Relentless

Chapter 30

Ashton

The deep voice shocks both me and Juliet. We look in the direction of the voice and see two men with their arms folded across their chest. I stand up abruptly and pull Juliet with me, placing her behind me.

"Where's the money, Juliet?" The older one, obviously Daniel, asks.

I want to kill him.

"I-I don't have it." She whispers behind me.

"You're just lying to everyone, aren't you?"

"Give us the money." Jackson says in a darker tone than Daniel. Jackson takes a step closer and I do the same, shocking both them and Juliet.

"Ashton, don't." Juliet says, pulling my back.

"Don't worry, Juliet. We already had our fight." Jackson asks.

I knew he looked familiar. I should've finished him when I had the chance. He hurt Juliet. He almost killed her.

"W-what is he talking about, Ashton?"

"He was my opponent in my last fight." I say, staring him down. "And from what I remember, you lost." I say, smirking to myself. I hear Juliet gasp in shock at my remark and she clings to the back of my shirt. Just as she does this, Jackson takes another step towards us. Towards Juliet.

"You don't know who you're messing with, buddy." I growl.

"The bitch shaking behind you? We know exactly who she is." Daniel states.

"No. I mean me." I say as I punch Jackson in the face, causing him to fall down. Daniel then charges at me, making me push Juliet away from us and we continuously hit each other. His fist connects with my jaw, but I shake off the pain.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Juliet cries. I look and see Jackson coming towards her with a knife. I knee Daniel in the stomach a few times and run for Jackson, tackling him to the ground.

"Juliet, get out of here!" I scream. She has to leave. I can't hold them off forever. "GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

"No! Ashton!"

"GO!" I scream. She puts her hand over her mouth and then runs in the opposite direction of us.

I feel something shape and cold scratch my body and release a painful groan. Looking down, I see Jackson holding his knife with blood on it. My blood. The pain hasn't kicked in yet, so I try to not think about it. I punch him in the nose and grab the knife, throwing it onto the grass. I continue punching and kicking him repeatedly, infuriated and beside myself because of everything he did to Juliet. I stand back once I know I wounded him severely and place a hand over my wound.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Daniel grab the knife. I back up, preparing myself to strike again as Daniel walks over to Jackson, throwing his arm over his shoulder and helping him walk. He gives me that evil you'll-pay-for-this look and they vanish. As I'm about to sit on the bench and rest, feeling slight pain, I hear a whimper.

"Ashton?" I turn to see Juliet, crying behind a tree. Ignoring the pain, I run to her and take her in my arms. She grabs onto me so tight that it adds to the pain.

"It's okay. Their gone." I whisper. She let's go and looks into my eyes. I smile at her and then move in slowly. But before my lips can contact hers, she sees the blood on my shirt.

"Please tell me that's not yours." She says, putting her hand on my chest to stop me from kissing her. When I don't respond, she starts to panic. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Hey! Look at me!" I say, guiding her eyes to mine. "I'm fine, okay? I'm still standing. You should've seen them. They were on the ground in two seconds."