Fatal | The Second Life I [COMPLETED]

Chapter 38: Aniya

- N I C K -

I wake up to the sound of screams. I nearly leap from the bed, walking out of my room. On my way down the stairs, I see Evan reading something in the living room.

     "Where are you going?" Evan asks, surprisingly energetic.

     "You hear the scream?" I ask grumpily. I slide my shoes on.

     "Yeah." He says. "I gotta read this though."

     "Suit yourself," I say, not thinking much about what he was reading. I open the door and run out, seeing a commotion by the under-construction wall.

     There were a couple of guards haggling with an African American Girl who was clearly trying to get in. The guards were waving bricks and trying to get her to keep quiet. I notice a bruise on her arm, and blood was dripping. I make the connection, seeing the brick was stained red.

     "The hell are you doing to her?" I ask angrily. I hated watching people do this. The girl was around our age, and it pissed me off.

     "Protecting the Compound." One says. "None of your business."

     "Yeah, protection by assault." I declare, walking closer. The guard turns around, angry. He looked like he was 16, with buff muscles and short hair. He rocked a Mohawk.

     "Step away, gringo." The second one says, and it sets me over the edge. I walk closer, and the first one girls the brick at me while the Second pushes the girl down.

     I dodge the brick and slam into the first guy. It knocks him back, and I use my martial arts skills to roundhouse kick him into the wall. My foot strikes him right so he is knocked out. His unconscious body falls to the ground nearby.

     The second one gets up quickly to try and deal with me, but I take him down and put him in an arm lock. One wrong move and I'd break his arm. I see his other arm reach for a knife, and I decide to do it.

     His arm cracks with a loud noise, and he gasps in pain. "I don't know about you." I begin. "But I'd rather be the gringo right now."

     I get off of him, slugging him to knock him out. The same process follows near-instantly, and he falls into the grass, snoring. His arm wasn't bent too much out of shape, and he could get it back to normal pretty quickly.

     "Thank you." I hear and walk to the source. The girl was standing there, holding her arm out. There was a gash where the brick had hit her on her forearm, and it was still bleeding. Thinking quickly, I grab a leaf and shove it on the wound. She gasps.

     "Come with me," I say. She nods and follows me back to the house. I could see her figure now. She was around my height, but clearly weak and tired. She looked like she had been to hell and back.

     We rush inside the house, and Evan looks up from his book. His eyes widen when he sees the girl, and he drops the book. The hardcover slams into the floor, and his mouth games open for a second.

     "What the hell?" He asks, confused. I pay no mind and rush her to the sink. She turns the water on and washes the cut, while I look in the cabinets. "Nick, who is it?"

     "Name's Aniya." She says. "Seriously, Thank you."

     "Happy to help," I say. "Those were some douchebags."

     "Um, Nick?" Evan asks. I turn around, as Aniya takes over the search in the cabinets. "Explanation?"

     "Needed help, and got assaulted by the wall guards," I say. "Knocked their asses down."

     "Oh god." He says, looking at the cut. "A brick?"

     "Yup," Aniya says. "Hurts really bad."

     "What else did you do to the border guards?" Evan presses.

     "I broke an arm and knocked them out," I say. He looked shocked.

     "Oh god.." Evan begins. "Colt's gonna be pissed."

     "Oh, boohoo," I say as the other three come down the stairs. They had apparently heard the commotion. "We're leaving, remember?" I ask.

     "Nick, come on!" Evan exclaims. "We've already discussed this."

     "You don't want to go back out there right now," Aniya says, wrapping her arm with a paper towel. "You don't. Seriously."

     "Who is this?" Zach asks.

     "Name's Aniya," Evan says, looking at her.

     "I can name myself, thank you," Aniya says to Evan. "Aniya."

     "We.. come on, guys," I say to Zach and Caden. "You don't buy this bullshit, do you? We have to leave!"

     "Nick," JP says, and I look at him. "We don't split up."

     I look at them all, realizing no one was on my side right now. Not even JP.

     "Great friendship," I say, pushing past Zach and Caden and walking upstairs. "They aren't getting me out of here."

- C O L T -

     "God damnit, Evan," I say as I see our doctor, Marseille, help out Aniya with her arm. "Didn't you talk some sense into him?"

     "I tried to." He insists. "He says they were assaulting him. Where do you think that wound on Aniya comes from?"

     "I just find it hard to believe my guards are monsters," I say. "It's not worth it to try and punish Nick. Tell him to relax next time."

     "Okay." He says. "One question, by the way."

     "What is that?"

     "I was reading that book.." Evan starts. I suppress a smile. "I couldn't fall asleep last night."

     "That sucks," I say. "What about the book?"

     "I wanna try to get onto that council." I nearly jump in excitement. My plan was working perfectly. "As long as it helps them out."

     "Your friends?" I confirm, slightly annoyed. "Yeah, you can be on the council. There's only 6 at a time, as you read, so you'll have to beat one of them. But your friends won't have to work if you make it on."

     "Really?" He asks. "Great. How do beat them?"

     "By knowing that book better than them," I say, making my plan. "So, study. I'll do the test thing tomorrow."