There is a bit of violence in this chapter, but it shouldn't be too bad. Tootles!
~~~~~CT~~~~~
Fiona walked barefooted down the beach of the ocean she loved so much, but this time she didn't even see two feet in front of her face. Most of her thoughts were turned to her dilemma and not to the outside world.
All of a sudden, a terrible rage over everything enveloped her, and she broke out into a full run, a mad, blind run. She ran away as fast as she could from everything, or she ran as fast as she could to something; she couldn't tell. Her anger quickly belonged to the sand and seashells. A mile or two later, she collapsed into a lump of breathless exhaustion, fear, and hopelessness.
Her whole body convulsed as she began to sob. She sobbed out a mixture of hiccups, epitaphs, curses, and anything she could thing of for well over an hour.
All of this took its toll on her body, and she sank into a thankfully sleeping unconsciousness.
(flashback)
"John! P-please, d-don't," she begged, her voice a frightened whisper.
"Sweetheart, you're mine, and I can do anything I want to you," John Logan said with an evil laugh. He began to undo his pants when the door opened to the small shack where they were. "What the—"
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" a very angry Michelle demanded of John.
John strode over to Michelle and backhanded her. She flew to the ground. Fiona could see from her perspective that as Michelle fell, her outer shirt flipped open just enough for Fiona to see the gun tucked into Michelle's pants. Michelle tried to wink through her pain to Fiona to say, I've got your back. Fiona understood this and silent nodded.
John walked back over to a prone Fiona. "Now, where was I?" he muttered to himself. Fiona lifted her legs up and swiftly kicked John in his male genitalia. He fell to the floor with a thud. Michelle stood up over John, gun in hand and pulled the trigger. Her hands didn't shake as a single bullet penetrated John's skull.
(end flashback)
She woke up with a start, her heart dancing in her ribcage. The dream-no, flashback-tore her from her temporary respite.
She was hit with sudden fatigue. She so badly wanted to get up, to go home, but her legs wouldn't comply with the request. She struggled futilely with trying to get the energy to get up for a few minutes, but she sank back in the sand.
Fiona scoped out her surroundings and thought this bit of shore was familiar. She racked her brain to figure out why. Then it hit her.
---After her biological parents were killed when she was 11, she was place in a foster home and was pegged as a trouble child. Because of this, she was place in PAL, Police Activities League, and met Steve Sloan for the first time.
He stood in front of the two new additions to PAL. "Hello Fiona and Pam. I'm Det. Sloan, and I'm your sponsor...."
Fiona's attention to Steve faded away with each word, so she looked around the Never Say Die gym. The boxing ring was the first thing to catch her attention, and she eyed it until Steve finished his speech.
"So, uh, when do we get to fight and stuff?" she asked.
"You get to fight when you learn how to punch and block correctly."
"I know how to punch and block, and I most certainly can keep from getting punched," she said, meeting Steve's eyes with a defiant stare. He knew she would be a tough nut to crack, but the fighting spirit in her could be harnessed so it could be cracked easier.---
Fiona smiled faintly as she remembered the detective. It had been almost two years since she had seen him last. The last time she was at the Never Say Die gym, she was seen to be a well-adjusted, normal teenager. She remembered seeing the pride shining in Steve's eyes as she said good-bye to him. The last words he said to her rang in her ears. "If you ever get in trouble, or you just need to talk, call me up anytime."
That bit of memory gave her the energy to stand up. She gasped in pain as she looked down at her feet. She didn't remember the shells cutting into her feet, but now, that she wasn't overwhelmed by her emotions, the lacerations on the bottom of her feet stung with every step she took. She gritted her teeth as she walked around the front and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, Steve answered it, took one look at her, and said, "Fiona?"
She nodded tearfully as she sank into his arms, sobbing again.
~~~~~CT~~~~~
