To Hum a Lullaby

Part 4

The sky had grown dark in the hours they had been talking. Lachlan was happy and calm. The first time he had felt this way in a very long time. He forgot about the problem that his life was. All his insecurities left. Then he heard Emily start to hum softly. He instantly recognised the tune. Lifting his head, he looked at her. 

"You know 'Catch a Falling Star'?" he asked, surprise colouring his tone. Emily looked mildly up at him. 

"Lucy sings it all the time," she said. "No one knows where she learnt it," she added resting her head on Lachlan's shoulder again. 

"I can't believe she remembered it," Lachlan mumbled, with a laugh. Emily looked up at him sharply. 

"What do you mean?" she asked quickly. 

"I used to sing that all the time. 'Specially round Luc," he answered. 

"Huh, guess she never did forget," Emily said quietly, then silence fell between them, as each thought over the revelation. After a while, Emily fell asleep. Lachlan smiled. The day had obviously exhausted her. But he himself did not fall asleep. He'd stayed up all night before, and he knew it would be safer to remain awake. The streets always held unknown danger, and he needed to be alert in case any should come their way. He let his head rest on Emily's, and relaxed. 

It was late at night, the moon at its peak in the sky. The park was a mixture of oddly shaped shadows, and black objects moving in the darkness. The wind blew through the trees, making the branches creak and the leaves rustle. He felt Emily shiver. After all the years on the streets, he'd forgotten about the cold. He pulled her closer to himself, wrapping his arms around her, and trying to use his body heat to keep her warm. 

Something in the air changed. Lachlan became more alert, sensing something in the darkness. His eyes scanned the area, but in the dark there wasn't much to see. Then he noticed a shadow moving unnaturally. It didn't move with the wind, but bobbing and getting bigger. It was a person, and Lachlan knew it was no coincidence. He nudged Emily in the side. She stirred slightly, but didn't wake. He shook her a little harder. 

"Em, wake up," he whispered. Emily groaned softly, opening her eyes slightly. 

"What -?" she mumbled, before Lachlan clamped a hand over her mouth. 

"She there's someone out there. Hide. Don't come out, no matter what. Got it?" he hissed quickly. He waited until he felt Emily nod, before he let go. He watched as she crawled away as quietly as she could, though to little success. Lachlan winced as each branch broke under her weight, before he made his way away from that spot. He knew there were three options: to run, to hide or to fight. He also knew that for some reason, he would not leave Emily to fend for herself, so running was out. The man out in the darkness was more than likely going to be bigger than he was, so he didn't stand a good chance against him. Lachlan knew his best chance was to hide some way from Emily. Before he had even finished the thought, something caught by the collar, whirling him around and punching his hard in the face. Lachlan stumbled to the ground, blood gushing from his nose. He caught a quick glimpse of the guy, before having to duck a fist. As he had predicted, the attacker was bigger than he was. Lachlan decided that as he was going down, he might as well go down fighting. He got up and ran at the guy, ramming his shoulder into his guts. They came up against a tree, and with one hand holding his by the throat; Lachlan landed two punches, before the guy jutted his knee into Lachlan's stomach, who heaved over only to receive another knee, and a fist to the face. Lachlan fell over. 

"You shouldn't have blabbed, boy," the guy threatened, coming over for another hit. Lachlan managed to roll out o the way as the guy swung a leg at him, and got up. He was pleased to see that at least he had broken the guy's nose. Running on a sudden adrenaline rush, he ran at the other, catching him by surprise and knocking him to the ground. Lachlan landed half a dozen decent punches before being thrown off. He stumbled, giving the other guy opportunity to throw him to the ground, where he received numerous kicks to the gut. He had no time to react before the next one was landed. The guy brought his foot down hard on Lachlan's arm, and there was a resounding crack. Lachlan let out a blood-curdling scream of torture, before getting kicked in the face. The guy stepped back and spat. Lachlan lay gasping on the ground. Every fibre of his being in agony. 

"Ishlimar was very pissed off when he discovered some street rat had spotted him," the guy hissed, squatting down beside Lachlan. "But when he found out that the rat had turned dog, he was furious. One of his own had stabbed him in the back. I'm sure you could understand," he said, poking Lachlan hard. Lachlan ignored him, reaching behind to pull out his pocketknife. 

"How'd he know it was me?" he asked, trying to buy time. He knew that the guy thought the fight was over, that he'd won, and was now gloating, before finishing him off. 

"Well a little asking around told us that who usually hung out in that area. A little more persuading narrowed it down to just a few." Lachlan got his hand around the shaft of the blade, flicking it out behind him. 

"But we all knew you knew our symbol, which made the betrayal all the worse. We'd helped each other out on the occasion," the guy finished, looking up at the sky. "Ashnix sent me out here to teach you a..." he stopped with a shriek of pain, as Lachlan rammed his blade into his thigh. Lachlan pulled the blade free and rolled away. The guy's eyes turned murderous and an angry hiss escaping his teeth as he pulled his own knife out. They stood facing each other, their knees slightly bent, both with knives in their hands. The guy charged, but Lachlan managed to duck, and moved to the side. Another strike, another escape. Lachlan stood just behind him, and as quickly as he could, he moved to get the guy in the back. But he wasn't fast enough. The guy whirled around, and everything stopped. Lachlan dropped the knife, as a burning pain shot up from his right side. Everything seemed to stop, and blur. Lachlan didn't really understand what had happened. He stood motionless in shock, his mouth open as if to scream but nothing came out. The guy smiled evilly, and then jerked the blade free. Lachlan remained standing for a moment longer, staring at the shining blade, before collapsing to his knees. He heard a shriek from somewhere nearby, before falling over. He held his hand against his stomach, and groaned. His hand was covered in a warm liquid that just ran out over his fingers. He heard more screams and bushes rustling, but the noises barely registered. 

"Lachlan!" Emily screamed. Her voice rang out in Lachlan's head. Had to help Emily. He reached over, his hand fumbling as he tried to find something, anything of use. He stopped on something solid protruding from the ground. He pried the large rock free with his fingers, while Emily's screams continued. 

"He's not going to help you," the guy taunted. Lachlan's head was buzzing. Everything was a blur, and none of his senses were registering much. Heaving himself off the ground, he held the rock in his good hand and hobbled over to the attacker's back. Slowly, he lifted the rock, and with as much strength as he had left, brought it down on the guy's head, who instantly fell unconscious to the ground, blood leaking from his head. Lachlan then collapsed to the ground, no strength left in his body. Emily crawled over to him her nose bled and her clothes were torn. Lachlan smiled weakly at her, as she lifted his head into her lap, and pressed her ripped jacket to his stomach. 

"I hope ya 'ave a phone," he managed to say. 

"I've already called. They're on their way," Emily answered, tears dripping down her face. Lachlan nodded then closed his eyes. He heard Emily start to cry, and opened them again to see her sobbing above him. 

"Sh, I'll be fine. It takes a lot to take out street kids," he wheezed. Emily chuckled slightly. 

"I just hope the damn ambulance gets here soon. Some drugs'd be real nice bout now," he managed, trying to smile. Emily nodded, smiling through her tears. She took his hand and squeezed it. A few minutes later, they could hear sirens screaming toward them, pulling up moments later. A small group of paramedics and police rushed over, most attending to he and Emily while a few worked on the unconscious man. Lachlan recognised one face among them. Detective Lacey. Their eyes met as she moved toward him. 

"Told ya they'd get me if I talked," he said, attempting a light tone. Lacey knelt down beside him. 

"I'm sorry Lachlan; truly I am," she said, her hand on his shoulder. The paramedics loaded him into the back of the ambulance, where Lachlan closed his eyes and let the darkness envelop him.