Young Writers Society

I stared in shock as Shawn came running towards me. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be anyone after her. As Shawn fell to her knees and grabbed my legs, I winced in pain. My dad had obviously had a good time kicking my legs.

"Ow!" I yelped.

Shawn looked up at me. "Sorry!"

I helped Shawn stand up by reaching my hand out for her. She grabbed my hand and lifted herself up with my support. She was clearly in a bit of a state. I couldn't blame her, my father was rather aggressive. Pfft, understatement of the year. He was a bit more than aggressive.

"What happened?" I asked once Shawn'd stood up. "Where... where's my dad?"

I observed her carefully, waiting for the answer. Hopefully, he'd gone out or something and we'd both be able to make a run for it without being chased.

I started sobbing again.
"I don't want to talk about it, please. Liam, let's just go." He nodded as we started running down the street. He kept graoning and hissing in pain. I turned into an ally and sat. He followed my example.
"Are you okay?" I saw his face clearly and gasped.
"We scrapped." I gentally touched his eye, he flinched. I pulled up his pants leg and saw how bruised they were.
"You poor thing! We'll take care of it when we are safe again." I cupped his chin in my hands.
"What happened to you?" My lip quivered as i told him what happened, not skipping a single detail.

"I'm going to fricking kill him," I muttered bitterly after hearing Shawn's story.

It was almost funny how within the matter of twenty four hours, I'd realised who my dad really was. I never liked him, but now? I couldn't care less if he was dead or alive. Maybe I was being a bit harsh, I didn't know, but it didn't feel like that at the time.

"Don't! As much as I'd like to see him dead, I can't let you get yourself hurt anymore." Shawn spoke softly. "You can hardly stand up as it is."

She was right, I was hardly in the state to attack my father right now. Shawn and I were hiding in an alleyway at the moment. I didn't know how much longer we were going to be safe in there though. My dad and his 'gang' could appear within the matter of seconds. I had to ask Shawn where he was again.

"Shawn, where is he?" I spoke gently. "We can't let him find us. I mean, is he out? Or is he in the convention hall?"

I could tell that she was still too shaken up to answer, but what I needed right now was an answer. Otherwise, God knows what could have happened next.

"I-I don't know. He left for a meeting." I started sobbing again. I felt so, dirty. I pulled away from Liam a bit. He noticed,
"Are you okay Shawn?" I nodded.
"I'm fine, let's get out of here." I stood slowly, offering him my hand. He was in such a terrible condition. Gary would pay... I would be sure of that. But for now we needed to get safe. My head was still pounding. Maybe, maybe we should go to crypt territory. No, that was a terrible idea.

I shuddered. He noticed again, darn he was observant.
"Shawn, really what's wrong?"
"I had an idea, but it was stupid." He put his arm around me.
"Come on tell me." I shuddered and he took his arm back. I really didn't want to be touched.
"I thought that if we went to crypt territory, we could find a safe house and hide out there for a few days."

"I thought that if we went to crypt territory, we could find a safe house and hide out there for a few days." Shawn spoke slowly.

Was she serious? That would have been more than dangerous. It might have been the concussion talking but then again, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. I mean, where else could we have gone? My dad knew were Shawn lived and he definitely knew where I lived. They were out of the option then, obviously.

"That's not such a bad idea..." I bit my lip.

Shawn looked at me, clearly surprised. She'd probably expected me to tell her how much of a bad idea it was. To be honest, it probably was a bad idea, but it was the only idea we could think of. I mean, where else could we have gone.

"Really?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah. Definitely." I sounded a lot more confident about my answer this time.

"okay then, they may not take a liking to you, cause of your dad. But just let me talk to them." He nodded. We started down the ally, this was going to be a long walk, about an hour, but it would feel like longer. We took the main streets, the mob was stupid, but not stupid enough to attack us in public.

My heart began to pound as we entered the slums. It wasn't long before we were stopped, bye two crypts in a car. I remembered the crypts who had attacked me. I hoped they would listen to reason. Two unfamiliar crypts stepped out.
"What are you two doing in our end?" I began to sob, faking it obviously, well a little.
"We were attacked by some really big guys, I-I think they were from the mob. We don't have anywhere to go. They really hurt us." I looked up and saw they're expressions soften. Liam put his hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay little girl, don't cry. Come on, we can help you." I sniffled, smiling weakly.
"Thank you." The kindness was fake, but the tears were 100% real. My heart began to pound as we climbed in the back of their car. Liam wrapped his arms around me. I looked up at him, he looked tense. I whispered,
"It's okay, they wont hurt us." I hope.

Shawn's words didn't comfort me, not one bit. If these crypt guys found out about my father, who knew what they would do to me. I could tell that they found me suspicious because they kept giving me strange looks through the car mirror. I tries my best to ignore it, although it got pretty annoying after a while.

I'd never really thought about myself looking like someone from the mob, which I wasn't. I'd never even think about joining that stupid gang. When I thought about it though, I did kind of look like one. I looked rough, I'd gathered that. I just never really thought of myself looking like part of the mob. Because of my father though, I probably did.

"I'm not sure about this..." I whispered to Shawn.

Shawn looked up at me, her eyes still rather watery. She may not have admitted it to me, but the tears that she cried weren't all fake. She had just lost her father, after all. Plus, my dad had been a complete prick and scared the hell out of her.

"They won't hurt us," Shawn clearly saw the worry in my face. "I know they won't."

they wouldn't with me here, my dad didn't know it, but i knew he had helped the crypts some times. It was a protection thing for me. My daddy never wanted me to get hurt. I watched the guys in the front seat, one leaned over and whispered to the other.
"The guys pretty messed up. What do you think happened this time?"
"Probably something to do with the girl, some boyfriend she has." I looked up. Boyfriend, sure liam was cute and all but... i just couldn't picture me with him.

We pulled up to an old apartment building. I was starting to feel sick. I was worried about what would happen next. When the other two got out of the car I looked up at liam.
"Just let me talk, and go along with whatever i say."

The building was old, that I was sure of. One of the small windows were boarded up, it had obviously been smashed. The apartment building was a mess, but I had definitely seen worse. My house wasn't much better, to be honest. Ah well, at least this place had running water unlike my house. I assumed it did, anyway.

"Just let me talk, and go along with whatever i say." Shawn said in a hushed tone.

"Okay," I muttered nervously.

I was seriously worried that these guys would recognise me as being the son of an idiot from the mob. As long as I laid low, I should have been fine. To be honest at that moment, I felt like going to sleep. I hadn't had any proper sleep in days. I'd passed out plenty of times, although I didn't think that counted as sleeping.

As we walked into the building, the one guy turned around to speak to Shawn and me. I didn't need a genius to tell me that this would be an interesting conversation. I mean, what were we going to say to them. I did look like death, after all.

"you two need to see our boss." He guided us down the hall, into a large living area. A guy was sitting on a couch, cleaning a shotgun. I shuddered, getting a little closer to Liam, for some reason i felt safe with him. He had risked his life more then once for me, i wondered why?

The other guy left, closing the door behind him.
"Come, sit." I sat quickly, trying to act even more scared then i was. Liam sat calmly.
"What happened to you two." I started sobbing,
"You know my daddy, Andrew Turner?" Liam wrapped his arm around me. I actually kinda like that.
"Yes, what's wrong with your dad, girl?"
"The mob shot him." he pounded his fist on the coffee table and stood up.
"I knew he couldn't pull it off. He's dead isn't he, where's the key?" I shuddered. Remembering that i swallowed it.
"He's dead, and, and..." I looked away, covering my stomach.
"Well! Where is it!" I jumped a little, he seemed mad.
"I swallowed it." I looked up at him, he seemed relieved.
"Okay, then the key is safe. As long as you are safe. But I'll take it the mob knows you gots it?" I nodded, Liam kept quiet.

"Then you are under the crypts protection, dang girl. But you, you look like trouble, and i ain't putting my brothers in trouble." I hugged him, i figured i would have to do this.
"His dad is from the mob, but his dad tried to kill him. He's protected me, if it wasn't for him, i might be dead right now, and they would have the key." he sighed, still watching Liam.
"Fine, but I've got my eye on you man."

"His dad is from the mob, but his dad tried to kill him. He's protected me, if it wasn't for him, I might be dead right now, and they would have the key." Shawn explained, clearly nervous.

There was a horrible feeling in the pit my stomach as she spoke. My own father wanted me dead. Part of me wondered if that would have been such a bad thing. It wasn't like I did much for anyone, after all. I'd wrecked my mum's life and I'd now wrecked my father's for being such a disappointment. I was being stupid, it was my dad's fault. Not mine.

"Fine, but I've got my eye on you, man." The boss said sternly.

These guys didn't like me. Not one bit. It actually really kind of bugged me. Just because my father was part of the mob, it didn't mean that I was more worthless than a speck of dirt. It didn't mean that I was a complete ass either.

"What are you going to do with us then?" I asked, finally saying something.

If I had it my way, I would have simply gone to sleep right now. At least if I slept, I'd be able to forget about everything. Even if it was just for a few hours.

"we'll set ya up with a room, don't leave the building wid-out tellin someone. I'll get the boys to show ya upstairs. Jimmy, fists get in here and get cha god damn eyes off tha door." Two guys walked in, i automatically recognize them, i could feel the blood flush from my face. Those were the two crypts i had run into.

"come on, we's gunna set you up." I got up and walked over to them. Mouthing a sorry and wiping my face, Liam followed right behind. When we were out they closed the door and turned to me.
"Sorry girl, we didn't know you's was running from da mob." I was utterly shocked, i wasn't expecting that.
"It's okay, she's fine now." I looked up at Liam and smiled.

They showed us up stairs and showed us to a room. It wasn't half bad, it was definitely cleaner then the rest of the apartment. I swallowed hard, one bed.

The room was pretty nice actually. It was definitely better than I thought it would be. To begin with, it was clean. There were two small chairs placed in one corner of the room and covering a square window were a pair of cream coloured curtains. The whole cream theme was a bit girly, but I could cope.

Before a smile had the chance to appear on my face for the first time in ages, it was stopped. There was only one bed. Great. Maybe I should have said something to the guys? No, bad idea. They hated me enough as it was. I decided to keep quiet.

"There you go," The one guy said. "Get settled in, we're off now."

Before Shawn or me had the chance to say anything, the two guys had left. I was glad too. I wouldn't have the constant feeling of being glared at. Plus, I kind of like being alone with Shawn. Sighing heavily, I turned to her.

"You take the bed," I said as I walked towards one of the chairs. "I'll just sleep on here or something." I tapped the chair as I reached it.

"No way." Shawn seemed adamant. "You're covered in cuts and bruises, sleeping like that is only going to make it worse."

"I can't let you sleep on the chair." I replied.

Shawn stayed silent for a few minutes. She seemed to be thinking about something. "We could both just sleep in the bed, I guess. As long as you don't snore or anything..."

I couldn't help but laugh at her comment. Normally, I would have argued back but I was simply too tired. A bed seemed like heaven right now. Besides, I didn't snore. It should have been fine.

"now lie down." I pointed at the bed, i felt so bad for him. No one deserves to be beaten like that, well maybe Gary. He lied down like i told him to. I hoped he would be asleep soon, i didn't like the idea of sleeping while he wasn't. I always had issues with people watching me sleep. There was a small bathroom off of the bedroom.
"I'm going to shower, you go to sleep." He nodded.

The bathroom was blue and white, no window, and a shower. Thank god. I turned it on ans hopped in, not testing the water. It was really hot but i didn't care, i had to get this dirty feeling off of me! I scrubbed violently at my skin, it was turning red. I washed out my hair, no shampoo, great. We would have to go out and pick some up. I still had my wallet, that means i have credit cards and money. I got out and felt better, my skin felt relieved. I quickly got dressed, couldn't risk having a crypt come in. The stupid door had no lock.

I went back out into the room. Liam was still awake.
"I thought i told you to go to sleep." He smiled.
"I couldn't sleep. You look... better. But your skin is red." he gestured at me, my skin still was red.
"It's nothing, the shower was hot. Now go to sleep."

I chuckled at Shawn's reaction. She really wanted me to go to sleep, didn't she. So did I, to be honest. I just couldn't for some reason. I guess that I just had a lot on my mind at that moment.

"Am I really that annoying?" I asked, grinning.

"Yep," Shawn laughed before winking at me. "Nah, you're not that bad. Now sleep!"

I chuckled at her reaction before gently closing my eyes. If I tried really hard, maybe I would be able to finally get to sleep. The room smelt kind of damp, there was probably a leek somewhere or something. It wasn't too bad though, I'd definitely smelt worse. I kept my eyes shut, trying to ignore the world around me.

That was a lot harder said than done, considering I felt like I was on my death bed. My head was aching from all of the beatings I'd received and my body felt weaker than it ever had before. You'd think that it would make a guy sleep easily, but it really didn't. I really tried to concentrate now. As the minutes passed by, I could finally feel myself drifting off.