She took a deep breath before moving into the park. She knew it was a stupid move to cross the dark park at night but she was more scared to stay on the streets. Since the Irish moved into this town, it had become a very dangerous place to live and an even more dangerous place to be after nightfall.
She jogged through the park, hoping to make it across fast and safe. She cut off two thirds of the time it would take to get home by going through there. Her apartment was literally across the street from the entrance of the park on the other side.
She sighed in relief as the tall, black gate started showing further ahead. She was almost there. Just a few more minutes if she sped up and ran for it. Instead she was surprised when someone moved in on her from behind, placing a knife on her throat and putting a hand over her mouth.
"Ssh, little girl," an Irish accent said right next to her ear. "You got two choices. Live or die. Do you wanna die?"
She shook her head no while tears ran down her face.
"Good girl," he chuckled lowly. "I bet you already know you have to pay taxes for being outside after dark. Drop your trousers."
She moved her hands up but she never got to open her trousers. Another male voice, this one with a Southern accent, cut through the night.
"Let her go!" He demanded.
The Irish man behind her let her go. She turned around slowly to see his red mohawk and beard. She had seen him around town. She knew his name was Sheamus and that he was one of the people ranking high among the Irish.
She moved her eyes to the brown haired man behind Sheamus. She didn't know that man. He had a gun pressed into the back of Sheamus' head. She knew an underground group of vigilantes was slowly rising up and this man had to be part of it.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
He studied the woman with the dark red hair. The moonlight made it light up. The color reminded him of sour cherries. It was the same color as he remembered those cherries to be. He had always preferred the sour ones to the sweet ones.
"Hey, I asked you a question," he said. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine. Thank you."
"Good. Run along now," he said.
She didn't. She stood there staring.
"This isn't gonna be a pretty sight. Turn around and walk away," he said.
"I don't care," she said.
"You don't care?" He chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned."
"I care! When my men hear about this threat, you're a dead man!" Sheamus snarled.
"Threat?" The man with the gun laughed. "This isn't a threat."
He fired the gun and the woman in front of him jumped in surprised. She didn't look scared though but he still lowered the gun fast, stepped over Sheamus' body and gently grabbed her chin.
"You need to go home," he said. "Where do you live?"
"Just across the street," she pointed in the direction of the gate.
"I'll walk you there," he said.
They walked in silence until they reached the gate. There was a street light right outside. The light made him able to see her metallic blue eyes.
"You got a name?" He asked.
"Cherri," she answered.
"Of course," he chuckled.
She didn't pronounce it as cherry. More like sherry. But it was still funny to him in that moment because of her hair that reminded him of cherries.
"What's yours?" She asked.
"AJ," he said without thinking. "Ah, shit. Forget that. Forget I even exist. You weren't here and we never met. Are we clear?"
She stepped closer, moved up on her toes and kissed his bearded cheek.
"Thank you, AJ," she whispered.
She ran across the street and disappeared through a door on the other side. He stood there for five long minutes. He just wanted to make sure that she stayed inside and didn't get into anymore trouble. Finally he heard a dog barking. It brought him back to reality. He moved back into the park to hide in the darkness before anyone saw him.