Starry Nights Escaping the City Lights, chapter 3
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I removed the piece of paper the weird mystery guy had given to me and opened it up. The address on the paper belonged to one of the houses about ten blocks from here. It was in one of the worst parts of town... go figure. The time scrawled on the bottom said 9:00. I glanced at my clock and saw I had about 45 minutes. I changed into a pair of black jeans, a black shirt and I pulled a black hooded sweatshirt over that. The guy had said to remain unnoticed, so I figured that black was my best bet. I pulled the hood up and stuffed my hair back into it so that any one walking by me on the street would think I was just some guy out for a late night stroll. I didn't plan to take a bus because that would be a bit too obvious. I would walk. I made my way towards my door grabbing my apartment keys and shoving them into my pocket. I heard Charlie begin playing on his drums above me and I smiled as I turned the handle to my apartment door. "Keep rockin Charlie... " I whispered and slipped out into the night closing the door and locking it.
I made my way down the street, a shadow among shadows periodically passing through the light of street lamps that were scattered here and there. It was a cool night and there was hardly anyone around. I hummed bits and pieces of some of my favorite Green Day songs as I walked, mainly to keep my nerves from driving my crazy.
It was about 9:10 when the house came into view. Now I made sure to stick strictly to shadows as I made my way along the side of the place. I stopped abruptly as I got a view of the back yard and pressed myself against the wall. There was a group of people standing around a dirt ring surrounded by a plywood barrier smeared with blood on the inside. Two people stood in the ring on either side both holding dogs that lunged and snapped trying to get at one another. Everyone around the ring was taunting the animals and the two owners kept grabbing the dogs muzzles and shaking their heads, whipping them into a further frenzy. Suddenly the two were released and the people in the ring leapt over the side as the dogs clashed together snarling and slashing at one another with claws and teeth. One got hold of the others neck and the losing dog began yelping in pain. The master of the winner leapt in and pulled the raging dog away. The defeated dog's owner grabbed the bleeding animals collar and hit it across the head causing it to yelp. It was sick, and I'd seen more than enough I turned to leave, planning on going straight to the police, but I barely took two steps before a voice from near the pit reached my ears.
"Hey, who's back there?" I was temporarily blinded as someone shown a flashlight on me. "Who the hell are you?" I made what was probably not the smartest decision then. Instead of trying to make up some story, I turned and bolted. "Toro we got a squealer!" yelled the person who had spotted me and he and three others leapt after me in pursuit. "The rest of you get this place cleaned up! If he gets to the cops we don't want any evidence around!" I bolted down a dark side street, the pounding of my shoes echoing off the buildings as I pushed myself to run faster. Angry voices echoed not far behind me.
"Get that little shit before he can get to the cops!" A guys voice roared as more footsteps joined his in their pursuit. Man, I'd really stepped in it this time, I thought as I continued running. I quickly formulated a plan in my mind. I kept weaving and dodging, trying to throw the four off my trail as I made my way back towards my apartment complex. The police station was about three blocks down from there, and I knew I would barely be able to make the ten blocks back to my apartment, much less run all the way to the station. I would take the back alley along the side of the apartment building and seek safety with Charlie. We'd call the cops from his place.
I'd successfully ran about five blocks and my lungs where starting to burn when I suddenly felt something white-hot graze my cheek. I yelped and clapped a hand to it as warm blood began trickle from the cut. A yell from behind me explained what had grazed me. "You fucking idiot don't shoot at him! Someone will hear the gunshot and call the fuckin' cops and the damn squealer will get away! Well take care of him once we catch him. DON'T FUCKING SHOOT!"
That had been a damn bullet! If who ever had shot had aimed better I would have DIED! I was in WAY over my head! I spotted the entrance to the alley beside the street my complex was on and made a sharp turn, but I had been going to fast and my feet slid out from under me as I hit a patch of gravel. I fell and immediately heard the right knee of my jeans rip open as something lodged itself into the soft part of my knee. I opened my mouth to scream but the pain caught the words in my throat. I forced myself up and bolted down the alley. The four pit bull fighters where almost right on top of me! I made it about halfway down before I saw a fucking brick wall! SHIT! I mentally kicked myself for not remembering the damn wall that separated the two alleyways between the apartments.
I saw the light from Charlie's apartment not a few yards away on the other side of the God-forsaken barricade. I leapt up onto some trashcans and jumped up throwing my arms over the wall and scrambling to pull myself the rest of the way up and over. "CHARLIE!" I screamed hoping to god that he had paused in his drumming practice and heard me yelling. Something clamped around my ankle and I scrabbled to keep a hold of the wall. "CHARLIE!" I screamed as I slid from the wall and fell back down into the alley, coming face to face with the four people that had been chasing me. My right leg had gone numb from the pain of whatever had lodged itself in my knee, but I hardly noticed. I was half terrified and half enraged. I felt like a cornered beast preparing to make its last desperate attempt at freedom. The person who had pulled me from the wall violently grabbed my arm and my hood fell down revealing my face. He stared in shock for a moment then I saw a malicious sneer cross his face in the dim light.
"Look what we've got here fellas! The squealers a chick!" I whippped around and kicked him squarely between his legs. He yowled and fell to his knees. I backed up a few steps and my back hit the wall. "CHARLIE, SOMEBODY ANYBODY HELP!" I hollered.
"Shut that bitch up before someone actually hears her!" The guy, someone called him 'Toro' I think, growled from his place on the ground. The one who had first spotted me leapt towards me, pinning me against the wall and stepping on my feet so I couldn't kick him like I had the Toro guy. He slapped a hand over my mouth. I struggled but he was a lot stronger than I was. Then suddenly I saw someone standing down at the end of the alley. I couldn't see who it was because they where in shadow. It wasn't Charlie, I knew that much, if it had been he would have been running and we would have heard him leaving the complex.
"Whats going on down there?" the person inquired. The voice was male and it sounded more curious than accusing.
"None of your business buddy, keep walking before something bad happens to you." called Toro. He had gotten back to his feet and was extremely pissed. "Well it looks a lot to me like you're causing this girl trouble." He stated simply and took a few steps down the alley. This person was going to get his ass kicked! I acted quickly, opening my mouth and biting the hand as hard as I could. I tasted blood and I was released form the guy's grasp as he howled in pain and clutched his bleeding hand "The bitch bit me!" I heard a window on the other side of the alley wall open and looked up. It was Charlie! He saw me and the four people from the dog fight immediately. The other person that had started down the alley wasn't in his line of sight though. "KITRA HOLD ON!" he yelled and his head disappeared back in the window. The other person who wasn't out to beat me to a pulp got headed off by two of the four people who had chased me.
"Fuck off buddy, this is none of your business!" one growled. I could just barely make out the man's face since it was half hidden in shadow. I did however see the smirk he gave them. "Why are you all so eager for me to leave if there isn't anything going on down here?" he asked innocently then added, "That's kinda suspicious if you ask me." The voice sounded familiar somehow... I know I'd heard it before, but where? "Buddy! Be careful these guys mean business, my friends on his way but he's gotta go around along the other alley!" Toro slapped a hand across my face and stars popped in front of my vision.
"I told you to shut the hell up!"
"You son-of-a-bitch, back off, what the hell did she do to you?!" The man jumped onto Toro at this point and latched one arm around his neck while punching him repeatedly in the back of the head with the other. Toro whipped about trying to get the guy off him. That's when I caught full sight of his face and I practically had a heart attack. It was like a fanfic come to life! The man that had come down the alley was none other than Tré fucking Cool!
That very thought gave me a big surge of confidence not to mention I was so numb and crazed at this point that someone could have run a stake through my arm and I probably would have laughed. I grabbed a broken piece of two by four out of a near by trash bin and swung at the nearest of the other three people from the dogfight and hit him square in the stomach. He fell to the ground, the wind knocked clean out of him for the moment. I heard footsteps pounding down the alley and saw Charlie hurl himself at guy number three. I kicked at the fourth and final guy, but didn't get much farther than that because at that exact moment a window opened and some one yelled, "Will you God damn kids quiet down! If I hear one more thing out of any of you I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"
"SHIT guys let's get outta here!" That was 'Toro' who was bleeding profusely from his nose as well as from numerous cuts on his face and arms. His shirt had been torn too. 'Damn!' I thought, Tré fights mean! I almost laughed... almost. The other three, also bruised and bloodied scrambled up. Toro locked eyes with me, "The only reason you got away is because you got lucky bitch! That won't happen twice." With that the four exited the alley and we stood listening until their footsteps had completely died away.
No sooner had they disappeared the numbness I had felt during the fight evaporated and severe pain swept through me. My right leg simply gave out when I put weight on it and I stumbled only to be caught under the arms. I looked up not to see not Charlie standing behind me but Tré.
"You where unbelievable Tré... " I muttered. Charlie quirked an eyebrow as Tré pulled me back to my feet and pulled one of my arms over his shoulders for support. Charlie took my other side. "Hey dude thanks for helping Kitra out," Charlie said to Tré as we made our way out of the alley and started towards the apartment complex on the other side of the block. He had not heard me when I had said Tré's name so he was just assuming it was some everyday guy that had, luckily for me, been out for a late night walk when he'd heard me and come to help, not a world famous rock drummer. When we got to Charlie's apartment, he pushed the door open to let Tré and I in, and then followed us closing the door behind him. Clicking on the lights he glanced up at Tré and I as, gave a start, did a double take, and then shut his eyes. Shaking his head chuckling, he said, "Kitra, is it just me or does the guy who helped save your ass down in that alley look a hell of a lot like Tré Cool?" I looked over at Tré and he gave me a mischievous smirk.
After helping me over to a nearby chair, Tré casually strolled over to the corner of the living room where Charlie's drum set sat picking up a pair of drumsticks as he took a seat on the stool behind the it. Charlie watched him with an eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "If I was ACTUALLY Tré Cool. Wouldn't I be able to do this?" He then went off on a drum solo that lasted for about five minutes before clapping a hand down on the cymbals to silence them and giving Charlie a devilish grin. "Oh wait I CAN do that." Charlie managed to say "You ARE Tré Cool!" before he broke into a laughing fit. I laughed too but stopped abruptly as my leg gave a horrible throb that made my head swim. I'd forgotten about the pain while I'd been watching Tré and Charlie. I put a hand up to my forehead and shut my eyes. I felt a hand on my shoulder "Kitra are you okay?" I opened my eyes, my head still feeling light. Charlie was standing in front of me, Tré just behind him and it was then I realized the other two hadn't gotten away from the fight scott free either. Both had blood on them, some of which was mine Tré had a nice cut on his arm and Charlie had a bloody tear in his shirt. They seemed to be worried about me at the moment though. I felt a stab of guilt. It was my fault they had gotten mixed up in that fight.
I didn't get a chance to appologize for that because at that moment Tré looked down at my knee and his eyes popped, "Holy SHIT! Er... Kitra, right? I think you might want to take a look at that knee of yours." I looked down and nearly jumped out of my skin. My pant leg was a torn, bloody mess and I quickly rolled it up to look at my knee.
It was horribly swollen, blood still oozed from the cut and it throbbed on and off. To top it all off there was something sticking out of the skin.. Tré had knelt down in front of me to get a better look. I ran a finger over the thin embedded in my knee. Glass. "Damn, Kitra that has GOT to hurt." Charlie mused. I grimaced and Tré stood muttering, "That's brutal. Just brutal." I gave a wry smile, "I feel worse for whoever's window is shattered," The guys chuckled.
"We're going to the hospital." Charlie stated and he didn't give me a chance to protest. Picking up the chair I was in he carried it to the door putting me down temporarily to open it. He knew I hated hospitals with a passion and would wrather take care of the knee myself but he wouldn't here it. "Coming Tré?" he asked in a light tone as he picked me and the chair back up and stepped out the door. Tré quirked an eyebrow and smiled finding the whole chair thing amusing he then followed us out the door.
I removed the piece of paper the weird mystery guy had given to me and opened it up. The address on the paper belonged to one of the houses about ten blocks from here. It was in one of the worst parts of town... go figure. The time scrawled on the bottom said 9:00. I glanced at my clock and saw I had about 45 minutes. I changed into a pair of black jeans, a black shirt and I pulled a black hooded sweatshirt over that. The guy had said to remain unnoticed, so I figured that black was my best bet. I pulled the hood up and stuffed my hair back into it so that any one walking by me on the street would think I was just some guy out for a late night stroll. I didn't plan to take a bus because that would be a bit too obvious. I would walk. I made my way towards my door grabbing my apartment keys and shoving them into my pocket. I heard Charlie begin playing on his drums above me and I smiled as I turned the handle to my apartment door. "Keep rockin Charlie... " I whispered and slipped out into the night closing the door and locking it.
I made my way down the street, a shadow among shadows periodically passing through the light of street lamps that were scattered here and there. It was a cool night and there was hardly anyone around. I hummed bits and pieces of some of my favorite Green Day songs as I walked, mainly to keep my nerves from driving my crazy.
It was about 9:10 when the house came into view. Now I made sure to stick strictly to shadows as I made my way along the side of the place. I stopped abruptly as I got a view of the back yard and pressed myself against the wall. There was a group of people standing around a dirt ring surrounded by a plywood barrier smeared with blood on the inside. Two people stood in the ring on either side both holding dogs that lunged and snapped trying to get at one another. Everyone around the ring was taunting the animals and the two owners kept grabbing the dogs muzzles and shaking their heads, whipping them into a further frenzy. Suddenly the two were released and the people in the ring leapt over the side as the dogs clashed together snarling and slashing at one another with claws and teeth. One got hold of the others neck and the losing dog began yelping in pain. The master of the winner leapt in and pulled the raging dog away. The defeated dog's owner grabbed the bleeding animals collar and hit it across the head causing it to yelp. It was sick, and I'd seen more than enough I turned to leave, planning on going straight to the police, but I barely took two steps before a voice from near the pit reached my ears.
"Hey, who's back there?" I was temporarily blinded as someone shown a flashlight on me. "Who the hell are you?" I made what was probably not the smartest decision then. Instead of trying to make up some story, I turned and bolted. "Toro we got a squealer!" yelled the person who had spotted me and he and three others leapt after me in pursuit. "The rest of you get this place cleaned up! If he gets to the cops we don't want any evidence around!" I bolted down a dark side street, the pounding of my shoes echoing off the buildings as I pushed myself to run faster. Angry voices echoed not far behind me.
"Get that little shit before he can get to the cops!" A guys voice roared as more footsteps joined his in their pursuit. Man, I'd really stepped in it this time, I thought as I continued running. I quickly formulated a plan in my mind. I kept weaving and dodging, trying to throw the four off my trail as I made my way back towards my apartment complex. The police station was about three blocks down from there, and I knew I would barely be able to make the ten blocks back to my apartment, much less run all the way to the station. I would take the back alley along the side of the apartment building and seek safety with Charlie. We'd call the cops from his place.
I'd successfully ran about five blocks and my lungs where starting to burn when I suddenly felt something white-hot graze my cheek. I yelped and clapped a hand to it as warm blood began trickle from the cut. A yell from behind me explained what had grazed me. "You fucking idiot don't shoot at him! Someone will hear the gunshot and call the fuckin' cops and the damn squealer will get away! Well take care of him once we catch him. DON'T FUCKING SHOOT!"
That had been a damn bullet! If who ever had shot had aimed better I would have DIED! I was in WAY over my head! I spotted the entrance to the alley beside the street my complex was on and made a sharp turn, but I had been going to fast and my feet slid out from under me as I hit a patch of gravel. I fell and immediately heard the right knee of my jeans rip open as something lodged itself into the soft part of my knee. I opened my mouth to scream but the pain caught the words in my throat. I forced myself up and bolted down the alley. The four pit bull fighters where almost right on top of me! I made it about halfway down before I saw a fucking brick wall! SHIT! I mentally kicked myself for not remembering the damn wall that separated the two alleyways between the apartments.
I saw the light from Charlie's apartment not a few yards away on the other side of the God-forsaken barricade. I leapt up onto some trashcans and jumped up throwing my arms over the wall and scrambling to pull myself the rest of the way up and over. "CHARLIE!" I screamed hoping to god that he had paused in his drumming practice and heard me yelling. Something clamped around my ankle and I scrabbled to keep a hold of the wall. "CHARLIE!" I screamed as I slid from the wall and fell back down into the alley, coming face to face with the four people that had been chasing me. My right leg had gone numb from the pain of whatever had lodged itself in my knee, but I hardly noticed. I was half terrified and half enraged. I felt like a cornered beast preparing to make its last desperate attempt at freedom. The person who had pulled me from the wall violently grabbed my arm and my hood fell down revealing my face. He stared in shock for a moment then I saw a malicious sneer cross his face in the dim light.
"Look what we've got here fellas! The squealers a chick!" I whippped around and kicked him squarely between his legs. He yowled and fell to his knees. I backed up a few steps and my back hit the wall. "CHARLIE, SOMEBODY ANYBODY HELP!" I hollered.
"Shut that bitch up before someone actually hears her!" The guy, someone called him 'Toro' I think, growled from his place on the ground. The one who had first spotted me leapt towards me, pinning me against the wall and stepping on my feet so I couldn't kick him like I had the Toro guy. He slapped a hand over my mouth. I struggled but he was a lot stronger than I was. Then suddenly I saw someone standing down at the end of the alley. I couldn't see who it was because they where in shadow. It wasn't Charlie, I knew that much, if it had been he would have been running and we would have heard him leaving the complex.
"Whats going on down there?" the person inquired. The voice was male and it sounded more curious than accusing.
"None of your business buddy, keep walking before something bad happens to you." called Toro. He had gotten back to his feet and was extremely pissed. "Well it looks a lot to me like you're causing this girl trouble." He stated simply and took a few steps down the alley. This person was going to get his ass kicked! I acted quickly, opening my mouth and biting the hand as hard as I could. I tasted blood and I was released form the guy's grasp as he howled in pain and clutched his bleeding hand "The bitch bit me!" I heard a window on the other side of the alley wall open and looked up. It was Charlie! He saw me and the four people from the dog fight immediately. The other person that had started down the alley wasn't in his line of sight though. "KITRA HOLD ON!" he yelled and his head disappeared back in the window. The other person who wasn't out to beat me to a pulp got headed off by two of the four people who had chased me.
"Fuck off buddy, this is none of your business!" one growled. I could just barely make out the man's face since it was half hidden in shadow. I did however see the smirk he gave them. "Why are you all so eager for me to leave if there isn't anything going on down here?" he asked innocently then added, "That's kinda suspicious if you ask me." The voice sounded familiar somehow... I know I'd heard it before, but where? "Buddy! Be careful these guys mean business, my friends on his way but he's gotta go around along the other alley!" Toro slapped a hand across my face and stars popped in front of my vision.
"I told you to shut the hell up!"
"You son-of-a-bitch, back off, what the hell did she do to you?!" The man jumped onto Toro at this point and latched one arm around his neck while punching him repeatedly in the back of the head with the other. Toro whipped about trying to get the guy off him. That's when I caught full sight of his face and I practically had a heart attack. It was like a fanfic come to life! The man that had come down the alley was none other than Tré fucking Cool!
That very thought gave me a big surge of confidence not to mention I was so numb and crazed at this point that someone could have run a stake through my arm and I probably would have laughed. I grabbed a broken piece of two by four out of a near by trash bin and swung at the nearest of the other three people from the dogfight and hit him square in the stomach. He fell to the ground, the wind knocked clean out of him for the moment. I heard footsteps pounding down the alley and saw Charlie hurl himself at guy number three. I kicked at the fourth and final guy, but didn't get much farther than that because at that exact moment a window opened and some one yelled, "Will you God damn kids quiet down! If I hear one more thing out of any of you I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"
"SHIT guys let's get outta here!" That was 'Toro' who was bleeding profusely from his nose as well as from numerous cuts on his face and arms. His shirt had been torn too. 'Damn!' I thought, Tré fights mean! I almost laughed... almost. The other three, also bruised and bloodied scrambled up. Toro locked eyes with me, "The only reason you got away is because you got lucky bitch! That won't happen twice." With that the four exited the alley and we stood listening until their footsteps had completely died away.
No sooner had they disappeared the numbness I had felt during the fight evaporated and severe pain swept through me. My right leg simply gave out when I put weight on it and I stumbled only to be caught under the arms. I looked up not to see not Charlie standing behind me but Tré.
"You where unbelievable Tré... " I muttered. Charlie quirked an eyebrow as Tré pulled me back to my feet and pulled one of my arms over his shoulders for support. Charlie took my other side. "Hey dude thanks for helping Kitra out," Charlie said to Tré as we made our way out of the alley and started towards the apartment complex on the other side of the block. He had not heard me when I had said Tré's name so he was just assuming it was some everyday guy that had, luckily for me, been out for a late night walk when he'd heard me and come to help, not a world famous rock drummer. When we got to Charlie's apartment, he pushed the door open to let Tré and I in, and then followed us closing the door behind him. Clicking on the lights he glanced up at Tré and I as, gave a start, did a double take, and then shut his eyes. Shaking his head chuckling, he said, "Kitra, is it just me or does the guy who helped save your ass down in that alley look a hell of a lot like Tré Cool?" I looked over at Tré and he gave me a mischievous smirk.
After helping me over to a nearby chair, Tré casually strolled over to the corner of the living room where Charlie's drum set sat picking up a pair of drumsticks as he took a seat on the stool behind the it. Charlie watched him with an eyebrow quirked in curiosity. "If I was ACTUALLY Tré Cool. Wouldn't I be able to do this?" He then went off on a drum solo that lasted for about five minutes before clapping a hand down on the cymbals to silence them and giving Charlie a devilish grin. "Oh wait I CAN do that." Charlie managed to say "You ARE Tré Cool!" before he broke into a laughing fit. I laughed too but stopped abruptly as my leg gave a horrible throb that made my head swim. I'd forgotten about the pain while I'd been watching Tré and Charlie. I put a hand up to my forehead and shut my eyes. I felt a hand on my shoulder "Kitra are you okay?" I opened my eyes, my head still feeling light. Charlie was standing in front of me, Tré just behind him and it was then I realized the other two hadn't gotten away from the fight scott free either. Both had blood on them, some of which was mine Tré had a nice cut on his arm and Charlie had a bloody tear in his shirt. They seemed to be worried about me at the moment though. I felt a stab of guilt. It was my fault they had gotten mixed up in that fight.
I didn't get a chance to appologize for that because at that moment Tré looked down at my knee and his eyes popped, "Holy SHIT! Er... Kitra, right? I think you might want to take a look at that knee of yours." I looked down and nearly jumped out of my skin. My pant leg was a torn, bloody mess and I quickly rolled it up to look at my knee.
It was horribly swollen, blood still oozed from the cut and it throbbed on and off. To top it all off there was something sticking out of the skin.. Tré had knelt down in front of me to get a better look. I ran a finger over the thin embedded in my knee. Glass. "Damn, Kitra that has GOT to hurt." Charlie mused. I grimaced and Tré stood muttering, "That's brutal. Just brutal." I gave a wry smile, "I feel worse for whoever's window is shattered," The guys chuckled.
"We're going to the hospital." Charlie stated and he didn't give me a chance to protest. Picking up the chair I was in he carried it to the door putting me down temporarily to open it. He knew I hated hospitals with a passion and would wrather take care of the knee myself but he wouldn't here it. "Coming Tré?" he asked in a light tone as he picked me and the chair back up and stepped out the door. Tré quirked an eyebrow and smiled finding the whole chair thing amusing he then followed us out the door.
