Dark Side |COMPLETED|

Chapter Fifteen

Rio was down on the cold concrete, curled in a ball. He had blood stains all over his shirt and more bruises than I could count. Base stood with a sly smirk, "thought you'd never come." I gritted my teeth as two more guys appeared from around the corner. Crap, this was bad. "He had nothing to do with this, he didn't even know of it," I took a sharp intake of breath. "He's a friend isn't he? Just like Skylar, he was apart of this actually just by associating with you," Base replied. His lean figure straightened as he listened to the pattern of feet. My heart hammered against my chest as I heard the footsteps, they couldn't be in this. Fear ran down my spine as they continued to come closer and closer. I held my breath as my followers appeared from the corner.
Skylar, Axel, Trey, and Heather stood there. Skylar and Axel both had intense faces as they eyed Base and the two men. Trey and Heather were confused to the situation, but one look at the crumbled body on the floor told them all they needed to know. "Can't blame it on the ankle this time," Skylar said as she strutted towards one of the men. I knew her method and relaxed a bit to see it was working, "wasn't planning too." Skylar was a very pretty woman, she had the long legs, slim figure, model like body, and the prettiest eyes. Her hair shined and flowed as if by perfection, the man enchanted by her looks. She placed a hand on his shoulder as if to further seduce him. Axel smirked and strolled over to the other man. I knew my mission, keep the boss distracted until the police or help got here. I was only fifteen after all and not the most talented fighter in the world.
Skylar ended her 'sweet' talk with a hit to the jaw, Axel instantly went at it with his guy. Base took that window to make his getaway, but I had other plans. I followed his eyes and swiftly blocked his route. "Step aside kid or I'll-" okay, so maybe I was getting too bold as I said, "make you? That's what you were going to say right? Cause if so, which way are you going so I make sure to go the opposite?" He gave me an overly annoyed look, "Fault." "Yep?" "Shut up," he growled. "Then why did you have me answer you if you wanted me to shut up?" He gave me a stupid look before attempting to push past me. He couldn't get away not this time, not after everything he's done. I grab his arm, spinning him around. He raised a hand to hit me, but like I've said before I don't go down without a fight. Ever. I nearly smirked when I saw Trey and Axel on either side of Base ready to restrain him.
I didn't hesitate. Right when he went to hit me, I punched him square in the face. It wasn't just a normal punch, that punch held all my anger, fear, issues, all my pain. Base was stunned at the impact he fell backwards, Trey and Axel instantly took an arm each. Dang, that felt good. I felt a hand on my shoulder and snapped around. Skylar had a wide smile, I guess she took out her guy. I relaxed, but a man on the ground sat up. I tended and Skylar went to go after him, however a loud "clang" made her halt. Heather had a metal pipe in her hand, I was frozen in my tracks. She threw off a sheepish smile, "I didn't do anything, but now I did." I almost went over to her almost. But then I remembered the whole reason we were here. I turned around then jogged over to Rio. He was conscious, but barely. I gently placed a hand on him, "hey, can you hear me?" "Y-yeah," he wheezed out. I looked him over, his shirt had splotches of blood in random places, his hair messy and unkept. This was my fault.
I placed my hands under his back and legs, "you good?" He dryly laughed, "just don't kill me." I took that as permission to continue, I carefully stood up. He winced, but didn't protest. We all walked back to the park, Base cussing and thrashing, but never broke free. Henry's eyes turned to saucers once he looked at us. The man sprung to his feet. He took off across the park to reach us. "What happened? Oh my gawd, Bethany call 911!" Bethany, who had been listening, took her phone out immediately and called. He swiftly took Rio from me, panic evident on his face. "Someone answer me," he spoke quickly, concern flowing from him. I froze, would they ever let me see them again? Why am I thinking of this? Why do I even care? I was the only person who knew what was going on. Skylar knew most, but she didn't know my other friends as they didn't know her or my past life.
Base smirked, "you know what's going to happen when they find out?" My heart beat stopped, they couldn't find out. They would never look at me again. Henry's eyes flashed from Base's, Skylar's, and then mine. "Shut the frick up," Skylar spat, venom laced in her tone. I was tense, why would he bring this up? Base saw my panic and smirked, "oh, does someone care?" Skylar stepped beside me, she glared at Base. Her hand subconsciously rubbed my back, I felt myself calm down. The ambulance parked. My eyes finally landed on Base, his jaw clenched. I spotted the paramedics running over with a stretcher, "Want to fill them in?" My hands fiddled, my breath was short each time I exhaled. I could feel eyes boring into my back, but at this given moment I couldn't face them. Not after what happened. They would just leave without a moments notice.
Why did I care? The question itself terrified me. This wasn't the plan, this was never the plan. I wasn't supposed to be alive, I was supposed to be buried six feet under. No father, no Base, no gang, no memories. I kept myself composed, my mind couldn't go there, if it did there was no stopping it, and Base knew that. The paramedics placed Rio into the stretcher and sprinted back to the truck, Henry went to go report Base. Skylar left my side to go with Henry. That was a mistake. Base elbowed both Trey and Axel in the gut and charged me. I was thrown against a tree, the breath knocked out of me. He had both of my arms pinned above my head, I began to hyperventilate. "They will leave when they find out. For now, let's remanence on some of the memories?" I struggled all the more, but I felt helpless at his hold. I hated, no hate isn't a strong enough word, I loathed being helpless.
He leaned closer, I could see his hot breath fanning over my neck. "You're worthless, weak, useless, unwanted. Your mother died because of you," those words surfaced a few kind of nightmare. A nightmare I had kept buried under all my pain for years, never in my life had I let it come close to resurfacing, but here I was doing just that. "Get lost, they won't want you after I tell them," he snarled. No, no, no, they were the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. He couldn't. My mind was a mush of emotions, I lifted my leg in an attempt to kick Base, but it was weak as my mind and logic were elsewhere. A solid, iron, punch collided with my already bruised gut. I let out a groan, but didn't haunch over. My eyes shined with unshed tears.
He let go, "run." I took off without a moment's notice. Memories flashed through my brain, tearing down every sense of logic I had. My heart was beating out of my chest, my throat burned, and my eyes watered. I needed to get out, to get away. "Ash!" I skitted to a stop, the one person I trusted. My demeanor went from frightened to broken. I didn't fight the emotions in front of her, I didn't have too. She rushed to me and enveloped me in a hug. She knew what he did, she knew how I felt about him, and she knew how much he affected me. The memories never stopped, they flashed as if on a continuous track of torment. I could feel, hear, smell everything. My breathing became ridged as I recalled painful images. I knew I was having a panic attack. I felt dizzy almost sick, I knew I was leaning on her more than I should. She knew too; she lowered herself onto the ground.
My face was buried in the crook of her neck, her arms wrapped securely around me. She rubbed my back out of habit, trying to calm the panic attack. "I promise he won't hurt you anymore," she used a soft voice. I stiffened, "don't make promises you can't keep." In the back of my mind a chant seemed to become louder and louder each day:

Good kids get good things, bad kids get bad things.

A/N:

Aww!!! Poor Rio, Ash, and Skylad💔