Page 6 of Blade

“Old Man Driggers,” Rogue said, shaking her head.

“I’ll handle that,” Bash said, walking out of the office.

“Wait!” I yelled.

Bash came back into the room.

“He didn’t mean to. He didn’t know I was there. Hell, I didn’t knowhewas there. I got scared when I heard someone moving around in the cabin. I didn’t mean to trespass. I was running off the property and he fired away from me. I heard the bullet hit something else and then I was hit. It had to have ricocheted off of something because I only heard one shot.”

“Old Man Driggers is an old man who is used to teenagers damaging his property more than it already is. He usually just shoots to spook them. I’m sure it was an accident that he hit you, but we’ve talked to him about this before,” Blade explained, “and he stillfucking shot you.”

“I’ll handle it,” Bash said again.

“Bash!” Leland yelled.

Bash poked his head back into the office.

“Handle it without your fists.”

Bash sighed.

“I know, but we live in this town, okay?” Leland said.

Bash nodded.

“Is Old Man Driggers going to be okay?” I asked. I didn’t think he was with the way Bash looked.

“Bash is just… passionate,” Rogue explained. “He won’t kill him... Maybe...”

I rested my head on the back of the chair. Everything hurt and I was too tired to figure out if Bash was a murderer or not.

Loud footsteps filled the hall and then a man carrying a medical bag came into the room.

“Oh, I’m not here for Bash this time?” he asked, looking around.

“No. This is my friend and Old Man Driggers shot her,” Rogue said.

“What the fuck?” He sighed, shaking his head.

“Please don’t write my name down or make me go to the hospital,” I begged, swallowing a sudden wave of nausea.

“Okay, I will do my very best not to let that happen,” he answered. He sat in the swivel chair Rogue had pushed over to him and walked it until he was in front of me. “My name is Elliot and I promise I am going to help you and keep you safe, okay?”

***

Blade

Elliot often rescued us from needing to leave a paper trail. Sometimes we… maybe took justice into our own hands. The world wasn’t fair and the justice system was shit. We did what we needed to.

“Where were you shot, honey?”

“My leg,” Eloise answered, reaching down to lift her pants leg. “It’s really not so great,” she warned.

“I can handle it,” Elliot told her.

She studied him for a moment, before lifting the fabric away to reveal a stained bandage. “I change it every morning and night but it still bleeds some.”

“You’re doing a great job by changing the bandage. That’s smart,” Elliot said.

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