Fighting For Life

by Kylie Alyssa Forte

  I tried to scoot myself out of the other end of the tunnel, but he had ahold of one of my feet tightly. I kept kicking him in the face with my other foot, but he eventually got a hold of that one as well.

  When he finally entered the tunnel, all I could smell was the stench of alcohol and cigarettes burning my nostrils, reminding me of my childhood. All of this was way to close to my childhood.

  “I saw him drop you off earlier tonight. So, naturally, I followed you.” He was sitting on my legs in order to not let me move. “I mean, honestly, you threw me for a loop when you turned around and came here instead of going into a house.” He paused and waited for a reaction from me. “I left you alone though. I told myself that if you were still here when I got back, then I would see what all the fuss is about when it comes to you. And now, here you are . . .” he said, trailing off.

  He was hunched over me straddling my hips while holding my hands above my head. He was a lot bigger than me, so I had to play it smart.

  He looked me up and down hungrily, making me want to gag.

  “You have far too many clothes on,” he stated, trying to tug on the sleeve of my winter coat, ripping it slightly along the way.

  He only had one hand holding my hands at the time, so I took that moment to break them free. I needed to get out! I punched blindly in front of me coming into contact with him several times. I could hear his grunts and groans as I came into contact with him. My fists were flying out in front of me trying to hit him anywhere possible. I didn’t even feel the pain in my knuckles that should have been there as I came into contact with the plastic tunnel around us. I was just focused on getting out.

  Before I knew it, he was punching me as well, coming into contact with my body, mostly where my jacket absorbed most of the hits. He did get me in the face a few times. However, I didn’t know where though. I couldn’t feel anything as I was just trying to get away.

  I wiggled my body out of the tunnel enough to where most of his weight was solely only on my calves. I used that out of balanced leverage to roll over on my belly to try and crawl the rest of the way out of the opening.

  Before I could get very far, he grabbed hold of my hair tightly.

  Why does everyone go for my hair like little bitches?

  “You little bitch!” he growled with so much disdain in his voice. “You better be fucking worth all of this shit.”

  He roughly pulled my backwards until my back was flushed with his front. I could feel his dick hard against my back and began to panic. He began unzipping my jacket but before he could get even halfway down with the zipper, I threw my head back into his face. There was a loud crack, and I was positive that it was his nose.

  He let go of me abruptly at the pain. I quickly used that time to crawl out of the opening. Right before I got my whole body out of the tunnel, he jerked my leg back. It made me lose my balance on my hands, and I faceplanted onto the hard playground equipment underneath me. I felt blood fill my mouth, but I quickly shook his grip off of my foot and ran away as fast I possibly could.

  I had to get away!

  I heard him trying to run after me, but I was far too fast and determined for him to keep up with for more than half a minute. He gave up his pursuit of me quickly.

  That didn’t make me go any slower though. I just ran. I ran until I was far enough away from him in my mind. It just so happened that “far enough away” was on the other side of town, right near the gym.

  When I finally stopped running, I began coughing painfully. Every breath that I took felt like someone was sticking a burning knife into my side and back. I’m sure that ridiculous run-in did not help my ribs at all.

  I continued trying to breathe, but it was too painful and harsh. I could feel myself swaying and the edges of my vision going dark as I almost passed out due to the immense pain and lack of oxygen. I collapsed onto the sidewalk below me and just laid there for a few minutes, eventually, I was able to breathe again, albeit very painfully.

  I finally got up after a while of getting my shit together. I began walking to the gym which was pretty close to where I had landed. However, I felt blood still seeping down my face and sighed. I had to get cleaned up before anything.

  I found myself in a convenient store restroom, staring at myself in the mirror.

  I looked messed up. It wasn’t as bad as it was when Daniel had beaten the shit out of me, but I still looked pretty messed up.

  My nose had blood dripping from it profusely. There was a giant black bruise on the whole right side of my face. It took up the place on my face from my temple and all the way down to my jaw. The left side of my chin had a small very dark bruise on it. My whole face was fucked.

  I quickly cleaned up my face. Underneath the blood, it didn’t look quite as bad, but it was still pretty gnarly. I dug through my backpack, frantically, looking for my makeup bag to cover up all the damage. However, right then, I realized that I had left the makeup bag in my school locker.

  I was so screwed.

  I heaved a sigh and walked out of the restroom at that revelation. It was as good as it was going to get without make up to cover up the damage.

  I walked to the door, about to make my way to they gym before I realized that I had no earthly idea what time it actually was.

  “What time is it, sir?” I asked the clerk.

  “Five-thirty,” he answered, studying my beat-up face wearily. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

  I sighed at that question. “Yes sir, I’m okay,” I answered, looking to the bananas by his register. “How much for a banana?” I asked, thinking about the quarter in my pocket. I was starving.

  “Just take one, on the house.”

  “Thank you so much!” I said, taking one from the bunch and trying to smile. Although, it hurt my jaw incredibly.

  “No problem, Miss. I hope your day gets better.”

  It was cold outside, but I guess my adrenaline was still pumping because I couldn’t feel it at all. I made it to the gym a few minutes later after finishing my banana. Aiden’s truck was already in the parking lot. Of course, it was. I was already late as heck especially for me.

  I had no idea how I was going to explain what my bruises were to Aiden. He already wanted to hurt James. If he found out that it was him, he’d kill him.

  ***

  Aiden

  It had been only eight hours, actually less since I had seen Aubry, but who’s counting?

  Me. I was counting. It was becoming unhealthy. I felt like I was becoming completely obsessed.

  Brandon had actually showed up to come to the gym for our early morning session too. It was the first time in seemingly a long while since he’d decided to come in the morning with us. It was surprising for him to join us, nonetheless.

  As we waited for Aubry to come in, B was going on about some girl that he had been messing around with. I couldn’t really focus on him and his predicament, though, the only thing I could think of was the fact that it was past five-thirty, and Aubry was not there yet.

  Granted, she was only a few minutes late, but it was not like her to be late. In fact, she was usually very early in the mornings. I tried not to panic. I mean, I knew that she had broken her routine that morning because she was supposed to get her dad to drive her, but still, something felt off.

  “Chill dude! I’m sure she’s fine. Her dad was probably just running late.” Brandon shrugged while patting my shoulder. He was trying to be comforting.

  A few more minutes passed while I listened to Brandon’s gibberish. Then I heard it. It, being the slam of the front door.

  Brandon stuck his head out of the office and yelled, “Hey Aub!”

  “Hey B.” I heard her say in a soft voice, it was like music to my ears. I heaved a sigh of relief. Thank God she was okay. I had been way more worried than I even cared to admit.

  “Well, I guess that’s my cue to get to work,” Brandon said and scurried out of the office before Aubry even came in.

  I stood outside of t
he training room door to greet her properly and tease her about being late. She walked out of the locker room slowly with her head down. That wasn’t super unusual for her, though. That was how she always walked at school, so I thought nothing of it. She walked by me with her head still down, not saying anything to me. I figured that she might not be in a good mood.

  “Good morning. I’ll excuse your tardiness today. Just don’t make a habit out of it, young padawan,” I joked playfully, trying to get her to crack a smile.

  She was already past me and through the door. However, probably to placate me, she playfully reached her hand back and softly tapped me on the chest while laughing.

  Something caught my eye before she pulled her hand away with dark bruises and cuts.

  I pulled her small hand up closer to my face and examined it, effectively making her stop walking. Her knuckles looked broken. That was certainly not how they looked the day before.

  I gently pulled her backwards by her arm and pulled her face up to look at me. I just had a feeling that her knuckles were not the only issue. What I saw was definitely not what I expected.

  “What the hell happened to you?” I asked furiously.

  Who hurt my Aubry? She stayed silent.

  “Aubry, who the fuck hurt you?!” I practically yelled.

  I was so angry as I looked her over. She had bruises on her face, the biggest of which occupied almost the whole left side of her face! Her nose was clearly swollen and bruised. Oh yeah, and there were strangle marks on her neck. Someone fucking choked her! I was beyond pissed.

  “Aiden, I’m fine!” she said as if there was absolutely nothing wrong, even as she said that, there was a small amount of blood that had began seeping out of her nose.

  I quickly pulled off the shirt that I had on. “Bullshit! Look at your face,” I stated and then ever so gently wiped the blood from her nose with my shirt and showed it to her.

  She seemed rather surprised that there was blood on the shirt. Saying nothing else, she took the shirt that I offered her and continued to wipe her bloody nose.

  “Aiden what are you yelling at? It’s too damn early to be yelling!” Brandon said crankily while walking into the room. His eyes eventually landed on Aubry as he looked between us. “Aubry, what the hell?! Who hurt you?”

  “Guys, seriously, I’m fine!” she said breezily. It only irritated me further. “You should see the other guy!” she tried joking.

  Neither of us found it funny. Frankly, I didn’t care what the other person looked like. It was nothing compared to what I was going to do to him.

  Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind, and I sincerely hoped that I was wrong. I had to assume though. I mean, she didn’t look like that when I dropped her off at her house.

  “Aubry, did your dad do this? Does your dad beat you?” I asked hesitantly. “That would make sense as to why you have all of those sca—”

  She cut me off quickly.

  “No, my dad didn’t do this.” She paused and frowned for a second, “I just got into a little fight—”

  “A little fight?!” I said, cutting her off. “Aubry, you broke your damn knuckles! Whoever it was tried to strangle you!”

  Her eyebrows furrowed, and she touched her neck with a frown. She looked genuinely surprised at that.

  “You went from having one bruise on your knuckles last night, to them being broken, and then also show up with your face bloody and beat up! How did this happen overnight?”

  “Aiden, there are just some things you are better off not knowing. This is one of those things, okay? Just know that I am fine. I promise that I’m okay!” she said softly without meeting my eyes.

  I was trying really hard to respect her wishes, but I was so sick of hearing those words from her. I was sick of wanting to know her and understand her, but her never giving me a chance. I just wanted to help her!

  “That’s all it ever is with you! ‘It’s better like this, you don’t need to know. It doesn’t matter!’ I want to know, Aubry! I want to learn things about you! I want to understand why you are the way you are! But you have to let me in!” I yelled and slowly walked up to her. I cupped her non-injured cheek and looked deeply into her eyes. I wanted her so badly, and it was so much deeper than just that sexual innate desire that usually filled my head. I wanted her in a deeply passionate sort of way. “I want to know you!”

  I could feel her breathing heavily as my forehead was against hers. “You want to know me?” she asked softly and looked up into my eyes.

  “Everything about you,” I answered.

  “My mom killed herself,” she told me softly.

  I was stunned in silence.

  “You want to know me, so we’ll start off slow and at the beginning,” she said and stood up straighter. “That, my mom killing herself, is the first real and stable childhood memory that I have. I mean, some of the earlier years sometimes will make an appearance in my mind, but the first fundamental and concrete memory that I have was when my mom killed herself.”

  She took a pause and looked at me. She was seemingly looking for any indicator that I was going to run away. I stayed firmly in place and brushed my thumb against her cheek.

  “I was six when she shot herself. I had just gotten home from school when I went up to her room to check and see if she was home . . . She had been there for five hours before I found her.”

  I sucked in a deep breath a that revelation. “There was so much blood everywhere, and I remember the awful and burning feeling of having to choke my own bile back down my esophagus. Even now, sometimes I can just smell it . . . that rusty smell and the stench of death. It follows me wherever I go.”

  She shook her head and scrunched her face. “And her eyes . . . the exact same color as mine glossed over, wide-opened, and staring at nothing . . . or maybe she was seeing something, I’m not sure. Either way they were dead, simply, and unmistakably . . . dead.”

  I stared at her in horror. She was only six. How could a six-year-old see something like that?

  “Aubry . . .” I didn’t know what to say.

  “That’s just the tip of the iceberg, Aid. That’s only the beginning.” She paused and swallowed harshly with tears in her eyes. “Don’t you see?”

  “See what, Aub?”

  “That you shouldn’t want to know me!” she yelled, taking me aback. “That should have sent you running for the hills!”

  “I . . .” I paused and looked at her once again. Her eyes were teary as they were practically begging. I wasn’t sure what they were begging for, though. Was it for understanding? Or for solitude? Either way, I knew that I couldn’t leave her alone.

  “But it didn’t.” I finally told her firmly. “It didn’t, and I’m still here.”

  She sobbed at my words, and I wrapped her up in a hug. She instantly sagged against me, letting me support her. She was letting me help her.

  “Well, this is awkward . . .” Brandon said from beside us.

  Aubry laughed in response and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

  “I’m just gonna go and hit stuff. Are you sure you’re okay, Aubry? Because I have no qualms with going and beating a few asses for you,” he said it so nonchalantly that even I laughed.

  “I’m fine, Brandon. Thank you though.”

  Brandon nodded and then left the room with a frown on his usually happy face.

  I sighed and finally sat her down on the doctor’s chair. “I’m not going to accept that answer, but for now we’ll archive it,” I said, gritting my teeth while looking at her knuckles. “They might not be broken, but they’re severely bruised, if not. I’ll have to have Tommy look at them. No punching today, that’s for sure.”

  She opened her mouth which I was sure to argue with me, but I didn’t let her get a word out.

  “And I don’t want to hear anything about it. You’re hurt, and you can badly injure yourself if you don’t take a timeout,” I told her harshly.

  I let go of her hand to put some ice on it. I sighed as I
looked at all of her injuries and gritted my teeth. She was going to be the death of me.

  ***

  The school day was going by slow, painfully slow. The only thing that I could think of were Aubry’s injuries and whoever the hell did that to her.

  I knew that I was being crazy. I mean, I had seen Aubry knock out men who were over two hundred pounds before. Obviously, she could handle herself. That was beside the point, though. Someone hurt her, and I wanted to show them once and for all that hurting her was not an option. Not while I was around.

  I walked into the lunchroom with a purpose of seeing Aubry to make sure that she was okay. Bri and Brandon were already sitting at the lunch table laughing together. However, Aubry wasn’t there yet; she was always the first one there.

  I sat down in the same chair that I was in the day before as I pulled my lunch out of my bag. I watched the door, carefully looking for one person, and one person only. A few minutes later, I finally saw Aubry making her way slowly to us. She obviously was not okay.

  “Oh my gosh Aubry, what happened to you?” Briana asked, concerned.

  “Nothing, I’m fine!” Aubry emphasized the last part.

  I ignored her lie and watched her for a second. She made no moves to go get any food from line or pull out any lunch from her bag.

  “You don’t have any lunch,” I stated my keen observation.

  “I never eat lunch.” She shrugged.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Not hungry, I guess.”

  “You need to eat.” I tore my turkey sandwich in half and put my chips in between us. “Here.”

  “Aiden, no it’s fine. I’m not hungry anyways,” she stated, pushing the sandwich back towards me.

  “Take the damn sandwich Aubry,” I said, quickly looking at her intensely.

  She crumbled after only a few seconds and thanked me profusely. I waved it off and smiled as she ate the sandwich happily.

  There was light small talk between all of us. We all avoided the elephant in the room; the elephant being Aubry’s bruised face. We all pretended that we didn’t notice her low gasps of pain or her grimace right after she tried to smile.