appalled I could be blacking out so many times in a life and death situation like this.
I was still in shock though so next arrow I shot I missed. Bullets flew to me. I ducked behind a bunch of other statues as quietly as possible but I was in full shock for some reason. I shook my head and stayed silent. The men were frozen as if listening for me. I remained still and eventually one got restless and ordered the others to start looking for me.
Their method of looking was rather destructive considering they just started smashing up stuff. One raised a crow bar and I almost choked seeing what he was about to smash. It was the statue of the man in the toga. A wave of hot energy hit me and the phase of shock dissipated. I strung the arrow and seconds before his crow bar hit the statue my arrow imbedded itself into his arm. He fell to the floor. Trying not to just rush out I examined the room and noticed that all the men with guns where in one specific area, right next to a painting of some fat guy drinking wine propped up against the wall. I snuck over and got to the wall right in back of them. As silently as I could I grabbed the painting and shoved it to the ground. When it fell I saw the back was really wood so I realized had done more than just make a distraction as the wood remained relatively still. The other men were armed with baseball bats, knives, and a few crowbars I'm pretty sure they just picked up randomly on the way in.
I stupidly left my bow back on the other side of the room so I had to fight by hand. I jumped over to a display of old fashioned knives. Still having the quiver on my back I grabbed and arrow and stabbed the glass, which shattered under my blow. I looked at the knives for a few seconds trying to decide which I should take. I noticed one in the corner that was not as fancy as the others. I grabbed it without thinking but like the bow it just felt right. As my fingers gripped the hilt I noticed that it felt like there was a circular engraving. I didn't have time to admire the handy work so I jumped in to the fight.
I was doing my best not to kill with each stab but it was a serious disadvantage. Mostly I sliced though. One guy got a gash in the arm cutting the head of a fairly attractive yet very clad tattooed girl on his arm. He just staggered back but leaned on a display sending them both crashing down. As the vases shattered I heard clanging that rung truth in my ears. I was outnumbered and out skilled. I had been lucky to live this long and one good cut and I would be dead.
I struck a man in the face and ran past his unconscious body making my way to another display case full of vases. It was the twin to the one on the floor. I set my hands against it to push it over but I couldn't. If I did these artifacts would be ruined. I decided from now on I would keep all the displays safe. I took a quick glance at the statue of the broad shouldered man, careful not to look him in the eye, and made a silent oath I would protect that particular statue with my life, though I didn't know why. I grabbed something less, uh three-thousand-year-old-priceless- artifact, and picked up a crate lid, which I proceeded to smash it against the back of a man trying to get back up off the floor. He crumpled and unfortunately so did my wood piece. I looked around seeing about ten more enemies, both boy and girl. I couldn't hold them off forever and they were bound to have some reinforcements. Then I spotted something on the wall.
I did a gazelle leap over the carcass of the broken vase rack, which made me wince. So many pieces of unrecoverable clay laying on the floor. No, keep moving I told myself.
When I got to the wall I reached my destination. I thrust out my hand and yanked down the lever. Fire alarms blared. The sprinkler system sprang to life dowsing me in a madder of seconds. The goons scrambled in panic but unfortunately it didn't last to long.
A man with a ponytail jumped at me with a knife. I caught his knife in mine and again felt a surge of energy that seemed to accumulate from my hand. He pushed his blade against mine making me strain. As quick as possible I leaped to the left, letting go of my blade and "ponytail" crashed to the floor. As he started to get up I stomped his back with my boot enough to make him yell in pain. And the popular kids at my school said combat boots weren't cool. Well, there excellent for stomping down enemies. I went in on a hand to hand with a girl who had way to much jewelry to be fighting. A bunch of bracelets that went up half her arms on both hands and a skull necklace. As she charged in I dropped my knife and braced myself. She stopped to punch me but as she did I kicked her in the stomach. It wasn't my best kick it only set her staggering back a bit so to make sure she didn't get to comfortable I grabbed the chain on her neck pulling it towards me. As expected the chain snapped but it had done some damage as she was not taking turns going forward and backwards to keep her balance. When she regained it she came at me again with her arms spread, clumsy with anger. I let her close in and as she did I put may hand in a hock shape and captured her neck. I then sent all her momentum forward and she was sent sprawling to the ground hitting her head against the wall. With a continuation of one on ones they came at me. They could only come one at a time because the space I was standing in a smaller area in-between pedestals also by the time they came to attack the first one was either on the floor, against the wall, or flying at them. Only two left I thought to myself as the final two approached. The first one just ran towards me, wrench held high, and I literally just swat him away. The last one stayed there and watched me. I lifted my hand and used to fingers to motion towards myself, with adrenalin rushing I said
"Come at me." And he did. He was empty handed but I immediately noticed he was better than the rest. He had a speck of blood below his lip. It was the man who killed the two children only a little younger than myself and from the gleam in his eye he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
When he approached he did it with more dexterity than the rest and instead of stopping to punch and leaving himself venerable for those few precious seconds he continued running as his fist raised. He kept running at me and I ducked then jumped out of the way and he ran past me but skidded to a stop very quickly. He smiled and chuckled a little as if he was going to enjoy this. I gave me best threatening pose, holding my clenched fists in from of my face like in the movies. He came at me slower, slightly bending his knees and then threw his first punch. I blocked it with me wrist and he used his other hand to aim for my stomach. I used my other hand to swat it away. I saw an opening and I was about to throw a punch with my left hand but a glimmering voice in my head stopped me.
"No, young warrior. You are right handed so you punch with your right or you leave you stomach unprotected." It was a women's voice, soft and melodious almost godly. His fist seemed to slow down as the voice spoke. When it finish I got a mental vibration that time was about to speed up again and just when I thought it would it did. My hand covered his rising hand trying to land an upper cut and I pushed it aside. When I did I aimed for his stomach this time using my right hand and just as the voice had said he went for my stomach, which was fully guarded by my left hand.
"No," the voice said again. His hand was slowly creeping to the middle of my left are now. "Do not cover your stomach that much. The blow he is about to conduct would have broken your arm." The voice was so beautiful I knew if I could see it, it would be glowing.
I, still in normal time, moved my hand farther from my stomach and again as soon as I gave the ok time returned to normal. His hand hit my wrist but as it did my fist slammed into his stomach. I felt a pain in my knuckles considering his stomach was so buff it was like punching a tree. He stumbled back giving me the opportunity to punch him again.
I aimed my fist at his face but he caught it. He then twisted my arm around me causing me to turn backward and yell in pain. He kept my hand on my back and shoved me up against a statue. It was a statue of a huge boar, taller than me, but since it seemed to be preparing to charge one of its tucks was rested on my knee.
The man seemed to notice this so with a evil smile he used his knee to punched the back of my knee into the razor sharp tuck. It dug into my skin and I felt a huge surge of pain to the point where I almost collapsed. As I cried out he laughed a little which filled me with rage. I felt blood pour down my leg.
He then proceeded to pull me out but as he did he lifted me so the bronze tusk ran through my skin not as deep but just as painful.
He flung me to the floor. He chuckled another short, evil laugh and I started to rise. My leg exploded with pain but I used the boar's newly bloodied tusk to help me up. I did my best to ready myself to punch but he beat me to it. I felt a burst of pain hit my cheek, which again sent me sprawling to the floor. I almost fell but I grabbed that boar again and tried to hoist myself up. I tasted blood in my mouth. Still looking away I thought to myself, you have to do this. The water rained down making my knee burn but I took a deep breath and got to my feet. As I turned I became face, to face with the barrel of a handgun. He shot me an evil smile and I glared at his putting my hands up. The sirens wailed in my ear but I was still able to hear the soft click of his cocking his gun.
He rested his hand on the trigger and I thought to myself, oh come on. Did you really think you could hold out against all these guys. This was completely inevitable. I sighed angrily.
His finger pushed lightly against the trigger as if to psych me out but as he did the doors burst open and a bunch of cops yelled,
"Put the gun down!" I could tell he had no intention of doing so but his head turned to the noise. Again I had a mental conversation with myself, which went something like this. Look, the cops I'm saved. But he still has me as a hostage so he still has the upper hand. She glanced at the gun again and in one swift move she ducked her head and grabbed the gun. A shot fired out into the night. She twisted his hand until it was in the triangle of her elbow. She used her other elbow to bang the gun out of his hand into her own. Then her elbow flew to his face knocking him to the ground. As he fell she spun, definitely not forgetting the pain in her leg, and pointed the gun at the man on the floor.
She breathed hard. None of the stunned cops said a word. Some started looking around as if just now noticing the thirty or so bodies on the floor.
With grate difficulty I was able to spit out some of the blood in my mouth and say as intimidating as possible,
"Go to hell." The cops seemed to gather themselves tighter and came to my aid. The cops pointed their guns at the one on the floor. One came over to ask if I was ok putting his hand lightly on my shoulder and as soon as he did this I felt the gun slip from my hand and I fell into his arms and blacked out.