"Get some you pathetic bitch!"
"Where's your fucking friends now punk?! Oh wait! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY ANYMORE!"
I felt blow after blow impact with my body, my face against the pavement as kicks and fists collided with me, bruising and crunching me over and over and over again. As i lay on the cold, wet concrete of the alleyway all i could remember thinking was that i would die soon. The worst part? My assailants WANTED me to die. They didn't care, nor did the multiple people that walked by the alleyway where the events were taking place. I remember looking into every single one of their eyes. None of them came to help me. They were just glad that it wasn't them. I remember how i even saw some of my friends as they gazed on before quickly hurrying away for the threat of being seen by the gang members. I... I was to be an "EXAMPLE," a sign that no one was to fuck with their gang. EVER. I had stood up to them, and the kid who they were beating before me now lay motionless on the ground, staring into a pool of his own blood as it slowly seeped out of his chest where a shiv lay imbedded in his side. I could only watch as the puddle he was laying in slowly began to change from black to red. He was dying and no one was helping him! I decided then what my last act in life would be. I slowly turned onto my back and stretched out my left arm towards the teen. The cold drops of liquid helped numb the pain slightly as the attackers targeted my newly exposed flank. I felt a crack and my hand faltered briefly before it continued its journey to reach the teens hand. He didn't see it. Why couldn't he just look over here and stop staring at the clouds above?
"L-look, look, p-please," I whispered, hoping against hope that he would turn towards me. He didn't seem to hear me as the rain continued to fall on his slightly tan Caucasian skin, pushing the ashy brown hair out of his eyes as he gazed towards the sky as if searching for god.
"Please kid. Please look at me," i managed to say on the collection of air that left my lungs after a severe kick to my stomach. I was glad that one of the assailants did that, for the boy heard my call and proceeded to turn and stare at me. I reached my hand out farther and i believe he understood for he began to reach towards my left hand with his right. We were almost there. So close. Mere INCHES away from touching fingertips. Then a door down the alley way behind the boy swung open, revealing a african man... Holding a suppressed gun in his hands... (Thanks call-of-duty...)
I knew the kid had read the worry on my face because i saw his smile falter and he began to turn his head slightly while his eyes began to look for the source of my concern.
"Hey. heyheyhey kid... kid look at me, LOOK AT ME BUDDY. Yes that's right. reach for my hand. Come on kid, reach for it!" i whispered urgently as i managed to regain his attention. Briefly i wondered if he was ADHD, like me, but i dismissed the thought. What did it matter? We were about to die anyways. I saw the kid begin to reach harder for my hand, so i did the same. I didn't even noticed that the beating had stopped. Our hands were so close. The gun man was getting closer, So close... YES! I felt his fingertips brush mine and i used the strength i could muster to pull our hands together firmly, clasping them together with a soft, satisfying 'Clap!'
I held the child's eyes and smiled at him. His young eyes sparkled as he smiled back, tears streaking down his face. As the gunman stood over him and let the release of the pistol slide close neither of us flinched.
"Look at me, bud. Just keep looking at me, that's it. Focus on my face. My, what pretty eyes you have!" The kid smiled widely at that, his teeth covered in blood and his green eyes sparkling against the reflection of light that bounced off the puddle he was in as the light beams traveled down to it from the street lamp above us.
"I'll see you in heaven, bud." I murmured and his grin went so wide i swear he could have persuaded even the grouchiest of men in the world to smile back at it. But only i returned the smile. It was genuine. I think he knew it was, too. As the gun man lined up the kids head in his sight i murmured one last time full of genuine love from one stranger to the next.
"I'll see you in heaven, bud."
What happened next and the events thereafter will always be burned in my memory for the rest of my life. The gunman was lifted into the air and blood fell from his mouth in front of the kid. Confused, he turned his head to look up at the spectacle before him. The gunman dropped the gun in the puddle between us and went limp on the hand that held him suspended in the air. I couldn't see the source of this sudden turn of events for the other assailants immediately went to attack him as they had attacked us. I remember hearing a growl. A growl that terrified me to the core and sent shivers down my spine and throughout the rest of my body. I remember seeing the gunman being dropped and how his body crumpled in a heap on the concrete next to the kid in front of me. The fighting had progressed further and further down the alley way and every few moments i could see another body fall to the ground, another slam into a wall with an audible 'CRACK!,' another being flung down the alley way to land next to the gunman. I saw the last one stumble back after being punched in the chest before with a swipe of an arm from the person saving us i saw blood spray from the last assailants throat. The white walls were now a color up. I was pulled back to the scene as two men stepped over me and stopped, raising their pistols towards our savior. I looked between the two attackers and over the frightened boy to see what i still remember in perfect detail. A pair of BRIGHT And BRILLIANTLY STUNNING BLUE EYES that were looking at the smaller boy, then me before growling once more at the new threat. I again felt shivers go down my spine as I watched the being... The wolf-man keep his eyes on me. I'm not quite sure what it was that went through me. A kind of calm and controlling feeling that called to me for assistance. The man needed me... His WOLF needed me to help him against the foes that he knew he couldn't beat from afar. "I'm weak. I-i can't do it i can't get-!" I stuttered before i felt the calm pass through me again, urging me on to do what needed to be done. Without a moment's hesitation i used my left hand, still holding onto the other boy's hand as he was watching me, scared, and dragged myself forwards and with the aid of the wolf i reached out and grasped the gun with my right. No hesitation came as i raised the gun and took three quick, quiet shots. The first entering the left gun mans heart (i... I could HEAR the organ falter within him, like a clock whose batteries were finally dying on it) and put the other two into the second mans back. He fell to his knees and looked back at me before falling onto the kids legs, making him cry out. A pause. Then he was there, the man with claws was at the kids side,pushing away the third gunman's body before lifting him up and lying him down on his lap as he sat down behind him. The child began to whimper as he looked at the claws and the fangs of the wolf but was calmed down by a reassuring rumble of comfort that came from the wolfs chest as he pulled the child closer to him comfortingly, retracting his nails. The wolf looked over me as he held the boy, silently inspecting his wounds. A silent message was passed between us as i stared into his Blue eyes. I raised my eyebrows in a slight question and the wolf shook his head slowly. The kid wasn't going to make it... I almost broke down then and there but i felt the comfort flood back into my mind and heard another rumble of reassurance from the wolf once more. I slowly lifted myself and crawled over to them, the wolf reaching down and easily pulling me against him and the kid. The boy still had the knife sticking out of him... The wolf looked at me and then the knife before reaching down and tentivly touching it, earning a sharp cry from the boy. He slowly relaxed the child with reassuring rumbles of comfort and slowly massaged him down onto his lap until the kid could look up at him with me. He grinned slightly at the kid earning a worried whimper from the child.
"Hey hey hey shh it's okay. It's alright kid, i'm not gonna hurt you, see?" The wolf man said in a mildly deep voice as he smiled at the kid again, flashing his blue eyes in comfort for him. The kid grinned after a few moments and so did he, showing his fangs to the boy who grinned and leaned an arm up to touch them with his fingers. He had almost made it to the wolfs lips when his hand faltered and began to shake as he tried to use his failing strength to reach his goal. The wolf man reached up and with his own hand he led the kids hand to his mouth, letting the child touch his fangs with his fingers. The child grinned, amazed and managed to exclaim, "T-they're REAL!" Before coughing and spitting blood slightly. The wolf grinned down at the child and tilted his head to let the blood flow out before bringing him back into place and leaning down to nuzzle his nose with his.
"You bet they're real. What's your name, kid?" The little boy looked around confused before returning his gaze to him.
"Who, me?"
The wolf grinned playfully, nuzzling the kids nose with his before leaning back slightly.
"Yes you silly! Who do you think i was talking about, doofus over there?" He tilted his head in my direction and the kid giggled, clearly amused...
...
The next thing he said nearly broke my heart.
"No, it's just that no one ever bothered to ask me that until now... No one else really-" he coughs up more blood and the man tilts his head gently before he continues "- really ever wanted to know it."
I could see the wolf look up and i'm glad he did because the kid wouldn't have been able to stand the look of heartbreak and anger on his face. I managed to smile weakly and leaned forward to tap the boy's nose playfully before saying, "Well we sure do. In fact, that's why i came over here in the first place. I wanted to get to know you... But-"
"But the bad men didn't want you to, did they?" He stammered slightly. Again the wolf had to look away from the poor child and i had to damn try my hardest not to show the emotions i was feeling, either. I grinned slightly and stroked his hair as the wolf leaned down to nuzzle into him again and the child giggled before nuzzling back into him. But by doing so he moved the knife slightly, and the man did the only things he could to stop the scream. He pressed his lips against the smaller ones and held him there as he placed his other hand on the child's neck, holding him firmly. I saw black ink begin to travel up his fingers and the kids scream died down to a whimper before fading away into a contented sigh. The man pulled back slightly.
"Wha-... What did you do?" I breathed as the child sighed once more and the wolf clenched his jaw before leaning back down to nuzzle the kid.
"Hey so what is your name, little man?" The wolf asked quietly as the child's breathing slowed to an even pace.
"Hmm? Oh... James Canton is my name heh heh."
The wolf leaned down to kiss the boys cheek and forehead before whispering into his ear, "You look tired. Get some rest, huh?" To this the kids eyes opened again.
"But what if the bad men come back?"
The wolf growled lowly, "They won't even touch you. I won't let them." To prove it he parted his lips to show his fangs and let his eyes change back to the color Blue. The child was mesmerized and with help from the wolf he once more held his hand up to the cheek of the man, stroking it softly as he murmured, "So beautiful... Will i see you when i wake up?"
I saw the tears forming in his eyes as the wolf nodded and said a confident but strained "Yes."
The child began to lean back in his lap.
"Pretty... So pret-..."
The wolf nodded, tears running down his face.
"Yes, Pretty. Thank you." And with that he leaned down, kissed the child's eyes, and closed them. The boy had earned his rest...