-Tori POV-
One day, I was forced to walk home because Trina left me at school and none of my friends were able to take me home after school. I was thinking nothing bad would happen, walking home has never been a problem before. Things changed though.
Walking though a relatively empty area around my neighborhood, I notice someone following me for the last few blocks. Again, I think nothing of it, until I'm forced against a wall. I turn my head to the left quickly, seeing the same man that has been following me.
"Give me your wallet. Now!" He says, yelling in my ear.
"Please. I don't have any money. Just let me go." I whimper, fear coursing though my body.
"Give me everything, or I kill you." He hisses.
He keeps me pressed against the wall, hands digging through my pockets. I hear a slight noise from my right, and I adjust my face, seeing a person standing near the opening of the alley the mugger forced me into. The mugger doesn't notice the other person, he's too busy digging through my pockets.
"Let her go, or I kill you." The other person, a young female by the sound of the voice.
"Get out of here lady. I don't want to have to hurt you." The mugger says, not afraid of the young woman.
"Back away, release her and her stuff, or I kill you." The oddly familiar voice says, no fear in her voice.
"Help me, please." I say to the other woman, voice shaking.
"Shut up, both of you." The mugger says, using on of his arms to pull out a knife and pressing it to my neck. "You didn't see nothing." He says. I see out of the corner of my eye that he's now glaring at the woman.
"Listen, I'm missing my favorite movie to save this girl, and I have no problem killing you for making me miss it." The woman says.
"I ain't afraid of you bitch." He says to her, turning his attention back to me. "No one's gonna save you." He whispers into my ear.
"Okay, I'm done talking." The voice says, walking towards us.
"Stay where you are." The mugger tells her, aiming the knife at her.
"Give me one reason to." The woman says, taking a pair of scissors out of the waistband of her skirt. "I'm not playing around." She says, continuing to walk towards us, stopping a few feet away from us.
"Jade?" I ask, stunned, when she walks into an area where light pours into the alleyway.
"Of course, You're the one who's about to be mugged." She says, rolling her eyes. "Look, she's kind of a friend of mine, so walk away and I won't recreate a scene from 'The Scissoring'."
"You think I'm afraid of you bitch?" He asks, keeping me pressed against the wall with one arm, the other holding the knife at Jade's face.
"Don't care if you are." Jade says, smirking at him. "Hey Vega? If I stab him, would I get arrested?"
"You won't get the chance to try, little bitch." The mugger says.
"Want to bet." Jade says in a bored tone, glaring at the man. "5."
"The fuck you counting for?" The mugger says, watching Jade.
"4."
"What the fuck's wrong with you?"
"3."
"Screw you bitch." He says, pressing the knife against my temple.
"2 1. You're done." Jade says, stabbing the man with her scissors in the arm, causing him to drop his knife.
"The fuck bitch?" He asks, holding the wound where Jade stabbed him. She pulled her scissors out soon after she stabbed him, keeping the scissors in hand.
"Walk away, or your arm isn't the only part of you that gets stabbed." She threatens, her glare never leaving him.
"You're dead, bitch." He says, releasing me from his grasp to glare at Jade.
"I warned ya. Now, I'm gonna count again. If I get to 1 and you're still here, I stab you again."
"I'm gonna gut you bitch." He says, holding the knife in his left hand, since he seemingly can't use his right.
" 1. Go to hell." Jade says, stabbing him again in the forearm, pulling it out quickly. "Run, and live."
"You crazy bitch." He says, glaring at her as he walks away.
"You okay, Vega?" Jade asks me after the mugger walks away.
"Jade." I say in a whisper, still frozen with my back against the wall.
"Hey, you're okay." She says in a soft tone, standing in front of me, holding my head in her arms, forcing me to face her. "Come on, I'm taking you home and yelling at Trina for making you walk." She says as she guides me to her car, parked not too far away from the alley.
"Why are you here?" I ask, voice low enough to barely be heard.
"Cat called me and asked me to pick up something for her to help her with the costumes for Sikowitz's new play. I say you walking and that guy following you, so I followed. I say him push you into the alleyway, and I followed. I say him pull the knife and intervened." She says, opening the passenger door of her car for me. "How come no one else took you home?" She asks, getting into the driver's seat and closing the door.
"B-Beck and Robbie were working on the play. André left before school was out to help his grandma."
"And Cat left early to help Lane with something, and I left school early because I didn't want to be there." She says, sounding ashamed.
The rest of the ride is silent. We get to my house a few minutes later, Jade following me as I head to the front door, opening it and leading Jade in.
"Why is she here?" Trina asks as Jade and I walk in, sending a glare at Jade.
"Well, if someone didn't leave her at school, nothing would have happened." Jade says, glaring fiercely at Trina, who is now stunned at what she means. I watch from the opposite couch, afraid to say anything.
"What does that mean? She seems fine." Trina says, finally looking at me. "Why are you shaking?" She asks, sounding worried.
"Some bastard almost mugged her because you didn't wait two minutes for her." Jade says, glare never leaving Trina.
"What?!" Trina says, standing up. "Why were you there? Were you involved?"
"Yeah, in helping her. Where's your dad?" Jade says, sending the question to both Trina and me.
"At the station." Trina says, bending down in front of her sister. "I am so sorry for not waiting."
"What's his number?" I ask, stepping towards them and placing a comforting hand on Tori's shoulder.
"I'll call him." Trina says, grabbing her PearPhone and calling her dad. "Dad? There's something you need to know. Here, Jade will fill you in." She says, handing her phone to Jade.
-Jade POV-
"Jade, what do I need to know?" Mr. Vega asks, sounding worried.
"Tori was almost mugged on her way home from school." I say, voice quiet.
"How is that possible? Trina was supposed to drive her home." He asks, a hint of anger in his tone.
"She left before Tori left."
"She what!" He yells, scaring me slightly. "Give her the phone. I need to talk to my daughter."
"Got it." I say, pulling the phone away from my ear. "Trina, your dad wants to talk with you."
"Dad?" She asks, heading towards the kitchen.
"How are you feeling?" I ask Tori, sitting beside her.
"Thank you for being there." She whispers, hugging me tightly.
"You're okay. I'll make sure no one touches you like that again." I say, soothing her.
We sit there in silence, barely hearing Trina on the phone. A few hours later, Mr. Vega walks in, heading straight for Tori and hugs her, whispering soothing words in her ear.
"Thank you for being there, Jade." He tells me, looking me in the eye. "Did you get a good look at him?"
"Yeah. Why?" I ask, rubbing Tori's back.
"I need you to come with me to the station. You need to give the information to a sketch artist."
"Got it. When did you need me?" I ask him, barely looking away from Tori.
"Soon. Tomorrow at the latest." He says. "Tori, I need you to come as well to describe everything you experienced."
"I will."
"I'll pick her up and take her up. I don't want to leave her alone." I say, turning away from Tori briefly.
"Okay. Good." Mr. Vega says, barely smiling.
The next morning, I pull into the Vega's driveway, locking my car behind me as I walk to the house. I knock on the door, waiting patiently for the door to open. A moment later, it does, but it's not Tori who answered the door.
"She's upstairs. She hasn't left since you did yesterday." Trina tells me as she moves out of the way, letting me in.
"Thanks." I say, avoiding her gaze. I head upstairs, heading straight for her room. "Tori?" I ask after knocking on her door.
"Thank you so much for yesterday, Jade." She says after opening the door and hugging me.
"Don't worry about it. Come on. Let's get this over with." I tell her, returning the hug.
"Okay." She says, barely straying from my side.
I lead her downstairs, ignoring Trina's attempt to apologize to us as we do. I won't forgive her for leaving Tori. Close to a half hour later, we pull into the station, heading in. We see Mr. Vega in the front, talking to a fellow officer.
"Hey. I'm glad you're here." Mr. Vega says, hugging his youngest. "You ready?" He asks us.
"Yeah." I say as Tori nods her head slightly. "Go with your dad, you'll be fine." I tell her when she looks at me, eyes slightly wide.
The officer David was talking to leads me towards a back room, where the sketch artist is. I describe the man to him, and an hour later, Tori and I are sitting in the front of the station, waiting. Mr. Vega told us that there was a hit on the sketch, and they were sending a couple of officers to pick him up. Mr. Vega went and grabbed us something to drink, coffee for me and water for Tori.
"I can't thank you enough, Jade, for helping me." She whispers, her head against my shoulder.
"Don't worry." I tell her. A few minutes later, Mr. Vega comes back. "Thanks." I say, grabbing the coffee.
"They're on the way back. They found him at his house." Mr. Vega tells us. "Come on, I don't want you girls here when they get here."
"Did he look like he had stab wounds on his arms?" I ask, leading Tori behind her father.
"Yeah. On is forearms." He says, turning slightly as he leads us.
"Were they bad?" I ask, fighting a smirk.
"I don't know. The didn't say." He tells us as he opens the door to a room.
Close to ten minutes later, there's a knock at the door. Mr. Vega excuses himself to open the door, seeing the officer from when we first got there. They whisper to each other, faces barely showing emotion.
"He's in custody now. He denies the charges, but evidence helps. He was wanted for the same charges in the past, but always got away. Not this time." He says with a smile. "There was a warrant for his arrest for a variety of charges. The injuries to his arms led us to him. How did they happen, may I ask?"
"I warned him that if he didn't let her go, I would stab him. He didn't go for it, and we know where that lead." I say, smirking.
"Well, it helped us find him, so, no complaints." He says, smiling.
The three of us sit in silence, waiting for news. A couple of hours later, the officer from before returns and tells us that the mugger is going away for at least 30 years. We don't know what all else he's charged with, and we didn't ask. We head out a few moments later, Tori and I heading to Nozu for lunch. We barely talk, she's still too shaken, and I don't feel like pressuring her. After we're done eating, I take her home. When we get to her house, she turns and says the first words she's spoken in hours.
"Who knew? Both times I've dealt with muggers, and you were there each time. Thanks for being there the second time. I can't tell you that enough."
"Stop thanking me. I appreciate it, but you don't need to tell me." I say, opening my door.
"Can you stay here tonight?" She asks, getting out after me.
"Sure. Why not."
I based this off of something that happened to me recently. On my way home from the local library, I was almost mugged. Nothing was taken, and I wasn't injured physically. I consider myself lucky for it, when I know others could have that happen and not be as lucky.
Thank you for reading, and please review.
Blessed Be.