Caged 2 (Caged Series)

by Destiny Hawkins

  Terry

  My heart stopped for a second when I saw her name. Any trouble that she was in meant trouble that she probably caused. It was the same way for me when I lived in California years ago. I would end up in a jam because of my short temper which ended with me being jumped or badly hurt. I was a great fighter, but I was never trained to fight more than one person.

  I grabbed my duffel bag and threw it over my shoulder, then I slammed my locker shut and rushed for the exit.

  “Where you going!?” Abigale asked while drying her hair.

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I went through the back door. I had finally gotten back to my black 2017 jeep liberty and got inside, then I dialed the number that she texted me from and held the phone to my ear.

  It rang twice before Terry answered. She sounded like she was out of breath, “Rose?”

  “Yeah, is everything okay? What’s wrong?”

  “They’re chasing me,” she said through her panting. “It’s too many of them!”

  “Who’s chasing you-wait, where are you?”

  “By the school,” Terry said. “Rose, hurry!”

  “I’m on my way!” I threw the phone in the passenger seat, started the car, and hit the gas.

  ***

  When I pulled up to the school there was nothing but a few street lights on. I pulled up into the parking lot and searched around for Terry, but there was no one.

  I squeezed on the steering wheel and took a deep breath to calm myself down. I was afraid that she may have been hurt, or had badly hurt someone else. Either way, I was too afraid that I would be coming up on a body.

  I stopped the car in the middle of the parking lot when I didn’t spot a soul, then started honking on my horn. Maybe Terry could hear it, or maybe whoever was chasing her had run off. Either way, something had to work. My horn was pretty damn loud tonight and she couldn’t have gotten far.

  I honked the horn a few more times and sat there for a moment. My phone beeped again and I picked it up. It was another text from Terry.

  I hear you.

  I was in the midst of texting her back when I got another text.

  Look up.

  I looked up and saw nothing there. Then I looked from left to right. Still nothing. Now I was starting to feel like she set me up, so I reached into my glove compartment and pulled out my revolver.

  I waited a few more minutes when I saw someone coming from around the school. Whoever it was, was either drunk or badly injured by the way he or she was walking. The person was hunched over while holding his side, and my first thought was that it was one of Terry’s victims, but after driving the car a little closer I could see that the person was actually Terry.

  Terry looked a mess. Her hair was out of its ponytail and hung down the sides of her face, her lip was bleeding along with a dripping bloody nose, and she had blood stains going down the front of her white T-shirt.

  Terry tripped, but didn’t fall and stopped to lean against the school. She held her side, but I saw no blood, which told me that she was having trouble with her ribs.

  “Terry, what the hell?” I pulled over by the school sidewalk and jumped out of the car, then I tucked my gun in my waistband and walked over to her. “What the hell happened?” I asked.

  Terry gave a tired laugh, “What does it look like?” she coughed a few times, and then wiped some of the blood from her nose. Her voice wasn’t as soft as I could remember.

  “You got into a fight?” I asked looking around.

  Terry’s smile took me right back to Jessie. She didn’t seem so much like her at first, but now she did. It sent chills down my spine and I tried to shake it off, but I couldn’t help it. Something about her just wasn’t right.

  “Somewhat,” Terry laughed again. “Thanks for coming. You’re too late, but thanks. You tried.”

  I took a deep breath then grabbed her by her arm. “Come on, I need to get you to the hospital,” I said.

  Terry willfully followed me back to my car and got inside. She leaned her head back on the headrest while still holding her side.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as I got into the car.

  “I think those fuckers might have broken my ribs,” Terry said.

  I frowned when I heard her cuss. This was a total different side of her compared to what I saw on my visit. “They aren’t broken. You’d be on the ground screaming if they were,” I said.

  Terry chuckled, “Sounds like you’ve experienced this before.”

  “No, but I’ve seen it,” I said while putting the car back into drive.

  Terry sighed, “We should get going.”

  “Why? Are they still here? Who are they?”

  “School peers. They think I’m a freak just like everyone else,” she laughed. Only her laugh didn’t sound very happy at all.

  “Hey Terry!” Someone yelled. It was one of the high school boys that caused her to almost jump out of her seat.

  “We really need to go,” Terry said urgently.

  When I looked back, I saw about five or six boys heading in our direction. “They did this to you?” I asked. The pit of my stomach felt hot and I wanted so badly to get out of the car and beat the crap out of all of them, but I couldn’t risk my face being seen. I was a cop now, and if they reported me I would lose my job, and possibly my freedom.

  Terry didn’t answer. She just continued to stare in her side mirror with wide eyes. Those boys had definitely done this to her.

  “Let’s just go, don’t even worry about it,” Terry said. “Really.”

  “Hey Terry! Can’t fight us all at once huh!?” One of the boys yelled.

  I clenched my teeth and put the car in drive. The boys were approaching my truck slowly, which was smart, because they had no idea who could have been in the driver’s seat. “Ok,” I took a deep breath. I really didn’t like bullies.

  “Hey Terry-” I’m pretty sure that he cut off because I had slammed my car into reverse instead of drive. I knew that I wasn’t going to hit any of them, but I wanted to scare the shit out of those boys.

  “Hey! What the hell!” One yelled. Others yelled things back, but I was already leaving the parking lot and couldn’t hear them.

  Terry slightly smiled as she watched the road ahead of us, but then it dropped when I spoke.

  “Why were they going after you?” I asked.

  “I beat up one of their boys a while ago. He was a football player for the school.”

  “Was?”

  “Yeah, he quit after I broke his leg. It was all on camera, so I didn’t get into any trouble. He wouldn’t back off when I asked him to.” She took a deep breath. “That didn’t really help with my background and all, so now everyone’s afraid of me, or just doesn’t like me.”

  “Ah,” I nodded. I never experienced bullying to that extent, so I couldn’t really relate to what was going on with her.

  “You’re going to report them?”

  Terry shrugged, “There’s no point in that. I have other plans for them.”

  I frowned, “Don’t go doing anything stupid. You should just report them and get it over with.”

  Terry gave a slight smile, and then turned her head to look out of the window. I sighed and just paid attention to the road. We drove for about ten minutes in silence before I pulled into the hospital parking lot.

  “You can just drop me off by the door,” Terry said. She had reverted back to her soft voice.

  “What? No, I’m going in with you.”

  Terry sighed, “No, you’re not. You’re going to drop me off at the door and go home to your nice cozy bed. It’s late, don’t you have work tomorrow?”

  “Don’t you have school?”

  “I can get a doctor’s note.”

  “I can…” I cut myself off. I wasn’t sick nor was I hurt. “I’m going in with you.”

  “No,” Terry turned her head to look at me.

  I had come to a stop in front of the hospital doors and put the
car in park.

  “I really do appreciate you coming to get me. I don’t want you coming inside, because I don’t want you to meet my foster parents, okay? You said my ribs weren’t broken, so I’m okay to get into the hospital. I’ll text you when I get back home alright?”

  I clutched the steering wheel and took a deep breath. She was only about fifteen years old, and I didn’t like the thought of her being in there alone. Even if there was a side of her that creeped me the hell out, I still wanted to be there to help. “Are you sure?” I asked.

  Terry nodded, “I’m very sure.” She opened up the car door and stepped out of it.

  “You better text me when you get home,” I clenched my teeth and waited for her response.

  “I will Rose,” Terry said. She closed the door behind her and gave me the same expressionless stare that I had gotten used to. “I like you better without the uniform.”

  I just nodded and waited for her to enter the hospital, then I put the car back in drive and headed home.

  ***

  Cameron was waiting for me on the couch. He had stayed up because I didn’t come home on time and he was worried. When I walked through the door, he had jumped from the couch and gave me a hug. I had only been an hour later than when I usually arrived home.

  “Abigale called me saying that you ran out, I was worried,” Cameron said as he pulled away. “What happened?”

  I had forgotten all about the situation after his welcoming hug. He was such a sweetheart. “Oh, a girl from the school. She needed a ride,” I answered.

  “A ride? To where?”

  “The hospital,” I sighed. “She’s alright, just a little banged up from a fight.”

  “Oh, okay,” he nodded. “Look at you, being captain save a h-“

  I raised an eyebrow, just waiting on him to finish his sentence.

  “Child. Captain save a child,” Cameron caught himself.

  “That’s better,” I said before walking back to the bedroom and taking off my clothes. I slipped into a pair of Cameron’s baby blue pajama pants and white T-shirt. Afterwards, I met him back in the living room to watch a little television while we cuddled together. I tried my best to focus on him, but my mind was set on Terry texting me that she was alright.

  I figured it would be a few hours for her to get back home and decided to just check my phone again in the morning. I went to bed hoping that she was okay.

  Chapter 6

  I woke up early the next day. Terry was the first person on my mind when I opened my eyes to the bright sunlight peeking in through the shades. I sighed and wiped my eyes almost angrily when the situation from last night came rushing back.

  Terry must have been being bullied like that for a long time now, because last night didn’t seem like anything new. I wanted to go back to the school and report them, but I couldn’t remember any of their faces, and I really didn’t want them to recognize mine after I tried to roll them over.

  I don’t know how long Terry must have endured this bullying, but I was going to do all that I could to stop it today. People like her couldn’t handle abuse like that for long. Eventually, like anyone else, we snap, but our reactions are a lot worse. Terry had already proven once that if you pushed her too far, she would take it to another level. She already didn’t seem like a very sane person, but then again, neither did I.

  I inhaled deeply and got a strong whiff of bacon. Cameron was cooking breakfast, and I loved when he cooked. My mind went straight to the wonderful man in the kitchen, and I had completely forgotten about Terry for the moment.

  I scooted out of bed and walked into the living room. My long curly hair tickled the back of my neck as it bounced with each step, and I wished that I had my ponytail holder.

  From the living room I could see Cameron’s shoulder in the small kitchen as he scrambled up some eggs.

  “Good morning,” I said with a big smile.

  Cameron looked back over his shoulder, “Morning babe.” He went back to cooking.

  My stomach growled when I took another deep whiff, and I went into the kitchen to see what had been finished. Cameron always cooked on my off days, then he would get ready for work. He was surprisingly good at math back in school, so he went ahead and got a managing position at the bank after he graduated college. Together we were the perfect power couple, and I was proud of that. He and I had actually started saving up for a house and were almost to our goal. Eventually we would get deeper into the subject of marriage, but I just wasn’t ready for it yet. There were times when he would bring it up, and I would sometimes say things that he would want to hear so that I wouldn’t hurt his feelings, but I really wasn’t ready for all that yet.

  I took a piece of bacon off of the plate on the counter and took a bite of it, then I stood next to Cameron and watched as he finished up the eggs.

  “Hey, I wasn’t done yet,” He said smiling over at me.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t wait anymore,” I said before kissing him on the cheek and heading to the couch.

  Before I even got to sit down there was a knock on the door. “Hey! I smell that food in there!” Abigale yelled.

  I smiled and shook my head. Abigale always knew when Cameron was cooking and would come over to grab a plate.

  Cameron reached over and unlocked the door, then went back to cooking.

  Abigale opened up the door and peeked over at Cameron who had just finished up the eggs. “Great, I’m right on time,” she said as she shut the door behind her and came to sit next to me on the couch.

  “Yeah, luckily I was prepared this time and made enough for three,” Cameron said from the kitchen.

  I sat back on my soft gray couch and then flicked on the television. Abigale kicked her legs up on the coffee table and started watching the news with me. I looked over at her feet, then at her face, and wondered why she thought that it was okay to just plop her feet down on my glass coffee table.

  Abigale continued to watch the news, but I could see the small smile curving up on her lips. She could probably feel me burning a hole through her face by now.

  Cameron came out of the kitchen with two plates. He handed the one with the most eggs over to me, then the smaller portion over to Abigale. “If you don’t get your feet off of our furniture,” He laughed, but he was serious. That table was expensive.

  “Thanks babe,” I said looking down at the scrumptious plate of food: eggs, toast, and bacon. He knew by now that with how active I am, I could eat just as much as he could. Maybe even more.

  Cameron turned around to get his own plate of food from the kitchen.

  “What?” Abigale said, kicking her feet off and sitting straight up. “I thought you said that you had enough for three? Like three grown people? Not two grownups and their child,” she looked down at the small portions of food on her plate with a slight pout on her face. If she weren’t my best friend I would have been knocked the plate out of her hand and sent her on her way, but I had become used to her goofy and rude ways.

  When Abigale came back from college, she was no longer the cool and quiet person she was when she left. She actually gained some sort of personality, which I figured was from her finding herself. I have yet to see her bring around another girl, but maybe dating for her was still pushing it too far. I would like to see my friend with a woman that she loved eventually though, I mean she was twenty-two years old. It was time to get a girl. Really. I would even accept an ugly one.

  “Oh shit,” Abigale said. She sat up straight and focused on what was going on on the television. I didn’t pay so much attention to it until she made it seem like something interesting was going on.

  “What is it?” Cameron came out of the kitchen with almost as much food on his plate as me.

  I shrugged, then turned to the action news on my sixty-inch flat screen, and what I saw made my heart skip a beat. I almost felt as if I would faint when I saw the kids face on the screen.

  “Seventeen-year-old Ryan Hemp was shot by an unknown assail
ant this morning on his way out for school. Parents said that they witnessed the whole shooting, but could not see the person that fired the shots…”

  This was bad. This was really bad. I remembered that boy from last night after looking through my rear view mirrors. He was the one that called out to Terry after she had gotten into the safety of my truck. Terry had to do this, and I was sure that it was her. She had snapped, just like I hoped that she wouldn’t. After figuring that killing the person that hurt her would make the pain stop, she went ahead and did it again, and he wasn’t the last person that she would be getting rid of.

  “The assailant was said to be a female wearing a black hoodie with blue jeans...”

  Black hoodie, and blue jeans. That’s what she was wearing today. I jumped to my feet and sent the food falling to the carpet, along with my loss of appetite. Abgiale looked up at me and immediately knew that it was time to get serious.

  “Meet me at your car in a few minutes,” Abigale said before getting to her feet and leaving the apartment.

  “Rose, what’s-”

  I cut Cameron off by rushing back to my room where my cell phone was. I had forgotten to check and see if she sent me a text and was now more worried than ever.

  “Rose!” Cameron followed behind me.

  Once I got to my phone I saw that there were three missed calls, a voice mail, and two text messages. I took a shaky breath at the thought that she was in need, she needed someone to talk to, but I was nowhere to be found.

  I slid the lock off of my phone and opened up the text.

  Rose

  Thank you for your help. I know that I didn’t deserve it from the way that I treated you when we first met, but I’m pretty sure by now you know why I acted that way. You’re a pretty nice person, and I can see that. I listened to your talk that day about doing the right thing, but I have come to the conclusion that people like me can’t do that. We have no choice but to protect ourselves, and do all means necessary to do so. That’s what I was taught, and that’s all that I know. I was calling you to maybe come and stop me, but it looks like your busy at the moment, so I’ll just go along with my first thought. Thank you again for your kindness. I’ll see you soon, I hope.