I do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton nor do I own Tainted Love by Marilyn Manson

CHAPTER ONE

Tainted Love

I don't know why the doctors saved Dally. What was he to them? Just some young criminal? Another kid that wasted his life with fighting, drinking, and smoking? But they saved him anyways. I can't really remember how many times he was shot by those cops, I blacked it out. When we went to visit him in the hospital, he was different. The same, but different.

They had him chained to the bed so he wouldn't run off, and he didn't care. You could see it in his cool blue eyes, he just didn't care. Mostly there was silence when we visited him. No one spoke, there was only uncomfortable glances and nervous coughs. I can't say I know why though. Nothing had changed really, except for Johnny being gone. When that pretty girl walked into the hospital room, a pair of keys in her trembling hands, everything changed.

"I…" The girl faltered, her eyes becoming wide, like a caged animal.

The keys jingled in her trembling hands. I took time from the silence to study her. Short, a few inches shorter than me. Petite. Her curly hair fell to about her shoulders and it was the color of gold, or what I thought gold would look like. Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold. My breath caught in my chest and once again I felt like crying. Johnny was dead. Nothing I could do or say would ever bring him back. As my mind wandered, I almost forgot about Dally, my brothers, and the girl.

"Wrong room, sweetheart." Dally grumbled sarcastically.

She looked like she was about to cry, or scream, or run from the room. But she didn't. Dally is not the type of guy you look at. He's sharp and mean and his eyes are dangerous. When you seem him walking down the street you cross the road or clutch your belongings a little tighter. Most people just look at the ground and act like they can't see him. But there was something in her eyes, it gave her a sort of wild look, something that I could see in Dally's eyes too.

"I don't think so," she replied, cautiously, but there was a hint of arrogance in her voice. I had a feeling that she wasn't the type of girl that wore frilly skirts and hung out with a rich crowd. She didn't seem like a Soc.

"What do you mean?" Soda asked, he looked confused. But then again so did everyone one in the stuffy, white hospital room.

Looking back over her shoulder, pursing her lips, she quickly walked over to Dally and grabbed his wrist in her slender fingers. I cringed, waiting for him to blow up or yell or something, but he didn't. There was a small clicking noise as she stuck the key into the handcuff and unlocked it. Now I was really confused. Where did she get those keys? How did she get those keys? Why would she free Dally of all people?

When both cuffs were gone he just sat there in the bed, not moving, not speaking. It was like he was in some sort of weird trance. I wanted to yell at him to run, so he'd be free. We could hide him at our house, just like the original plan. I looked at Darry, hoping he would know what was going on. He had a hard stare that I recognized all too well, it was the one he always wore when he knew something bad was going on.

"I don't understand!" Dally complained, looking at the girl. "Who the hell are you? How'd you get the cops to give you those keys?"

"I'm good at stealing things," she said, shrugging, grinning a little bit. Exposing a row of perfectly straight and white teeth. "I'm Anna."

As if on a cue, Dally jumped up and grabbed his jeans and tee-shirt from the ugly chair near the wall. As he slid into his clothes he kept a wary eyes on the girl, Anna. But why free him? What had Dallas Winston ever done for anyone but himself? How did you steal from cops? They were everywhere! Questions flooded my mind and I shook my head, trying to clear the fog. "Wait, I still don't understand. Is this like a jailbreak?" My voice sounded kid-like.

Meanwhile, Dally was feeling under the pillow, searching for something. He grabbed a blade and flicked it closed then stuffed it into his pocket. Two-bit's blade. I thought that someone would have taken it away by now, like a doctor or nurse or something. But Dally could be sneaky, when he wanted to. Making a quick, jerky move towards the door, Anna stood in his way. Was she actually wishing for a death wish? No one stood in the way of Dallas Winston. I remember once when we'd been at the Dingo, I hadn't moved quick enough for Dally and he sent me flying into the laps of a few startled people.

"Move!" He snapped, eyes blazing.

"I can't just let you leave." Anna said, softly, she was frightened, but her gaze never drifted far from his. "You need a plan."

"What the hell do you mean I need a plan?" He yelled.

"Sh! Not so loud!" She hissed, furrowing her brow in agitation. "You don't want that cop out there to come in here and lock you back up again, do you?"

I figured it was a rhetorical question and Dally seemed to think that to because he crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. "Whatever you say, doll face."

"Why are you helping Dally?" I blurted out, before I could even stop myself. It was rude and I knew it, but how could I not ask? I still didn't quite understand why the gi-- Anna, had unlocked the handcuffs. Or why she was here.

There was silence for a few moments. Dally lit a cigarette. Darry coughed and swatted some smoke out of his face. Soda chewed on his lip. Anna smiled and laughed a little, it surprised me.

"I owe it to you, I guess." She wrinkled her nose. "My uncle is one of the cops that shot you and my father is one of the doctors that operated on your friend."

"Johnny?" I choked a little.

"Yeah..." There was more silence and then Dally snapped.

"Thanks, but no thanks, pumpkin. I ain't some sob story that needs to be fixed. So you can be on your way."

"I didn't say you were!" Anna put on a defensive look. "And you don't want my help, but you need it! That cop isn't just going to let you walk out of the hospital!"

I watched the conversation bounce back and forth for a few minutes, gradually the voices of Anna and Dally grew louder, till they were almost shouting at each other.

"Just let me help you, dammit!" Anna shouted. 'Why are you being so complicated?"

"Like I said before, I don't need your help." Dally answered.

"The police will find you, wherever you are, unless you let me hide you." She sighed in an exasperated tone.

"How can you be so sure that I need you help? How do you know that the fuzz will find me? It's not like this is the first time I've escaped from them."

"But you aren't escaped yet! They still might catch you!"

Dally looked horrible. His skin was pale and he had dark bags under his eyes, and underneath the cruelness of his eyes, there was a defeated look. I watched him sit on the bed and run his fingers through his hair. When he spoke, it was the two words I never thought he'd ever say. My own jaw almost dropped and I had to try not hard to stare at him.

"You win." He hissed.

"Good." Anna smiled, her mood suddenly swinging. Taking a folded up envelope from the pocket of her over-sized sweater, she threw it at Dally. He caught it and opened it, shock spread across his face.

"That's a lot of cash there, sweetie." Tossing it over to Darry, I craned my neck as my brother counted it.

"Over 400 dollars!" Darry gasped. "Where did you get this?" He looked almost angry.

"It doesn't really matter," she shrugged, looking at her feet and then at the door. "Okay, so enough time-wasting, here's my plan…"

We all leaned in to listen.