Maple

Ch8

Back to short chapters again! I hope you enjoy!

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Maple

I bit as hard as I could and managed to scream twice before his dirty hand covered my mouth again. I can't believe he took me by surprise. He was obviously half drunk and I was supposed to be listening out for him, how did he get so close without me noticing? To make it worse he had thrown my phone against the wall and it was now broken into two pieces. Tears streamed down my face, now there was really no escape.

"Nah, don't be scared, girly, I'll take good care of you" he leered. His breathe stank of alcohol and his uneven voice send shivers of fear down my spine. I wrestled to get free, but it was no good. One of his hands covered my mouth and pushed my head into the ground, the other held both my hands at the wrists, pinning them successfully above my head. He kneeled over me and his eyes glinted, it was a surprise I hadn't passed out already.

I couldn't give up yet. Then my brother would really be alone. I bit into his hand again and tried to kick him off of me. Then I stopped and went extremely still when his hand came off of my mouth and pressed a knife against my throat instead. Curses that I didn't even know that I knew passed through my mind, in more than one language. I begged him to stop, but he wasn't even half interested. The knife was dangerously close to my throat, so I pleaded with God instead. That's what humans do, I realized. They don't really believe until they need Him, then they call His name as if they've worshipped Him all along.

He let go of my wrists but I didn't dare move as he pressed the blade into my throat a little harder. His free hand trailed down to my collar.

"Do you know how long I waited for this?" he sneered, tugging at the first button on my shirt "I came to the store everyday to see you until that bastard kicked me out. But you didn't even bat an eye in my direction!" he was getting angry and he gave one last tug before the first and the second buttons ripped out. I closed my eyes tightly.

"But that's okay, you'll make up for it now, you-" all too suddenly he was no longer on top of me. I blinked in disbelief as David wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him off of me. He then grabbed the arm with the knife and twisted it behind him until he screamed and dropped the blade, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter.

David pinned him against the wall and the assaulter turned to see him. David took the chance to punch him in the face. The punch connected squarely and I saw his jaw snap to one side before he fell to the floor. David turned to me slowly, his dark brown eyes full of concern.

"Sorry I'm late" he said and I couldn't reply. I just cried as hard as I can, hugging my knees to my chest.

David

My heart clenched in my chest at the sight of her.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" I asked, kneeling in front of her crying figure. She was afraid and relieved all at once. I hugged her close to me as I heard the wailings of a siren distantly. She cried into my shoulder until the man began to stir, at which point she hid behind me, staring at him with eyes full of fear.

I hated him even more at that moment, and I had the extreme urge to beat him till you couldn't recognize who he was anymore. But I didn't, I was a changed person. I didn't do those sorts of things anymore. Instead I got up and gave him a solid kick in the stomach, he yelled in pain and tried to shrivel into a ball, but I didn't give him the pleasure. I pulled him up by the collar.

"You're coming with me" I hissed and dragged him behind me without waiting for his answer. I smiled reassuringly at Maple and helped her to stand. Her legs trembled but she managed. She tried to stay as far from the man as possible as we made our way down the passageway, but still close enough to me so I could protect her. Once out of the small passage, we turned the opposite way then the one we had come, since we knew that that way was a dead end for sure.

I noticed that Maple walked with a major limp and she was shivering uncontrollably. My need to beat him rekindled but I just barely managed to suppress it. Maple has had enough violence in one night to last her a lifetime.

The sirens were much closer now and I walked in their general direction, hoping it would lead to some way out. Maple was silent the whole way through, though at some point she had to lean on me because of how bad her foot was. To my surprise, the man only tried to run twice. I guess he wasn't as dumb as he looked. Both times I gave him a good punch or two, or twisted his arm back almost to breaking point, and he followed again quietly.

As soon as we stepped out, a bright light was shined into our eyes.

"Freeze, it's the police" a woman's voice said from somewhere beyond the flashlight, though I couldn't really see her. Maple and I did as we were told, but the man began to panic and tried to run again.

"I said halt!"

The woman police officer tackled him and handcuffed his wrists together.

"Are you the ones who made the emergency call about an assault?" she asked. I nodded.

"Is this the man?" said a policeman, stepping out of one of two police car. Its lights were flashing blue and red, but thankfully the siren had stopped.

"Yes" I answered, because it looked like Maple was in no state for questioning. She looked both terrified and tired, like she could break down at any moment. The police officers seemed to notice as well because they stopped with their questions.

"I'll need you to come with us" the police woman said, then proceeded to explain that we weren't under arrest, they just needed to ask us a few questions and secure our safety. We were ushered into one police car and the handcuffed man into the other.

"Oh! My car!" I gasped, "I left the keys in the ignition!"

The police officer gave me a confused look for a second, before she understood and smiled warmly.

"Don't worry about it!" she reassured from the driver seat "How does it look?"

Unsurely, I recited my plate number and described the car as a platinum grey Jeep. She reached over to her walky-talky and spoke into it.

"Hello, this is Officer Chloe Abelson, requesting backup" a beep later there was a muffled reply.

"What's the emergency?"

"A victim's car was left with keys in the ignition at Rutherford Street and I'll need someone to bring it over to the hospital, please" she explained, already driving away from the scene.

"Roger that"

"Wait!" I found myself saying "A few meters behind the car is a school bag, can you possibly get that, too? It has something really important in it" I pleaded, thinking of Maple's parents' picture.

"No problem" she smiled and spoke the orders into her radio.

The rest of the ride to the hospital was mostly spent in silence. The policewoman, Chloe, tried to make conversation at first, but we could hardly get past our names. She was nice and convivial, but we were just not it the mood, especially Maple. Surprisingly, Chloe, as she insisted we call her, didn't ask about the assault, which we were both grateful for.

I watched Maple carefully, to see if she'd cry again. She gripped the front of her shirt tightly, keeping it closed since the top two buttons were torn off. Her other hand was clenched on her lap. She must still be nervous. I was worried she'd be traumatized.  

She caught me staring and unclenched her hand palm up. In it laid the two white buttons from her school uniform.

"So I can sew them on later" she explained, and my admiration for her was raised by another notch.