Lawless

Chapter Nine

The voice is deeply frightening and eerily calm all at the same time. Suddenly a chair is being roughly pushed backwards across the wooden floors. Thunderous footsteps are heard next and that's when I decide to run. I turn and run back down the hallway, reaching the door just as an arm wraps around my waist. I'm picked up and carried into a room to the right of the front door. It's dark with absolutely no light except for the window that allows people on the street to look in.

A squeal escapes me when his arm tightens around my injured sides.

I'm dropped onto my feet and stumble forward before being pushed further towards the far wall. I'm pushed up against it from behind by his chest. I wince in pain as my sides are crushed between the wall and Sage.

The house is so delicate I'm scared the plaster will give way and I'll go through the wall.

"I told you to go home" Sage's voice is frighteningly calm. I feel the rumbling deep in his chest against my back when he talks.

"I told you I-I dont know how to get back over" I quietly reply. My eyes focus on the wall to my right while I feel his stare burning a hole into the side of my face, his mouth resting on my right ear as my left cheek is against the wall.

Silence rings throughout the room for several seconds, only the faint chatter of people in the next room is heard.

Suddenly the hands that cage my head are pulled back and sent into the wall. I flinch as the bang rattles the wall before it gives way to Sage's fists.

"Fuck!" he yells before pulling back. I stay in the same position, too scared to move. How stupid could I have been? I don't know this man, he could seriously harm me.

Wall plaster falls at my feet; the wooden structure visible through the holes.

Everybody in the other room falls silent before there's commotion. Feet pound through the hallway and into the room Sage and I reside in, making me turn around, not wanting to have my back to them.

There are murmurs of 'what the fuck' as they all stop in the doorway. Sage is facing the window looking out onto the street with his hands placed behind his head while taking deep breaths.

"Get the fuck out!" he suddenly booms. Ivy flinches while the four guys remain unmoved. I stagger back into the wall slightly, rolling my ankle on a piece of broken plaster.

A tall guy with dark hair makes a move towards me with his hand outstretched before Sage spins around to face all five of them.

"Fuck off!" he yells. His back faces me but I can tell his jaw is clenched by the sound of air being tightly pushed in and out between his teeth.

"Gunner, leave him" Ivy's blonde haired friend exclaims, pulling on the back of Gunner's shirt.

Gunner holds his hands out in surrender "alright, alright, calm the fuck down Rage". I see a bandage around Gunner's thigh and a flash back of Sage carrying the man that had been shot in the leg hits me.

All five of them give us one last look before heading back up the hallway and into the room they had previously resided in.

And once again, I'm alone with Sage.

It's silent for a handful of minutes. Sage's hands once again on the back of his head lightly pulling on his hair while his back is to me.

"Why does everyone call you Rage?" I whisper into the silent room.

I shiver as the cold air from outside seeps into the house through the holes within the caving ceiling. Goosebumps form along my skin, making me rub my arms in an attempt to create friction.