Never done this before so if you want to check out now I completely understand, go on, get. If you decide to stick around please know that I have most of this story worked out.
Im a tough ole broad so let me have it (not really but for the sake of experience and personal growth lets pretend I am). Any critique is welcome, constructive criticism preferred. As long as you're not being outright rude and have a point its all good.
Although we get off to a violent start the rest of the story is mostly angsty and funny... I hope o.O'
It's a bit timey wimey as it jumps from POV's from chapter to chapter. Thats just the way the story wrote itself. At some point the two times will meet in the middle and there will be no more time jumps after that. Looking forward to your feed back and to hopefully entertain at least one of you :)
Welp here goes nothing.
I do not own South of Nowhere...yet. I dream big people.
"Ooomph.." A mixture of blood and saliva seeped from her mouth past her already torn and battered lips. The leather on Marcy's boots smashed into the already tender flesh of her cheek again, breaking the bone and tearing the soft tissue as it ground against her teeth. Each blow sending her a second of relief as she blanked out before coming back. Blood continued pooling in her mouth as drops travelled slowly down to the back of her throat.
She attempted to roll onto her side, broken pieces of asphalt bit into her damaged face as she curled into herself trying to block the relentless attack on her small body.
She could hear someone pleading with them to stop, trying to reason with the monsters that laughed and spit on her as she lay curled on the ground of a dirty alley. The chill of the damp asphalt seeped into her clothes but not as deep as the frightened pleas of the stranger. In the panicked cries of a stranger she found a truth she hadn't quite grasped with her broken mind and body.
That truth wrapped itself around her heart making it beat erratically in protest as if trying to shake free from the confines of its revelation. She was going to die tonight.
A kick plows into her stomach sending her recoiling and sprawled out on her back once again. As she lies gazing up at the starless night she feels like she has left her body. That isn't her lying a few feet from the sidewalk in an alley that smells of piss and garbage.
That girl that people keep walking passed as they go about their business, their calloused hearts immune to her futile struggle to survive. That isn't her. Her vision is a kaleidoscope of colors as the neon signs and lights of the city swirl all around her.
As she lies on her back the blood creates a steady stream down her throat and she chokes on it. She rolls her head to one side spitting and spraying the contents of her mouth alleviating the sensation that she was drowning in her own blood.
"Fucking bitch spit on me!" She didn't recognize the voice of her outraged attacker but she doubted she'd even recognize her own mother at this point. The bodies standing over her we're swirling and swaying. She knew she would be blacking out soon.
"Arrrghh..." The girl whose shoes she stained wiped the blood off with several swift kicks to her ribs. The sound of her bones snapping and cracking under the barrage of kicks seeming to further the rage in the girl.
"Tess...Tess! You're going to kill her!" The blows stopped coming and the night was enveloped in silence. Was it over? She tried to move and sit up but the ground beneath her refused to remain still as it tilted and spun, her body slumped back onto the ground in a heap of broken bones.
"Please..." She whispered hoarsely forcing the barely their word out through blood that continued to pour profusely from the molars she lost as well as the tears in her cheek. Breathing life into that one word ripped through her chest sending her reeling in pain, she'd never begged for anything in her life but she knew she was in trouble, uttering that simple word had felt like someone had run a a jagged knife through her chest. An intense burning and stabbing continued to assault her with each breath.
"I...ca...can't..." She desperately tried to roll onto her side once again but halted all movement when she felt the heel of Marcy's boot grind her fingers into the asphalt. "Fuuuuck!" She screamed into the night as she felt the bones crush beneath the devastating weight of her biggest mistake.
"Jesus! Marcy you went too far! You said you wanted to teach her a lesson not beat her to death. Shit!" A raven haired girl began pacing while running her trembling hand through her hair.
"Bitch gets to graduate with honors I guess" Marcy shrugged it off as if nothing significant had occurred here.
Her head felt like it was going to explode as a blinding pressure drumming behind her eyes pounded in sync with her heartbeat. Her bleary tear drenched eyes searched for what she believed was her last hope. Bloodshot eyes glanced over the blurry images of the girls trying to match the pleading voice from before with a face. When she tried to focus on her attackers faces the exertion made her feel like her skull was fracturing from the inside out. She clenched her eyes shut.
She could hear them arguing with each other but their shouts bounced and echoed in the alley creating a confusing symphony of voices. When she opened her eyes again it was with desperation she forced her senses to sort through their muddled voices and find the one she knew could help her. Her vision continued to betray her as it faded in and out and her heart stuttered as fear overpowered all else. She could die tonight, at 19 she would be found beaten to death on some cold, wet and dirty alley in the Seattle. Just a mile from where she was lying she knew tourists we're dancing and dining while she died.
She tried to speak again telling herself that she could bare the pain from the effort because the only other option was dying. She scanned the girls once again but stopped when they landed on deep pools of sorrow on a horror stricken blonde that was softly crying behind a frazzled brunette. Bingo. Another wave of darkness threatened to overcome her and she gritted her teeth, shutting her eyes, willing her body to listen to her for just a little longer.
She opened her eyes once again and wasted no time finding the scared blue eyes that shed guilt as she shivered and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Finally blue eyes met her own fading brown and she let relief wash over her as the startled blonde locked eyes with her. Its now or never. The blonde stiffened and her breath hitched. Everything was fading so fast and as her vision closed in on her all she could do was hold the blue eyes to her. For a brief moment Ashley saw those blues reflect shame and silent apologies.
"Ca...Cant...Bre...Breath" She whispered harshly to the blonde, but her breaths we're so ragged and she was wheezing heavily she didn't think the blonde heard her. But the blonde suddenly looked stricken and the fear that washed over her face was the answer she was hoping for. She understood her.
"Fuck!" the blonde hissed reaching for a brunette's hand dragging her away. "Let's go Carmen!" The brunette resisted but the blonde refused to stay there any longer and forced her friend to follow taking with them all hope. She's going to let me die, they all are. Ashley watched hope flee the dingy alley and for the first time since being jumped she allowed herself to weep freely.
A strangled cry tore itself from her burning lungs, the sound ricocheted off the walls and seized the retreating blonde making her steps falter. She looked back over her shoulder at the small and fragile girl lying in dirty water surrounded by loose pieces of trash. She watched the petite girl choking on her sobs and moaning in pain. Brown eyes filled with despair and so much fear pleaded with her again. Tears clouding her eyes she turned away picking up her pace and leaving that alley behind her.
The rest of the click followed their lead and left immediately after them after exchanging a few more words. They left her there to die, all except the person responsible for both her physical and emotional pain. Ashley would be spending her last moments with Marcy and a few weeks ago the thought would have brought her comfort. She looked up at the night sky making out the moon behind one of the buildings and looking for stars in a starless sky.
"It didn't have to be this way Ash...Ashley." Marcy tried to make eye contact with her but Ashley focused on the moon determined to not let Marcy be the last thing she saw before she died. "I told you not to fuck with me." If she hadn't been dying she would have laughed.
She remembered when Marcy had first said that to her and she had no fucking idea that it had been an actual "warning." Had she known she never would have gotten involved with Dee. Sure she'd gotten into a few brawls over girls but this was some gangster stuff straight out of a movie. She had no idea shit like this actually happened. It didn't matter anymore, nothing did. She was going to die.
A final scream of pain pierced the night as Marcy delivered one last blow to the side of her head bringing flashing lights behind her eyes. She felt warmth begin to ooze from her ear. She'd thought she endured the worst already but that last kick sent her spinning as the moon, neon sign and buildings swirled making her extremely nauseous. She wretched nearly choking on her own vomit, the pain that ripped through her chest as she puked all over herself was unbearable and she convulsed throwing up again from the pain. This is hell she thought.
Marcy finally left her and Ashley thanked God for granting her at least one Mercy this night. As she laid there random thoughts fled her fractured mind.
'I won't be able to give Kyla a ride to the airport. She's going to be mad.'
Darkness persists at the edge and she relents shutting her eyes against the harsh neon sign that's buzzing above her.
'I wish mom and I could have fixed things, maybe its better this way.'
'I didn't think she'd walk away and leave me here to die...'
She gasps and tastes the blood that sputters from somewhere within as she tries to force air into her lungs. Droplets of blood coat her face and mix with her tears.
'I'm drowning in my blood' she thought lastly as she continued to struggle to get air in to her lungs. Ringing in her ears muffles the city sounds and she opens her eyes again to stare at the moon. Not wanting to die alone she takes solace in the light it bares down on her. Her vision begins to bleed black and she knew she was living her last moments.
A figure approached her and she tried to keep her eyes open but she was coming in and out of consciousness. One second the figure was approaching her and the next time she opened her eyes they were kneeling next to her. She faded out again and when she came back she was lying on her side. The pain from being in this position was excruciating, her ribs were protesting and from this position the pain radiating from her arm told her it was broken. She tried to roll onto her back again to alleviate some of the pain. Her vision was blurred from tears and from the likely concussion she had. The stranger that was kneeling next to her kept her in place and prevented her from rolling onto her back. Why are they doing this to me she thought, can't I just fucking die in peace?
She felt a comforting hand caressing her cheek and for the first time she allowed her weakened body to relax, no longer fighting the stranger. They we're there to help. She could breathe a little better now, she was still wheezing but she wasn't choking on her blood anymore. She thought she heard someone speaking to her but the constant ringing and pounding in her head was making it difficult to make out what they were saying. She was breathing better but the pressure in her chest was increasing and she knew that the stranger had only bought her time.
Ashley was going to make the most of this time and she raised her limp arm trying to reach into her jean pocket for her cell phone, the broken bones grinding against each other and tearing further into muscle. She cried out in pain. The stranger understood what she had been trying to do and she pulled out her cell phone speaking to her again. Ashley shook her head slightly telling them the only way she could that she couldn't hear them.
She pried her eyes open and tried to focus on the stranger but gave up when the brightness of the neon sign caused shooting pains so she quickly squeezed her eyes shut again.
Ashley attempted to loosely grip her cell when they tried to place it in her hand but her limbs weren't responding. "Ky...Ky.." she tried to make the stranger understand she wanted them to dial her baby sister Kyla.
"Call...please" She begged, the strain from the effort making her black out briefly. When she came to again she could see flashing blue and red lights getting brighter before she closed her eyes offering them repose from the intensity of the lights. She felt something pressing into her ear, her cell phone. She could faintly here Ky's voice as she used the last of her energy to decipher the noises and focus on just her voice.
A peace came over her as she heard her baby sister say hello for the third time.
"Ky" she whispered "..Love..you..." the phone went silent for a few seconds.
"Ash? Ash whats wrong? Where are you? Ashley?" The unsteady timber of her sisters voice clawed at her emotions.
"Love you...so...much." She struggled out and tried to convey all the love she felt in the brief moments she thought she had left.
"Are you drunk? Are you ok?" God dammit Ashley you're freaking me out!" Ashley wept as an odd combination of relief and fear began to flood her. "Are you crying Ash? Oh god...where are you I'm coming to get you."
"It hurts Ky..." She breathed out and felt ashamed but she was scared and needed her sister. "Scared..." She sobbed loudly and uncontrollably causing even more pain to rip through her broken body and she grunted and yelled in frustration.
"Ash..." Kyla whispered brokenly into the phone, pressing it closer to her ear. A cold fear took over her body with chills that ran bone deep. She listened to the strongest person she knew breakdown over the phone. Something was beyond wrong, "Ashy Bear where are you?" She cried into the phone calling her sister by a nickname she hadn't used since Ashley turned double digits and told her sister she was too old for childish nicknames.
Ashley smiled into the phone despite the pain it caused her torn lips "So tired" she mumbled to no one in particular. Her body and mind we're beyond exhausted and she couldn't hold on anymore. She could hear her sisters worried screams fade into the background joining all the other noises of the night.
She felt a hand running through her hair and her cell phone was pulled away from her ear. She wanted to protest but was walking that thin line between awareness and unconsciousness. As the sounds and sights of the night began to fade she felt soft whispers against her cheek.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I should have stopped them." She felt wetness hit her cheek and her last thought was 'she came back'.