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Bad Masters
Chapter 4
He didn't even realise he'd left a couple of thugs standing idol up the stairs. Wes was only concerned for one thing: His Eve. She was so small, helpless, frightened… in the hands of thieves. He stood outside the block. The wind blew his white t-shirt, causing it to ripple from time to time. But he couldn't feel the cold. He just felt the sting of guilt, stabbing at his heart.
She was nowhere to be seen. Even if she were near by he couldn't see her locked in a room or stuffed in a backpack.
"Hey, kid!" A voice could be faintly heard behind the howling of the wind. Wes's eyes squinted from the breeze, not even noticing the anger in the man's voice.
Something thumped hard on Wes's back. He stumbled slightly, but it barely caught his attention. He blinked and looked around. One of the thugs overshadowed Wes, who had barely any time at all to react before feeling the full force of a fist smacking into his cheek.
"Where's our fucking pokemon you little shit!" The other thug strolled behind Wes. But Wes didn't move. He couldn't feel the left side of his face. He reckoned it wasn't much better than the agony to come after the tingling subsided. He tried to concentrate on the pain, wishing he could blot out the situation that way.
A couple of hard-ass thieves… stupid, but tough, were about to rip Wes limb from limb. His eevee could be in danger because of him. His apartment had just been trashed. He just wished he could go invisible… or turn back time even. Turn back to when he got the eevee from Rich…
…Richard.
"Shit." Wes mumbled. His eyes darted about into thin air, as if the past couple of day's events were flashing in front of him. "It was Richard."
"Who the fuck is Richard!" The short bony guy from the cell exclaimed.
"He has Eve. Fuck!" Wes hid his face with his hands. "Jesus shit…" Wes looked around. Realising who had Eve, he knew exactly where to go to find her again.
"Richard?" The bigger-built guy who had punched Wes earlier stood closer to him. He tilted his head like he would do to a small child in order to meet Wes's height. Wes looked up, eyes like saucers from both excitement and fatigue. The guy smiled warmly and crossed his arms, "Who is Richard?"
Wes stared at him, shaking, then glanced over to the smaller guy, then back at the tall black guy. Wes gulped. His mouth was dry, but he told him, "He doesn't live far from here." He spoke also to the bony guy, "He stole the eevee."
The two men looked at each other. The bony guy frowned, putting on an unsure mouth. Wes noticed their disbelief, "I'm sure of it! I know he would doit!" The taller manlooked at the ground then back at Wes. "Show us."
The sun glared down, illuminating the concrete. It was blinding, in such conditions shadows seemed near black. Wes trudged in lead, no longer subject to a gunshot wound, but still at risk if he were to try and run. He didn't want a kick in, either. The place was still empty enough to get away with murder.
Wes exhaled deeply. As he walked he noticed the cracks in the concrete, widening by day because of the heat, giving off a bitter smell of hot tarmac. Apart from a couple of junkies conversing on the sidewalk and some wild plants invading here and there, the area was devoid of life.
Except from the very man he was looking for.
Wes scowled in the glare of the sun, trying to make completely sure it was Richard. That Bruiser guy was with him, too. Wes and Richard locked glances. Richard appeared to talk to Bruiser, who stayed put as Richard approached. He was wearing his curly hair out abandoning his cap, instead sporting a pair of red-tinted shades. He smiled as he neared Wes.
"Hey Wes." He said quietly, smugly, hands on his waist.
Wes's heart began to race. Fury towards his supposed friend could only be expressed one way, as he grit his teeth and tried to hold back his emotion. It was apparent he couldn't as his breathing became heavy and his face screwed up from the building pressure. He couldn't take it.
He lashed out with his fist, slamming it square in the middle of Richard's face. On the ground, Richard couldn't fend off the onslaught of fists to his face and gut, just as he couldn't find a moment to cough off the short-windedness from more punches. Amongst the scuffle Wes's cussing could only barely be heard. Wes was literally dragged by the bony thug across the ground and dragged to his feet only to have a go at him.
Richard was pinned up against a lamp post, held by his shirt collar. Fresh, dark blood gushed down his nose and past his mouth as he tried to spit it out. His expensive shades were no more, or at least no more than mangled metal and glass shards on the ground. His nose was out of shape, puffy and bruised.
"Someone tells me you have an eevee." The big guy strained over the yelling between Wes, the small guy and Bruiser who had decided to intervene.
Richard gasped as his sides hurt. He sprayed blood as he spoke, "That's my eevee. Whaddya want with it!" He growled.
The black man banged Richard's back into the post, causing him to yelp and squirm. A tear fell down from his bruised eye. He whimpered what sounded like sobs. "Listen to me." Richard fell silent but he still scowled from the pain. "If…" The big guy tried to get his attention by looking at him directly. "… if you tell me where that eevee is, you won't get any more fucked up a face than you already got. Right?"
Richard panted as waves of pain in his chest caused him to collapse in a heap, blood splattering on the concrete staining it a dark brown. The big guy looked over to where Wes, Bruiser and the other thug were squabbling loudly, but not coming to much physical contact. Wes's voice was beginning to sound hoarse. The day's events were taking their toll.
"He… here…." Richard held out a shiny red and white ball. The big thug snatched it from him and looked about.
"Lloyd, lets get outta here!" He yelled.
A blinding light. Such a Flash had everyone taken by surprise, and once it ended, a purple haze had slightly blocked everyone's vision. The big guy yelled as he covered his eyes. In the disabling moment, Wes took the opportunity to grab the ball clean from his carelessly outstretched arm.
"Damn, Zack, he got the pokemon!" Lloyd bolted past.
His chase didn't last long. There was another, less blinding flash. In an instant, Lloyd dropped to the ground, smoke blasted from an impact point on his back. Sparks flew from his body which started to spasm. Wes turned around to witness the horror of the man, eyes wide open, twitching and smoking, in moments completely cold dead.
"Birro, birro!" An animal noise chattered angrily, something similar to a squirrel.
Everybody stared not at the dead man, but at the source of the sound. Bruiser stood and smiled behind the smoke, arms folded over. His big jaw grinned as his eyes (lacking in eyebrows) stayed their usual threateningly grumpy. His pokemon stood at his foot on all fours, jagged lightening bolt tail raised in battle stance.
"He, he, he, he…." He chuckled deeply. "Anyone dare move? My pikachu shall send a thundershock up yer ass…"
Everybody was completely silent. Wes's heart raced, but he remained silent. His life was more important than his temper right now. There wasn't any movement from anyone as they waited expectantly.
Bruiser closed his mouth but kept his grin. "Good. Now, Wes." Wes stared back, fearing for his life. He feared he would send that pikachu onto him. "Hand over the eevee….. Slowly."
The second worst thing he could have said. All the things he had done for this eevee were coming back to him. Everything about her he had defended and tried to keep safe from harm, and how they bonded almost immediately. It had only been two days, but it had been eventful. There was just too much to loose. Losing Eve meant losing the first true friend Wes ever had.
"No."
Everybody stared at Wes. They all had that look on their faces edging him to hand over the pokemon. They were all at ransom. He knew none of them cared for him.
"I won't hand her over."
Bruiser growled and clenched his mugsome fists. Veins popped out from the backs of his hands.
"But I'll challenge you."
