Layla sprung up like a cat once she heard the doorbell ring. She was frozen in place at the sound, not knowing who would be crazy enough to come this late at night. She slowly tried to get up, but blood trickled down her legs again and she whimpered softly. She whipped her head to the bed when she heard shuffling and groans.
"Layla. Find out who the fuck that is. You piece of shit" he ordered angrily in his sleepy husky voice.
Layla slowly lifted herself off the ground with the help of the wall and grabbed a robe to wrap around her thin body as she stumbled to the entrance. She held back tears of pain, but let a hiss slide through her clenched teeth. She stumbled down the hall and scooted down the stairs, being careful of her torn lower region. She finally made it to the front door and she slowly opened the giant door. It took all of her strength to hold herself up and open the door at the same time. When she saw the familiar face at the door her eyes shot open.
"No...no you must get out of here!" I ordered Cloud softly and pressed a hand to his chest as if to push him away, but Cloud just grabbed her hand and pulled her against him.
Layla stumbled and fell into his chest with an 'oof'. She stared up at the taller male in fear. Not of him, but of Jackson and what he would do if he found out Cloud was at the front door. Cloud wrapped his free arm around Layla's waist and pulled her onto the giant porch. He instantly started moving like he was dancing with her, but he stumbled all over and Layla's feet never touched the ground. She was in shock by Cloud and she tried to get away from him, but his grip just tightened.
"Please Cloud you must get out of here! If Jackson finds you here he's going to kill you and me please! Cloud!" She tried to reason with him, but the drunken man just continued to dance until Layla was ripped away from Cloud.
Layla expected to see a seething Jackson, but it was a very calm darker skinned male instead. Layla glanced back at the male and stared in awe. She had never seen someone's skin colour so dark considering she rarely left the house. The male noticed she was staring and his gentle gaze turned to a glare. He put her inside of her house gently and she balanced herself out on her feet. The male was about to leave with Cloud, but Layla instinctively reached out her hand and touched his cheek softly. The male glared at her as she stroked his cheek then onto his neck, covered chest and bare arms. The male finally had enough and ripped away from her reach.
"Don't do that! What?! You never seen a black man before?! Are we that rare, you racist bitch?" He snapped suddenly and it caused Layla to jump back in fear, since she had never heard a voice so deep or with such an accent. She shook her head slowly in response to his question.
"I-I'm sorry...I have never seen anybody with as dark skin as you...I apologize for offending you I never meant to. You see, I don't use any electronics and I don't leave my house very often so I don't see many people" she bowed her head as she spoke and the male instantly felt regret for snapping at her in such a rude way. He had forgotten her condition.
"I'm sorry. It's alright I didn't know. I shouldn't have snapped at you. My names Damian and I'm Cloud's best friend" Damian spoke in a gentle and calmer tone than what he had before.
Damian held out his hand and looked her up and down, finally starting to realize how thin and small she really was. He stopped when he saw blood staining her ankles and the marks of ropes on them and on her wrists. Damian wanted to say something, but his best friend pulled his attention away from Layla. He glanced back at Cloud and a frown rose onto his face. Layla looked past the buff male in front of her and stared at Cloud with a frown. He was dancing around as if he was a chicken and he was squawking loudly. Layla jumped when she felt someone behind her and she didn't dare to look back, only bow her head in submission. Jackson walked out from behind her slowly, but still made sure to grab Layla's shoulder and push her aside slightly. Damian turned his attention to Jackson and I could tell he froze, but he tried to hide his fear. Jackson glared at Damian, but walked past him like he was nothing. He turned to Cloud and clenched his fists when he saw him. Cloud finally noticed Jackson and resorted back to normal, turning to him instead.
"You sir are going to get your ass beat! I will beat you in a fight and my prize will be your wife! Ha ha!" Cloud sounded like a villain the more he slurred.
Jackson looked back at Layla and glared at her. Layla instantly knew Cloud's words would get her punished greatly either tonight or tomorrow morning. Jackson turned his evil gaze back to Cloud and walked towards him in a menacing way. Layla whipped around to Damian, begging with her eyes for him to help Cloud from getting pummelled. Damian was still frozen and didn't respond to Layla. Once Jackson raised his fist to strike Cloud was when Damian finally ran in. He grabbed Jackson's fist and glared at him, his eyes meeting with his.
"Drop it! Fighting isn't needed. He is drunk and I will take him home. He will not remember this happened. He came here because he couldn't go home, so I will take him to my house. He will be far away from you and your family so let him go" he tried to persuade Jackson to let Cloud go but Jackson just glared at Damian.
"Move outta the way fucking
nigger" he snapped. Something in Damian snapped and he punched Jackson across the face. Jackson stumbled back, but other than that it was like it didn't effect him. Layla let out a slight scream and fell back in fear. Jackson tackled Damian and they rolled off the porch steps, while they continued to punch each other. Cloud was so drunk he thought he was in the fight and kept punching the air sloppily. Layla got up fast with the help of the door handle and she rushed as fast as she could to the edge of the porch.
"No! Please stop it! Please
stop fighting you're going to get hurt!" She shrieked at them in fear that someone would get too injured during the fight.
Some of the neighbours lights went on from all the screaming and fighting coming from their house. Damian and Jackson landed good punches on each other. They were so distracted that they didn't stop when the sound of sirens came from the end of the street. Layla was still yelling at them to stop, Cloud had passed out on the lawn and now Jackson had Damian pinned against his car, punching him across the face. Layla rushed forwards when a policeman jumped out of his car and ripped Jackson off of Damian. He held Jackson tightly in place as another office held Damian in place. They put handcuffs on Damian and Jackson as they read them their rites. Layla rushed to Jackson's side and hugged him from the side.
"Please office let my husband go! Please he hasn't done anything! He is a very nice and gentle man! He would never even hurt a fly!" She tried to convince the police to let Jackson go. She was lifted off of Jackson by one of the police officers and she yelped softly. She tried to beg again.
"Please let him go! He will never do it again, I know that! He is a very nice man, I promise!" She struggled in the police officer's arms, but turned her attention to the side when she heard shuffling coming from the lawn. Her eyes widened when she saw 2 officers arresting Cloud and lifting him up. They walked a sleepy Cloud to their car and pushed him inside the backseat, locking him up. The officers that had arrested Damian and Jackson pushed them into separate cars and then they turned to Layla.
"Miss calm down please. Nothing it going to happen to your husband or the other fellow. We just want to know what happened and such. Nothing is going to happen, as long as we find out what happened and why it happened. Would you mind coming with us for questioning?" The officer spoke softly, so he wouldn't freaked out Layla. She just nodded slowly. She had started to calm down just by the officers gentle words. She was going to mention Amelia, but decided to stay silent in case they were ever to find her.
"Yes I will come...I must get dressed first please wait..." Layla explained before stumbling to the front door. She was asked if she needed help, but she ignored the officer as she rushed inside. She rushed upstairs and started to clean up herself and the blood on her legs. She got dressed fast in loose pants and a loose t-shirt. She went downstairs and started to bandage her wrists and ankles so they wouldn't get suspicious of her. She stumbled outside once again and was panting hard from all the rushing around.
Layla was put into the same back seat as Jackson. She stayed closer to the door than the seething Jackson. She knew he was mad and blamed her for this happening. He blamed me for probably not pushing Cloud away hard enough or not dealing with the situation properly. She sat in silence
as they drove and the silence almost made her sleep. She was slowly starting to close her eyes, but she opened them once again when she heard the car come to a stop. She looked up at the bright colours of the police station entrance and frowned slightly. She
wasn't sure what she should say while being questioned, but she started to think some basic things over that Jackson had taught her about.
She got out of the car as
told by the officer and she looked to the officer as he grabbed her arm gently and pulled her to the entrance. She glanced back and watched as 2 males grabbed Jackson out of the cruiser. The officer pulled her into the station gently and they talked to the
person at the front desk. Layla glanced around as she stood in silence and she felt instant fear when she saw all the people in there. Most people were from gangs. They had all types of tattoos and piercings that Layla had never seen before. She was in shock and terrified of them. They were eyeing her and mumbling to each other behind the bars of the holding cell. Layla glanced back at the officer at her side then turned to see Cloud a little bit sober, Jackson and Damian being heavily guarded. Cloud was given
coffee to try to make him sober up faster and it seemed to be working slightly. The officer turned to Layla.
"Alright you will be put in a room with cameras and one other officer. He will ask you some questions and try to get you to explain everything. You seem to be frightened so I'm telling you now we are officers of the law, we would never hurt you or do anything wrong. My name is Sousuke
and I will be by your side or at least near you at all times you're here. That's my duty now" he explained and it caused a laugh from Cloud. He rolled his eyes and led Layla to the interrogation room while Jackson, Damian and Cloud went into the holding cell.
Sousuke opened the door for Layla and Layla walked in slowly. She took up the closest seat, so her back was to the door and she swallowed nervously. The door shut and she waited. She jumped when the door suddenly creaked open and an officer walked in. He walked around Layla, putting a small file on the desk and then he sat in the empty chair across from Layla. Layla didn't dare to look up, but when she finally did, she froze. Sitting in front of her, was her brother.