Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, cheek scraped against the pavement. Lauren was staring down at me with absolute horror written all over her face. Don't just lay there, Arnold! Get up! I could only manage to roll over on my back and look up towards the sky. Charlie stood before me, the sun behind him, making him look no more than a mere shadow. I wished that's all he was. Charlie stepped toward me, a malignant grin spread across his unattractive face. I propped myself up on my elbows, ready to face my superior when Lauren stepped in front of me.
"Don't you dare hurt him again or you'll regret it, I swear." Very brave on Lauren's part, but Charlie simply smirked and pushed her away. The full fury of Lauren Rivera came crashing down like Niagara Falls, soaking everyone in fear. She had Charlie pinned to the ground in five seconds flat! They tussled for a few moments until Charlie shouted for his minions to grab her. Lauren put up a good fight, but three guys against one girl? Pretty tough odds. The minions held her back so she couldn't interfere with the horrible murder of Arnold Holloway.
Charlie, breathing hard, turned to me and wiped the blood from his lip. My super awesome kick-butt girlfriend got some really good punches in that fight, and hopefully that weakened him a bit. However, I had no such luck. Charlie grabbed me by the shirt collar and hoisted me up so my feet were dangling a foot above the sidewalk. He looked me straight in the eye and gave me one of those creepy smiles, showing all his gold and silver crowned teeth. When he spoke, I could smell his rotten breath. "Your girl gave me a good warm up, Holloway." He glanced over at his minions, and one of them punched Lauren in the stomach, making her double over in pain. Charlie seemed to feed off of other people's misery because when he turned back to me, his smile was wider than before. I gripped his arm and tried to yank it off my shirt, but he was like the Incredible Hulk. With one quick motion, he threw me down on the ground, hard. I cringed there, mumbling feebly when I remembered that Lauren was probably watching me. I stood up in a flash, and faced Charlie with what little courage I had.
"What's that Hollow? You're gonna fight? Huh?" He started laughing when I put my fists up. I must've looked pretty pathetic because Charlie's gang started chuckling as well. I couldn't even bring myself to look at Lauren. Before I changed my mind, I dashed into battle, my fist aimed at Charlie's stomach. Unfortunately he was one step ahead of me as always, or maybe I was just slow. He whipped out his fist at the last second and instead of his gut, it was my gut. So now I was doubled over in pain like Lauren had been, hoping Charlie didn't punch me again in my moment of weakness. Arnold. He's a bully, you moron. Of course he was going to beat you down even lower than you stood. Then Charlie kicked me in the ribs, and the rest was all a blur. I punched and missed, blocked but failed. Finally Charlie ended it all with a swift punch to the jaw. Hands on knees and covered with sweat and blood, I looked up at Charlie, wondering what he had in store for me next.
"Face it, Hollow," Charlie said with fake sympathy in his voice. "You'll always be the weakling in the dirt, begging for mercy after a fight-" He slammed his forearm on my back, knocking me down on my hands and knees. My hands were cut and stung horribly when they collided with the pavement.
"-Looking up towards your superior,"Charlie continued as he kicked me in the ribs. I groaned with agony, and lay down on the sidewalk, cheek on the pavement. Right back were I started, except this time, even lower on self esteem.
"You're dirt, Holloway, dirt!" Charlie started to yell. "No one cares who you are or what you can do! I'll always be the one on top!" That's when he fell. Something I'd never thought I'd see in my lifetime.
"Run, Arnold!" Lauren screamed at me. I looked up and saw her get out of a perfect foot sweep position. The minions who had been holding her were laying against the fence, dead still. Not caring how much it hurt, I clambered onto my knees, using my hands to force myself into a standing position. I jumped into action a few seconds short, because Charlie came from behind and got me in a choke hold. I pushed a fist up and felt his nose crack. He released his hold immediately and attempted to fit his nose back in its proper place. I got him, I got him! I celebrated in my mind as I sprinted toward no particular destination.
The joy vanished as soon as I heard someone following me. Panicking, I put on another burst of speed, leaving my pursuer in the dust. As I turned a corner, I glanced behind me, hoping the follower had given up. They were gone. I turned my head around with relief and heard a loud bang. Frozen in place, I tried to walk forward, but I fell on my back instead. My vision started to cloud and I fell into the impenetrable darkness of unconsciousness.
