To stand by him
First off i want to thank , for reviewing, you're awesome and kept me motivated to update. You rock! :)
i updated warning this had quite a bit of violence and not much Anna and Chris but trust me it will be a good build up for the next chapter enjoy :)
disclaimer: i own nothing.
I wasn't sure what to do, this was not Chris it was the guy I had met back at the party and we didn't exactly get along well. He had been drinking before I got there and heaven knows how much he did after I left them at their table. He was stumbling, and I knew he hadn't seen me yet the alley was too dark and he was way too drunk. I couldn't leave the alley without passing by him, so I just started to slowly back away into the shadows of the alley. Sadly like my room the Alley had alcohol bottles in it, when I stepped back I kicked the bottle and it went skidding across the pavement knocking into the fence which caused the dogs to start up again.
The guy looked into the alley, I couldn't see his face anymore and I prayed I wasn't visible.
"What the hell is going on?" more voices called as I saw three more sillouettes enter the alley. Why the hell weren't they stopped by the cops.
I couldn't move I was scared if I did I would give myself away, but I was standing in the middle of the alley, maybe they would get annoyed with the barking dogs and move on-
"Who are you?" another guy yelled. Crap.
I didn't answer, just waited, maybe her only thought he saw me.
"I can see you, who are you?" he called again as they came down the alley towards me. Standing ten feet away I could smell the alcohol, whether it was because I lived with a drunk and knew the smell or they had drank that much didn't matter, they were drunk walking towards me and I was outnumbered.
"You guys see the cops go bye?" I asked them, hoping that the mention of the cops would scare them away.
"We saw them here. . . question is how did they not see you?' he asked stopping a few feet away, now I could tell some features, they were all tall and well built, even though they were rather skinny they still stared at me like I was an insect, and I felt like one.
The best way to get out of this situation before it actually became one was to play it cool.
So I stuffed my hands into my leather jacket pockets and shrugged.
"Idiots got scared by the dogs." I said nodding to the three strays still clawing at the fence a couple meters behind me. I was not going to mention I was hiding.
They all looked at the dogs quickly then looked back at me.
"You look familiar." the one I am suggesting was the leader said.
"I was at the party." I said as he leaned closer to look at me better I took a step back.
"Oh yeah you were looking for Chris." another spat. Right now I didn't blame him for spitting the name, I felt like doing it myself, where was he?
"Really?" another, clearly the most drunken one, asked stumbling closer and I took another step back.
"Yeah, don't worry I won't be looking for him for a long time. Since the cops are gone I think I'll get going." I said trying to get around them but the leader stepped in front of me.
"No, I know you from somewhere else."
"I was at the-" I started but he cut me off.
"I wasn't ate the party!" he snapped getting annoyed with me. He studied my face for a few more seconds.
"Look can I leave or not?" I said trying to hold my discomfort from creeping into my voice. Cause with his close proximity he looked familiar too and I had only spent time gambling in the short time I've been here.
He backed away from me then, a smile spreading across his face.
"Anna Winston." he stated, "you're Anna Winston, the little bitch that cheated me out of my money." as he spoke his voice dripped with more and more venom, his smile turning sinister.
"Cheated?" I asked taking one more step back from them. "I play fair games. . ."
"Don't give me that bullshit, no one can get four of a kind eight times in a row." he snarled.
"Told you not to let me deal."i whispered trying to keep my voice steady letting a nervous laugh escape as he advanced on me.
"I want my money back"
"I don't have it with me." The guy stopped moving and stared at me.
"Wait this is her?" the drunk asked seeming to only now register what was happening.
I ignored him and so did the rest of the guys.
"Look I don't have your money whats the point in keeping me here?"
"Ace doesn't get played." a boy said from behind him. Ace. . . oh shit.
Ace Merrill was the first person I heard to stay away from, then came the Chambers, and I think It was eyeball that was standing behind him. I remember when Ace challenged me to a hand of poker. It was my first day here and I couldn't resist the temptation to gamble when I saw the other poker tables, Ace came to me thinking it would be an easy hand. One hand turned into eight and he left to Pub broke, and spitting threats at me, then I learned who I had just beaten.
"Oh shit." I whispered. Before I could move I was being held tightly by two other boys as Ace stood in front of me. "Okay, look I'll give you your money back if you let me go."
"You really think I'm that stupid?" he growled at me, his face only an inch away from me.
"You know with your hair down you're kind of cute." The boy to my left whispered into my hair. I craned my neck to get away from him.
"Get the hell away from me." I yelled trying to pull free of them, but they had vice grips their fingers digging into my arms, leaving marks that I knew would bruise.
"Ace, I'm sorry I beat you but-"
"Oh no you're not sorry yet." he threatened, my eyes widened as he drew back his fist and hit me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain, the wind knocked out of me, I wanted nothing more then to crumple to the ground but their hands kept me upright as another punch came to my gut. I yelled out as another came I felt like my pelvis was being crushed. A fist grabbed my hair and wrenched my head back to look at Ace from the corner of my eyes since my head was pulled back to far.
"What the hell is your problem?" I demanded. "I won, get over it!" this resulted in hard tug on my hair, I hissed in pain.
"I don't lose anything, I may haven't have won the poker game, but I always win in the end." I glared as held my chin with him thumb and pointer finger squeezing hard so my lips scrunched together.
"You're right, she is kind of cute." roughly I Ace released my face, but he came back with a fist. "Let her go." he said, they released me and I tried to gain my balance holding my arms out to make sure I didn't fall to the ground. When I stood straight I was knocked down by another fist, this time I think it was his right hand, because I didn't feel the tearing of skin the first time. I fell to the ground in a heap, then I blinked it stung, something coated my eyelashes, it was sticky and oddly warm. I felt it running down my face and into my mouth. I met the rusty taste of blood.
Ace was wearing a couple rings, I touched my eye where I had been hit and running from my brow bone and to my cheek bone was a strongly bleeding gash.
I turned my head quickly to shoot an insult at him but was met with his fist again, busting open my lip, causing a stinging pain to run through my body.
I wasn't given any time to adjust this time, I was kicked in the ribs, once, twice, three times.
"Bastard!" I managed through gritted teeth spitting out the blood that tasted bitter and sickening in my mouth. I rolled over on my stomach and a kick was delievered to my back, shooting pain ran through my spine and I screamed at the pain. "Oh you son of a bitch!" I screamed.
"I don't think she's learned her lesson boys." Ace said.
I didn't register what happened in the next four minutes, I knew I was being tossed around like a rag doll, pain shot through multiple places in my body, my head, my ribs, my legs, and my back. There was laughing. . .but not mine, and screams.. . Those were mine.
Despite the pain of a beating I didn't scream out for help, no I knew not to do that, it only caused more problems. Sure I wasn't being the best victim by swearing at them, but it was build up words I wished I could call my dad from time to time.
It wasn't until a weight hit my chest that I opened my tightly shut eyes. It hurt because the blood caked and coated my eyes almost gluing them shut.
Ace was sitting on my chest.
"Get off me!" I huffed squirming under him, he chuckled a dark evil laugh. As his hands reached towards my jacket, I tried to kick and move out from under him but my arms were pinned below me.
"Someone help me!" I screamed, I had given up on letting them finish and leave, I was not going to be raped without a proper attempt to escape. "Anyone! Help me, get him off me!" I yelled out into the quiet night, the only noise was my screams and the barking dogs.
"Anyone got something to shut her up?" Ace asked angrily. He reached behind him and returned shoving some kind of cloth into my mouth. I gagged and shook my head trying to get him to stop, but he just shoved it further in the dry fabric hitting the back of my throat. With all my squirming I was able to remove my left arm and reach out to grab a discarded beer bottle and slam it into the side of his face. He yelped in pain and fell off of me. I tried to catch my breath as I scrambled to my feet I back away but came in contact with the metal rusted fence behind me, feeling the dogs snap at my shirt I jumped forward quickly. I held out the thankfully still in tact bottle threateningly to them.
"Get out of here!" I snarled at them. They laughed, with the flick of a wrist something came hurtling towards me. I ducked and heard a shattering. A beer bottle of their own had smashed in the fence above me the fright had caused me to drop the bottle I was holding, having it shatter at my feet.
"Now that was just stupid you really think you were going to scare us with a bottle?" Eyeball asked me as they stepped closer. "I don't think the broad understands what respect is, how are we going to teach her?" he asked Ace and the other boys.
My breathing picked up as he took a step closer to me, I took step back as well but a slamming against the fence caused me to jump back in fear. I didn't want to be near those dogs, right now they scared me more then the advancing boys.
Ace looked at me then at the dogs behind the fence, then back at me and he smiled wickedly.
My eyes widened as he jumped at me, his arms locking around my waist and lifted me up. His friends joined in locking my ankles into their hands, my arms held above my head in someone else's, four hands held my torso and started to lift me up.
"Let me go!" I demanded squirming in their arms. I manged to kick out and get the guy holding my legs in the shoulder.
"Gah, Bitch!" he yelled in pain and held my ankles tighter.
"You called me a Dog in the pub that night, I'm gonna show you how a real dog would deal with you." Ace hissed as they lifted me higher, as my body neared the top of the gate I began to scream and struggle harder then I thought I even could.
"No! NO! Stop, please stop! No, no no no, someone help me!" I screamed desperatly my left side now touching the sharp metal of the top of the fence as the boys struggled to hold me up and push my over with my squirming body. "STOP IT! Are you insane let me go!" I was let go.
The howls and growls of the dogs echoed in my mind as I felt something horrible biting into my skin.
When I tried to move the biting continued to different areas of my body. I layed still, the biting coming to a stop, the sting still very fresh. The dogs barking was lost in the distance as I heard their paws running away.
I forced my eyes open, to see five figures now, but I didn't see them through the fence, they were on the same side as me, their bodies were faced away from me, but I could see all five, four in front of me and the fifth standing threateningly at them his arm pointed, something gleaming in the dark.
I left something sticking in me, and I moved my arm to grasp the object in my leg. It was a sliver of glass. I had fallen on the beer bottles, not in the hands of the dogs. Thank the lord.
"Come to join in on the fun Chris?." Chris? Chris was here? He was horribly late, and I seriously would rather it be someone else at the moment but I was happy that he actually showed up and I hadn't been played.
"Does it look like I'm here to hurt her?" he asked in sarcasm, keeping the knife out infront of him not wavering a bit. "Get away from her."
"Yeah you gonna make me?" Ace challenged taking a step towards him, Chris took a step too the knife not wavering a millimeter. "Put that away before you hurt yourself Chambers." Ace scoffed at him.
"Chris put the damn knife away!" Eyeball yelled at him, raging mad.
"I will, once you leave." Chris said gesturing to the opening of the alley with the knife.
"You really want to play hero again Chris? Last time you did you got the beating of your life time kid." Ace laughed. I couldn't see Chris to well in the dark but I knew he was glaring at them.
"I'm not a kid anymore Merrill, you know it, that's why you haven't been messing with me lately, you're scared of me now." I wouldn't blame him for being scared of Chris, he was well built, he clearly knew how to fight if he had gotten them away from me easily enough.
"I Ain't scared of nothing!" Ace growled his body tensing.
"Yeah prove it." I watched as Ace moved to his pocket, looking for something, he began to pat his pockets in search of the item he was reaching for coming up empty handed.
"There's another mistake Ace, I thought you knew the first rule to fighting. Always be the smartest of the two. . . .or in this case five.' Chris's voice dripped with amusement as he pulled out another knife from his own pocket, dangling it in front of him.
Ace contemplated his next move, he looked back and what I assume was my pathetic figure and then back at Chris.
"We will get you Chambers, I promise you that." the four took a long loop around him as he followed their movements with his knife. "Your little girlfriend hasn't see the last of us either. Well catch up later sweetheart."
I did my best to glare at him as they left the alley, heading right and disappearing. Chris closed the knife when he thought it was safe then ran over to me.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Do I look like I'm okay?" I hissed at him.
"Don't move you're on a bed of glass." he said looking down at me focused trying to choose the right way to move me.
"Just help me up." I said through gritted teeth sitting up painfully as shards clinked on the ground falling off my body.
"Whoa slow down let me help you." he said in a panicked voice as he helped lift me off the ground.
I wasn't on my feet for long, my legs numb with sharp pains flowing through them as my weight settled. Chris noticed my uneasy stance and without a work picked me up his arm under my legs and back.
"I can walk." I argued. He rolled his eyes as he began to walk out of the alley.
"You can barely stand." he replied back.
"I'd really rather not be near you right now!" I snapped refusing to put my arms around his neck, adjusted me quickly and kept walking.
"Thats a fine thank you to someone who practically saved your life."
"Saved my life!?" I yelled
"Shhhh" Chris scolded.
"Don't shush me I almost got killed because of you." I yelled at him.
"Was I the one beating you? I didn't think they'd be around here." he said.
"Put me down Chambers." I growled.
"No, you're hurt and bleeding alot-"
"Put me down!"
"NO! And unless you want me to drop you and cause extreme pain to your cut and bruised body, you should put your arms around my neck!" he snapped at me glaring down at me.
"Just put me down Chambers I am not going anywhere with you!" I yelled as we neared a beat up old truck parked on the side of the road.
"Would you just trust me for a second-"
"Trust you? I trusted you twenty minutes ago and look where it got me!"
"I didn't think it would take that long to ditch to the cops." Chris tried to explain.
"Well guess what, it did, and I got beaten and almost mauled by dogs because of it." Chris stopped and bent down to the ground placing me on the concrete a couple feet away from the truck. "What are you doing?"
"You wanted me to put you down so I put you down." she stated walking away from me towards the truck. "You can walk home, but I'll be following you in the truck." he leaned against the bumper and raised an eyebrow at me crossing his arms. I glared at him and tried to stand up, failing miserably. "It will go a lot faster if you just let me drive you."
"Just go home Chris I can get home myself."
"You said it yourself you've been beaten, there is no way I'm leaving you alone out here, I'm involved now so either you get your stubborn ass up and let me drive you home or you start crawling with me shadowing you." his voice had turned from soft to stern now, like a father arguing with his disobedient teenager.
"I can make it home myself."
"yeah sure, but if you live up on the view like I suspect you'll get there. . . in two days."
I thought about it, its either get a ride home in the safety of a car or leave a trial of blood on the concrete leading to my house. I sighed in defeat.
"You drive me straight there and then never come near me again."
"Fine." he said pushing off the car and coming over to me lifting me with ease. "But no promises on the last part." he placed me in the truck and shut the door, and then jumped in the drivers seat.
"You do know how to drive right?" I asked as he started the car, he laughed and looked at me.
"No one knows how to drive around here." he said as we started to drive down the street.
He hit a pothole that caused me to jump in my seat and land on my sore leg.
"Watch it!"
"Sorry this town isn't big on renovations." he muttered keeping his eyes on the road. I sighed as I placed my head on the window and watched the blurring scenery.
I saw chris looking at me from the corner of my eye.
"What?" I snapped.
"You really don't look good." he said frowning.
"Sorry I didn't get myself all dolled up after being beaten senseless." I grumbled.
"Your dad will get you cleaned up right, the only cuts I'm worried about Is the one on your forehead."
"Yeah he'll see to me alright." I muttered touching the stinging gash on my face.
"You know I didn't have anything to do with Ace and them, I really thought you'd be safe."
"yeah the minute I believe that pigs are gonna fly."
"You seriously think I would hold a knife to the most dangerous thugs around if I was all for you getting hurt?" he asked losing his temper. I guess he did have a point.
"Guess not." I sighed looking at him. He was still looking at me. "Eyes on the road!"
"Sorry," he said snapping his head back to the road.
"Where the hell are we?" I asked.
"Why are you so cranky, I just saved your ass, you should be a little more thankful."
"Chris just take me home okay? I'm not in the mood to get in another fight."
"If you told me where you live it'd be a lot easier to get you home." Chris smiled. I glared.
"374 Mocking Lane." Chris whistled.
"Fancy neighbourhood, knew you were rich." his smile grew on his face as he took a quick glance at me.
"Just. Take me there." I said loosing my patience not wanting to talk anymore.
"You don't need to stop at the hospital do you?" he asked his words laced with worry.
"TAKE ME HOME!" I screamed at him caused the truck to jerk quickly.
"Damn now I might need to go to the hospital to get my hearing checked."
"Wish you'd go mute instead of deaf." I muttered leaning against the window again.
"Ouch, but seriously you're okay right? I mean you got cut by a lot of glass though it doesn't seem like your bleeding anymore."
"I am fine okay? I've had worse." I snapped getting extremely annoyed with him. I just wanted to go home, take a shower and sleep, pretend this whole damn night never happened.
"Worse?" Chris's face creased in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind." I grumbled. Chris let it go and for a few moments it was blissfully silent.
"I would never let that happen, if I knew I could stop it sooner." he said softly looking at me then back at the road.
"Why should I believe that? Your brother was part of it."
"Well I'm not my brother." Chris said in a pained voice. "You really think I'm like him and would do that to a girl? Let alone you?" I knew I hit a nerve there obviously his brother wasn't someone he liked to talk about.
"I don't know you Chris." I reminded him.
"Exactly you don't know me, half this town doesn't know me but it doesn't stop them from thinking the worst. How can you just choose to judge me this harshly when you don't even know me? You can't say I'm a good guy fine, but don't go saying I'm no good either because you have no idea, not the slightest clue about who I am." his grip on the wheel was hard his knuckles turning white. Hey, I was supposed to be angry with him not the other way around.
"I didn't say you were no good." I whispered.
"you didn't have to. Anna, I met you and asked you to the party because I wanted to get to know you better, I thought it was easy to talk to you, I wouldn't just throw you into something like that, I saved you didn't I? Don't judge me because of the reputation my family has."
"I wasn't-"
"Yeah but if I didn't say anything you would be right now. I promise you I had nothing to do with it."
"Chris I believe you, I'm just . . .beaten and I don't want to talk anymore." I said trying to shut him up.
"I just don't want to have you hating me before you've even started to like me. I'm not that kind of Person Anna no matter what anyone says."
"Chris please just shut up, okay? I don't blame you for it anymore." I said. And I meant it, I was cranky and wanting to blame someone for what happened. When something goes wrong its nice to have someone to blame.
Chris was right he wouldn't have helped if he planned it, he had no reason too either, considering I knew him and his brother didn't get along at all so they would never plan together.
Chris did seem like a good person, he carried a knife but something in the back of my mind was telling me that it had never really been used on anyone. Chris had the bad boy look, he was tall rugged, beautiful and alluring, but the air around him made me calm, almost peaceful.
We did make it to my house, when we did it there were at least four more cars in the driveway, the house bright and loud. I looked at it through my window and hesistated. I couldn't climb the tree, in my state.
What if someone came upstairs, I couldn't fight them off. . . my hand hovered over the door handle as I stared at my house filled with drunken men.
Chris seemed to notice my hesitation.
"You know, it's only ten o'clock. . ." when I looked back at Chris his beautiful deep eyes smiled at me. He didn't need to explain I understood, and with a quick internal battle, I leaned back into the car seat, letting go of the handle, as Chris started up the truck. I didn't care where we were going and I didn't ask where we were headed either.
I just trusted him.
There it is the next chapter will be all Anna and Chris, I'll update soon i promise.