HOLLY TOLITO, 3 IN ONE WEEK?! I'M ON FIRE! UNFOURTUNATLLY, IT'S SUNDAY, SO I PROBABLY WON'T GET ANOTHER UP TILL THE WEEK END. HOPE YOU ENJOY! R AND R!
Ch.46: The Double-Edged Sword of Hand to Hand Combat
C.J's breath was quiet and steady as she slowly walked into the cabins dark living room. I gulped as the glass eyes of various hunting trophies reflected the light from her flashlight dully. Wolves barred their fangs, rabbits on the alert, bobcats hissing, and a moose with its massive antlers, all frozen forever.
The center of the room had a heavy looking coffee table lurking in the dark, surrounded by a few chairs. C.J stepped further in the room. Her pistol was cocked and ready with her flashlight over it, ready to shoot whoever came at her.
She stepped in further as her flashlight swept over the hard wood.
The door on the right wall busted open, a dark mass hurling itself at C.J with her back turned. She swung around and opened fire. The criminal dodged her somehow, ducking behind a chair, and lunged at C.J.
He knocked the gun and flashlight out of her hands, grabbed her by her shirt, and threw her into the table. C.J yelled out, crashing into the hard edges. Strong and well built, the table didn't collapse under her weight. Her hat landed near us.
C.J rolled off the table, dodging the man as he rushed her again. She scrambled out of the ay as he swung at her, scoring a hard blow on his shoulder. He yelped and jumped away from her. C.J spotted the beam of the flashlight and grabbed for it, accidentally nocking it farther away from her. It rolled and settled a little way from her.
I looked around in the dark, starting to panic despite myself. D***! It's so dark even I can't see where her gun went! I looked back to see C.J had a grip on the flashlight.
The man was reaching for her. White couldn't contain himself, "C.J, BEHIND YOU!"
C.J twisted to her back and struck the man hard with the metal flashlight. He cried out, but didn't retreat this time. He plunged forward, grabbed her small wrists, and pinned her to the ground.
He breathed hard, "Got you, you little b-!"
C.J cut him off with a cry of feral fury and, without a moment's hesitation, rammed her forehead into his with the force meant to shatter bullet proof glass. There was a sickening crunch and he shouted shortly, before going limp.
C.J threw him off of her, and got up into a crouch. I thought she was going to look for her gun, until I heard, "SON OF A B***!" C.J was cradling her forehead and hissing harshly.
"THOURN!" We turned to see the door get kicked open, Heartnet storming in. He paused for a moment, surveying the unconscious villain. He suddenly started chuckling and holstered his gun. "Aw, you finished the party without me?"
C.J looked up, her eyebrows harshly together. The light of Heartnet's flashlight on her face revealed crimson dribbling down her face to her chin from under her spattered bangs. "You're late."
His golden, somewhat reflective eyes widened, and then he grinned, "What, you finish it off with a freaking head-butt?" She glared, "Yes. It f****** hurts."
"Well, it kinda should." "F*** off, Bedhead." "You should go ahead back to the car, I'll take care of things here. …we should make sure you don't have a concussion."
C.J got up and wiped some of the blood off on her sleeve, the flow starting to slow down now. "Hell no. I'm sticking around to find the girl." She ran the light around until she found her gun and plopped her hat back on her head.
"What happened to the squealer?" "Cuffed him to a tree." "Nice."
C.J leaned down and unhooked a pair of cuffs, fastening them around the unconscious man's wrists. "That'll hold him."
C.J straightened and looked around, "He said she was under the rug…" Heartnet grinned, "May I do the honors?"
"Sure, knock yourself out." He walked over to the heavy coffee table, grabbed the lip, and flipped it clear across the room!
He kicked the rug away, revealing a trap door. C.J grabbed the handle and tossed the door open, revealing a set of stairs.
C.J charged down the stairs recklessly. Heartnet sighed and followed her, the two of us hot on their heels.
At the bottom of the stairs, we saw a little girl, curled up in a ball on a small bed. She looked up, tears freely flowing from her large blue eyes. C.J grinned and gently reached out to her, "Hey there Anne, I'm C.J!" The girl shrunk away, scared out of her mind. C.J widened her smile, "Don't worry, we're cops! The fuzz head is Train. We're going to take you home."
The girl stared and suddenly started sobbing hard, "I-I want m-mm-my mommy!" C.J came over and gently hugged the girl, "Don't worry, the scary parts over now. We're going to take you to your mommy. Ok?" the girl kept crying, but managed a nod.
C.J looked over at the newly named 'Train'. "Yo, call Glenn." Train had a phone in his hand and was dialing. "Already on it."
We watched C.J comfort the girl as Train started talking to this 'Glenn' guy. I felt a nudge at my side. I looked over to my counterpart and he nodded towards the door.
The trap door had changed from wood to a pale yellow with blue marks. White started up the stairs and pushed open the door, climbing out of it. I followed up and let the door fall shut next to my feet.
We now stood in a decent sized room, three twin sized beds lined against the walls. A messy desk was on one wall near a bed, and opposite to that was a closet. The wall we faced had a midsized window above the orange sheeted bed.
I turned around, seeing the door in.
White walked over to the orange bed, observing the worn out stuffed tiger on it. "Where are we now?" I tapped over and looked out the window, seeing children playing in the large courtyard. Halloween decorations fluttered from branches and playground equipment. I froze for a moment and gulped, "…I think we're in an orphanage, White."
On cue, an even younger C.J than the one we'd been seeing until now tossed the door open, chucking her bag over to the desk chair. She bounced up on her bed and sat cross legged.
I stared at her for a moment, not believing my eyes. This C.J still had short hair, and wore long black and white striped stockings.
What made both of our mouths drop was this C.J was wearing a freaking SKIRT. She was wearing what absolutely MUST have been the uniform for this place, because she was wearing what looked a lot like a sailor uniform! A red pleated skirt, a white short sleeved button up with a red necktie, and black Mary-Janes. An orange wrist band encircled her thin wrist.
I struggled to contain my laughter. She looked like a little DOLL in that! Adorable! She's so going to kill me when she finds out I saw that!
The be-skirted blonde pulled the small box she'd been carrying out from under her arm. She flipped the lid and pulled out…a cupcake? She licked her lips and set the pastry on the sheet, pulling out a pack of candles, a lighter, and a small carton of chocolate milk.
We watched, puzzled, as C.J stuck a candle in the cupcake and lit it. She held it up and paused, closing her eyes. She sighed, "Happy 14th to me." She puffed the candle out.
I stared in horror at the frightfully lonely scene. C.J picked up the carton of milk, fingered it open, and held it out in a toast, "Here's to another year of not getting buried." She chugged the small carton and chucked the empty cardboard into the nearby waste bin.
C.J picked up the cupcake, peeled away the paper, and started on it.
White stared at the girl for a moment before looking away and walking to the door. I followed, only to notice the deeply disturbed look on his face. I frowned, "What?" He tried to bury his face, "Nothing." "Like hell it's nothing. What the f*** is the matter with you?" He sighed and directed me back to young C.J, "It's just that…she must have been very lonely."
P.O.V: Peirce
I jumped away as the huge, somewhat mantis looking shadow swung it's massive claw at me. Boris hissed and opened fire, trying to distract it. A shimmer caught my eye.
I looked up to see the thing had the focal imbedded in its forehead. I pointed to Ace, "It's got the focal! What do we do?!"
Ace grinned and brandished his sword, "We take it from him of course."
ABOUT C.J'S PARTNER…I'M READING A MANGA CALLED BLACK CAT RIGHT NOW. AN EPIC ANIME, AND EVEN MORE EPIC MANGA! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW IT! ANYWAYS, I WAS TRYING TO COME UP WITH A NAME FOR HER PARTNER, SO I'M A LITTLE STUCK ON THIS MANGA AND THE MAIN CHARACTERS NAME POPPED UP IN MY HEAD.
ANYWAYS, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPPY AND PLEASE DROP A REVIEW! TTFN!