by TJ Hines
There was no sign of my phone in the backseat floorboard or the backseat itself. Dammit! I twisted around managing to not get caught by the grasping hands and looked in the front. Of course, it would be in the floorboard in the front seat. Dammit, dammit, dammit! The Hummer kept swaying, the hands kept grasping, and I was left with no other alternatives. I had to get to that phone. I crawled my way forward, enough to be able to dive and get the phone. I kept my legs as straight as possible. I took a deep breath, trying to give myself some courage.
On the next sway to the left, I dove the opposite way and grabbed the phone, hoping the arms were out of reach of my body. When the car swayed back the other way, I pulled myself back to the middle. I rolled over on my back and lay there, trying to catch my breath and calm down. When I finally managed to regain some kind of composure, I punched in the numbers 9-1-1. There was a loud sound—in front of the vehicle, a bright flash—that seemed oddly familiar, and then someone’s body landed on the roof of the Tahoe. I screamed and tried to move myself back to a crouching position on the floor. But when I started to move, the guy on the roof grabbed my shoulders through the sunroof. I tried to get free of him and when I did, I made another mistake. My right leg went wide during my struggling and one of the guys standing next to the window grabbed it.
I tried kicking him with my left leg, but between the swaying and being pulled in two—I couldn’t land a hard-enough kick to make him let go. Shit! I screamed again in pain. Both of them were pulling now in opposite directions. I dropped my phone. Again.
“Kinsey! Hang on!”
“Will! Help me!” I screamed as the two guys started pulling me in opposite directions again.
I was about five seconds from passing out from the pain when suddenly both guys let go and I smacked the middle console. Ouch. Definitely gonna leave a mark. I laid there for a few seconds, almost forgetting I was in danger. I slid slowly back down into the back floorboard. Now what? I looked around and noticed that only a handful of guys were surrounding the vehicle. Where the hell were the others? About the time I thought it someone landed on the top of the Tahoe. I yelled out every curse word I knew.
“Damn girl. You’re worse than a sailor!” Drew said as he jumped down from the top of the car. “I leave you with a beautiful machine and come back to this.” He said gesturing with his hands at the damage.
“Yeah well, I decided to throw an after-hours party! My bad!” I said sarcastically as I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Well, where the hell was my invitation? I mean you used my vehicle…my beautiful vehicle—which is trashed now.”
“Would you believe me if I said it got lost in the mail? Watch out!”
Drew ducked even before I got the words out of my mouth. A guy came at him with a baseball bat from behind. I don’t have a clue how he knew to duck. Because if that would have been me, frat boy would have hit a home run instead of striking out. Drew moved faster than I thought was humanly possible. He had the guy around the neck, picked him up, and threw him 20 feet into a growing pile of frat guys.
“How the hell did you do that?” I asked still shaking my head in amazement at what I had seen.
“What? Oh that! I’ll explain later. We need to move now.” He said reaching into the Tahoe and pushing the unlock button. He opened the back door and looked in at me grinning from ear to ear. “Well, you coming out or do you want to sit in there while we finish these guys off?”
I thought about it for a split second. Either staying in the vehicle like I had been trapped for the past…I don’t even know how many hours…or going out there where those crazy guys were. I was alone if I stayed in the car, but I wouldn’t be if I went with Drew now. My friends would protect me like I would protect them.
“I’m comin’ with you. Let’s kick some ass.”
“Hold on there, teeny tiny Rambo. I didn’t say you could kick any ass. You get to observe us handle the situation from a safe distance, while you look after Addison,” he said with an arm raised to block me from exiting.
“You found her? Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.” I scrambled out of the vehicle and gave him a huge hug. “Where is she?”
“With Ensley right now, but he needs to help us—so you need to look after her. Understood?” He sounded so grown up and mature. Unlike the Drew from a couple of minutes ago. “Kinz, you need to prepare yourself. Addison is pretty messed up.” He must have seen my mouth drop open and the scared look on my face because he quickly added, “But she will be okay in a day or two.”
We ran over to where Ensley was guarding Addison. He was fighting with one guy, but the guy was a lot bigger than him, so Ensley was not fairing so well. Drew walked up, tapped the guy on the shoulder, and punched him when he turned around to see who had tapped him. Drew then picked the guy up and threw him into the pile. I saw six guys in the pile, so where were the other six? Oh, no. Will and Ella.
“Where are Will and Ella?”
“They’re fine. Probably having a blast fighting those freaks. Stay with Addison. I’m gonna go get them. Ensley, don’t leave their side.”
Ensley nodded and took up a guarding stance in front of us. I turned my attention towards Addison. I sat down next to her and turned her towards me. I gasped so loud that Ensley heard me.
“She’s going to be okay, Kinsey. Trust me. She passed out on the way back here, but mostly because she was so tired. Most of that is superficial.” He seemed so sure about the severity of her injuries, that I wanted to ask when the hell did he got a medical degree. But I thought better of it. Especially since he was risking his life for ours.
“Addison, I am so sorry this happened,” I said as I turned her face back and forth to look at it. She had a black eye, a busted lip, and some small scrapes on her face. Her costume was ripped up and was barely covering her anymore. I didn’t even want to think about how it got ripped up.
“Hey, Ens.”
“Yeah.”
“I need to run to the Tahoe really quick and get a blanket for Addison…she’s shivering.”
“Uh, I don’t know about that Kinz. Drew was pretty adamant about you staying put.”
“Ensley its fifty feet away, not Mexico. I’ll be right back.” I got up, not waiting for a reply, and ran—okay, well mostly hobbled because my feet still hurt—to the back of the vehicle. I opened the back door, grabbed two blankets and didn’t even bother to close it back. I just started to run back to Addison.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“My cell? Dammit.” I turned back around, ran back to the car, opened the front door, and grabbed my cell out of the floorboard. As I was turning back around something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Well someone—not something. And that someone was Tyler. He had some nerve. Why the hell was he back now? All the danger was gone. What an asshole. I wanted to walk up to him and smack him for leaving me to fend for myself. I looked right at him, sending every ounce of hatred I could at him. He was smiling. A wicked little smile and it made my insides twist into a knot. He pointed at something behind me, which made me grew cold. Very cold.
I turned and saw the pile of frat boys, who at one point were all passed out cold, start moving again. I looked back at Tyler, but he was gone. That little bastard! That’s twice he’s left me. Well, at least this time, I’m not alone. I turned back to my friends and started running towards them, but I wasn’t fast enough. Ensley was caught off guard by two frat boys. They had him pinned to the wall next to where Addison was passed out at. Crap! I looked around for a weapon. Someone had to have dropped one earlier, right? I spotted a bat lying in the middle of the street. I ran after it dropping the blankets as I ran. I figured Addison would rather me save her future boyfriend than get her a blanket.
I ran back to Ensley, making myself run faster with every painful step. A frat guy jumped out in front of me. I never hesitated. I swung the bat right into his stomach, knocking the breath out of him, and making him double over. To make sure this time he stayed down, I lifte
d the bat up and brought it down on his back, sending him to the pavement. I wanted to keep pounding the guy, but Ensley needed me. I walked up behind the smaller guy holding Ensley and hit him in the back, too. He lurched forward and let go of Ensley’s right side. Unfortunately, the bigger guy turned on me then.
And this was the guy who I had kicked earlier tonight. Magic mountain dude. He dropped Ensley, who started fighting the smaller guy.
“Ens, um, do you wanna switch?”
Ensley looked at the guy that was coming towards me. He laughed. “Uh, not really…but okay.”
“I’m glad to see you can find humor in this situation.” I ducked and hit the smaller guy again with the bat. This time he went down. But I kicked him a few times to make sure.
“Hey, Kinz. A little help?”
I looked back over at Ensley and Magic Mountain dude and could not help but laugh. The guy had Ensley in a bench press above his head. Ensley had his arms folded over his chest in a resigned position. Which made me laugh even harder. “Catch.” I tossed the bat up to Ensley, who caught it easily.
Ensley gripped the bat and attempted to hit the mountain beneath him. Which didn’t work, because well, Ensley was not facing the guy and couldn’t get a good angle to swing from. And then the guy started spinning Ensley around, like a merry go round. “Not working, Kinsey.”
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Not funny…not funny at all,” Ensley yelled at me as I started searching for another weapon to use.
I ran back to the Tahoe, where all the Deltas had converged earlier tonight to terrorize me. I found another bat and a crowbar. I dropped the crowbar—wasn’t long enough—I needed at least three foot of safety.
When I made it back to Ensley, he looked sick of all the spinning. Literally.
“Hold on, Ens. This is probably going to hurt.” Ensley didn’t have time to say anything. I took a batting stance and when Magic Mountain spun back around facing me, I swung—with every ounce of energy in my body. He didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch. He looked down at me, dropped Ensley, and started coming towards me. Well, at least Ensley was free. I couldn’t see him because the dude was huge, but I heard the bat make contact with something—hard, as hard as a rock. Dude still didn’t go down.
“Ens, on the count of three, start beating the hell out of him, ‘kay?”
“Screw, three.” I barely had time to process his words when I heard the bat strike again. I shrugged. Works for me. Ensley and I came at Magic Mountain from both sides. And we were hardly doing any damage at all. How is that possible?
“Wait, I have an idea,” I yelled at Ensley.
“I’m listening,” Ensley yelled back over the massive guy.
“Stand back,” I said as I took a position with my bat, pretending like it was a golf club. I’ve never played real golf, but I have on the Wii and I have to say I am damn good. I brought the bat back and swung with all my might. And it worked. Magic Mountain dude grabbed his valuables and dropped to his knees, moaning. I took another stance, swung again, and hit him in the back, knocking him forward. Still alive, but hopefully out cold.
Ensley winced in pain when he saw what I did.
“Damn, Kinsey. That’s harsh. What did he do to you?” Drew said from behind me. Now, he shows up.
“He said I was being harsh, jerkface. Want some?” I said turning around to face him, bat swung casually over my shoulder.
“I’m good. I like to keep my manhood intact.”
“Where the hell have you been? Ensley and I have had our hands full here. Oh, shit. Addison.” Ensley took off towards her, while I looked back down at the big dude. “Drew we need to get out of here. These guys are freaky, and they won’t stay down.”
“I agree with Kinsey; we need to get out of here,” Will said walking towards us carrying another frat guy. He dumped him in the pile and gave me that slow sexy smile that I missed so much. I wanted to run into his arms, but my feet were starting to hurt again, now that the adrenaline was dying down. So, instead, I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him.
“Are you okay? Where’s Ella?”
“She’s right behind me. We’re both fine. Minor cuts and bruises, but nothing major…are you okay? Kinsey, if I would have known…I never would have left you…I just thought…I’m so sorry…”
“There is nothing to be sorry for. You had no idea this was going to happen. I’m okay. Seriously.” I spun around for him to see that I didn’t have a scratch on me. Technically, I did have some scratches and my throat was still a little sore from earlier, but even it felt better. My feet gave me away though. I winced with pain. I am throwing these damn shoes away when I get home.
“Uh-huh. You sound pain-free. Up you go.” Will picked me up and walked me back to the Tahoe. Drew opened the side door and raked the glass out of the seat with part of his robe. I still can’t believe he dressed up as a monk. Will sat me down gently, I slid over, and he climbed in after me.
“I’m okay, really. It’s just my feet.”
“I know, but I have a lot to make up for so I thought carrying you was the least I could do. Kinz, I promise…I will never leave you again.” He reached over and pulled me onto his lap. “We have to make room for everyone else,” he said winking at me.
“I could always sit in the cargo area,” I said starting to wiggle free. He wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m not letting you go. So, you might as well stop trying to break free.” He said in a deep throaty voice. His right hand brushed the hair away from my face.
I blushed and looked down at my hands that were resting in my lap. “Will. We need to talk about what you said earlier tonight…at the party.” I decided that I had to tell him how I felt about him too because after the night I had I knew better than to take life for granted. I wanted to live each day to the fullest.
“Oh. Yeah about that. I’m sorry I caught you off guard. It was just…” He looked off into space.
The door on the other side opened and Drew looked in at us.
“Are you two finished? Because if you’re not we could give you guys a little more privacy…not like we’re in trouble or anything.” He rolled his eyes and cleared some more of the glass out of the seat. Drew lifted a still knocked out Addison into the vehicle.
Ensley and Ella got in the front. Ensley had to drive because Drew said that the last time Ella drove one of his vehicles—it ended up at the bottom of a lake. Ella shot Drew the finger for that comment and called him a dumbass. I couldn’t help but laugh at them, they were hilarious. They bickered up until we reached our apartment building. Drew carried Addison upstairs to the guys' apartment. I wasn’t sure if Abby was home but I sure as hell didn’t want to deal with her shit tonight. The rest of us brought up the rear. I wasn’t sure about everyone else but I was exhausted. Physically and mentally. I needed to sleep for like 24 hours but unfortunately Will wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Kinsey we definitely need to talk about tonight…like right now.” He said closing the apartment door behind us.
Addison was still out from what I could tell. Everyone else was seated wherever they could find a spot and were waiting for us.
“So, what’s the plan?” Drew asked.
“First, Kinsey you need to tell us everything that happened tonight starting with when Mike grabbed you. It seemed so out of character for him.”
I told them everything I remembered. I told them all about how Mike’s eyes and the frat guys we fought had the same color eyes. I told them about Tyler coming to sit with me, even when Will gave me that I can’t believe you did that look. I also told them about how Tyler ran off when I was in danger and how I had seen him right before Ensley was attacked. I even mentioned how I kept getting these really bad migraines.
“How bad were they?” Ella asked.
“Bad, I haven’t ever felt pain like that. I felt like my skull was ripping apart.”
“What were you doing when they
came on?” Ensley asked.
“Nothing. The first time was right before I saw the frat guys show up on the street. Tyler was with me then. The second time was when they attacked the Tahoe. Tyler was with me then, till he bailed like a chicken.”
Nobody said anything. They just sat there. I looked over at Will. He was furious. I looked back at everyone else. They were all sitting there with the same expression Will had. Will finally looked over at me, he held my hand, and then stood up.
“We can’t stay here any longer. They know we’re here. Drew get us a vehicle. Ensley take Addison to my room. Check her out and make sure she’s okay. I am going downstairs with Kinsey to help her pack some clothes. Ella call Jack and tell him what’s going on and that we are headed his way now!”
Everyone got up and did as they were told. Wait…what was going on?
“Jack…Jack who? What is going on?” I asked Will.
“Your brother, Jack. And he will have to explain what’s going on.”
