Disclaimer: The Cobras, Castle Rock, etc. belong to Stephen King and Columbia Tristar. Katherine, her parents, Maggie, Sarah, and Jennifer belong to me.
Chapter 7
During the drive I had a little bit of time to think, to try to kinda sort out everything that had happened. It all seemed like coincidental or something, you know? Like whatever had happened, it was all supposed to be this way. Me and Ace, my friends and the Cobras, my parents, this fight. It figured somehow. A small smile appeared on my face, because I think for the first time in my whole damn life I felt free. Kat Reyes was on the up-and-up.
---------------------------------
When I got to Erring Point I saw a small crowd just kinda milling around, waiting for something to happen. I spotted Jack and Fuzzy hanging out by the Cobras' shack and I quickly made my way over to them. "Guys, what's goin on?" I asked.
Jack saw me first. "Kat, we been waitin for ya ta get here. Ace's been pacin somethin crazy in there," he said, nodding his head towards the shack.
"Okay, well I'm here now. Where's Tommy and his goons?" I asked.
"Who the fuck knows. They could be here any fuckin second. Ace is of the opinion that they chickened out, though," said Fuzzy.
"Well I'm gonna be goin to talk to Ace now. Just holler if anything starts happenin," I said and made a hasty retreat into the house. Those two are dumb as posts, and talking to them is about as fascinating as watching paint dry.
When I walked into the rundown house I didn't see Ace at first. "Ace?" I called.
"Kitty-Kat, you're here!" Ace exclaimed, and he looked happier than I'd ever seen him before.
"Of course I'm here, Ace. Where else would I be?" I asked as he pulled me into his arms for a tight hug.
"I dunno. Maybe somethin happened with your folks and you couldn't go nowhere."
I pulled away from him and smiled. I think it probably was a sad smile. "Something did happen with them, but that would never stop me from being with you at this really important time."
"I'm sorry Kat. But I'm glad you're here," Ace said and lowered his head to kiss me.
It started as a sweet and gentle kiss, but quickly spiraled into something so fully passionate and ravenous that I'm not even sure now that I could've stopped it if I tried. Whatever the case, Ace's hands were all over my body like they'd never been before and I pulled his shirt up over his head before I even realized what I was doing. It was so crazy and unreal, but somehow I knew that it was right. Some part of me felt deep inside like this would be our only chance, and I sure didn't want to lose it forever. Ace cupped my face with his hands and looked deep into my eyes. I guess he was trying to see if I wanted to do it. I smiled at him and pulled him toward the back bedroom. He did the rest.
---------------------------------
"Ace! Ace! They's here, they's here!" came a voice just outside.
I lifted my head off Ace's bare chest and sighed dramatically. "I guess Tommy-boy didn't chicken out, huh?"
Ace looked down at me and kissed my forehead. "Guess not Kitty-Kat. I don't really wanna move from this spot, but I guess we'se have to."
I nodded and sat up, grabbing my t-shirt and pulling it over my head. "Hey, Ace?" I asked.
He looked at me at he pulled his pants on. "What?"
"I'm glad I know ya."
He smiled and once I was done dressing he pulled me into his arms and kissed me again. "I'm glad I know ya too, babe."
"We're gonna be fine, huh?"
Ace shrugged as he slipped his knife into the back of his pants. "Don't see why not. We've got the fuckin Cobras on our side, and I got you."
"You certainly do, Merrill," I said with a smile and we walked out of the shack hand in hand.
The crowd was already gathering on a small grassy patch that was the only clear part of Erring Point. Tommy and his stupid-ass goons were hanging around, trying to look all tough and macho and all. Truth was, they looked as scared as the little wussies they were. The Cobras, Sarah, Maggie, and Jen fell in behind Ace and I as we headed to meet the other group. The butterflies seemed like they started to bang into each other in my stomach at that point and I was afraid I would heave right there in front of everybody. Some tough chick I would've been then! "So, *Tommy*, ready to get this shit started?" Ace asked with a smirk.
"Ace, I was *born* ready," Tom said.
"Oooh, we'se shakin in our boots!" Eyeball yelled from where he was standing next to Ace.
"Is this supposed to be some kind of ambush, Merrill? I could have sworn it would be just you and me," Tom said to Ace, uncertainty clear in his eyes.
"Oh, don't worry kid. This fight's between you and me. The boys're here just to make sure you don't do anythin spineless…as ya usually do," Ace answered, and the Cobras snickered behind him.
"You motherfucker…" Tom snarled and launched himself at Ace.
The two of them hit the ground and the crowd gathered around them, jostling for a good view. I pushed myself to the front of the circle, and Eyeball and Vince made sure that nobody tried to push me away from the fight. Ace and Tom both landed some good punches, lifting up dust so that the whole scene was in a dim haze. Ace gained the upper hand at that point, straddling Tom and landing punch after punch onto his ugly mug, which was growing uglier by the second. Suddenly one of Tom's friends jumped out of the crowd and grabbed the back of Ace's jacket, tugging it hard so that he landed flat on his back.
"You dirty rotten cheater!" I shouted and the Cobras jumped into the fight, which was now quickly degenerating into an all out brawl.
I didn't see Ace for a second and I panicked, looking around for him wildly. Finally I spotted him, still tussling with Tom, but even fiercer than before. Tom had blood trickling out of his nose and out of his split bottom and his right eye was swelling up, and Ace has a cut on his right cheek and there was a huge bruise forming under his left cheek. "Ace!" I yelled.
"Kit-Kat, wait one minute," he said and punched Tom solidly in the jaw, laying him out on the ground.
He made his way to me through the brawling crowd and hugged me. "Aw, Kat, I'm so glad to know ya safe."
"Me too, Ace. I mean, I'm glad ya safe," I said.
He smiled at me and we kissed for a brief second before we were interrupted by someone screaming Ace's name. It was Tommy. He was staggering toward us with a blind rage in his eyes, Ace's knife glittering in his hand. "Hey, Ace, I think you fucking forgot something." he said and stumbled toward us.
I'm not sure what happened next. The flashes of those memories sometimes come to me when I'm not even thinking about them. When I see a crescent moon, like the one that was out that night, in the sky, or when I see and old Ford rumbling down the street. Usually it's just bits and pieces. I think other people remember this part better than I do, so I'll let them have at it right now.
-----------------------
Sarah
-----------------------
Oh, god, it was so awful. One minute things looked like they were calming down, that it was all over. Rich, Vince, and I were standing together by the edge of the Point, trying to decide how the hell we were going to get out of there before the cops showed up. Then there was this horrible screaming. I'd never seen Tom get so crazy like that. Usually he was a pretty upstanding guy, even if that was all surface flash. But then…then he looked like he was about to blow his top. He was stumbling-running towards Ace and Kat, and somehow he'd gotten Ace's favorite knife. It must've fallen while they were fighting. Ace and Kat turned to look at him, complete shock on their faces. I could hear the cop's sirens begin to wail in the distance, and for once I was praying that they would get there faster. I gripped Rich's arm, unsure of what to do. I wish I could've acted, done something. But it all happened so fast. One minute Ace was standing in front of Kat, the next they somehow got turned around. The blade…oh, god…the blade sunk into Kat's shoulder, maybe just a little bit above her heart.
---------------------
Eyeball
---------------------
I didn't know what tha fuck ta do. Kat's fallin ta the groun' an' bleedin all over the fuckin place. Sarah's runnin towards her, screamin her name like it was the holy word itself. Ace wasn't even payin attention to Tommy or his goons, who're runnin off like the fuckin cowards they were. The rest of the Cobras looked too scared to move, and Mags and Jen're just sobbin and huggin each other real tight. Then I heard the sirens. Fuckin cops. "We gotta move!" I said to Ace, but he wouldn't budge an inch.
I got to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, but he threw me off and knelt on the ground by Kat. "Ace, it's the fuckin cops!" I yelled to him, but I don't think he cared at all.
Ace was my best friend, but there wasn't no way I was gonna go to the slammer for him. Me and the Cobras beat it away from that place. I tried to get the girls to come with us but they wouldn't fuckin budge. By then the wind had started to pick up and I wasn't stayin at that place no fuckin longer. I ain't never saw Ace or Kat afta that. I'se feel guilty about that every day of my life.
--------------------------
Ace
--------------------------
This was, for all intents and purposes, the end of my goddamn miserable little life. For some reason or another, Kat actually meant something to me. Okay, she fucking meant everything to me. I had it all planned out, dig? I was gonna graduate high school, just to make her happy. I wasn't gonna be no alcoholic loser like my fucking dad. I wasn't going to be crazy like my mother. We were gonna be happy. We were gonna be normal, and smart, and have a good family. The kind like neither of us had ever had. That all fucking went down the drain in less than a second. In less than a second it was all over.
The blade went into her shoulder and she just fell to the ground. Tom and his boys fled the scene like the scared little pansies I always took 'em for. But the best, oh the fucking best was seeing *my* boys flee not ten seconds after that. Kat's girls looked like they were rooted to the ground with the exception of Sarah. She was on the ground on the other side of Kat.
I just couldn't believe this was all happening. "Ace?" Kat whispered.
"Kitty-Kat, I ain't leavin. I'm right here," I said to her.
"I can hear sirens. Ace, you'd bettah get outta here."
"Uh-uh, no way babe. There ain't no way I'm leavin ya like this."
She closed her eyes briefly and it scared me like nothing else. Then her eyes opened again. I looked over at Sarah and her eyes were filled with tears as she gently held and stroked one of Kat's hands. I took Kat's other hand and kissed it gently. "Ace, I won't get in trouble. You can leave," Sarah said gently.
"There ain't no way, Sarah," I said again firmly. This was all my fault, and for once I was gonna take responsibility for my stupid actions.
She just looked at me, a new respect in her eyes. "Okay, Ace."
Then the cops were there. I pressed a kiss to Kat's pale lips, and she returned it softly. "God, but I love you Kat," I whispered.
"Ace…" she said and trailed off. Whatever she might have said to me then…I couldn't hear it.
"Okay, young man, I think you've done enough for one night," a cop said as he pulled me off the ground and wrenched my hand from hers. The last vision I have of her is of her pale and small body lying on the ground, blood staining her clothes and the ground.
Whether or not she lived or died that night, I dunno…all I know is that I never saw her again, and as she disappeared so did everything else.
Chapter 7
During the drive I had a little bit of time to think, to try to kinda sort out everything that had happened. It all seemed like coincidental or something, you know? Like whatever had happened, it was all supposed to be this way. Me and Ace, my friends and the Cobras, my parents, this fight. It figured somehow. A small smile appeared on my face, because I think for the first time in my whole damn life I felt free. Kat Reyes was on the up-and-up.
---------------------------------
When I got to Erring Point I saw a small crowd just kinda milling around, waiting for something to happen. I spotted Jack and Fuzzy hanging out by the Cobras' shack and I quickly made my way over to them. "Guys, what's goin on?" I asked.
Jack saw me first. "Kat, we been waitin for ya ta get here. Ace's been pacin somethin crazy in there," he said, nodding his head towards the shack.
"Okay, well I'm here now. Where's Tommy and his goons?" I asked.
"Who the fuck knows. They could be here any fuckin second. Ace is of the opinion that they chickened out, though," said Fuzzy.
"Well I'm gonna be goin to talk to Ace now. Just holler if anything starts happenin," I said and made a hasty retreat into the house. Those two are dumb as posts, and talking to them is about as fascinating as watching paint dry.
When I walked into the rundown house I didn't see Ace at first. "Ace?" I called.
"Kitty-Kat, you're here!" Ace exclaimed, and he looked happier than I'd ever seen him before.
"Of course I'm here, Ace. Where else would I be?" I asked as he pulled me into his arms for a tight hug.
"I dunno. Maybe somethin happened with your folks and you couldn't go nowhere."
I pulled away from him and smiled. I think it probably was a sad smile. "Something did happen with them, but that would never stop me from being with you at this really important time."
"I'm sorry Kat. But I'm glad you're here," Ace said and lowered his head to kiss me.
It started as a sweet and gentle kiss, but quickly spiraled into something so fully passionate and ravenous that I'm not even sure now that I could've stopped it if I tried. Whatever the case, Ace's hands were all over my body like they'd never been before and I pulled his shirt up over his head before I even realized what I was doing. It was so crazy and unreal, but somehow I knew that it was right. Some part of me felt deep inside like this would be our only chance, and I sure didn't want to lose it forever. Ace cupped my face with his hands and looked deep into my eyes. I guess he was trying to see if I wanted to do it. I smiled at him and pulled him toward the back bedroom. He did the rest.
---------------------------------
"Ace! Ace! They's here, they's here!" came a voice just outside.
I lifted my head off Ace's bare chest and sighed dramatically. "I guess Tommy-boy didn't chicken out, huh?"
Ace looked down at me and kissed my forehead. "Guess not Kitty-Kat. I don't really wanna move from this spot, but I guess we'se have to."
I nodded and sat up, grabbing my t-shirt and pulling it over my head. "Hey, Ace?" I asked.
He looked at me at he pulled his pants on. "What?"
"I'm glad I know ya."
He smiled and once I was done dressing he pulled me into his arms and kissed me again. "I'm glad I know ya too, babe."
"We're gonna be fine, huh?"
Ace shrugged as he slipped his knife into the back of his pants. "Don't see why not. We've got the fuckin Cobras on our side, and I got you."
"You certainly do, Merrill," I said with a smile and we walked out of the shack hand in hand.
The crowd was already gathering on a small grassy patch that was the only clear part of Erring Point. Tommy and his stupid-ass goons were hanging around, trying to look all tough and macho and all. Truth was, they looked as scared as the little wussies they were. The Cobras, Sarah, Maggie, and Jen fell in behind Ace and I as we headed to meet the other group. The butterflies seemed like they started to bang into each other in my stomach at that point and I was afraid I would heave right there in front of everybody. Some tough chick I would've been then! "So, *Tommy*, ready to get this shit started?" Ace asked with a smirk.
"Ace, I was *born* ready," Tom said.
"Oooh, we'se shakin in our boots!" Eyeball yelled from where he was standing next to Ace.
"Is this supposed to be some kind of ambush, Merrill? I could have sworn it would be just you and me," Tom said to Ace, uncertainty clear in his eyes.
"Oh, don't worry kid. This fight's between you and me. The boys're here just to make sure you don't do anythin spineless…as ya usually do," Ace answered, and the Cobras snickered behind him.
"You motherfucker…" Tom snarled and launched himself at Ace.
The two of them hit the ground and the crowd gathered around them, jostling for a good view. I pushed myself to the front of the circle, and Eyeball and Vince made sure that nobody tried to push me away from the fight. Ace and Tom both landed some good punches, lifting up dust so that the whole scene was in a dim haze. Ace gained the upper hand at that point, straddling Tom and landing punch after punch onto his ugly mug, which was growing uglier by the second. Suddenly one of Tom's friends jumped out of the crowd and grabbed the back of Ace's jacket, tugging it hard so that he landed flat on his back.
"You dirty rotten cheater!" I shouted and the Cobras jumped into the fight, which was now quickly degenerating into an all out brawl.
I didn't see Ace for a second and I panicked, looking around for him wildly. Finally I spotted him, still tussling with Tom, but even fiercer than before. Tom had blood trickling out of his nose and out of his split bottom and his right eye was swelling up, and Ace has a cut on his right cheek and there was a huge bruise forming under his left cheek. "Ace!" I yelled.
"Kit-Kat, wait one minute," he said and punched Tom solidly in the jaw, laying him out on the ground.
He made his way to me through the brawling crowd and hugged me. "Aw, Kat, I'm so glad to know ya safe."
"Me too, Ace. I mean, I'm glad ya safe," I said.
He smiled at me and we kissed for a brief second before we were interrupted by someone screaming Ace's name. It was Tommy. He was staggering toward us with a blind rage in his eyes, Ace's knife glittering in his hand. "Hey, Ace, I think you fucking forgot something." he said and stumbled toward us.
I'm not sure what happened next. The flashes of those memories sometimes come to me when I'm not even thinking about them. When I see a crescent moon, like the one that was out that night, in the sky, or when I see and old Ford rumbling down the street. Usually it's just bits and pieces. I think other people remember this part better than I do, so I'll let them have at it right now.
-----------------------
Sarah
-----------------------
Oh, god, it was so awful. One minute things looked like they were calming down, that it was all over. Rich, Vince, and I were standing together by the edge of the Point, trying to decide how the hell we were going to get out of there before the cops showed up. Then there was this horrible screaming. I'd never seen Tom get so crazy like that. Usually he was a pretty upstanding guy, even if that was all surface flash. But then…then he looked like he was about to blow his top. He was stumbling-running towards Ace and Kat, and somehow he'd gotten Ace's favorite knife. It must've fallen while they were fighting. Ace and Kat turned to look at him, complete shock on their faces. I could hear the cop's sirens begin to wail in the distance, and for once I was praying that they would get there faster. I gripped Rich's arm, unsure of what to do. I wish I could've acted, done something. But it all happened so fast. One minute Ace was standing in front of Kat, the next they somehow got turned around. The blade…oh, god…the blade sunk into Kat's shoulder, maybe just a little bit above her heart.
---------------------
Eyeball
---------------------
I didn't know what tha fuck ta do. Kat's fallin ta the groun' an' bleedin all over the fuckin place. Sarah's runnin towards her, screamin her name like it was the holy word itself. Ace wasn't even payin attention to Tommy or his goons, who're runnin off like the fuckin cowards they were. The rest of the Cobras looked too scared to move, and Mags and Jen're just sobbin and huggin each other real tight. Then I heard the sirens. Fuckin cops. "We gotta move!" I said to Ace, but he wouldn't budge an inch.
I got to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, but he threw me off and knelt on the ground by Kat. "Ace, it's the fuckin cops!" I yelled to him, but I don't think he cared at all.
Ace was my best friend, but there wasn't no way I was gonna go to the slammer for him. Me and the Cobras beat it away from that place. I tried to get the girls to come with us but they wouldn't fuckin budge. By then the wind had started to pick up and I wasn't stayin at that place no fuckin longer. I ain't never saw Ace or Kat afta that. I'se feel guilty about that every day of my life.
--------------------------
Ace
--------------------------
This was, for all intents and purposes, the end of my goddamn miserable little life. For some reason or another, Kat actually meant something to me. Okay, she fucking meant everything to me. I had it all planned out, dig? I was gonna graduate high school, just to make her happy. I wasn't gonna be no alcoholic loser like my fucking dad. I wasn't going to be crazy like my mother. We were gonna be happy. We were gonna be normal, and smart, and have a good family. The kind like neither of us had ever had. That all fucking went down the drain in less than a second. In less than a second it was all over.
The blade went into her shoulder and she just fell to the ground. Tom and his boys fled the scene like the scared little pansies I always took 'em for. But the best, oh the fucking best was seeing *my* boys flee not ten seconds after that. Kat's girls looked like they were rooted to the ground with the exception of Sarah. She was on the ground on the other side of Kat.
I just couldn't believe this was all happening. "Ace?" Kat whispered.
"Kitty-Kat, I ain't leavin. I'm right here," I said to her.
"I can hear sirens. Ace, you'd bettah get outta here."
"Uh-uh, no way babe. There ain't no way I'm leavin ya like this."
She closed her eyes briefly and it scared me like nothing else. Then her eyes opened again. I looked over at Sarah and her eyes were filled with tears as she gently held and stroked one of Kat's hands. I took Kat's other hand and kissed it gently. "Ace, I won't get in trouble. You can leave," Sarah said gently.
"There ain't no way, Sarah," I said again firmly. This was all my fault, and for once I was gonna take responsibility for my stupid actions.
She just looked at me, a new respect in her eyes. "Okay, Ace."
Then the cops were there. I pressed a kiss to Kat's pale lips, and she returned it softly. "God, but I love you Kat," I whispered.
"Ace…" she said and trailed off. Whatever she might have said to me then…I couldn't hear it.
"Okay, young man, I think you've done enough for one night," a cop said as he pulled me off the ground and wrenched my hand from hers. The last vision I have of her is of her pale and small body lying on the ground, blood staining her clothes and the ground.
Whether or not she lived or died that night, I dunno…all I know is that I never saw her again, and as she disappeared so did everything else.
