8

❦𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓮❦

It's been a few days since hanging out with Blake, Isaiah and Ace.

I can't stop thinking about them, the time I spent at the sandwich shop was enjoyable to say the least. Just thinking about Olivia warms my heart, she seems so caring and motherly. Something I've always dreamed of having in my life, but it's just that, a dream and nothing more. I need to just forget them.

I felt somewhat normal when I sat with them at the sandwich shop, it's something I haven't felt in a long time. The way Isaiah gave me a nickname made me feel like I had a friend. Ace was quiet and his size scared me at first, but I think he's actually a good guy. And Blake, he made my heart do little flips every time he looked in my direction.

But it's over now, I'll probably never see them again, so I need to stop thinking about how much I would love to have friends like them, or I'll end up sinking into a pit of depression.

I'm currently scrubbing a greasy wall in a very dirty kitchen that's located in the back of a bar.

I got this job a little unconventionally, even for me.

I was sitting at a picnic table at a park earlier today and two girls sat at the table next to me, after they complained about boys, the weather and about a hundred other topics. I heard one of the girls talk about how her boss was making her stay late to deep clean the kitchen by herself, apparently she has the habit of leaving a mess when she works, and her coworkers were tired of having to clean up after.

So I swooped in and said I was looking for some extra cash, and would clean for half of what her boss was paying her.

She agreed almost instantly, who wouldn't, she still gets money and doesn't have to get her hands dirty. Her one condition is that I had to agree to meet her at the back door and leave through the back door, so the cameras up front don't see me.

Little did she know, It's probably more important to me than it is her that I'm not seen. So that's how I scored this lovely job of scraping thick chunky grease off of appliances and walls.

The girl plays on her phone by the door leading to the dining room, but also keeps a lookout just in case her boss decides to show up.

One might say that I'm supposed to be upset that I'm doing all the hard work while she plays on her phone, but I don't mind.

This is the life I chose to get away from my brother and Tom, so while I might have to do the less desirable jobs while getting paid amounts that most people would consider child's play, at least I'm safe from them.

It's ten pm now, I've been cleaning since seven, I snuck in right after they closed down for the night.

I would think that the bar should be open this time of night, but according to the girl I'm helping clean, there is an event that may be somewhat illegal going on a few buildings down.

The people who attend the event get too aggressive when given alcohol, so the owner shuts down on nights like these instead of hiring extra bouncers to deal with the drunks.

I, of course was surprised to hear this information and when I questioned why she would be left alone here to clean late, especially when it isn't even safe to stay open for business. She informed me that they have never had anyone cause trouble when they are closed and she parked right out front so her and her boss feels like it's safe.

Lucky for me though, I didn't get to park up close, Jack is parked a block away and by the noise level increasing outside I can only imagine what a nightmare it's going to be to get back to him.

"Ok, I'm done." I spoke. The girl lifts her eyes away from her phone and looks around the place in surprise.

"Damn, you cleaned this place so well it looks better than when I first started working here two years ago." She exclaimed.

The noise of a door opening and shutting travels from the front of the establishment.

"Shit, my boss is here. Here take this and leave through the back. I'll distract him." She says in a rushed whisper.

I take the cash from her hand and nod in response. She pushed me towards the back door and ran out to the front room.

"Nico! What are you doing here?" Her voice doesn't give away that anything unusual is going on. Like a random girl trying to sneak her way to the back door without someone seeing.

"It's a big turnout for the fight tonight, so I decided to come down and make sure that you get to your car ok." His deep voice says with a hint of annoyance in it.

"Oh, ok. Thanks, I'll just go turn off the lights in the kitchen then I'm ready to go." I slowly open the door to the alley just enough to slip through, then close it without making a sound.

Right as my hand leaves the handle I hear a click of the lock. I'm officially alone at night in an alley now.

Nothing dangerous about that.

Looking away from the door and down the alley has my heart rate picking up. The alley was empty when I first got here at seven, now there are groups of people wandering around yelling at each other or leaning against the brick walls smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol.

The words that were said just minutes ago ring in my head, 'They get aggressive when given alcohol.' 'It's a big turnout for the fight.'

Two things that scare me. I can't think of two things that could make me want to curl up under a blanket and hide more than drunk guys and fighting.

I've had enough of that in my lifetime, been in enough situations where nights turned sour because of too much alcohol.

Just the smell of alcohol is enough to make my stomach turn and bile rise in the throat. I can't do this tonight, I can't go through that again.

I promised myself never again.

I need to get out of here.

A hard body slams into my shoulder sending me flying forward and onto the ground, my knees scrape painfully into the rough concrete.

"Watch it, whore." The man's voice sends tremors of fear through my veins. He walks off, leaving me on the ground.

And if I don't get out of here quickly, I won't be so lucky.

I know how fast things can go wrong. One wrong move, or make eye contact when I'm not supposed to or with the wrong people... I'll be left begging for mercy while I bleed out on the ground.

Right now anyone can see I'm an easy target, and I need to fix that if I want to make it back to Jack safely.

Sucking in a breath I stand up tall, even though all I want to do is curl up in a corner and cry, I need to act tough. Eyes hard, walk like you own the place, shoulders square and head high. Fake it till you make it has gotten me out of sketchy situations before, so hopefully it will get me out of this one as well.

I know I'm no match for any of these men, but they don't need to know that. One foot in front of the other, I keep my mask on as I head for Jack.

I can do this, I can and I will. I breathe out what has become my mantra these last few years. It's the only thing that will keep me from spiraling into a panic attack as I walk through this dark alley that is filling up with more rough looking men as the seconds pass.

I make it out of the alley and into a parking lot, looking to my left I see where the event is being held. A bunch of rowdy men are lined up in front of the double doors guarded by tall muscular men in all black.

Money is being waved around as people yell out bets and shout in each other's faces.

What in the world did I stubble into? I'd let myself be more curious about this if I wasn't trying to get out of here as fast as I can.

Halfway across the parking lot I'm forced to a stop as a man slides his way in front of me with a smirk.

Tough, Rose. Act tough.

I force all emotion but irritation out of my eyes and look directly at him. "Move." I sneered out, trying to convey I wasn't in the mood to be messed with right now.

The man let out a small chuckle. "Don't try to act tough with me, pretty girl. I saw you almost start crying after someone bumped shoulders with you in the alley." He leaned in close to my face, but I didn't move an inch as I maintained eye contact with him.

Stay strong and maybe he will back off, I thought to myself.

"I just want to have a little fun, that's all." He whispers in a gruff voice. His breath smells like a mixture of hard alcohol and morning breath. I want to vomit and not only from the smell.

Fun, he said. But I know fun for him will be anything but fun for me.

"Not interested." I grit out, blood is pumping through me so fast I'm afraid I might burst, or worse, pass out.

He cocks his head to the side, his smirk is gone as he bites his lip as he looks at mine. "I wasn't asking." He scoffs, lifts his head and stands straight up and he towers over me as he takes a step towards me.

I take a step back out of instinct and let my act drop, I didn't mean to, but it happened and there is no turning back. He saw the fear flash through my eyes.

It was too late. I messed up. Again.

Abort mission, this is bad, very bad. I have to figure out another way to get out of this, playing tough isn't going to work now.

My stun gun, I have my stun gun in my back pocket! I start to reach around to my back pocket to grab the stun gun, but as soon as my arm starts to move the man's eyes flick down to my hand.

Shoot, he lunges for me and I try to turn around and make a run for it, but I'm met with another guy's hard chest.

A rough grip on my wrist yanks me back to the man and I can feel his horrid breath on the side of my head as he leans down.

"Don't waste your energy. My friend and I have you outnumbered." He whispers in my ear causing my blood to run cold.

Panic, I want to panic but I can't. I have to stay calm and figure a way out. I would scream, but the men who are paying attention to what's going on only watch with a glint in their eye.

No one in this crowd would help me.

So instead I lift my leg up and knee him where no man wants to be kneed. "Mother fucker!" He wheezes out as he hunches over.

I yank my arm out of his loosened grip and take off running. Two steps into my run I'm forced to a stop by someone yanking on the back of my shirt.

"Not a smart choice." The friend growls. His free hand travels up to my head and his cold fingers slide through my hair.

I try to suppress a cry of pain as his hand turns into a fist and painfully tugs my hair, but a whimper escapes anyway.

The man's friend drags me back over to him as he recovers from the hit and stands up again, only this time with eyes that glare into mine as if he's trying to tell me how much he wants to make me suffer without using words.

His friend doesn't let go of my hair as he holds me in front of him, I claw at his hands, twist and turn trying to get him to release me. But all it does is send shooting pain across my scalp.

I try again, reaching for the stun gun in my back pocket. My fingers skim it, but are yanked away before I can get a good grip.

As my hand is yanked out of my back pocket the stun gun is too, landing at the feet of the man in front of me. He looks at it, then at me and kicks it far into the crowd of people.

"What're you gonna do now, bitch?" His nostrils flared in anger and his eyes burned into mine.

My face pales and breathing picks up. I'm done for, he knows it, I know it, everyone watching knows it.

"I was gonna go easy on you, but that's not going to happen now." He grips my face in his hand and squeezes tight, I flinch at the pain, but it doesn't matter. It's nothing compared to what he's about to do to me.

His friend lets go of my hair with a laugh. "Told you it was a bad idea." He whispers into my ear before he takes a step pack.

Hopeless, that's how I feel right now.

"Let's go have some fun." He smirks, let's go of my face and grips onto my upper arm.

No, no no no no. Please no. I'm panting for air, the panic for what's to come washing over me and causing me to feel like I'm drowning, but I'm surrounded by air.

I try to pry his dirty fingers off of my arm, but my muscles are barely working, everything feels heavy and black spots start to dance across my vision.

He starts walking forward, pulling me with him.

And then I feel nothing, not because he let me go, not because I got away. But because my brain and body gave up trying to prevent something that's inevitable.

I gave up. I hate myself for doing it, but I gave up on me.

Voices become muffled as I walk beside my attacker. Maybe this is just how my life is supposed to be.

I made it away from my brother, and from Max. But, did it even really matter? Was my life ever supposed to be happy, or was I just made to be tormented for the joy of others?

"Rose?" A familiar voice calls out.

I lazily lift my head to look for the body of the voice. Suddenly a blurry Isaiah is standing in front of me with a huge smile on his face.

I hear a muffled curse from my attacker's friend as he bolts in the other direction.

"What are you doing here?" He questions. His eyes travel down my arm to where the guy's firm grip still holds me hostage and frowns.

The grip is instantly released and I find myself being able to breathe again as the world comes back into focus.

Isaiah is here? He might help me... he wouldn't leave me here with this guy, would he?

"Shit, you're that friend of those two fighters aren't you?" My attacker says, a hint of fear laced in his once arrogant voice as he takes a step away from me.

Isaiah nods his head yes slowly, but his gaze on the man turns hard and accusing at the way he's acting.

"Fuck." My attacker curses as his eyes dart around. He looks back at Isaiah and gulps, then takes off running.

I watch his body disappear into the night, he's gone.

He's really gone.

Hello again. Anyone else living in a place that's polluted with wildfire smoke right now? I went hiking the other day and my lungs are still recovering.

~Whitetigerpaw

Quote

I think hell is something you carry around with you. Not somewhere you go. -Neil Gaiman