The crowd around us cheers and some even chant Hammer’s name. He swings his beefy hand out at me and I duck just in time. He loses his footing from the force and I take my chance, punching his side as hard as I can. I’m sure I have no strength, I haven’t eaten for two days, but Hammer groans as if I’ve hurt him. Perhaps that’s a weak spot of his.
Angry now, Hammer growls and unexpectedly lashes out. With both of his hands, he grabs my shoulders and swings me hard to my left. I fly into the air for a few brief seconds before crashing to the ground. The circle of kids back up to make sure I’m still trapped inside. I hear a crunch from my shoulder as I land, but I don’t have time to worry about what damage might have been done. Dirty shoes are at my side and one of them impacts with my head, making my vision blur briefly before it clears up. Another kick to my stomach has me gasping for air.
Strong arms take hold of my t-shirt and pull me to my feet before Hammer head-butts me. A wave of dizziness and nausea hits me. Hammer drops me down then and moves away from me. I hope, in vain, it means this is over. My vision comes back to me in time to see he now has hold of a rusty pipe and I roll out of the way just as he slams it into the ground, missing me by only inches.
I push past the pain and stand shakily on my feet. All I have to do is get Hammer off his feet, if I don’t, it looks like I might get killed out here. I have to succeed.
I run at Hammer, who doesn’t appear to have expected this, and wrap my arms around his middle. I crash him into the street lamp that’s the only structure in the circle. Hammer drops the pipe in surprise, and I take no time in quickly punching him in the gut. I try to put whatever strength I have left into it and keep going until my hands are sore and the cheering dies off. I step back to see Hammer crying in pain and his legs give out. He falls to the ground, clutching his stomach.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, taking a step away, feeling scared. I did this to him. My hands hurt him.
“What the hell?” the lead Hawke screams at me and then signals for two of his gang to take Hammer away. They carefully take his arms and drag him away from us.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask, watching him go.
“How did you do that? You even dented the lamp post. That’s not possible.”
“I don’t know. Did I pass your test?” I force my hands to straighten out, never wanting to make a fist again.
“No, you didn’t pass. You were supposed to just be the night’s entertainment, you freak.”
“You never wanted to be my friend?” My heart sinks.
“Fuck no.” The lead Hawke rips the article into little pieces and I lose the ability to breathe seeing the small pieces filter to the ground, some getting taken by the wind.
“No! Why did you do that?”
“You may have gotten the best of Hammer, but let’s see how you do against all of us at once.”
The group closes in around me and I close my eyes, waiting for the inevitable to come.
“What the hell is going on here?” Gavin’s voice booms over the wind and my eyes snap open to see the group now frozen still.
“Gavin?” I call out, never feeling more grateful to hear his voice.
“Get lost, old man, this doesn’t concern you,” the lead Hawke snarls, but I hear the uncertainty in his voice.
“Hurt this kid further and I promise you it does concern me.” Gavin looks feral and if I hadn’t known he is here to help me, I would have felt scared, too.
“Well how about we take you on then?”
“If you think your little pathetic gang can withstand the pile of shit that would fall down on you after, then sure, go for it.”
The lead Hawke considers Gavin’s words. Finally, he looks resigned and obviously decides he can’t win this fight.
“We’ll be back.” The lead Hawke menacingly points his finger at me.
“No, you will not. He is protected and always will be. Now get lost.” Gavin pushes through the crowd, which quickly disperses. He waits for us to be alone before he speaks.
“You okay, kid?” Gavin looks me over.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t hurt worse. Those kids like to put one of their biggest kids onto the little ones; have it be a fight ‘til the death.”
“Death?”
“Yes, either that or fight until you’re in the hospital. Why do you think I don’t want you hanging around them? They’re bad news. Now, let’s get out of here before they change their minds.”
Gavin helps me walk back towards the city, but already I’m feeling better.
“You hungry?” Gavin looks both ways down the empty street before moving us across it.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve kept some rolls for you from lunch.”
“Thanks, Gavin.” He really is my only friend.
Chapter 12 – The Ambush
Marion, Ohio
December 20th
“William!” Fran calls out to me.
“Why do you call me that? I’ve said to you a hundred times to call me Will,” I snap. Since I moved in with Fran she has insisted on calling me William; it drives me crazy.
“Well, Will is short for William,” Fran snaps back. It’s her answer every time we argue about it.
“My name is just Will, and I’m going to be late for work.”
“I know you’re not Will Brown.” Fran narrows her eyes at me.
“What?” My heart stops beating. I know Fran knows I’m not really telling her the truth, but we have an unspoken agreement to not talk about it. That is, until now.
“Who are you Will? Who are you running from?”
“I’m not running from anyone, you’ve got it wrong.” I shake my head and wish she would drop it.
“Please talk to me. I can help you. If you’re scared, I can protect you. Whoever hurt you deserves to be put away in jail.” She is looking at me with a mixture of concern and anger.
“Who said anyone hurt me?”
“I can see the signs. I may be going blind, but I’m not an idiot.”
“You’re wrong.” I cross my arms, looking outside, wondering if I have overstayed my welcome in this place. I should have left ages ago, I’m not here to make friends or find another adult to trust. I’m here to hide.
“Fine, keep it all in. Please tell Freddie that he better return that late book by tomorrow or I’ll revoke his library card.” Fran turns away from me and I think she is disappointed in me.
“I will.” I roll my eyes at her and grab an apple on my way out, hoping she drops it.
Staying with Fran was meant to be temporary, but so far it has become rather permanent. At first, things were awkward and I nearly left so many times. Then Fran had a fall and broke her arm. She’s stubborn and wouldn’t take any help from anyone, but she did agree to have me stay longer to make sure she was okay.
She wouldn’t take any money so I started fixing up the house. I didn’t know the first thing about doing that, but Freddie usually helps and together we have fixed a leaking roof, reapplied gutters that have been damaged for a few years from a bad storm, fixed a hole in a wall where Fran had accidently thrown her handbag at the couch and missed, and lots of other odd jobs. I enjoy the satisfaction when we get a job finished. I’ve never fixed anything in my life and now I think I’m getting good at it.
Fran has kept up her side of the bargain and I can now read. I’m still slow and some words stump me, but I’m confident picking up a newspaper and being able to read the headlines, or going to a restaurant and being able to read the menu.
Outside is cold, but I don’t zip up my jacket. I only live six blocks from the restaurant I work at and I’ve found a new love of running. It’s strange going from having to run for my life on the streets to now running for enjoyment.
I take one last bite of my apple and throw the core into the trash as I enter Creekford. It’s owned by Freddie’s stepdad and he helped me get the job. I don’t work with Freddie much while he’s doing hi
s final year at school, but over the holidays he spends a lot of time in the restaurant. It always makes work more interesting when he’s here because Freddie and his stepdad, Kyle, fight like crazy. It’s obvious they hate each other, yet at the same time, they continue to put up with each other for Freddie’s mom’s sake. I like Kyle, he seems like a fair guy and he’s a good boss. Freddie just hates the fact that his mom has moved on. He’s sure his dad will come back one day.
I enter Creekford one minute before five, which keeps me out of Kyle’s yelling zone, but when I hear Freddie running through the doors a few minutes later, I know the fighting’s going to start early today.
“What the hell do you call this time? I don’t pay you to be late! Get out the back and if I see you slacking off at all tonight you can start looking for new employment!”
“Yes, sir.” Freddie smiles at him sarcastically and salutes him before walking out the back. I move away from the swinging door to avoid being hit and greet Freddie.
“Wilma, my man!” Freddie slaps my back while I roll my eyes at him. He always calls me Wilma; I have his sister to thank for that. She said I’m always getting Freddie out of trouble and I’m Wilma to his Fred Flintstone; a TV show I’ve never seen before.
“Hey Freddie, Fran wants me to tell you to return some book or she’ll revoke your library card or something.”
“It’s only a month overdue. I swear she’s getting more pedantic in her old age.” He rolls his eyes.
“Just return the book, idiot.” I wrap an apron around my middle and tie it up behind me. It comes loose almost straight away and I curse having to even wear the damn thing.
“Let me,” a voice softly whispers in my ear, causing goosebumps to run down my neck and back as Natalie takes the straps out of my hands and ties my apron up behind me. As she passes me, she runs her hands over my back and winks at me when she has moved past Freddie so his back is to her and he can’t see it. I lose myself watching her walk away, and when I finally focus back on Freddie he is glaring at me.
“That is my sister and I absolutely forbid anything going on between you two.”
“Yeah, right, like your sister would even give me a second glance.” I speak around the lump in my throat that appears out of nowhere. That often happens to me when Natalie’s around.
She is the first girl I’ve ever liked and I swear she knows it, driving me crazy on purpose. She’ll always find excuses to touch my arm or leg and she loves to flirt with me in front of Freddie. He hates it, but he hates anyone who comes near his sister. He’s gotten into at least four fist fights over it with different guys and has lost all of them. He’s very protective of her and she needs it. All the boys I’ve seen her with have been older than her and always look pretty rough. The words criminal records pop into my head when I see them. Natalie is so small and clueless that I know one day it’ll get her into trouble. She is sixteen, though, so she isn’t going to be listening to anyone anytime soon, especially when she looks and acts twenty. She’s beautiful; the prettiest girl I’ve ever met and I understand why so many guys want her. She’s irresistible.
The night is quiet and I look out through the small window on the swinging door at the customers sitting and eating inside the restaurant. There are a few couples about the place, but overall it’s dead tonight. My sole job is carrying out the main dishes to the tables. I hold the record for no broken plates. Freddie is still trying to beat his own personal record of working more than two shifts without breaking anything.
“Ogling the girl on the left or the right?”
I pull my head away and turn around to face Natalie, my back to the door and the small window. She also has the ability of sneaking up on people when they least expect it.
“No—No,I wasn’t—”
“Why not? I think the one on the right is hot.”
My face reddens and I try to move past her, but she steps with me, blocking my way and keeping me against the door. My only escape is to go behind me and out into the main area where Kyle is, and avoiding him is also part of my job description.
“Do you think she’s hotter than me?” she asks, sounding innocent. She takes a step closer and I hold my breath. I look around for Freddie, hearing him chuckling with the chef around the corner.
“Come on, you can’t leave a girl hanging like that. Do you think I’m pretty, Will?”
Natalie holds her hand out and lightly touches my face. Warmth travels all the way down my body, reaching my toes. I must have seriously changed color from pale to bright red. My mouth goes dry and I’m sweating.
“This isn’t a good idea—” I struggle to find the right words, finally saved, just not in the way I would have liked.
Kyle barges in through the door and since I’m standing directly in front of it I’m thrown forward, crashing into the wall.
“What the hell?” Kyle demands, staring at me like I’m an idiot.
Natalie laughs, and as I get up, I see Freddie rush around the corner and start laughing, too.
“Sorry, sir.”
“This is a standing free zone. Get back to work.”
Kyle hands Freddie an order he has taken, and Natalie follows him back out into the main area, still laughing.
“Dude, you’re worse than me sometimes.” Freddie shakes his head and goes back over to the chef to continue his conversation. I’m just glad to be away from Natalie. I know she only pushes my buttons because I react the way she wants me to. I can’t help it, though, I have no experience in this area and I’m not likely to get any help from Freddie or Fran.
I tread over to the dishes still left from the lunch rush and start doing them to keep my hands busy. With them done, I glance around for another job. I run my fingers through my hair, feeling like it’s too short since Fran last cut it. She said men shouldn’t have long hair and gave me the shortest haircut of my life.
Her husband had been in the army and they had met when she was seventeen. They married young and he only died about five years ago from a heart attack. He maintained their mandatory haircut, and now she thinks any male without the same hairdo looks like a hippie. Her words, not mine.
The shorter hair makes me look older and, while I prefer my hair long, I know looking older is helping me stay off Fran’s radar. She might know I’m not Will Brown, but she has never questioned my age. Besides, I’m only lying about a year now. I turned seventeen this month.
“Some real freaky dudes just walked in, looks like they’re out of a spy movie or something,” Freddie disrupts my thoughts and I instantly go on high alert.
“Really?” I rush over to the window just as Barry the Chef calls an order up. Freddie walks back into the kitchen while I watch three men talking to Kyle. I know straight away I’m in trouble. I see Kyle point behind and towards the very door I’m staring through.
He’s just directed them to me. I’ve been found out. I’m in trouble.
I rush towards the back exit and nearly barge straight into Freddie, who drops the plates of food onto the ground.
“Aw, Wilma, I nearly finished this shift with no accidents. I would have made it to three shifts!” Freddie complains.
“I have to go.”
Freddie hears the stress in my voice and straight away has his full attention to me. He knows something is wrong.
“Will, what is it?”
“Those men are after me. I can’t explain, but I have to leave. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll come.” He doesn’t hesitate, and I feel even worse to realize that I am going to have to leave my friend behind.
“No, just look after Fran for me, okay?” I wait for Freddie to nod, even if it’s a confused nod, just as I hear the door behind me open and I know I have to run, now.
I run out the back entrance door and collide into the wall opposite it. I only get about two seconds of freedom before two men jump on me from out of nowhere. In the surprise of everything, I crash to the ground under their combined weight. Between all the arms and legs that ar
e over me I see another figure approaching and in the dim light I notice he’s holding a needle. This is not good. I may be extra strong and can heal really well, but medication seems to have the same effect on me as anyone else. I gather all my strength at once and throw off both men from on top of me.
They’re quick and well trained, though, and the one to my left comes at me instantly. He hits me hard across the face, making my head slam into the brick wall. I think for a moment I see stars. Looking back at the man’s hand he has something metal over it, which explains why I’m in so much pain.
The second man now has a steel pole in his hands and as I stand up shaking, he hits me in the stomach. I kneel over in pain, losing my breath, tasting blood in my mouth. The pain from my head combined with my stomach is unbearable.
I turn my head to the side and quickly reach out, surprising the man, and rip the pole out of his hands forcefully, hitting him across the face. He drops to the floor, knocked out cold. I have my back to the other two now and they both pounce on me again, and again I fall.
I feel a sharp pain in my neck. The end of a needle is jammed in and I know I’m in serious trouble. I close my eyes and wait for numbness to overwhelm me, but it never comes. Someone is yelling and then I feel some of the weight move off my back. I turn my head and one of the men is on the ground groaning. I look at the person standing over him, rewarded with seeing Rose smiling down at me.
The guy still on me growls in anger and Rose kicks him off me hard. I turn over and see her stomp down on his hand which has a gun in it and she kicks him again hard in the head, knocking him out.
We don’t get time to celebrate or talk. The back door opens and the three men from inside the restaurant pour out. Two come at me and one goes for Rose.
Everything then becomes a blur. I see kicks and punches impact me, but I don’t feel any of it. I lash out at the two men hurting me and at one point a gun is pointed at me. I only just duck out of the way before it goes off and the bullet lodges into the brick wall behind me. I ram the men into the opposite wall and one is knocked out on impact. The other one takes a few more punches to knock down to the ground. I turn to help Rose, but I see her man fall to the ground limply at her feet.
Taken By Force (Taken Trilogy Book 2) Page 8
