ROT WITH ME

xii - envy, the fall

CHAPTER TWELVE
EARLIER...

            June's fingers balled up inwards, hard fist colliding with the strangers jaw with every bit of strength she possessed and more. He mumbled profanities under his breath, clutching at his freckled face in agony. Fury flaring in his now visible bright blue eyes. His face. He had to be in his late thirties.

    Her hand quickly moved to the pocket of her jeans. Grabbing her phone and holding it up to snap a photo. But he seized her wrists, June struggled a bit. So, she screamed as loud as she could. It reached the stars.

   He thrusted her backwards and advanced forward quick. 'Shut up, slag. Goddammit.'

    June fell onto the ground, one of her hands grabbing a fist full of gravel and pelting it at him. He merely laughed, letting it plop off him and reaching into his bag for something. One of the pebbles hit a nearby lantern that barely illuminated the lane. The scarce light flickered in and out twice.

   'What's going on here?'

   Ren's voice.

   June snapped a photo of the man just that second as Ren stepped between them.

   'We're just playing around,' the man lied through his teeth. A sharp object crushed between his plump hand. Stiff stance.

   'He has a knife,' whispered June to Ren.

   Ren didn't say anything. Dark eyes zeroed in on the sicko. 'Lenny? Is that you?'

    'Look, I don't want no trouble,' Lenny said, flipping his demeanor like a switch.

    June glared at him, about to say something along the lines of how ridiculous that statement sounds in his mouth. But Ren silenced her with a lift of his hand in a way to say to let him handle this.

    'You do realize there are cameras everywhere and I know exactly what you look like as well as your full name.'

    'Who says I told you the truth?'

    Ren looked at him, blank. 'It's on your ID, Mr Moore.'

    Lenny looked defeated for a second, but then his eyes caught onto June again. A smile finding his lips. In a flash, he leaped at Ren, his stupidity through the roof. A strong hand held onto the back of Lenny's T-shirt, holding him back.

    Finn Cassidy.

    June appeared stealthily from behind, closing the distance and disarming Lenny with an elbow to the stomach. Ren followed and kicked away the blade with his foot. The silver skipped thrice like a rock on the surface of a lake before going still.

    'Let me go!' yelled Lenny.

    Finn glanced to June. 'Want to get one last hit before the pigs take him away?'

    June grinned. 'With pleasure.'

    'Are you serious?' Lenny spat.

   June threw back her arm like a professional baseball player before coming down hard against his cheek. His face shot to the side, groaning as the taste of metal blossomed in his mouth.