Page 26 of Surface Scratch
Marcus grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him close with one arm. He kissed Caleb again and shoved him away from where the voices were. “Run!” Marcus shouted, stepping out from behind the dumpster.
Oh God.Caleb stumbled back, staring at three men standing in the alley with bandannas around the lower halves of their faces. One held a crossbow at the ready, and the other two looked like they were carrying pipes. But it was the sunglasses obscuring the eyes of the man wielding the crossbow that made his chest tighten.
He spun so fast in the alleyway that his heels slid across the slick asphalt, turning his attempt to run into a graceless stumble. Pain shot through his hands as he slapped down onto the ground on his hands and knees, taking only a moment to reorient himself before he scrambled back to his feet. He glanced back. Marcus still stood in the alley, his arms raised like he was giving up, but his left hand still gripped the blade.
The ringing in his ears was too loud for him to make out any words, but he could hear them shouting.He said run, so fucking run!Caleb whipped around to start down the alley, but his vision went white for a second as a searing pain ripped through his face, exploding outwards from his nose and radiating through his teeth. He grabbed at his face as blood began to trickle down his lips and tears instantly ran down his face.
Getting punched in the nose was nothing like it looked in the movies.
He blinked rapidly, taking a step backward as he stared at the two figures in front of him. One was a woman with a bat slung over her shoulder, the other a shorter, rounder man, both with their faces covered with bandannas like the other three.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the man asked.
“Hey, don’t hurt that one, we’re bringing him in alive,” the man with the sunglasses rasped.
“The fuck you are,” Marcus snarled.
“Grab him,” the woman gestured at Caleb with her bat.
Caleb felt the short man grab his arm and pulled back, twisting himself out of his coat. “Stay away from me!” He took another step back, his palms facing out. “Just leave me alone.”
Th short man thew down Caleb’s jacket. “No can do,” he said.
Caleb braced as the man charged at him, feeling the man’s shoulder smash into his stomach and steal his breath. His feet slid across the slick ground and he shoved the man back, trying to regain his balance as his limbs grew hot, itching from the cold and the adrenaline shooting through his veins. He swung a fist at the man’s head, his knuckles exploding with pain as the blow landed.
“You little fucker—” The man shook his head as if to reorient himself before cocking his own arm back and punching Caleb in the jaw.
Caleb held his face with one hand and shoved the man away as he reached for him again, flexing his jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken. He could taste blood on his tongue.
“We’re trying to save your life, you idiot,” the woman said. His hazy vision focused on her just standing with the bat slung over her shoulder and a bored look in her eyes, then back to the short man, the parts of his face that were visible bright red.
He could hear the unmistakable sound of blows landing on skin and too many feet scuffling behind him.Please be okay. Please don’t get hurt.He was too scared to turn around and see what was happening, unsure whether he would see Marcus winning or losing the fight. He just knew that he couldn’t take his eyes off the pair in front of him. He would not have a repeat of what had happened with Vincent.
He kicked out as hard as he could, his toes bending painfully as they connected with the short man’s groin. He felt a wave of nausea come over him, his own balls aching as he watched the man drop to the ground, a gasping groan escaping him before a torrent of vomit spewed out from beneath the bandanna and into the snow.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please—” Caleb caught himself.Why am I apologizing?He stared down at the man heaving into the snow.
“All right, enough of this,” the woman said. She swung that bat at his head.
Caleb ducked, the end of the bat grazing his hair as he did. He scrambled over to the metal door, dropping down as she swung again, the bat bouncing off the door with a sickening clang that vibrated against his back. She planted a boot against his chest, pinning him to the door, and thrust the bat toward his face.
“Stay down,” she ordered, glancing back over to the three other assailants. “You’ll thank us when he’s dead, kid.”
He followed her line of sight and saw the back of Marcus’s coat, the fabric nearly sliced in two and streaked with blood. One of the men was face down in the snow, a pool of red growing beneath him. The crossbow had been abandoned near the wall of the club, like it had been thrown and forgotten. Caleb tried to get up, but the woman ground the heel of her boot into his sternum.
“I saidstay down,” she said, sounding like she was gritting her teeth.
The man in the sunglasses slashed at Marcus with a knife, but Marcus dodged each attempt, striking out and hitting him as he ducked away from the man with the pipe. Caleb felt panic beginning to rise.They’re going to kill him!
Caleb wrapped his fingers around the boot on his chest, grunting at the pain that tore through his torso. She was strong, but he just needed her to lose her footing for a moment. Even as he kicked out at the side of her knee, he felt a pang of guilt for striking at a woman. The leg keeping her upright bent, the pressure from the foot planted on his chest faltering for a moment.
Now.He shoved his arms out as hard as he could, his hands still wrapped around her boot, and forced himself to his feet, his thighs and shins burning as he did. The woman’s eyes went wide as she lost her balance, her arms flailing as she seemed to fall backward in slow motion. Her head made a sickening wet sound as it cracked against the ground, and her eyes rolled back into her head.
Caleb didn’t waste any time checking on her. He rushed toward Marcus, stumbling through the snow as he lost his balance again and smashed into the man with the pipe. They both hit the ground. Caleb’s eyes focused on the pipe that had landed a foot away. He crawled over the man’s body and smacked his frozen fingers at it, sending it skidding out of reach. The masked man swore at him and grabbed for his throat.
Caleb reared back, realizing he was straddling the man’s chest. He had him pinned. His vision narrowed, his hands somehow cold and on fire at the same time. His jaw clenched so tight it felt like his teeth were cracking, and he punched the man below him. Blood bloomed across the bandanna, the stain growing with each punch, splashing up into his gray hair. Soon, Caleb couldn’t feel the pain in his knuckles screaming at him to stop anymore. His entire body was numb except for the fire in his chest and the burning in his eyes.
Click. Thwump. Click. Thwump. Click. Thwump.The sound pierced the noise of the blood rushing in his ears long enough to make him stop. He stared down at the man’s face, bile rising in his throat at the sight. The bandanna had fallen away from the man’s face, revealing a swollen, bloody mass of broken skin and teeth, blood and saliva freezing against his skin like a thick slime.
