Isabel dropped her head, knowing this once worked in Los Angeles. The men would not think her a threat, realize she had nothing for them, and leave. It didn't work this time. So Isabel did the only other thing she could think of.
She ran.
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Ciara's eyes widened and her heartbeat quickened. She was face-to-face with a brick wall that was too high to climb. She cursed under her breath, wondering how close the men were to her. They knew, didn't they? That's why they let her run. She focused again on that wall. She thought this sort of thing only happened in movies and books. The thing where the main character was being chased down an alley, only to be trapped by a wall. Knowing she had to accept her fate, she turned around and locked her eyes with the ground, seeing all four pairs of feet right in front of her.
"Figured out ya couldn't escape, huh, darlin'?" the man who first talked to her asked. Ciara, not wanting to say anything, just nodded her head.
"Well, we don't want to hurt ya, so just give us what we want, and we'll be on our way," a second man said. "You can guess what we want, can't ya?" Ciara stayed silent, until the first man, the one that Ciara guessed was the leader, grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her within punching distance, screaming at her to answer the second man.
"M-Money?" Ciara squeaked, and the leader smiled but didn't let her go, despite her obvious struggles to get away. No, he wasn't touching her skin, but she knew he would if she didn't get away.
"That's right. Just give us what'cha have, and we won't touch a hair on your head, right boys?" the leader asked, and the other three men agreed. Ciara had to wonder how no one on the streets saw this happening. Were they really that blind to what was happening around them? Or did they not care? And not to mention her team. Her team... where were they? Did they care that she was out here, in danger? They were supposed to be here to help... so where were they? Maybe if she screamed loud enough, they'd come running. She tried her best, but she just couldn't scream. She wasn't stressed enough yet.
"Well, where are ya keeping it, wench?" the third man asked, and Ciara tried to get the words past her throat, but she just couldn't. Dammit, why couldn't she just talk?
"Ya have three seconds to give it to us before I beat your face in," the leader threatened.
"I don't have any! I left it all inside. Please, ye have to believe me," Ciara pleaded, and the leader smiled.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, we believe ya," he said, and let go of her shirt. She released a breath she hadn't known she was holding until the leader grabbed her shirt again. "But that doesn't mean we're happy about it. And when we aren't happy, things get ugly." He then threw her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her lungs.
"Now, boss? Can we do it now?" the fourth man, clearly the youngest of the group, asked eagerly.
"Now. Do with her what ya will," the leader said, and Ciara felt her heart drop. What... what were they going to do to her? The leader backed away, and let the other three take their place in front of her. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was coming. A rough pair of hands grabbed her elbows, and she fought her very hardest to get away from the unwanted contact, but it made no difference. The men far outpowered her. One of them held her, leaving her open to attack, and the others did not hesitate to take the chance.
Only two of their punches landed on her face, one on her eye and one on her jaw, splitting her lip and causing some blood to flow. The rest were littered around her torso. One of the punches landed on a specific spot on her chest, and pain consumed her body, bringing tears to her eyes. The man let go of her, and she fell to the ground, unable to keep herself standing. The pain and stress were too much for her. The men, obviously enjoying themselves, took turns kicking her while she was down, and she could do nothing but take it. What else was there to do? She wasn't strong enough to do anything but try and defend herself. She couldn't do anything else. Not on her own.
Kick upon kick landed on her chest, each one hurting much more than the one before it until it consumed every last bit of her. Her entire body was nothing was pain. She couldn't think, she couldn't move, and she couldn't breathe. Right now was about survival. Ciara thought that once she moved away from home, this would never happen again. She thought she would never feel this level of pain again. How wrong she was. She opened her eyes, trying to look for something, anything that could help her. She was desperate by now. She was hoping that someone, anyone would help her. She didn't care anymore if it was friend, foe, or stranger. She just wanted the pain to stop.
I've failed you, Ciara. I'm sorry. I'm supposed to protect you from this. Marina's voice drifted through her head, but she couldn't respond. Tears were running down her cheek, but she couldn't even lift her hands to wipe them away. She was defenseless, helpless, hopeless. She quietly whispered a plea for help, knowing no one could hear it. Was this how she was going to die? Were these men going to kill her? Would she die in pain? She never thought that would be her end. She thought once she left, she wouldn't have to worry about an end like that. She thought when she met Akilah, she would be protected.
She honestly felt a little betrayed. Akilah promised that as long as she was around, no harm would come to Ciara. And yet, Akilah and Ciara were only separated by a wall, and Ciara was alone. Until, suddenly, she wasn't. Everything stopped for a moment, and Ciara wondered why, until she looked over and saw Reid, crutches and all, standing where the alley met the street. The leader, who had been leaning against a wall, watching the other three do his dirty work, pushed himself off of the wall, and stood in front of Reid, hoping to scare him off.
"Get lost, gimpy. This is our business, not yours," the leader said, but Reid, surprisingly, didn't move. The other three men were awaiting orders.
"No. She's my friend and teammate. You need to stop hurting her," Reid said, sounding much, much braver than he really was. The leader sighed, and sent a punch Reid's way, hitting him square on the nose. The blood came quickly, just like the blood on Ciara's chin. Just like Ciara expected, he couldn't keep himself on his feet, and once on the ground, he struggled to grab his crutches and get himself up again. She was actually surprised he got up at all. In that one moment, though, the cloud hanging over her mind cleared, and she was able to speak for one moment.
"REID! GO! GET AKILAH!" she screamed, and Reid did as he was told. The leader looked back at her and nodded. Before she knew what was happening, the three men were attacking once again.
That was, until a boot connected with their leader's face.
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Akilah looked down at her food, suddenly not hungry. She felt terrible about what she had put Ciara through tonight, and, though she hated to admit it, it was indeed her fault. Rossi had been the one to comfort Ciara rather than her, and Akilah couldn't help but wonder if she had just ruined what trust Ciara had in her. Rossi had come back in, and Reid had gone out, saying he needed to clear his head or something like that. She really didn't care, until Reid came back in, crutching along as fast as he could, blood streaming down his face.
"Oh my God, Reid, what happened to you?" Garcia wondered while JJ was already holding a cloth or a napkin or something to his nose, and Akilah could tell Morgan was thinking the same thing as her.
"Whose ass do I need to go kick?" Akilah asked.
"Akilah... Ciara's in trouble... in the alley... hurry," Reid gasped, and Akilah didn't need any other words. She ran out of the restaurant, and she could hear Morgan close behind her. Did he think she needed help or something? She needed no help. She was too good for that. Perhaps he just wanted to know who had hit Reid. In that case, she'd let him tag along. Just as long as he didn't get in her way. She got outside, and ran to the alley, hoping she had the right one. She did. She immediately saw one man leaning against the wall of another building, three other men beating Ciara. She ran up to the one against the wall, assuming he was the leader.
"Get lost, girly. You don't wanna-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Though she was only medium height and he was quite tall, she was able to kick him in the face (no, not even on the jaw, but rather, she was pretty sure she hit his nose). As her combat boot connected with flesh, his head snapped back, hitting the wall, knocking him out.
"Listen here, assholes, you'd better get the hell away from my friend, or by Allah, you'll wish you never touched her," Akilah threatened. However, they didn't take her seriously. After all, to them, she was just a girl in a blouse, hijab, black skinny jeans, and combat boots. That was their mistake. She grabbed a couple pins out of her pocket, and attached them to her hijab, making sure that it didn't come undone. The men laughed at her until she walked idly up to the closest one. Before he could react, she had assumed a proper stance and threw an uppercut, her fist connecting with his jaw. His head snapped upwards, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
The other two knew she was serious then, and they both charged her. The first one she landed a quick kick to the chest, not knocking him unconscious, but enough to knock him off balance. She wasn't going to knock these two out quickly. She wanted them to suffer for what they did to Ciara. She started throwing punches at the other man, occasionally spinning around and landing a kick or punch on the other one, just to keep him off balance and not attacking her. Her hand, by then, was covered in blood- whether from the men or from her split knuckles, she didn't know. Finally, the man she was attacking fell, and she grabbed the other by the arm, twisting it behind his back.
"Are you working for a gang? Or are you petty thieves?" she asked, and he didn't say anything. She let go of his arm but quickly grabbed his head, putting her thumb behind his ear. At first, he didn't understand, but she amended that by putting pressure on the little notch behind his ear, triggering the mandibular pressure point.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk!" She stopped applying pressure but kept her thumb where it was, nonverbally telling him that she could bring the pain back at any moment. "We ain't in a gang. We're just thieves, like ya said. We just wanted money, and your girl here looked like a good target. But she didn't have no money, and so we thought it'd be fun to beat up on her."
"And the man?"
"The gimpy? He was getting in our way, so boss popped him in the nose. Then your girl screamed at him to leave, and we thought we were alone again. And then you came, and we thought you were just a girl, ya know, and now we're here," the man said, and Akilah nodded, before letting him go. He thought he was off the hook, but she quickly turned him around and landed a hit on his temple, and he crumpled to the ground. Satisfied at her work, she walked over to Ciara, who was curled up into a ball, whimpering.
"Ciara, shh, it's okay, it's over, they won't hurt you anymore," Akilah tried to comfort her, but Ciara's whimpering turned to mumbling.
"I am John-ny Cade, John-ny Cade, I am..."
"Who's Johnny Cade?" Akilah turned around and saw the rest of the team behind her. She looked at Morgan, who had been the one to ask the question.
"And where were you? I heard you right behind me, but you didn't help at all," Akilah said.
"Well, you looked like you had it handled, so I went back inside to check on Reid and get the team out here. Now, who is Johnny Cade?"
"Johnny Cade is a character from the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. He was described as quiet and jumpy. Actually, I think they compare him to a puppy that had been kicked too many times. Before the book began, he was jumped and beaten by a rival gang," Reid explained, although it was harder for Akilah to understand him with the cloth pressed to his nose.
"We're gonna have to look out for her. She can get through this without any big effects, but only if we stick by her and remind her that this won't happen again. I only fear that this has ruined any trust she may have had with any of us," Akilah said, and the rest of the team nodded, understanding what they needed to do.
*********************
Akilah stepped out of the shower, wrapping her hair up into a towel as quick as she could. It didn't take her long to dress into whatever pajamas she had grabbed. They most likely wouldn't match, but she didn't care. She wrapped her knuckles, clean of blood but now stinging like hell, with bandages just like the doctor showed her. Akilah, Ciara, and Reid all had to go to the hospital, and while Akilah and Reid were let go quickly enough, they had to keep Ciara for longer, make sure she was okay, and in the end, they decided she was. Akilah wasn't so sure- she was covered in bruises, her eye was black and swollen, and her lip was split. But, the doctor said she could go home, so Akilah brought her home.
Sighing, she picked up her hijab and threw it in her room, before making her way to Ciara's room. The door was open, so Akilah stepped inside, quickly crossing the room to Ciara's bed. There was a chair there, a habit picked up in Los Angeles when Akilah would sit by Ciara, talking her through whatever nightmares she was having. Ciara's nightmares were now few and far between, but the chair remained, just in case. Ciara was sleeping soundly, clutching onto the ratty seahorse toy that had apparently come from her childhood. Akilah couldn't remember the name of it now.
Akilah laughed to herself, wondering how the hell her and Ciara had become friends. They were polar opposites, in personality and in body. Especially in body. Ciara was short, barely over five feet, and Akilah was considered tall for a woman. Ciara had pale skin, while Akilah had dark skin. Ciara had very little curve to her body, Akilah was an hourglass. Ciara's eyes were never seen, and Akilah had gotten in trouble for her eyes. Akilah laughed, remembering her time at home, back in Saudi Arabia.
Her body had been a curse to her. While most girls her age were able to get away with only a hijab and a single abaya, Akilah had been forced to put on abaya after abaya to hide her prominent curves. Even after that, her father and sisters had declared her eyes to be "too alluring" and she had to wear a burqa on top of everything else. Even to this day, Akilah had no clue how she didn't die of heat stroke, considering how hot Saudi Arabia got. Though she couldn't possibly admit it to herself or anyone else, that was one reason she was jealous of Ciara. She had grown up in a society that had no dress code, and women were able to express themselves any way they choose without having to worry about the Mutaween chasing them down. Of course, Akilah got that freedom when she moved to America when she was thirteen, but by then, the damage had already been done.
Akilah looked at her friend, wondering where either of them would be without the other. She also wondered if Ciara trusted her anymore. She thought for a little bit, before realizing something. Johnny Cade still trusted his friends after he was jumped, right? It had been a long time since Akilah had read the book, but she was pretty sure that was correct. If Johnny could trust, surely Ciara could, too. Then again, Ciara had some awful things happen to her in her life. Akilah didn't know what they were, as Ciara never told her. Maybe she wouldn't be able to trust after all. Akilah sighed, knowing that the only way she would find out would be by getting a good night's sleep and wait until tomorrow. She was sure they'd have a case.
And, after so long, we are finally back! I am so excited to finally continue and trust me, we are in for a ride. So, how about that chapter to kick things off again? Did anyone see what was coming in the chapter by the title? And we got a little bit of insight into Akilah's character and past, and a little more description about how both women look. What did you think about the fight scene? Akilah packs a bit of a punch, doesn't she? Oh, if you guys like YouTuber stories (Markiplier, JackSepticEye, the likes) I have a new story you might want to check out: Gamer Girls. It already has a couple parts up, and I'm really excited about this. But anyway, I think that's all I have for this chapter, so I guess I'll see you next time! BYE!
"I don't think that when a person is getting beat up there's a whole lot of thought. It's survival. You don't have a whole lot of time to think when you're being pummeled." -Joseph Bruno