-Chapter Ten-
-Amelia's POV-
I didn't sleep again, and around three hours and thirty-two minutes later, I walked down the steps to the living room where Mark was sleeping on the couch. His golden hair was spread around his head on the pillow and his lashes shadowed his cheeks. When I came closer, I could hear his soft familiar snoring.
Carefully, I sat right in front of the hibernating Mark and leaned against the couch. Mark's even breaths tussled the fine hairs against my neck. It was warm, comfortable even, more so than the bed that smelled faintly of him. Maybe I had gotten used to him sleeping in the same room as me, even if he snored and mumbled in the middle of the night.
I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I woke to find Kate staring at me intensely. She was wearing sweatpants, like me, and had her light hair pulled back into a tight pony tail. A light jacket was tied around her waist and she was slipping on fancy tennis shoes.
Then I realized why she was starring, Mark, still in deep sleep, had his arm draped over my shoulder and his face was buried in my hair. He must have moved in his sleep, I thought as I untangled myself. Mark grumbled unintelligible words and rolled over to face the couch.
Kate, a little too loudly, said, "Comfortable? Well, I'm going for a jog to burn off stress. I do this often so they'll know where I am-"
"Why?" I asked, curious.
She narrowed her eyes, "Why what?"
"How does it burn stress?"
Blinking, she replied, "I don't know, it just does."
"Oh, okay." I stretched my legs out in front of me and stared at the clothes she lent me, "Thank you. For the clothes, I mean."
She was halfway out the door when I said this, and she froze, taking a deep breath before turning back to me. "Since you're my brothers' friend…I should try and not be so…snotty. Why don't you- How about you come for a jog with me?" It seemed to pain her to say this for some reason, so I accepted her offer, and ten minutes later, I had tennis shoes on. They were a worn-out white and just a little too small on my feet, but it was perfectly fine.
Kate took off at the end of the block, picking up speed to a light jog. I stayed a little behind her, letting her take up the lead on the cement sidewalk. She looked back every so often with a confused look on her face, probably because my footsteps were silent.
Then, several long blocks later, Kate slowed to a walk. Some of her hair had escaped her pony tail and currently stuck to the back of her neck. Sweat trickled down her brow and soaked into her shirt as she panted. She looked at me, and between breaths said, "Y- You're not even breaking a sweat!"
It was true, but unsurprising.
Unlike Kate's, my shirt had stayed dry and my breath was slow and even. I kind of felt guilty, I had genetic…advantages. But Kate didn't know this yet so I shrugged a little awkwardly, "There is a lot you don't know about me."
"I, uh, guess you're right." Kate sighed and looked away, rubbing the sweat from her neck. Out of nowhere, she went tense and cursed, looking down the street. Four guys were watching us from only two blocks away, and getting closer. "We should go." She turned me around and pushed me back in the direction of the house. "Now!"
Kate took off running, faster than before and I followed.
Confused, I asked, "What's wrong? Why are you scared of those men?" I checked behind me. They were closer but I knew Kate was going as fast as she could. We wouldn't make it.
"Don't look back," she snapped. "They're a gang. It may not look it, but our neighborhood is the home of many, many gangs. And they are one of them so run!"
I have to admit. We almost made it, just making it halfway home when they appeared. Two more thugs came around the corner and trapped us against an out-of-place abandoned brick building. It stood two stories tall, all red brick and boarded windows with several NO Trespassing signs in the yard. Crap. Not exactly the best place to be. Quickly, I analyzed the five guys.
The smallest of the five, looked to be about 16, even younger than me. And the biggest seemed to be around the age of 20. But aside from there still-young ages, they were huge. Kate was trying to get in front of me, to protect me somehow? I could feel her pulse tripping through her back. My heart raced too, not with fear, but with excitement.
I couldn't wait to pound them into the ground. The young ones' eyebrows drew together in confusion when a smile twitched at the corner of my lips. I'm sick, I thought to myself, I should be terrified, not egger.
Kate, still trying to press me into the wall, fumbled with her phone.
One guy snickered, "Don't bother calling to cops. We both know they're not gonna come." He was missing his two front teeth and his nose had obviously been broken countless times. Her only response was to shake her head lightly as she stared at phone. I tuned into what the person on the other end was saying when he spoke.
"Hello? Kate? Are you there?" It was Mark, sounding half-asleep.
Okay, so I knew Mark could probably take a couple of these guys. But I also knew he couldn't take five at once. That meant he'd get hurt, plus, it'd take him a couple minutes to find us. By then Kate would be hurt. So that left me only one choice.
Slowly, I squeezed in front of Kate and pushed her behind me. She immediately protested and tried to gain back her position. The gang laughed at the scene. So glad we entertain you.
"I see, then the dark haired goddess wants to go first," said the biggest man I had ever seen.
I could hear Mark on the other end, "Who was that?"
Loudly enough that he could hear, I told the guys, "What do you want with us? Leave us be. Otherwise, someone is going to need an ambulance, and it's not going to be my friend or me."
Kate gasped behind me. Now or never, I thought and closed my eyes for a brief second.
Thug three snorted, "Yeah, r-"
I pulled my right arm back, closing my hand into a tight fist. Thumb out, so I didn't break it.
Crunch. His nose broke and blood seeped out, coating his chin in red. He clutched his nose as he screamed like a little girl. Kate screamed as well.
"Why, whatever is wrong sir? Never been slugged by a girl before? Or ever slugged period? That was quite a mighty wail you let out." My voice was as thin and cruel as ice. Once again, I should have been scared. Like Kate, who was crying loudly for someone who grew up in this neighborhood. No, instead, something else swelled in my chest.
Release.
-Mark's POV-
I couldn't breathe. The air circulation to my brain stopped. My lungs burned and my eyes snapped open to find the reason.
Melisa was leaning over me, a devious smile on her face, framed by her brown hair. She was pinching my nose to wake me up. So, knowing she wouldn't give up until I was awake-or dead- I flicked her forehead and got up. Melisa rubbed her forehead, glaring, "Hey!"
"Well you shouldn't wake me up so brutally."
She rolled her blue eyes, "Whatever. I wanted to ask you where Amelia is."
"What do you mean? She's still in my room isn't she?"
She shook her head, "Nope, I'm thinking she went for a jog with Kate."
Warning bell went off in my head. Oh, god. Kate was 'trying to get to know someone' as she would call it. Unless you've noticed, she isn't really a 'people person'.
I groaned and Melisa giggled. She knew this all too well. Then before I could even crawl off of the couch, my long-lost phone that I had pulled from my room rang. Once, twice, it was Kate, I answered.
"Hello?" No response, only a crackling sound. "Kate? Are you there?"
On the other end was a rustling, and…a guy laughing?
"I see, so the dark haired goddess wants to go first," said the voice.
Dark haired goddess? Amelia flashed through my mind and I tensed. What is going on?
"Who was that," I asked.
Amelia's normally velvet voice came through briskly cold, causing me to shiver involuntarily. "What do you want with us? Leave us be. Otherwise, someone is going to need an ambulance, and it's not going to be my friend or me."
There was a gasp, someone talking, a crunching noise, and then a scream. And Amelia's voice rang even more piercing than my ringtone, "Why, whatever is wrong sir? Never been slugged by a girl before? Or ever slugged period? That was quite a mighty wail you let out."
The phone cut off, then somehow I was standing up and running to the door. It must be a gang. It's happened before. I told Melisa to stay put inside the house and to tell mom, she dashed up the steps. After slipping on my shoes with agonizing slowness, I was out the door and stomping across the soft grass.
Once my feet hit the sidewalk I looked to the right, nothing. Then I looked to the left, nothing as well. Wait, no, far to the left where the abandoned brick building was still lingering, waiting to be torn down, was a huddle of people. Two girls, one with loose dark hair and one with a blond pony tail, were surrounded by five guys. One was staggering back and covering his face.
I ran.
-Amelia's POV-
"Don't get ahead of yourself girlie," he spat, blood still gushing from his nose. "That was just one lucky shot. No way will you be able to land another one."
A freezing laugh escaped my throat, "Want to come test that theory?"
When they just glared at her she asked sweetly, "What's wrong? Scared of a girl? How badass…"
The one next to the youngest lunged first, his fist's flying. His dyed black hair hung in his face, making him slower than he could have been. I twisted around and let my heel connect with his jaw, with just enough force to leave a serious bruise. He stumbled to the left and into his buddy, who grunted. Not missing a beat, I leaped forward and buried my fist into his gut. The air from his lungs rushed out and hit my face, smelling of cigarettes. Trying not to smile, I finished him off with two more quick punches to the stomach. He could barely get out a groan before crashing to the ground unconscious.
"Why you little...," snarled the first guy with the bloody nose. His turn?
Nope, I thought when the other two jumped me at once. I caught a glance of Kate cowering against the wall and yelled, "Run!" She hesitated then took off down the street toward her house. Thank god.
Pain burst behind my eyelids like fire. One of the guys had punched the side of my head with his meaty fist while I was distracted. I hated head wounds; they always bled more than necessary. As if on cue, blood trickled down the side of my face in a dark river. I wiped at it but it just smeared without helping in the least.
I need to get this over with.
The guy who'd hit me jumped to the side, yelping as I stealthily appeared next to him. One chop to the neck and he was down. Thump. Oh relax! I only rendered him unconscious.
I turned to the other guy, who was closing in on me. He was smaller than the other man and a look of terror froze his features. I smiled at him bitterly and let him take the first move.
"Ung!" The man yelled out as he ran at me with a baseball bat. He slung low at my ankles, trying to knock me down, and missed when I jumped. Strike One. Blinking in surprise, he paused before swinging again, this time at my head. I ducked easily away, Strike Two. It swung back around quickly, hitting my thigh where the bruise from Kate's homerun shot had been. Crack.
I had a fracture.
Strike Three? Oh yeah.
My bad leg looped up and kicked him in the groin. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the floor with tears streaming down his face. I almost felt sorry for him, but thought better of it when sharp pain shot through my leg.
Someone cleared their throat; it was the guy with the bloody nose. "It seems like you are quite skilled. You've manage to bring my best men to their knees."
I didn't feel the need to point out that they weren't on their knees, but unconscious. "You're next big boy," I said happily taking a limping step toward him and over his friend. I could still take him.
He frowned, and then took off running in the other direction, hopping a fence with the sixteen year old close on his heels. I was just about to follow them when I heard someone coming toward me with loud, familiar steps. I turned.
"Amelia!" Mark cried, getting closer. "Are you alright?"
When I looked down I realized how horrid I must look, all cover in blood. Not to mention I was standing in a circle of writhing, beaten men. Hurriedly, I walked over to Mark. My pulse was still sky rocketing with excitement and I felt a sliver of guilt. Normal people didn't feel happy after beating the pulp out of a gang. Whether they were doing 'evil' things or not.
He pulled me to him, hugging me in a way and making me feel an emotion I'd never felt before. The back of my eyes began to burn so I pushed him away, just a little. Mark looked me over, his eyes widening at the sight of my blood stained shirt. He followed the trail up to my hairline, where the blood was still flowing. "Oh, oh no."
"I'm fine," I insisted before he had a chance to ask. He glanced over my shoulder, seeming to just notice the half-corpses. "Sorry…maybe I went a little overboard?"
"No, no…," he murmured as he quickly turned me around. "Come on. We need to stop the bleeding and-…"
I followed his gaze to my leg where a little dot of blood sat almost innocently.
"Why are you limping?"
I shrugged, "It's just a fracture. I'm f-ah!"
He slipped his hand under my knees and lifted me up carefully, "If you say that you're 'fine' one more time, I'm going to make you sleep in Melisa's room on ice cream night."
My mouth shut and I leaned against Mark's shoulder, probably leaving a stain on his nice shirt. He smelled good. Like cinnamon and spice. He tensed, "Don't fall asleep on me Amelia. Keep your eyes open, we're home. See?"
The house came into my view from his broad shoulder. Then he was opening the front door somehow and someone screamed. It was Kate, taking in the sight of me. I rolled my eyes, but they couldn't see it when my face was pressed against Mark's shirt.
I heard Mark's mom snap, "Melisa, Kate, upstairs, now." There was a scrambling sound and then brightness as Mark set me down on a kitchen stool. He must have thought I couldn't hold myself up because he stayed glue to my side, with one hand on my shoulder as his mom examined me.
"If you could just stop the bleeding on my head somehow then I can do the rest myself…" Ms. Tally silenced me with a stern look and I gave up, leaning against Mark. His hand tightened on my shoulder.
Forty minutes later I was all patched up and had a fresh change of clothes. Thicker, darker sweatpants cover my legs, matched with a thin blue tank top. Ms. Tally washed the blood out of my hair at the sink, so my hair ended up damp with warm water.
Now I was sitting on the coach, watching a blank Television screen. Kate came into the room a few minutes later and sat next to me. "So, I guess…I got to know you a little better."
I scoffed, "You were terrified."
She drew her eyebrows together, "Of course, they were going to hurt us."
"No," my voice was empty with realization. "You were terrified of me."
Kate was quite for several minutes.
Then, she answered me truthfully, and I was grateful.
"I was."
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