"You know, this whole situation played out so much better in my head.' Nicole sighed as she adjusted the neon green plastic wig on her head.
"It makes my head feel funny." Elizabeth frowned as she moved the plastic wig back and forth.
"You do kind of look like Elvis." Nicole nodded as she stared at the 5 year old. "That aside though, these will have to do."
"For what?" the younger child questioned softly, "I don't really understand what we are doing. This doesn't make sense." She announced, pulled at her long jacket Nicole bought for her.
"We are in disguise." Nicole answered. "We can't let those creeps from before notice us. Who knows if they are still out there."
"They probably are. They are dangerous and horrid people. They always lurk in the shadows." Elizabeth mumbled to herself. Staring at the 5 year old, Nicole folded her arms.
"Ya know, for a 5 year old, you definitely don't seem like a 5 year old." She announced.
"But I am 5." Elizabeth blinked.
"That is almost debatable, but I'll believe you for now." Nicole nodded. "That aside, I have a plan."
"A plan?"
"Basically we just have to make it back to my place without being spotted by those creepy pajama guys." Nicole explained, glancing out the window a few times. The sun had begun to set. It would be dark soon enough, and trying to spot men dressed in black in the dark would be hard to do.
"They are called the Foot." Elizabeth said softly.
"Right… Feet people." Nicole frowned.
"No, just Foot."
"But there are a lot of them. So it changes to Feet."
"…No." Elizabeth looked confused. "It doesn't… change. Does it?" her eyes grew wide.
"Well it doesn't matter, we just have to avoid them."
"Okay. How?"
"We keep low and try to act casual. I mean, look at these disguises, they are perfect!"
"Hmm… I don't know." Elizabeth glanced at herself in the mirror. "I feel kind of silly."
"Nonsense." Nicole insisted. "Lets just go." Opening the door that lead out of the shop she paused. "Oh um-" she stopped, almost making Elizabeth run into her from behind. "Before we go, I feel like I should warn you."
"Warn me?" Elizabeth frowned. "Of… what?" she asked cautiously.
"It is nothing bad just… um… the people I live with are kind of… odd.' She winced.
"Odd?"
"Yeah, like, they are really strange. So, don't freak out when you see them, okay?"
Titling her head, the child nodded slowly. "Okay." She agreed. "They can't be too bad though."
"Yeah, you say that now, but you haven't met them yet. They are real weirdoes."
"I've seen a lot of weird things." Elizabeth announced.
"Even so-" Nicole glanced up and down the street. "Come on, lets go." Motioning for her to follow, the two moved shuffled down the side walk.
Nicole had never had to be so observant of her surroundings in her whole life. She was so paranoid that she literally scooted away from every stranger they passed by on the streets.
"How far away is your house?" Elizabeth inquired.
"A good mile and a half." Nicole answered. "It shouldn't take us too long to get there."
"When we get there, what will we do."
"Uh… sit down and have some coffee. Or tea. Probably some juice since you are only 5." Nicole tilted her head. "5 year olds like juice, right?"
"…I like juice."
"Great, then juice it is."
Suddenly sticking her hand out, the two paused when they came to a railroad towards the side of town. Glancing both ways, motioned for Elizabeth to follow.
"Do you travel around New York often Elizabeth?" she inquired.
"No. I'm never allowed outside."
"What, seriously?" Nicole couldn't believe her ears. A 5 year old not allowed to go outside? That sounded insane. "Well, forget that. Welcome to the outside world Elizabeth."
The small child cracked a tiny grin, nodding her head. "It is nice."
"Yeah it is. I mean like, look at all the buildings." She motioned around, trying to sound optimistic. "They are like, super big."
Elizabeth suddenly giggled.
"Hey, no laughing. I'm being serious here. But I mean, buildings are great. You can't really see any stars though, that is the sad thing. Stars are pretty, even if they really are just giant balls of gas."
The young girl covered her mouth. "Gas."
"Not that kind of gas!" Nicole cackled, nudging the girl. "Different gas. Like the gas our sun is made out of. Did you know that the stars are really just suns. They are Suns that are really far away, but they are so bright, we can still see them from here."
"I didn't know that." Elizabeth looked to the sky with wide eyes.
"Well there you go, a little fact for the day." Nicole patted her head. "Oh, here is another one. Ever see lightning?"
"Of course."
"Well, did you know that a Lightning bolt generates temperatures 5 times hotter than those found on the Sun's surface?"
"Really?" Elizabeth titled her head.
"Yeah. So try to never get hit with lightning. It hurts- well I mean, obviously it hurts, it's lighting. That's like the worse thing to get hit by. Duh, I'm stupid. Ignore that last part. Just don't go walking out into a storm with an umbrella, that would be unwise. My Father did that once. Barely came out of it alive."
"He go hit by lightning?!" Elizabeth covered her mouth.
"What? No. He tripped when he was walking down the subway stairs. They were slippery."
"…" Staring at the older woman for what seemed like forever, Elizabeth suddenly began to laugh. The sound was almost foreign to the small child, but at the same time, warming.
A tiny huff of breath from Nicole signaled to Elizabeth that the older women was laughing too. "That isn't anything to laugh about."
"You're laughing." Elizabeth accused.
"Am not." She made a face.
Elizabeth mimicked her, puffing out her cheeks.
The two smiled at each other, pausing to look both way before they crossed and upcoming tree. "You're a good kid Elizabeth." Nicole placed her hand on the little girls head.
Elizabeth's tiny body shivered against Nicole's fingertips, and for a moment she thought the child was still laughing, until a sob escaped her lips. It was only then that she realized she was crying.
"Wha-" Nicole's eyes doubled in size. "Hey." She stopped and bent down. "What's wrong?" she placed her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"It's nothing." Elizabeth whispered brokenly.
"It obviously isn't nothing." Nicole disagreed. "Come on, you can tell me."
"I… I just-" she reached her little palms up to scrub relentlessly at her face. "I'm fine."
"Don't." Nicole whispered. "Don't do that."
"Don't cry?" the child's voice cracked.
"No, don't hold it in. Let it out. It is okay to cry when you are sad." Nicole felt herself practically pleading. She could never hold it together when people cried, especially kids. She was never one to cry normally herself, but definitely couldn't help the string she felt against her heart when she saw others cry.
"I just… I don't wanna go back. I don't wanna go back. I wanna stay with you." Elizabeth admitted softly. Reaching forward, Nicole brought the child into a tight embrace.
"Then you can." She assured her. What was she saying? What happened to Nicole's rationalization about this whole thing? Oh, there is goes, flying right out the window.
"R-Really?" Elizabeth hicupped.
"Yes." Nicole felt shocked in herself at how serious and determined she sounded. Like she meant what she was saying.
Actually… she did mean it. She meant every word.
"But… the Foot-"
"I could care less what those Pajama guys try." Nicole huffed. "Listen, if you don't want to go, then you don't have to. You can stay with me as long as you like. I have room. And besides, I am positive my other house guests will adore you."
"…You mean it?"
"Yeah." Nicole pulled away to smile at her. "I have no doubt."
Something about her words seemed to make the child smile. "…Okay." She nodded. "Then- c-can I have some juice too? Like you said?"
"Of course you can have some juice!" Nicole jumped to her feet. "You can have all the juice in the world." She took the little girl's hand, leading her back down the road. "You can have apple juice, grape juice, pineapple juice, strawberry juice-"
"There is strawberry juice?"
"Yup. And Orange juice-" Nicole wasn't sure how long she had gone listing out the many juices there were in the world. Probably a good 20 minutes. Elizabeth didn't mind her ranting though and listened with a happy smile. It warmed Nicole's heart.
She had to show Arinna this cute little kid.
She knew Arinna would adore her! Plus, it was about time Nicole brought someone home. She knew it would happen eventually, but she didn't think it would happen under these circumstances.
Something about all of this was odd. Why were some creeps after a sweet little girl like this? She didn't have any parents, so it couldn't have been anything to do with them.
Was she like some princess or something? Why would a princess be in New York Nicole, think logically.
Oh well, no point worrying about it now. For now, she had to put all of her focus in getting Elizabeth somewhere safe. Her house might not be the best option for that, but it was all she could think about for now.
Suddenly, Elizabeth tugged on her arm.
"Elizabeth?"
"…They are close." The child whispered softly.
"What?" Nicole scanned the area. "How can you tell?" she knelt down when the child shuffled a little closer.
"I can hear them."
Nicole couldn't hear a thing, but after everything that had happened, it was better to be safe then sorry.
Ducking behind the trash can, Nicole pulled Elizabeth down, motioning for her to be quiet. A little down the alley way, Nicole spotted a Foot leap down from the fire escape and scan the area. Yup, they were super close now. Way to go Elizabeth and her super hearing.
"Nicole." Elizabeth whimpered after the Foot turned the corner.
"Okay. Okay." Nicole mumbled. "No need to panic just yet. We're uh… we're gonna go about this calmly, okay? No panicking on either of our parts. Promise?"
"P-Promise." Elizabeth nodded.
"Good, now come on. This way." Grabbed her hand, they quickly sprinted away from the alley, ducking down another street. Keeping as close to the walls as possible, Nicole quietly looked around the corner. No Foot creeps from what she could see, but that didn't mean they weren't around.
"AH!" Elizabeth suddenly screamed. Whipping around, Nicole jumped when a few Foot jumped down.
"Oh come on!" she yelled, booking it down the road, lifting Elizabeth into her arms.
And look, right down the road was her apartment building. She couldn't just run in there now, they would notice! Then they would know where they lived. No a good thing.
She would have to loose these guys before she went in there, but how would she do that?
She barely had time to react before something took out her legs. "Whoop!" she shrieked, face planting straight into the dirt. Argh, that one stung.
"Nicole!" Elizabeth whimpered, rushing to her side. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." Nicole mumbled, sitting up. Her knees and hand stung from when the impacted the ground, looking red and swollen. "…Ow." She hissed through the pain. "Quick, Elizabeth, run. Get out of here." She commanded quickly, realizing the foot were upon them. "I'll hold them off."
"What?" the girl gasped. "N-No!"
"Don't argue, just go! You have more likely of a chance in getting out of this."
"I'm not leaving!" the girl yelled.
"Go!"
"NO!"
"Elizabeth!" Nicole growled. Ugh, here it is. This is why she sometimes couldn't stand kids. They were so defiant. Then again, she had no room to talk. She was the spitting image of defiance back in her teenage years.
But this was different. This was serious. Even a 5 year old had to understand that, right?
"Give us the girl." Suddenly one of the Foot ninja's spoke. Huh, and Nicole was starting to believe these guys were mute.
"No way ya weirdo." She pointed to him. "I suggest you all leave before things get ugly." Not much of a threat, but she was not in the mood for these creeps.
Apparently, her threat wasn't taken seriously either, because they began to stalk towards them. "Elizabeth, get behind me." Nicole said.
The young girl stared at her. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open. "I…" she looked back at the foot. She seemed to be contemplating something. "I… can't." she whispered.
"What?" Nicole frowned.
The child's eyes narrowed. She suddenly walked forward. It shocked and horrified Nicole all at the same time.
"Elizabe-" she was cut off by the pain the enveloped her knee when she tried to walk forward. That fall must have done more than she first thought. "Elizabeth come back here." She gritted her teeth.
"It's okay Nicole." Elizabeth smiled over her shoulder. "You're my friend." She grinned. "So I'll protect you now."
"What?"
Lifting up her little palms, Elizabeth took what Nicole could only describe as a fighting pose. This girl was only 5. A sweet little 5 year old who was about to pick a fight with 6 grown men.
"Elizabeth no. Stop it now! Get back here." Nicole called, her chest feeling tight. This reminded her too much of when she was younger. When Arinna's older brother came to her rescue when these gang jerks tried to steal her wallet from her. He was outnumbered and outmatched, but he still stood strong.
She couldn't bear to see someone go through something like that again.
"Elizabeth no!" she shrieked when one of the Foot charged.
Wincing when the two came into contact, the next thing she knew, something hit the ground. Oh god…
The body that laid across the road was undeniable. But… it wasn't a small child. It was the Foot.
He was sprawled across the cement, body withering in pain. Letting out a scream of agony, he rolled, before growing quiet. Nicole would have screamed if she thought he was dead, but he had only been fallen unconscious.
Unconscious from a hit he took from a 5 year old girl. Nicole hadn't even seen what Elizabeth had done! It was just a blur of movements. Seriously, what just happened.
Nicole couldn't find the words to ask what Elizabeth had done. Her mind was too busy whirling around different thoughts, stuck in a panic. She was beginning to realize she had gotten herself involved in something deep and dangerous.
And Elizabeth was right in the middle of it all.
"Go away." The young child demanded. With such a tiny voice and little figure most would just laugh at the sight. If it hadn't been for what just happened, Nicole might find herself laughing too.
Looking hesitant, the remaining men looked at each other, unsure of what they should do. As if coming to some sort of conclusion, the lowered their arms and stepped back, moving towards the shadows. They were giving up?
Really?
Nicole felt relieved, but she couldn't help but feel that they had won a little too easily. Which, they did. And of course when you feel you've won too easily, something always go wrong.
Which something did.
Elizabeth and Nicole both jumped when the roar of an engine reached their ears. Looking down the road, they were shocked to see a large van speeding in their direction. From where Nicole was, she could practically see the Foot behind the wheel. Oh great, they had a stupid kidnapping van. How classy.
"Elizabeth, get off the road!" she called to the young girl.
She didn't move. She stood in the middle of the road, her eyes wide with fear and shock. It was like she had never seen a car before or something.
…Elizabeth has seen a car before, right?
The memory of Elizabeth saying she was always kept inside flashed through Nicole's mind like a cold slap in the face. Oh gosh, she didn't know what a car was!
"Elizabeth!" Nicole screamed. "Get out off the way!"
The girl didn't react. It was like she had suddenly turned into a deer caught within headlights.
"Stupid girl! Move!" Before Nicole could even think twice she felt her body moving. It was sprinting into the road, tumbling over a cup. Her knee almost felt numb, her mind solely set on Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth!' She threw herself between the mystified child and speeding car.
The next thing she knew, she was hugging the small girl, shielding her with her own body, right as the car hit.
CRASH.
And we are done with this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it :D I know I definitely loved writing this chapter. I've really grown to love Elizabeth :D Plus... she can kick some butt. She is 5, but that girl definitely isn't your average 5 year old. Don't mess with Elizabeth guys! You've been warned.