Chapter 3:
Rainy England and the Lost Jackal
The dark haired girl slipped in the rain and fell, shivering to the ground. She hissed at scraping her knee through the old worn jeans. Her skinny frame was well seen compared to the huge blue t-shirt that would have swallowed her whole. Knowing he could be on her trail, she forced herself up and stumbled down the alleyway and behind the large green trash dumpster. Wet garbage littered the asphalt. She dropped her wet backpack and adjusted it. The slight creak of the side door of the building made her freeze. Hesitantly, she turned her head and blinked in the dark sparkling rain. Lightning crashed and lit up the alleyway. A blonde man stepped out, shielded from the rain by an umbrella. The girl's green eyes widened upon seeing him.
"Oh, bloody 'ell. Mira's gonna off my 'ead if I don't get home quickly." He snarled out to the rain. The blonde shifted his blue eyes and they landed on the girl sitting in the trash. "Who are you…. Er… Young lady?" The girl froze like a deer in spotlights.
"My gods…" She whispered, her voice barely audible. 'Steve Fox' Her thoughts kept running in circles.
"You…." He paused. Noticing the scar near her left eye, he continued, "What's your name?" Seconds of silence slipped by before the girl suddenly broke out into a run, grabbing her backpack and slinging it onto her shoulders. The boxer's blue eyes widened, but he took off after her in the rain. She was quick, he knew that from the start; however, it didn't take him long to catch her as she slipped in the mud. "'Ey! I won'' hurt you. You'll get sick out 'ere. Come on, my wife'll help you. Her medicine is good for this kinda stuff." The girl became more frantic and slipped away from his grip like a wet dog. Somehow his voice was soothing but the way his hand grasped her arm made her afraid. Afraid of what happened that day…. She shook her head to rid of that thought and gave a suspicious look to Steve. "Hey, I won'' hurt you. I'm tryin' to help you. Where are you parents?"
"Dead." To hear her soft sweet voice say such an ugly word was almost unbearable.
"Oh, so you can talk, but what's you name? You still didn't tell me." He bent down to her eye level and let her other arm go. He put his hand on her hair, "Let's take care o' you, clean you up, teach you how to whap up the person who did that to you" He pointed at the scar, "Really up." He smiled softly; trying to make a light joke, hoping the girl wouldn't run away again. "Oh, You might wanna think fast, or my wife will scream. I promised I'd come home earlier, and it's getting later and later." He looked at the girl's bright green eyes. "…. That was a joke…. Well?" The girl hesitated and shivered but nodded and followed him home.