"Just to Love"
By: Laney Sanchez
==============
Okay...I had this chapter PERFECT! ...Keyword is HAD! No longer is it perfect...only because AOL had to boot me off AND restart...and it didn't save. I tried to keep this chapter the way it was originally written...but of course I can't remember it EXACTLY word for word. So I hope you all still like it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 21~ Confrontations and a BIG Mistake
The tacky, deep scarlett, red wallpaper seemed to fly by in a blur as Reina was tugged along by Spot. He held her hand, roughly jerking it in the direction he would move.
Reina could scarcely believe that they had gone through so many hallways, just to get to that one room. The place seemed like a maze. An endless, twisting, collage of scarlett hallways.
"You sure you know where you're going?" Reina asked, feeling suddenly a bit timid.
"Yeah...yous just follow me" Spot directed, not bothering to look over at her. Spot had paused, his gaze watching something intently. Reina wasn't about to argue with Spot. She was tired of arguing. The yelling...the screaming...it was just all too familiar.
.·....It was the first time her mommy and daddy yelled like this...
A little girl, with a wavy mop of brown hair, clutched the ends of her raggedy dress, nervously. Her little hands twisted the dress nervously, standing behind the wall that was blocking the heated kitchen argument. She felt a wave of fear arise within her chest, until it began to suffocate her. .·.
Reina felt her legs freeze. Her mind was not in reality and not with Spot. It had drifted back...years ago.
.·. "We came here for a different life!!!!!!"
"And I'm tryin' to give you a different life!! But with you on my back bitching all the time, there's just no pleasing you, is there?!"
"I'm not bitching!! I'm pleading...just tell me the truth! Please! Please Michael!"
"I...will not-!"
A loud clatter of dishes rattling and the rickety table, being shoved a bit, clamored off the walls.
"I will NOT be judged in my own house...I work my ass off for you and all you can do is nag...nag, nag, nag...every godamn day...and I'm SICK of it" her father, Michael, spat harshly at his wife.
The small girl peeked around the corner, curiosity finally killing her. Her mother was pushed against the table, her father's hand upon her shoulder roughly. So rough his knuckles had gone white.
"Michael..." her mother choked out. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks in never-ending rivulets. The small girl wanted to run out and do something...anything. But she was scared...
This was her own father...her daddy...
He wasn't supposed to act like this... .·.
"Reina!!!" Spot finally yelled. He had her pinned against a wall.
Reina's eyes went wide for a moment and then focused on Spot's. His eyes burned with annoyance, but yet they softened only slightly. If you had blinked, you would've missed it. It was a softened look of concern. Then back to his regular look of fierce concentration.
"I'm sorry...I ...can't..." Reina said, averting her eyes to the floor, swallowing hard the memories that flooded her.
Spot eyed her. "Yous and dose memories are gettin' ta be a pain in da ass, Reina"
This comment got Reina's attention back to the current situation. It had actually taken her by surprise. If Spot was starting to read her head, then it really was time to leave the Brooklyn lodging house.
"You...how did you-"
"Yous toal me dat night. On me docks by da house..." he said, giving her a look like it was positively normal that he remembered such a detail. Spot didn't strike Reina as the sort to remember anything anyone told him that didn't relate to money, business or his own personal benefit.
"You remembered that?! ..." she asked, incredulously. Reina's expression was one of pure disbelief. That changed suddenly as her eyebrows fixed in a suspicious glare. One which cut Spot off before he could even answer. "And those aren't YOUR docks..."
"Ey!" he said, placing a hand on his cane, and lifting his head just slightly. It was in a proud manner. "Brooklyn's me turf. Da docks are on me turf. I's own da docks, da streets, da bridge, da river"
Reina rolled her eyes and took on a look of utter boredom. This was BS.
"Everytings mine" Spot said, finally looking to Reina with a proud, smug look on his face.
"Tell me Spot..." Reina began, immediately preparing her comeback with a nice, fake plastered smile upon her face. "Do you have access to large planks of wood?"
Spot's smug look immediately crinkled into one of confusion. "What are yous talkin' bout?"
"Uh huh...that's a firm 'no'. And um...do you own any tools...Spot?"
"No" Spot said, crossing his arms. He was vaguely interested in where she was going with this.
"Mmm..." Reina nodded, putting a hand to her chin in false contemplation. "Well, then, that means that you have neither the resources or tools to build a street, bridge OR the docks. Therefore, they are NOT yours"
Spot scowled and shook his head, disgusted. "Yous is almost as bad as Davey...da walkin' mouth"
Reina was about to shoot a comment back, in usual fashion, when Spot lashed out. His hands gripped her shoulders, shoving her hard against a wall. Reina glared, her instincts taking over and she punched a fist, sharply, into his side.
Spot gasped in pain and stumbled back, releasing his grip on her. A woman, perhaps a customer or another one of the bordello's victims, eyed them suspiciously, but kept walking.
"What...da..." Spot swallowed, straightening up. If only he didn't hit girls...Reina would've been a pancake on the side of the wall. He was beginning to consider making acceptions.
"Sorry!!" she apologized. "It was on accident...I thought you were- ...well..."
"Yous - ugghh.." Spot moaned, massaging his side. His fine hat had fallen down and lay at his feet. As he picked it up, he heard a faint snickering. He looked up slowly, a fierce glare in his eyes. Reina had one hand to her mouth and was on the verge of busting into full blown laughter at any moment.
Spot felt a surge of hate for that particular girl, at that particular moment. How dare she laugh at the leader of Brooklyn? A thought occurred to him, and Spot toyed with the idea of leaving Reina in the bordello.
Instead he began walking off, saying nothing.
"Spot...come on...I-I'm...s-shhrr" Reina said, until giving in to another round of giggles.
Spot felt his blood boil. He knew now that he should've let Kid handle this. He was insanely close to beating the next living thing to a bloody pulp with his cane, all because of this girl.
He didn't understand why she had this effect on him. The power to make him so angry, but she did.
"Let's just go, alright?" he muttered, and led her off to the exit. Silence ensued and Reina's giggles had subsided as Spot led her down into the basement through an old staircase.
The basement was very unappealing. Something about it made Spot shudder. There was a cold feeling. Like someone placing their cold lips on the back of his neck and giving him a kiss, that sent shivers down his spine.
The basement was empty. It was a ballroom for shadows and cobwebs. Worse yet, it was like one long, vast, cement hallway, with the occasional nook or cranny for storage. Crates to be exact. Spot didn't care WHAT was in the crates. All he cared about was the pale grayish light at the end of this morbid tunnel.
Another shiver gripped him. He placed his hand upon his cane, as if that would bring him comfort. "Nobody could pay me enough ta stay in dis place..." then as if upon rethinking that very thought. "Well...okay maybe...but it'd hafta be a lot!"
Spot smirked, his anger now fading away like mist on the river, early in the morning.
He turned his head in a casual manner, with a jokey smirk on his face. However he made sure to fix it with his famous, icy stare.
"Heya Reina...hows about-"
Spot abruptly wiped the smile from his face. His grin faded and became a look of surprise. People rarely had the gift to surprise him. However this person always seemed to manage.
"Thought you were so smart, didn't you?"
Spot glared and stood up straight, keeping his ground clear. "I'se is smart...yous is da fool for followin' me. I'd hate ta be yous in about two minutes" Spot seethed.
Edward Vanderbelt merely laughed and clutched Reina to him tightly, a hand holding her chin and nose, so to keep her mouth shut securely without risking her biting him. He acted like Reina was a dog, holding her in a way an owner would hold a dog to keep it from barking.
Reina struggled and screamed, or at least tried to. It wasn't even that, it sounded more like a furious yell that was muffled only by the force of Vanderbelt holding her mouth shut.
"Indeed. I do find youngster's ... words...delightfully entertaining. Please...humor me with some more"
Spot gritted his teeth and pulled out his cane, slowly. His knuckles were gripped white against the slick, black pole of the cane. Some of his dirty blonde hair fell upon his face. The anger welled up inside Spot. Like a huge fireball, gaining more and more power with each of Vanderbelt's words. Soon it would explode. Very soon.
Reina stopped struggling, as if sensing the anger and power vibrating from Spot. Vanderbelt however did not, and Reina could only glance upwards at him as he laughed straight in Spot's face. "You think you have it all figured out, don't you boy?"
Suddenly, like ghosts from the shadows, more boys appeared. They didn't appear armed. In fact they looked more like...newsies. One didn't look much older than Spot himself. In fact, he could've even been younger. Spot's gaze darted to all of them, considering each of his opponents. They all LOOKED like newsies...except that they looked pissed.
They also looked darker and bloodthirsty.
"Yous got more cronies now, Vanderbelt?"
Vanderbelt smiled in a snake like way, a hint of giddy power tinting his voice. "Yes...they do tend to come in handy...given the correct motivation of course. I believe that from what my...er..."informant" tells me, well..." he laughed then stopped quite suddenly, baring his stare into Spot "Well...they're much like you"
That had been the last straw. Spot yelled out and aimed to strike Vanderbelt with his cane. One of the boys cut in front of him and took the hit. Spot didn't care. His anger had blinded him beyond belief. His only focus was reaching Vanderbelt. He felt almost superhuman and hardly realized that he had already beat three of the boys down. There was about five remaining. The rest were big. They had more muscle mass than Spot and towered over him. However Spot had the power of fury on his side.
"Quite amusing boy...I almost feel as though I know you...you and that damn cane..." Vanderbelt mused. Reina began to struggle furiously. "Yes...let's make it more interesting! What if you were to lose the cane?"
As if on cue, three boys moved in at Spot. Spot ran at one, harshly pummeling him to the ground, cane out in front of him. The boy was damn lucky he hadn't been speared.
The other two moved to tackle him but luckily Spot swished his cane out in time to trip one. It had been a mistake. Three boys remained and the one who had fallen, stumbled to get up. Spot dove on him and began beating him with his fists, dropping the cane in his haze of anger.
Reina's eyes widened and she threw her head from side to side, until she broke free of Vanderbelt's clasp on her mouth. "SPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed desperately.
It was too late. One of the boys had seized Spot's cane and brought it down onto Spot's back. Spot cried out, so loud that Reina could almost feel his pain.
It spread like a fire, eating away at his muscles. His back, the spot where the cane had hit, throbbed painfully hard. It didn't help that he took one more hit. Spot then found himself, pulled from the unconscious boy, and drug to his feet. The cane, his cane, was slammed brutally hard into his stomach. So hard that Spot thought he would throw up. One of the boys roughly grabbed his hair, getting a fistful to the root and yanked his head up. "How's it feel ta be beaten down, Conlon?"
Spot didn't have time to react as the boys shoved him forward and beat him once more with the cane. Spot fell and hit the hard cement floor of the basement with a hard thump.
Reina cried out. Her own anger had risen. Spot had tried to save her...he HAD saved her. She would be damned if she was letting him die here. Not by this slimeball. It was her fault for trusting Vanderbelt in the first place. She cried out once more, which was more of a roar and slammed an elbow into Vanderbelt's waist. It's was only as she did so, that her elbow brushed something hard before connected with the soft flesh of his stomach.
She wheeled around, out of his grasp and ripped the neatly tucked ends of his shirt up. It was as she had thought. Reina seized the gun that had been concealed within Vanderbelt's waist and aimed it at him directly. The boys and Vanderbelt froze. Time itself seemed to freeze. No one even dared to breath. Reina's eyes were wild with hate and panic.
"Don't...any...of you move an inch..." she breathed, panting and backing away. She didn't take her eyes off Vanderbelt, but stepped back so she could keep the remaining three boys and Vanderbelt within eyesight. Vanderbelt, straightened up, wincing. His neatly combed hair had become mussed and his snakelike green eyes fixed upon her with a momentary death glare. They softened back to the oily smooth, false liars that they were when he first met her.
"You don't want to do this Rei-"
The gun went off and cement chipped near Vanderbelt's feet. Reina kept her glare steely cold. "Next time I won't aim to miss..." she warned. The gun was clutched so dearly in her hands. It was as if she were a caged animal, who had discovered how to use their claws once more.
That had shut Vanderbelt up.
"Move away from him..." she spat. The boys didn't give a second thought and stepped back, behind their ring leader. Reina kept the gun aimed at Vanderbelt and moved towards Spot.
"What's goin' on 'ere?!"
Reina looked over, very fast to see Kid. He stood there, confused, but his defenses were clearly up. He looked ready to beat any one of the four bunch into a pulp if they moved. Reina guessed he had picked up on what was going on. She tossed him the gun and he caught it in between both hands. "Don't let them move..."
Kid nodded and licked his lips, looking to the group suspiciously. He clearly wasn't use to such a weapon.
Reina kneeled beside Spot. She slipped her hands under his arms and pulled him up with all her strength. Spot coughed hard and winced. "Lemme...go..." he whispered. Blood coated his fine lips. Reina kept her arms about him. "I'm going to help you..."
Spot began to argue again, but another cough interrupted him. Reina pulled him to his feet and his legs shook.
"Kid let's go"
Kid shook his head. "Yous two foist. I'll follow"
Reina nodded and the three began to leave, Kid slowly backing away. Vanderbelt's eyes flashed with hate and his mouth trembled. "Yous have a good day now Mr. Hoity Toity...don'tch yous go gettin' hit by a carriage...dough dat could only be an improvement for New Yawk"
"Don't you do this Reina!!!!" Vanderbelt bellowed, his face red with anger. Reina stopped, not turning back. Her face was emotionless, but she stopped to hear his pitiful threats.
Silence ensued for a moment.
"I'll break you, like I broke your father!!!" he hissed. "Leave now and your friends will go with you. I'm not a man to piss off..." he threatened, his voice calming down to an eerie sort of "you-know-I'm-right" tone. "Leave here today and I will get you back...mark my words. I'll have fun going through your little friends first" he said with a hideous serpent's smirk.
Reina turned just slightly, still supporting an injured Spot Conlon. Her eyes met Vanderbelt's from afar. There was an intense silence between them for only a moment before Reina opened her mouth and said loud and clear "Get bent Vanderbelt"
By: Laney Sanchez
==============
Okay...I had this chapter PERFECT! ...Keyword is HAD! No longer is it perfect...only because AOL had to boot me off AND restart...and it didn't save. I tried to keep this chapter the way it was originally written...but of course I can't remember it EXACTLY word for word. So I hope you all still like it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 21~ Confrontations and a BIG Mistake
The tacky, deep scarlett, red wallpaper seemed to fly by in a blur as Reina was tugged along by Spot. He held her hand, roughly jerking it in the direction he would move.
Reina could scarcely believe that they had gone through so many hallways, just to get to that one room. The place seemed like a maze. An endless, twisting, collage of scarlett hallways.
"You sure you know where you're going?" Reina asked, feeling suddenly a bit timid.
"Yeah...yous just follow me" Spot directed, not bothering to look over at her. Spot had paused, his gaze watching something intently. Reina wasn't about to argue with Spot. She was tired of arguing. The yelling...the screaming...it was just all too familiar.
.·....It was the first time her mommy and daddy yelled like this...
A little girl, with a wavy mop of brown hair, clutched the ends of her raggedy dress, nervously. Her little hands twisted the dress nervously, standing behind the wall that was blocking the heated kitchen argument. She felt a wave of fear arise within her chest, until it began to suffocate her. .·.
Reina felt her legs freeze. Her mind was not in reality and not with Spot. It had drifted back...years ago.
.·. "We came here for a different life!!!!!!"
"And I'm tryin' to give you a different life!! But with you on my back bitching all the time, there's just no pleasing you, is there?!"
"I'm not bitching!! I'm pleading...just tell me the truth! Please! Please Michael!"
"I...will not-!"
A loud clatter of dishes rattling and the rickety table, being shoved a bit, clamored off the walls.
"I will NOT be judged in my own house...I work my ass off for you and all you can do is nag...nag, nag, nag...every godamn day...and I'm SICK of it" her father, Michael, spat harshly at his wife.
The small girl peeked around the corner, curiosity finally killing her. Her mother was pushed against the table, her father's hand upon her shoulder roughly. So rough his knuckles had gone white.
"Michael..." her mother choked out. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks in never-ending rivulets. The small girl wanted to run out and do something...anything. But she was scared...
This was her own father...her daddy...
He wasn't supposed to act like this... .·.
"Reina!!!" Spot finally yelled. He had her pinned against a wall.
Reina's eyes went wide for a moment and then focused on Spot's. His eyes burned with annoyance, but yet they softened only slightly. If you had blinked, you would've missed it. It was a softened look of concern. Then back to his regular look of fierce concentration.
"I'm sorry...I ...can't..." Reina said, averting her eyes to the floor, swallowing hard the memories that flooded her.
Spot eyed her. "Yous and dose memories are gettin' ta be a pain in da ass, Reina"
This comment got Reina's attention back to the current situation. It had actually taken her by surprise. If Spot was starting to read her head, then it really was time to leave the Brooklyn lodging house.
"You...how did you-"
"Yous toal me dat night. On me docks by da house..." he said, giving her a look like it was positively normal that he remembered such a detail. Spot didn't strike Reina as the sort to remember anything anyone told him that didn't relate to money, business or his own personal benefit.
"You remembered that?! ..." she asked, incredulously. Reina's expression was one of pure disbelief. That changed suddenly as her eyebrows fixed in a suspicious glare. One which cut Spot off before he could even answer. "And those aren't YOUR docks..."
"Ey!" he said, placing a hand on his cane, and lifting his head just slightly. It was in a proud manner. "Brooklyn's me turf. Da docks are on me turf. I's own da docks, da streets, da bridge, da river"
Reina rolled her eyes and took on a look of utter boredom. This was BS.
"Everytings mine" Spot said, finally looking to Reina with a proud, smug look on his face.
"Tell me Spot..." Reina began, immediately preparing her comeback with a nice, fake plastered smile upon her face. "Do you have access to large planks of wood?"
Spot's smug look immediately crinkled into one of confusion. "What are yous talkin' bout?"
"Uh huh...that's a firm 'no'. And um...do you own any tools...Spot?"
"No" Spot said, crossing his arms. He was vaguely interested in where she was going with this.
"Mmm..." Reina nodded, putting a hand to her chin in false contemplation. "Well, then, that means that you have neither the resources or tools to build a street, bridge OR the docks. Therefore, they are NOT yours"
Spot scowled and shook his head, disgusted. "Yous is almost as bad as Davey...da walkin' mouth"
Reina was about to shoot a comment back, in usual fashion, when Spot lashed out. His hands gripped her shoulders, shoving her hard against a wall. Reina glared, her instincts taking over and she punched a fist, sharply, into his side.
Spot gasped in pain and stumbled back, releasing his grip on her. A woman, perhaps a customer or another one of the bordello's victims, eyed them suspiciously, but kept walking.
"What...da..." Spot swallowed, straightening up. If only he didn't hit girls...Reina would've been a pancake on the side of the wall. He was beginning to consider making acceptions.
"Sorry!!" she apologized. "It was on accident...I thought you were- ...well..."
"Yous - ugghh.." Spot moaned, massaging his side. His fine hat had fallen down and lay at his feet. As he picked it up, he heard a faint snickering. He looked up slowly, a fierce glare in his eyes. Reina had one hand to her mouth and was on the verge of busting into full blown laughter at any moment.
Spot felt a surge of hate for that particular girl, at that particular moment. How dare she laugh at the leader of Brooklyn? A thought occurred to him, and Spot toyed with the idea of leaving Reina in the bordello.
Instead he began walking off, saying nothing.
"Spot...come on...I-I'm...s-shhrr" Reina said, until giving in to another round of giggles.
Spot felt his blood boil. He knew now that he should've let Kid handle this. He was insanely close to beating the next living thing to a bloody pulp with his cane, all because of this girl.
He didn't understand why she had this effect on him. The power to make him so angry, but she did.
"Let's just go, alright?" he muttered, and led her off to the exit. Silence ensued and Reina's giggles had subsided as Spot led her down into the basement through an old staircase.
The basement was very unappealing. Something about it made Spot shudder. There was a cold feeling. Like someone placing their cold lips on the back of his neck and giving him a kiss, that sent shivers down his spine.
The basement was empty. It was a ballroom for shadows and cobwebs. Worse yet, it was like one long, vast, cement hallway, with the occasional nook or cranny for storage. Crates to be exact. Spot didn't care WHAT was in the crates. All he cared about was the pale grayish light at the end of this morbid tunnel.
Another shiver gripped him. He placed his hand upon his cane, as if that would bring him comfort. "Nobody could pay me enough ta stay in dis place..." then as if upon rethinking that very thought. "Well...okay maybe...but it'd hafta be a lot!"
Spot smirked, his anger now fading away like mist on the river, early in the morning.
He turned his head in a casual manner, with a jokey smirk on his face. However he made sure to fix it with his famous, icy stare.
"Heya Reina...hows about-"
Spot abruptly wiped the smile from his face. His grin faded and became a look of surprise. People rarely had the gift to surprise him. However this person always seemed to manage.
"Thought you were so smart, didn't you?"
Spot glared and stood up straight, keeping his ground clear. "I'se is smart...yous is da fool for followin' me. I'd hate ta be yous in about two minutes" Spot seethed.
Edward Vanderbelt merely laughed and clutched Reina to him tightly, a hand holding her chin and nose, so to keep her mouth shut securely without risking her biting him. He acted like Reina was a dog, holding her in a way an owner would hold a dog to keep it from barking.
Reina struggled and screamed, or at least tried to. It wasn't even that, it sounded more like a furious yell that was muffled only by the force of Vanderbelt holding her mouth shut.
"Indeed. I do find youngster's ... words...delightfully entertaining. Please...humor me with some more"
Spot gritted his teeth and pulled out his cane, slowly. His knuckles were gripped white against the slick, black pole of the cane. Some of his dirty blonde hair fell upon his face. The anger welled up inside Spot. Like a huge fireball, gaining more and more power with each of Vanderbelt's words. Soon it would explode. Very soon.
Reina stopped struggling, as if sensing the anger and power vibrating from Spot. Vanderbelt however did not, and Reina could only glance upwards at him as he laughed straight in Spot's face. "You think you have it all figured out, don't you boy?"
Suddenly, like ghosts from the shadows, more boys appeared. They didn't appear armed. In fact they looked more like...newsies. One didn't look much older than Spot himself. In fact, he could've even been younger. Spot's gaze darted to all of them, considering each of his opponents. They all LOOKED like newsies...except that they looked pissed.
They also looked darker and bloodthirsty.
"Yous got more cronies now, Vanderbelt?"
Vanderbelt smiled in a snake like way, a hint of giddy power tinting his voice. "Yes...they do tend to come in handy...given the correct motivation of course. I believe that from what my...er..."informant" tells me, well..." he laughed then stopped quite suddenly, baring his stare into Spot "Well...they're much like you"
That had been the last straw. Spot yelled out and aimed to strike Vanderbelt with his cane. One of the boys cut in front of him and took the hit. Spot didn't care. His anger had blinded him beyond belief. His only focus was reaching Vanderbelt. He felt almost superhuman and hardly realized that he had already beat three of the boys down. There was about five remaining. The rest were big. They had more muscle mass than Spot and towered over him. However Spot had the power of fury on his side.
"Quite amusing boy...I almost feel as though I know you...you and that damn cane..." Vanderbelt mused. Reina began to struggle furiously. "Yes...let's make it more interesting! What if you were to lose the cane?"
As if on cue, three boys moved in at Spot. Spot ran at one, harshly pummeling him to the ground, cane out in front of him. The boy was damn lucky he hadn't been speared.
The other two moved to tackle him but luckily Spot swished his cane out in time to trip one. It had been a mistake. Three boys remained and the one who had fallen, stumbled to get up. Spot dove on him and began beating him with his fists, dropping the cane in his haze of anger.
Reina's eyes widened and she threw her head from side to side, until she broke free of Vanderbelt's clasp on her mouth. "SPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed desperately.
It was too late. One of the boys had seized Spot's cane and brought it down onto Spot's back. Spot cried out, so loud that Reina could almost feel his pain.
It spread like a fire, eating away at his muscles. His back, the spot where the cane had hit, throbbed painfully hard. It didn't help that he took one more hit. Spot then found himself, pulled from the unconscious boy, and drug to his feet. The cane, his cane, was slammed brutally hard into his stomach. So hard that Spot thought he would throw up. One of the boys roughly grabbed his hair, getting a fistful to the root and yanked his head up. "How's it feel ta be beaten down, Conlon?"
Spot didn't have time to react as the boys shoved him forward and beat him once more with the cane. Spot fell and hit the hard cement floor of the basement with a hard thump.
Reina cried out. Her own anger had risen. Spot had tried to save her...he HAD saved her. She would be damned if she was letting him die here. Not by this slimeball. It was her fault for trusting Vanderbelt in the first place. She cried out once more, which was more of a roar and slammed an elbow into Vanderbelt's waist. It's was only as she did so, that her elbow brushed something hard before connected with the soft flesh of his stomach.
She wheeled around, out of his grasp and ripped the neatly tucked ends of his shirt up. It was as she had thought. Reina seized the gun that had been concealed within Vanderbelt's waist and aimed it at him directly. The boys and Vanderbelt froze. Time itself seemed to freeze. No one even dared to breath. Reina's eyes were wild with hate and panic.
"Don't...any...of you move an inch..." she breathed, panting and backing away. She didn't take her eyes off Vanderbelt, but stepped back so she could keep the remaining three boys and Vanderbelt within eyesight. Vanderbelt, straightened up, wincing. His neatly combed hair had become mussed and his snakelike green eyes fixed upon her with a momentary death glare. They softened back to the oily smooth, false liars that they were when he first met her.
"You don't want to do this Rei-"
The gun went off and cement chipped near Vanderbelt's feet. Reina kept her glare steely cold. "Next time I won't aim to miss..." she warned. The gun was clutched so dearly in her hands. It was as if she were a caged animal, who had discovered how to use their claws once more.
That had shut Vanderbelt up.
"Move away from him..." she spat. The boys didn't give a second thought and stepped back, behind their ring leader. Reina kept the gun aimed at Vanderbelt and moved towards Spot.
"What's goin' on 'ere?!"
Reina looked over, very fast to see Kid. He stood there, confused, but his defenses were clearly up. He looked ready to beat any one of the four bunch into a pulp if they moved. Reina guessed he had picked up on what was going on. She tossed him the gun and he caught it in between both hands. "Don't let them move..."
Kid nodded and licked his lips, looking to the group suspiciously. He clearly wasn't use to such a weapon.
Reina kneeled beside Spot. She slipped her hands under his arms and pulled him up with all her strength. Spot coughed hard and winced. "Lemme...go..." he whispered. Blood coated his fine lips. Reina kept her arms about him. "I'm going to help you..."
Spot began to argue again, but another cough interrupted him. Reina pulled him to his feet and his legs shook.
"Kid let's go"
Kid shook his head. "Yous two foist. I'll follow"
Reina nodded and the three began to leave, Kid slowly backing away. Vanderbelt's eyes flashed with hate and his mouth trembled. "Yous have a good day now Mr. Hoity Toity...don'tch yous go gettin' hit by a carriage...dough dat could only be an improvement for New Yawk"
"Don't you do this Reina!!!!" Vanderbelt bellowed, his face red with anger. Reina stopped, not turning back. Her face was emotionless, but she stopped to hear his pitiful threats.
Silence ensued for a moment.
"I'll break you, like I broke your father!!!" he hissed. "Leave now and your friends will go with you. I'm not a man to piss off..." he threatened, his voice calming down to an eerie sort of "you-know-I'm-right" tone. "Leave here today and I will get you back...mark my words. I'll have fun going through your little friends first" he said with a hideous serpent's smirk.
Reina turned just slightly, still supporting an injured Spot Conlon. Her eyes met Vanderbelt's from afar. There was an intense silence between them for only a moment before Reina opened her mouth and said loud and clear "Get bent Vanderbelt"