Someone seized my right arm, pulling me in the other direction. I whipped my head around, ready to hit someone, but it was just a guard. A little embarrassed, I hung my head and let him lead me towards a wrought iron fence.
As he punched in a code to open the gate, about a dozen voices filled my ears, all buzzing with excitement.
"I heard she attacked Devlin!"
"The guard had to pull her off of him. She might be trouble."
"Or, she might be our ticket out of here. Have some hope, Nick."
A few of the comments I heard made me lift my head. So much for laying low. I had just threatened one of the men who was in charge.
While I was thinking, the guard led me through the gate to be greeted by a dozen other teens that were all older than me.
"There she is. She's prettier than Devlin said." A girl with bouncy, cocoa-brown hair exclaimed.
"Think she'll be able to bust us out?" A boy with raven hair and warm brown skin asked nobody in particular.
"I doubt it. Nobody's ever gotten outta here." A masculine voice answered, obviously annoyed.
The guard continued to bring me over to the middle of what looked like a courtyard, and a putrid smell hit me like a ton of bricks, making me cringe. It was like a mix of rotten vegetables and sweat. I held my breath, hoping that the smell would leave.
As I looked around, I realized that the sight matched the smell as it was a pathetic sight. The ground was only dirt and there were redwood picnic tables everywhere, several teenagers milling around. I saw that there was another entrance on the other end of the yard, and it seemed like it led to a bunch of cabins. Wait, strike that. The other entrance led to a bunch of sheds that were termite eaten and rotting.
"Take a seat, delinquent." The guard grumbled, shoving me towards an empty picnic table. "I need to figure out what cabin you're going to stay in." It was like I was an unwanted pest he didn't want to deal with. Fine with me.
The moment he walked away, everyone that had been at the gates came rushing over to the table I was sitting at. I reeled back, both delighted and annoyed with the newfound attention. On one hand, if I wanted to get out of here, I should try to stay out of trouble. On the other hand, it made me feel good that people wanted to hear what I had to say. It was a pleasant change than the usual, Don't bother us, and we won't bother you kind of attitude I normally got.
The black haired boy and the girl with cocoa colored hair, sat directly next to me, introducing themselves as Jake, the boy, and Marley, the girl. There was a blond boy standing right in front of me, his jaw slacked.
"You-you are-" The blond boy stuttered, clearly in awe.
"Beautiful, a genius, immensely talented-" I replied, sarcastically, wishing all the attention away.
He cut me off, adding, "And dangerous."
That surprised me. I had never been called dangerous before. I've been called mousy, stupid, idiot, and a bunch of other words I would rather not repeat. But, dangerous? I would never have imagined as being described with that word.
"What makes ya say that?" I asked, suddenly aware that my slight city accent was out of place.
The boy, Jake, answered for the blond boy. "Well, we heard about what you did, and you're the only one brave enough to stand up to Devlin. We're all hoping you can help us get out of here."
He made it sound like they were all being held hostage in a prison or something. Getting out of this stink bomb would be easy once I was free from the guards. But, it was like they were crawling around the area. I could point out at least half a dozen in one quarter of the courtyard like area.
I put my head down somberly, ashamed of stepping down from someone who had just hit me. It was something I shouldn't have done, and it made me feel like they were taking advantage of me. I didn't like that feeling.
"So, are you gonna help us or not?" A voice snapped at me impatiently. I lifted my head to see the boy with blonde hair leaning in closer to me. "We all need to get outta here, and we hope that you're our ticket out. So, are you gonna help us?"
Despite my feelings of defeat, I decided that they deserved to get out of this place as much as I did. I mean, they had probably gotten abused at this place, with those men acting like they were at the top of the food chain. Once I had gotten rid of the guard, they would see that there are others more superior to them.
"Fine," I sighed, pretending to be reluctant. "But, ya needs to listen to what I says, got it?" All of the eager teens nodded, anticipation washing over the crowd. "Great," I continued, still acting as though I was bored. "We start as soon as I lose that shithead over theres." I motioned towards the guard, who was continuing to talk to the others. To be honest, I was surprised he didn't hear me, considering I wasn't talking at a normal volume.
The people began to disperse, whispering excitedly with each other. But, the girl and the two boys stayed, the blonde one displaying a sour scowl across his face.
"Thank you so much!" Marley exclaimed, her voice bursting with eagerness. I guess things really were bad here. All of these kids were begging to be broken out, no matter their age.
I nodded, my eyes narrowing as the guard waltzed back to where we were sitting. He had three yellow papers in his hand, bold black writing on the front and back of each page. I tilted my head slightly so I could see what they read, but the guard had other ideas.
He whipped the papers behind his back. "What the hell you think you doing, girl?!" He yelled, absolutely hysteric.
I sat up straight, trying to keep a poker face, but I couldn't hold back my laughter. I chuckled softly as my face blushed bright red, which I guess was the wrong thing to do.
"What're you laughing at, girl?" He angrily asked, his face changing from puzzlement to a scowl. "You're not gonna question what I'm doing, or may I lose my charm." At that last part, he smiled like he was some kind of bigshot around the place. Stupid egomaniac.
This time, I couldn't contain my laughter anymore. A huge, gut busting laugh erupted from me as I stood up, turning a look of shock onto the guards face.
"You gots about as much charm as a dead slug," I laughed loudly, making every head in the courtyard turn around in surprise.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jake and Marley giving me the "cut it out" sign, a finger running across their neck, while Nick looked as pale as a ghost, an expression of fear and shock frozen on his face.
The guard's face turned so red it was almost purple as he grabbed my sweatshirt collar, bringing me to the tips of my toes. "You insulting me?" He snarled in my face, making me cringe at his breath. It smelled like a combination between onions and fish.
When I got over the smell, I looked at him, smiling. "I'd love to insult you, but I'm afraid I can't do as well as nature did."
Before I could say anything else, the guard shoved me to the ground, my head knocking against the table behind me. I winced, a sharp white pain beginning to throb in my head. I groaned, closing my eyes in pain. I felt as though there was something inside of my head and it was kicking me in the brain. You have to do something, I thought. You have to keep fighting for yourself. He can't treat you this way.
The guard gave me a swift kick in the stomach, adding onto the pain. I curled up on the ground, clutching my stomach. A groan of pain escaped me, sounding weak and helpless. But, I knew that I couldn't let myself give in to this piece of shit that was challenging me.
I used all my strength to lift myself up, a collective gasp coming from the courtyard. I pulled myself into a standing position, closing my eyes as everything around me spun. I felt a trickle of liquid slide down my neck. I lifted my hand to the back of my head, feeling something wet and thick. I looked back at my hand and realized that it was blood.
Turning my attention away from my hand and my head, I turned back to the guard. I felt a little ray of warmth as I watched as his smug smile transformed into a look of shock, slack jawed and his eyes wide in surprise.
I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. "Do not challenge me." I growled, making him realize that there was no way I was going to let him beat me like the others.
The guard closed his jaw, frustration coating his voice. "You don't talk to me like that, girl," It was like no one had ever stood up to him before, and with this crowd, I doubted anyone had. "Or else I'll get Scovel, and he'll whoop your ass."
I smiled at his threat, the muscles in my head tightening with each throb of pain. It hurt to smile. The guard began to walk away, his keys jangling with each step, mumbling about me and my "stupidly courageous act".
As soon as the guard was out of earshot, voices started to surround me.
"Oh my God, is she okay? Ally, you're bleeding." An unfamiliar female voice spouted.
"I knew that she would do something stupid like that. Didn't I tell you, Jake?" Nick's voice whined from behind me.
I was still feeling lightheaded, so I tried to sit down. But, I ended up missing the bench, landing on my butt, legs sprawled, in front of all the people who had once looked up to me for hope. Nick was right. I was bound to do something batshit crazy sooner or later, and I paid for it. The guard had just made a huge fool of me, and I didn't help the situation at all.
I pushed my hands into the dirt ground, trying to lift myself up from my embarrassing position. A hand was thrust in front of me, offering to help me up. I glanced up dismally to see Jake, a tight smile on his face.
"Let me help you," He said, grasping my wrist and pulling me to my feet. "I doubt that guard's gonna bother you anymore."
A warm hand suddenly touched the back of my head, sending a tingle down my spine. "Jake, she's bleedin', bad." Marley announced, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think we gotta bring her to Cliff, if we want it to stop."
That was the last thing I heard before everything went black.