Past Hope chp. 6

At night the streets were quieter than normal. The occasional voices of the day had disappeared. The few people out made their movement silent as they slipped through the city.

It was also much louder, or at least the darkest things could suddenly be heard clearly. You could hear the crying and screaming coming from the alleys. They weren’t drowned out, but rather what drowned out my footsteps as I moved toward my target.

I continued to move at a steady pace for as long as I dared, stopping only briefly to hide in a shadow as two men chased another human down the street. The other was small and when for a second they passed through a spot of moonlight her long hair could be seen up in a ponytail. They all ran away from the centre of the city, in all probability making the smallest a runaway prostitute. Once they rounded another corner I continued my trek.

I was slipping around one corner and onto the correct street within a few minutes. It was slightly noisier there, but I couldn’t yet see any of the sounds creators. There was also a sense of calm there that the other streets didn’t have.

The screams were farther away. Only a few buildings down people didn’t hide in the shadows. The smell of death came from behind me and further ahead, but there was a tiny bubble where it seemed like I could finally breathe. There was still no electricity this far out, but the moon felt brighter. The darkness’ hold on the street was weaker. I felt safer.

That safety was rare, and it made me feel like I could drop my guard. I wanted to soak in that difference.

I didn’t notice the hand on me until I was pulled fully out of the moonlight. The person pulled me backward so I could watch the street slip away. The alley suddenly made everything the street had protected me from come rushing back. Much too delayed I searched my pocket for my nonexistent knife.

My captor was continuing to pull me further into the dark by my arms. The alley we stood in was barely wide enough for one person, and the sky above us still let in a minimal amount of light. Doom or rescue by an alley rat was unlikely.

I tried to think of the people who had been just down the street. They were the Dorshadass, my brother, and even Samael the redhead. It was unlikely they’d run to just another scream added to the nightly chorus, but I opened my mouth to try. My captor had the same realisation just seconds before my vocal chords could call out. Instead, my screams came out muffled against their strong hands.

Still, we moved backward further. I wouldn’t have been surprised if we moved onto the next street. The hand against my mouth left one of my arms free, but as I tried to wiggle free they let go. The sudden freedom threw me off and I struggled to regain my balance. Once I had, the arm returned, that time around my waist and twisting me around so I faced my captor. The hand over my mouth was removed only to have my head shoved into their chest, a no better position.

Their large build and strength had already proved them a male. I worried of the places they might take me. I could be just like the girl who had been chased past me only minutes before. I would no longer be one of the few who escaped the inevitable, I would just be another in the crowd.

Yet, as my senses grew and we moved only slightly farther before stopping I found myself in an unfamiliar situation. The clothes my face were pressed against felt soft and smelled fresh. The hand on my waist heated my body.

It was all familiar.

I rammed my head back as hard as I could, gaining just enough room to look up. It was too dark to see clearly, but the basics seemed to match my assumption. I knew that if there was light I’d seen the lightning.

“What are you doing?” He asked, confirming his identity.

“That’s the question I should be asking you, Lucas,” I said, trying to pull myself apart from him, but his grip just grew tighter.

“Leave.” He commanded. The voice he used wasn’t something I’d heard before. He’d been emotionless, threatening, even playful, but it’d never been harsh. It reminded me of Braden, but something about him made it feel worse. If I was a lesser person I might have listened.

“I can be wherever I want when I want,” I said without giving his words any impact upon me. “I fit in these streets. I’ll ask you again why you’re here because you don’t fit in.”

“Leave,” he repeated as if my words were nothing.

“No.”

He growled, whipping me around so I was trapped between him and the wall. “I am serious Kera. No games right now. Go home.”

“Fuck off.” I snarled right back. Another wrong move. I was surprised when he didn’t slam me back into the wall, although he seemed to consider it before exhaling heavily. My eyes still hadn’t adjusted well enough to see his facial expressions and for that, I was partially glad.

“You are going to leave. This place is not safe tonight. You did not even bother to pull a knife on me.” He inhaled and exhaled again. “You are lucky I was the first to grab you”

“I don’t fu…” I began, but something at the edge of my mind tugged at me again. I came all this way for a reason. “What do you mean tonight? It's always unsafe. First? Lucky you grabbed me first?”

I used every piece of my strength to shove him away from me and back into the opposite wall. “Lucas, what the fuck do you have planned?” Finally, I could see enough to distinguish the features of his face. He was still angry, but the exact emotion I’d seen on Braden after our fight was there too. Guilt, and regret.

“I was told to come here or stay away. I was warned,” I shoved him, although he couldn’t move. “What is going between you and my brother’s gang-

The rest of my sentence was silenced by the loud bang. My head swivelled to the right in time with Lucas’. The ear-splitting sound repeated. I could feel everything grow silent, no one in hearing distance would dare whisper. There was no more screams, no more cries, nothing. Guns were gone. No one could get one or the ammunition.

I didn’t wait to begin running straight back onto the street.

Lucas followed me shouting something, but I didn’t care. If he had caused this I would kill him myself in a minute.

Boys were running out onto the street from the Droshadass headquarters. I was only a single building away when a hand pushed me back towards the alleys.

“Lucas I will kill you!” I screamed, ripping myself free only to be met with another’s face.

“Shh, you shouldn’t be here.” Redhead grabbed my arm again, trying to pull me away from the growing chaos.

“Samael?” I asked, feet planted in place.

“Not the time to finally be learning names. Come on.” He continued to pull on me.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“Oliver. There’s no time to explain. I need to get you out of here.” I froze up further. Oliver meant trouble for Braden. Gunshots meant death. Braden couldn’t be dead. I… Liam needed him. He was his ticket into the gang, his ticket to survival. They could leave me a million times as long as they lived.

“Kera? Come on, you can’t be here.” Samael kept trying. “Listen to me! Braden’s fine!”

“He’s… fine?” I stumbled through my words. “But then… the gunshots?”

“I’ll explain once we’re farther away. Everyone is ok, no one was hit.” Samael’s grip on my wrist was getting more insistent.

“I can’t leave. I need to find him.” I pulled away.

“You can’t stay here. Oliver is still here. Kera he will hurt you!” Samael grabbed me for the third time and pulled on my wrist. Tired of being stretched it ached and I let out a small scream.

“Look what we have here.” Came an all too familiar voice from behind me. It caused a chilled shiver of disgust to run down my spine. He could speak simply, but his intentions were already clear.

Samael’s eyes filled with terror and in a final attempt he began to pull on me again, but before I could cooperate I was being pulled away from him by a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t go running off now sweetheart. I haven’t even gotten started.” Oliver’s voice slithered across the air and into my ear. His cool breath brushed against my skin, and I flinched away. He caught me with one hand around my shoulders and another gripped my chin, forcing me to look at his face.

His fingers were rough and his nails had already begun to bite into my soft flesh. His face only increased my terror. I had never liked him, but he hadn’t been ugly. Now any handsome part of his was marred. I could count at least a dozen cuts, with plenty more bruises. Many of those cuts would scar.

“Oh, you like your brother’s additions?” Oliver asked sickly before stepping closer, using the hand around my shoulder to caress my cheek. “Maybe I’ll give you a few of your own.” He whispered his eyes flaring with hatred.

“Let me go you arse,” I said. Oliver laughed, a chilling humourless laugh.

“Did I fail to make myself clear? You’ll be coming with me and there isn’t a no option available.” Oliver found a way to squeeze my chin tighter. I felt his nails piercing and I had to fight the urge to try and kick him. It wasn’t the ideal time to escape, I’d loose.

“I…” came a quiet mumbling from behind us.

Oliver turned his attention to the boy who still stood behind me. “Oh, Samael. You wouldn’t have been trying to help this little beauty escape. You know who’s really in charge here.

“Wouldn’t you think so sweetheart?” He asked me before speaking in a loud whisper, dark, but obviously letting Samael listen to every word. “Accept his loyalty has suffered greatly today. All it took was a short conversation this afternoon and I thought I had him on my side for tonight. But here he is betraying me too. I guess that’s what I get for trying to recruit a weak lackey of your brother’s. No real guts to find. Oh, well.”

The hand on my chin let go, but I was pushed into Oliver so I couldn’t see what was happening. I could still hear and it didn’t sound good. Oliver obviously had others with him and from the sound of a body hitting the street, I could tell they had pushed Samael down.

I was released from Oliver’s arms, but my freedom lasted only a couple seconds before another was holding me, at least this one let me face away from him. They were shorter and weaker and my normally efficient reflexes to defend myself finally seemed to be kicking in. I started to twist free from the hold when Oliver pulled a knife to my throat.

Not for the first time or the second that night a knife of my own wasn’t sounding so bad.

“Sweetheart. I think a preview of just a little of what’s to come is in order. Especially if you don’t start cooperating.” Oliver spoke, a slimy smile slipping across his lips as purely disgusting joy filled his eyes. He dared to laugh, it was dry and suddenly I felt all too happy to push myself into my current captor. No one could be worse than what stood in front of me, even in this world.

Oliver walked away from my back toward the red flop of hair that lay dazed in the dirt, a third evil boy standing over him. Oliver pulled that hair up until Samael was on his knees. The malicious laughter continued, haunting his every movement.

I shouldn’t have cared for the boy’s life. He was just another troubled youth who would die sooner or later. He knew what a gang could get him into. He had been stupid enough to get involved with the transition of leadership.

“Wait!” I shouted, trying to pull away from the arms that held me in some form of safety.

Oliver’s laughter stopped instantly, he did not move the knife as he turned to face me. Damn that stupid good part of me.

“Wait?” He hissed with more venom than any snake probably contained. He raised his eyebrows as his hand slowly began to drag the knife across Samael’s face. “Why would I wait sweetheart?”

My next words were even stupider, somehow. “Don’t cut up an already ugly canvas. It’s just a waste of time.”

Oliver smiled and I resisted my urge to gag. Instead, I made my expression as bored as I could.

“How right you are.” He pulled his knife away from Samael, a success.

Except his feet moved him back in my direction. A fucking idiot was what I was. An idiot about to die.