For Valerie and Sarah, because I adore you both so much… and because you think Marko looks like a lizard. :P Enjoy!!!
It was about nine PM in Santa Carla that night. I lounged around the concession stands, waiting for my friend Victor to arrive. When I suddenly sensed trouble. I scanned the steady flow of people moving through the boardwalk.
A stick-like blonde girl and her friends sneered down at a frumpy teenage girl frantically picking up what was probably the contents of her purse on the black concrete. "Ooh, your bad Emma, you should be more careful." she said venomously. The similar looking group of girls around her snickered in unison.
The girl Emma didn't respond to the girl's hateful words and continued to pick up her things. Her hand reached out to pick up a silvery pen, when the blonde's spiky heel suddenly came down hard on Emma's hand. She cried out in pain and the blonde laughed.
I had enough of this. I picked up my blueberry smoothie and my black bag and walked towards the bully and her friends. This chick was going to her hers. I came up behind her and tapped her shoulder. Her demeaning laughter stopped and she turned to face me.
"What the hell do you want?" she snapped.
I tried my best not to smile, thinking of all the things I was capable of doing to her, but instead, I said "Leave her alone."
She told me to eff off and turned back to her friends. I finally allowed myself to smile. I dropped my back at my feet, popped off the lid of my smoothie and dumped it's contents all over the top of her head.
She gasped and whirled around, furiously. The smoothie dripped down her face and hair and onto her crisp white shirt. Her hands balled up into bony fists and she took a swing at my head. She missed and I grabbed her arm and flipped her over my shoulder. She fell to the ground with aloud crash.
I whipped around to the other girls. Grinning wildly, I dared them to come and get me. "Anyone else?" I was ready for a real fight.
Two edged away, but much larger girl with dark hair bravely (or idiotically, rather) lunged forward. I dodged her attack easily, and gave her a roundhouse kick to the face, and she toppled over. I prepared for another to come at me, but the other two were long gone. The blonde and her fat friend glanced up at me miserably.
A feral smile crossed my face. "BOO!" I yelled.
The blonde squeaked in terror, and scrambled away, her fat friend close behind her. I dusted my hands off, and grinned, victorious. My grin vanished when I remembered the bully's victim.
She was on her knees, cradling her injured hand. I looked down at her sympathetically. "Are you okay, Emma?"
She nodded. Her hand was bleeding freely. "Yes, it's just, my hand-"
"Say no more." I interrupted. "I've got something for that." I picked up my bag and rummaged through it. Emma watched me intensely until I fished out antiseptic and a roll of gauze. "Let me see."
She held her injured hand up and I poured the antiseptic into the wound. She winced. "It stings." she complained.
"It'll be worse, if it gets infected. Now for the gauze." I wrapped it around and tucked it in neatly. "There. Good as new." Emma inspected it. Seeming satisfied, she gave me a sincere smile and thanked me.
"Don't mention it." I grinned. If they give you any trouble, you can find me around here, about anytime. Now, get a move on honey."
I waited for her to disappear into the crowd before I sensed that someone's eyes were boring holes into the back of my skull. I turned. A group of men of about nineteen to twenty-three years of age were staring right at me. I ignored them and began to walk away, but apparently they had other plans.
"You've got some moves, little girl." an icy voice called from behind. "Wanna see some of mine."
I turned my neck and gave him an "eat shit" look, and kept walking. But he was persistent.
"Come on little girl, come fight with us!"
I came to a complete stop, and turned to face him. I took in his appearance. He was about six feet tall, with long dark hair tumbling down his shoulders. I smirked. He looked like a gay pirate. "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request." I said trying to sound as intelligent as I could.
He gave me a blank look, and I sighed at his ignorance. "No."
"And why not, sweetheart?" another said standing uncomfortably close to me. His hair was a short, platinum blonde. He brushed a piece of my choppy, dark red hair out of my face. "You're a cute one too."
"You're persistent little buggers, aren't you?" I smiled venomously. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other two edge closer and closer as well. I could almost see the dirty thoughts buzzing around in their heads.
"I'm just trying to have a little fun, is all." he said innocently, holding up his hands in defense. "You're just being a real stick in the mud."
"Yeah, I know, I'm no fun. Too bad for you, eh?" I glanced at his friends again. Behind them, I spotted a nine-year old boy with chocolate brown skin and black dreadlocks wandering around the concession stands. "Victor…" I mumbled.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" my annoying new harasser inquired. They all followed my gaze. "You like my bike?" He turned back. "Wait… where'd she go?"
When he looked away, I took advantage the moment and darted off. I ducked inside a small comic book store, and hid amongst the shelves. Hopefully his friends hadn't seen me when I ran for it. I waited a few seconds until I saw the group of men drive away on their motorcycles. I exhaled in relief.
"Looking for something?" came a new voice to my right. My head snapped up and I locked eyes with a boy about my age, his light brown hair was held back with a bandanna. He looked incredibly serious.
"Uh… no, I was just um… hiding." I explained quickly.
He raised an eyebrow. "Hiding?"
"Oh uh yeah, but they're uh… gone now." I smiled weakly. "Sorry, I just- this was the closest place I could find to hide in."
"Don't worry about it. I like to think of this place as a safe haven for all." He said in the most serious tone imaginable.
I almost laughed. "Oh, well, that's good then. I'm Evangeline., but please, call me Evie." I extended my hand.
He smiled and took it. "Edgar Frog, that guy over there is my brother Allen." He nodded his head to a dark haired boy organizing a stack of comics. At the sound of his name, he glanced up and gave me a curt nod, before resuming to his organizing.
Then I remembered Victor. "Oh, I'm actually meeting someone now, but maybe, I'll come see you both another time."
"I'll look forward to it." he said, and leaned against a shelf coolly. "Watch yourself, Evie."
I walked out and did a quick sweep of the area. The guys on the motorcycles were nowhere in sight. I went back for Victor.
He was still hanging around the stands, watching the locals wander aimlessly around the park. He was always the observant one. That was why we called him "Watchdog."
I called out to him "VICTOR!" His head turned in my general direction. I waved at him, and watched him smile and walk over to me.
"Evie, I've been waiting." he said. The colored lights of the stands reflected off his dark skin, illuminating him. "Church and Eli are back."
"Great, lets go then, Vic." I patted him on the back, and I forgot all about the creepy bikers. We began to walk home together.
After about forty minutes, we stopped in front of a large brick building on a more deserted end of Santa Carla. It used to be an asylum before my family and I moved in. And by family, I mean a bunch of ragtag runaways, living off stolen goods we'd thieved from anyone we deemed unworthy to have. We were like Robin Hood an his Merry Men. Minus the tights…
Vic and I walked to the left side of the building and ended up in front of a dumpster. To the untrained eyes, this was just some dirty old dumpster filled with rotten garbage. But to Vic and I, it was our front door. I pushed the dumpster away and revealed an old metal grate behind it. I pulled it up and waited for Victor to climb through, so I could do the same.
After securing the grate, I straightened and looked around. The room we had entered was what we assumed used to be someone's old office. It was musty and quiet inside, definitely not good for one's allergies. I brushed a piece of my hair our of my face and motioned for Victor to follow.
The asylum was enormous, and very easy to get lost in, but after a few months of residing there, we'd gotten the hang of it, and just breezed through. I walked down a long barren hallway and flung open the beaten door at the end. "We're home!" I called. My family turned to greet me.
"Evie! Church and Eli got pop tarts!" 12 year old Suzy shrieked and held up the box. They were strawberry.
"Yum." I said and ruffled her white blonde hair. I plopped down on a fat couch next to Eli. He was thirteen and furious at the whole world. "You have a good raid?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. Church said it was one of the easiest jobs we've had this year. Right Church?"
I looked over at the six-foot three teen looming the corner. He grinned and brushed his black hair out of his eyes. "Groceries are pretty much the easiest junk to get… Where's Dinah at?"
"Chu-u-urch!" a singsong voice called. "You got kitty food?" The owner of the voice walked in. Four-year old Dinah was church's baby sister. She looked just like him with the black hair and the cat green eyes, and the lightly tanned skin.
Church knelt down and picked her up. "It got the food. It's in one of the boxes, okay Dinah?" She gave him a sweet and sticky kiss, and it made my heart swell. She was such a sweet kid.
"I'll go feed the cats!" I volunteered. "I need to give them water anyway."
I left the others and wandered into the kitchen. I poured the food and waited for the cats to come. It didn't take long. The smokey gray and the reddish brown cats sauntered in, just as cats do. I addressed the gray one first, considering that he was my cat. "Hey Thursday! You hungry?"
He looked up as if he understood and answer with a low merowf. The other cat hopped up on the counter and purred. That one was Valentine. Suzy and Dinah shared an ownership over him.
Church suddenly appeared. "The kids need clothes." he said quietly. "There's another job we can pull for that."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"Tomorrow night. You up for it?"
Was I? Oh yes, I always would be.
A/N This is not my first fanfic, but I haven't done any for Lost Boys. Please review!