CHAPTER TWO

EL DEMONIO BUENO

I could have just left her there to rot. It would have been easy. Just to have flicked my cigarette out and walk away. Shit, I'm lying. She was obviously hurt and suffering. I'm sure the rest of the campers wouldn't have minded seeing that but something about it just set my stomach to turning. She was a very hard and cold person who was bent on winning regardless of the consequences. It was a trait that I could admire. I settled down in the dirt next to her and looked out at the darkness. The first run of competition was over but now they had to wait for the next go around. Of courses she was bald as they came. I couldn't help but grin to my self. If she would pierce her nose or eyebrow and maybe get a tattoo, she could really pull off the bald look. I looked down at her out of curiosity. She was fucked up. There were bruises on her face and what I could see of her stomach. Her shirt was torn slightly, but that was either from dragging herself on the ground or me pulling her from the bushes.

I was entirely too curious as to who had done that. It wouldn't have been one of the girls because Heather should have gotten in at least a scratch or a bite or something and I had seen the girls befor e sneaking off for a smoke. I pulled my pack from my pocket again and lit up. Two in one night, much less one hour, wasn't normal but I needed one dammit.

I sent up the first puff of smoke to Loki. Y'know two bodies same spirit kinda shit? I watched as the end of the cigarette crackled and glowed in the dark. Courtney pitched a fit for me being gone but so what. She was a fire cracker with one hell of a body. She was my girl but, fuck, I didn't need another mom. It gets hard when you're trying to get down and dirty and she starts nagging about something. I had to shake my head and get the thoughts out of my mind. One think I didn't want to think about at the moment was Courtney.

I looked over at Heather as she moaned in her sleep. It wasn't one of those nice moans either. It was one that you just knew signaled pain. I just watched her for a moment as she drew herself tighter into a ball. I couldn't help but think of what was hurting her. Was her insides fucked up? I jumped as she gasped violently and pushed herself up off the dirt. Her eyes were wide and glassy as she looked around trying to get her surroundings.

"You okay there, gorgeous?"

"Fuck off." In pain, looking like shit and still she was feisty. That said something. I cocked my eyebrow as I took another long drag.

"Lay off the hard attitude. You don't look the part right now." The smoke escaped from my mouth as I spoke. I watched the smoke as it set against the dark, for a moment before I looked back to her. She was sitting up, cross-legged, staring at me. Her face shown everything from anger to hatred and fear.

"I didn't ask you to help me."

"No. You didn't" I said snapping back at her just as she did me. She brought her arms up and wrapped them around herself. She seemed to be on the verge of breaking. Fucking wonderful. I rolled my eyes and squashed my cigarette out on the ground. I looked at her as I let out the last roll of smoke.

"What were you doing out here anyway?" It wasn't the question I wanted an answer too but at least it was a start. She didn't answer me. I didn't really expect her to but then she did something I wasn't expecting at all. A tear slid down her cheek, cutting through the dirt and blood that covered her face. Awkward. Uncomfortable and down right aggravating. I shook my head fighting back the male urge to defend a female.

"I'll ask you once. Who did this?"

"Does it matter?" Her voice was soft, frightened and full of hate. All but one of those I wasn't expecting from this girl. I blinked at her for a moment before I laughed. As I laughed she glared at me with wide eyes. Contempt burned in them brightly until I looked back down at her.

"If it didn't would I have asked? I can see how it could have easily been anyone in the camp so it was either one person or a group." My voice came out gruff and condescending, maybe she would actually respond to that. Her eyes wouldn't look at me. I didn't know whether it was that she wouldn't or couldn't but I was never going to get an answer out of her unless she looked at me. So I moved over to sit next to her.

"You going to answer the question or do I have to throw your ass in the water again?" It would have come off funny had I not been serious. She looked at me then and shook her head slowly. She may have been a vicious competitor but at that moment she was only a girl. A chick that someone decided could be beaten and left for dead and it pissed me the fuck off.

"I did it to myself. So it doesn't matter." She snapped bringing back a little bit more of her personality.

"Bullshit." I knew I probably wouldn't get much else out of her. She was dead set on her silence. I wasn't going to push it. But what really aggravated the hell out of me was her typical victim response. People that were raped or beaten or routinely abused tended to think that they brought it on themselves. Yeah, like I said. Bullshit. We sat there in silence and watched the water ripple in the dark. I almost didn't hear her when she spoke up.

"I'm not a bad person…really." I hardly heard her but I did hear it. I slung my arm around her shoulder and gave a squeeze.

"Sure you are." I could have burst into flames from the look she gave me. I grinned at her."Just like me." The hatred disappeared as she realized what I was saying. I loved being coy. Tears filled her eyes but she fought them back. She set her head on my shoulder as she restrained herself.

"I'm still going to beat you."

"Whatever you say, gorgeous."