*Hello, my beautiful audience! Welcome, once again to Catch Me. Today the story will take place from Equius's point of view and we get to see what he did directly after leaving the hospital room! And guess what? There is an actual set up for a plot! So no more random, ctesy, side stories this chapter, only action. Have fun, and oh, this story was inspired from the song "Angel With a Shotgun" by the Cab; mostly the phrase, "throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe". WHICH I DO NOT OWN! AT ALL! IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM! Enjoy! :]*
Catch Me: Everything I Have
You walk down the halls, your heavily muscled frame exposed due to storing your torn, slightly bloodied jacket in your horse themed back-pack, leaving you clothed only with a muscle shirt, heading down the narrow halls of the hospital. Finally, you reach the men's bathroom and go over to the nearest sink, washing water over your face. You grab a towel from your backpack, and wipe your face. Looking into the mirror, you look rather worse for wear. Dark bags have formed under your eyes, contrasting greatly with your pale skin and vibrant, dark blue eyes. Your hair, however, remains as pin straight as usual, but now hangs messily over the sides of your face and shoulders. Sighing, you leave it, however undignified one could consider it, and exit the stoically white confines of the hospital, revealing a run-down part of town, laden with garbage of all sorts.
You begin to head towards the school, a long six-mile journey, carefully traversing cracked sidewalks and pot-hole filled streets. Looking around, you see all apartments or houses, most of which vacated, or so neglected they seem abandoned. A few streets away from the medical center, the streets become even more derelict. Glass and rotted wood, along with various unpleasant, unidentifiable substances, coat the path, causing you to jump back and forth from the sidewalk to the road.
As you traverse the rough terrain, your mind begins to wander; pondering the situation Nepeta put herself. She probably doesn't even realize how much trouble she is in, you think. Her parents, are poor, even more so than my father. How can they afford the hospital bill, especially with Nepeta's seven younger siblings? Sighing, you march on ahead, intent on figuring out this enigma.
However, after you pass a collapsed building, which fell halfway into the lane, a car cruises up next to you and the driver rolls down the illegally tinted windows. On the other side of the glass, a teen, about your age, smiles dopily, his face covered with grey and white face paint. Someone could have easily mistaken him as a strange adaptation of a clown, if not for his long, horribly messy hair and the three large scars which begin at his forehead and end at his chin. The interior of the car smells of smoke, possibly marijuana, and booze, causing your stomach to lurch in disgust. The teen, clearly unaffected by the odor, sticks out his hand, wanting to shake yours.
"Hey, motherfucker," the stranger says jovially, his voice hoarse, yet relaxed, "My name is Gamzee Makara, how you up and doing." In response to his question, you shrug slightly and shake his hand, somewhat cautiously due to the strange circumstances. "So, my motherfucking boss told me to get some muscle for a certain task we got to do. You seem like a real strong motherfucker, so what do you say? You in?"
You consider simply walking away at this point, but then quickly remember the financial situation your friend is in. "How much would you pay me for this… job?" you ask, your voice trailing off. Gamzee smiles devilishly and pulls out a large stack of hundred-dollar bills, counting each one out individually. He flips bill after bill, causing your head to swim; you have not seen this kind of money in a long time.
"Well, motherfucker, it seems the boss gave me thirteen hundred for this one, must be a real well-paying operation for this wad of cash to be handed out," he states matter-of-fact manner, smiling pleasantly, "You going to do it?" Although your gut screams out to not take part in this most likely illegal happening, you cannot help but think of Nepeta and her family. You have to do this, for her. You nod your head, sickened with having to stoop so low, but unable to do anything about it. The driver smirks and gestures for you to get in the car, which you begrudgingly do, frowning out of shame and frustration with the hopeless situation.
Once inside the vehicle, the suffocating smell of smoke and alcohol dominating your senses, your clown themed employer lays down what your assignment demands of you. He explains your job would entail waiting outside an unspecified building, where you would heave some sort of object into a vehicle, and then they would drop you off a few blocks away from where you reside. Concerned by the lack of information given, you frown, but refuse to question the teen. He clearly has the upper hand here, considering he holds the money which you need to help your friend, and questions could easily have you kicked out of the car. You simply cannot afford to risk that.
So, sitting in the chair silently, you wait until you notice the sun has not gone down yet. "Are we going to do this during the day?" you ask, perplexed by incompatibility of the obvious illegal nature of this activity and the time of day. "It can only be two in the afternoon right now."
"Well, despite the belief of most motherfuckers, most activities of this nature take place during the motherfucking day. Only a motherfucking idiot would try this at night when all those motherfuckers are asleep and every motherfucking noise can be heard." Although uneasy with the visibility of this task, you accept the answer and fall back into silence once again.
Looking out the heavily tinted window, you realize the road Gamzee currently drives on leads to dead-end, revealing a lightly forested trail. However, before you can even mention this fact, Gamzee drives right off the road, onto the path. Gripping on to the seat, the vehicle jumps up and down, throwing the two passengers around. Somehow, however, you eventually reach your destination; a small clearly in a heavily forested part of woods.
"Okay, motherfucker, we can get out now, looks like we are a little early," Gamzee states nonchalantly, motioning for you to get out and walking through the trees. Releasing a dejected sigh, you get out of the car and follow the other teen. The car, obviously rigged to extreme standards does not even beep as your delinquent companion locks it by pressing the button on the keys.
The two of you find your way through the vegetation, tripping along roots, and getting snagged on thorny plants. However, after a long journey the trees open up to a grassy, well-maintained clearing. Exhaling in relief, you exit the woods, revealing the building where the crime will take place. Looking ahead you see a familiar, extremely large brick building, adorned with blue and green banners, Madam Sylvia's Preparatory for the Arts.
Gasping in shock you stare at the building, every part of your mind screaming at you to end this now, before you get any deeper in this revolting undertaking. What these people want you to do goes against everything you believe in. Not only would this ruin your name, but your families, and even poor, injured Nepeta. Also, what if your actions inadvertently cause injury to one of you fellow student; you could never live with yourself if this happened. This whole entire operation now seems despicable to the very core.
Right as you take a step forward, planning on running into the school and forgetting any of this happened, you think back on Nepeta's care. Fixing two cuts on one's wrists, giving mass amounts of blood, and restarting someone's heart, plus the fees for staying at the hospital does not come cheap. You realize if you do not do this, the Leijon family, ten people, eight of which not even adult, will not have a chance. They already barely make ends meet; a fee such as this one would cause them to go into insurmountable debt.
Releasing a shaky breath you step away from the building and into the shadows of the forest, your clenched fists held tightly to your sides. I cannot do that to her, you reason to yourself, she's everything I have.