His Saving Grace

Chapter 2

It was almost a quarter to midnight when they finally left the museum. It was drizzling outside and the wind was a howling, raging entity around them. “Looks like they are gonna close the shops and malls early”, Eva commented, looking around at the almost empty restaurants and shops and minimal traffic as the four of them tried to hide themselves from the freezing wind in their coats and jackets. They stepped on the side-walk of the main street and waited for a cab; not speaking anything as it required energy and they had none left after the amazing yet, at the end, tiring time spent together. Soon a cab stopped by and bidding the rest of the two farewell, Eva and Nina got in. Since they both lived on the northern side of the city, they always rode the cab together. It was just Blaire and Mia now. B scampered close to Mia as a mighty gust of wind blew in their direction and both of them stood there huddled close together until another cab stopped by them.

“You should take this one,” Mia said to B.

“What? Are you crazy? And leave you here alone to freeze your butt off?” B whisper-shouted at her. Mia rolled her eyes and tried to stifle her laughter.

“Seriously? Yours is a forty-five minute drive and mine is only twenty from here. And before you suggest that you can drop me first, let me tell you that going to mine and then to yours afterwards will take you approx forty minutes more, which, I am pretty sure your dad won’t approve of sweetie.” She said, grinning. Blaire harrumphed at her, knowing that Mia was talking sense and then hugged her tightly, whispering a quick “stay safe” and climbing into the cab.

As the cab drove off, Mia looked around herself. Only a few pedestrians could be seen walking swiftly away from the raging wind. Traffic was minimal as expected. Across the street, a beggar was standing just outside a toy-shop looking towards the sky with a forlorn expression. Mia too looked towards the sky, hoping to see at least a glimpse of the moon but not one patch was cloud-free. A sudden harsh gust of wind made her whole body shiver and she wound her maroon scarf tighter around her neck. She didn’t know why but now she wasn’t so sure about waiting alone for the cab anymore. Remember the instinct that you get? That sudden clench of your stomach and the tightening of your throat when you are about to touch something burning hot and suddenly yank your hand back; or when you miss a step of the stairs and for a moment it feels like the earth has been removed from under your feet? The quickening of heartbeat when your sixth sense warns you about an impending danger? That gust of wind brought a mixture of all these above feelings with it and it made Mia’s breath hitch. A moment ago, aside from being cold, she was as calm as the surface of an unperturbed lake and now she couldn’t wait to get away from this place, this street, this sidewalk. It was as if somebody had suddenly thrown a pebble into the lake and disrupted its calm.

You are just being paranoid Mi; she thought to herself, it’s probably the effect of watching that painting about a demon-war and listening to those stupid stories from the museum guard. She tapped her sneaker-clad foot on the side-walk wishing for a cab to come quickly. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, five to six motorbikes came to a screeching halt right outside that toy shop where the beggar was still standing. They looked like part of a g**g. Are they here to vandalize or something? She thought bewildered. But they didn’t even spare a glance to their surroundings. Their whole focus was on something in the center of the circle their bikes had created. Wait, it’s not a something, it’s a someone, she gasped as one of the bikers lurched towards the middle and she saw a person lying on the ground. From her distance, she couldn’t make out their faces but she could definitely state three things with surety: 1) The biker dudes were way bulkier and scarier than any college bully she had ever seen 2) They were totally pissed off at the guy lying in the middle and outnumbered him by one to twelve 3) This night wasn’t going to end well, either for that guy or for her, she couldn’t decide. The biker who had moved closer to the middle suddenly kicked the guy on the floor and from then on it was a blur of limbs and hands and feet. All twelve of them descended on that guy like vultures, punching and kicking him and nobody, not even a single person from either the side-walks or the various shops did anything to stop them. Mia stood there frozen to her very core. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening. All her limbs seemed to be stuck in place. Her shock was so strong that it seemed like she wouldn’t ever be able to move. Numbly, her mind registered that the rain had started to pour down heavily. The wind was raging, thundering and she felt like her ears might pop at any moment. She stood there in the rain and the wind the whole time those brutes beat that guy until she could see the dim light of the street-lamp reflect off of the puddle of blood that had formed where the guy lay on the ground. She stood there as the remaining shopkeepers hastily closed their shops and hurried away from the grueling fight. She stood there as a far-off police siren seemed to grab the bikers’ attention and they all quickly climbed onto their bikes and sped off. She stood there as the rain poured down on her and the still body across the street with the wind howling like an anguished widow.

She didn’t know if it was hours, minutes or merely seconds later when she finally came out of her shock and rushed towards the body. As she got nearer, her heart started to pound painfully against her ribcage. She couldn’t bring herself to go near to that still form on the ground. She didn’t want to. Surely somebody would come and see him. Surely they would help. Surely she wasn’t the only one….. She thought as she looked around prperly for the first time since the fight broke out. Empty. The whole street was empty. Not a single person was in sight. Nobody stopped to help him. Not even after the bikers had gone. Nobody wanted to help him. Nobody cared. And unexpectedly, the thought of someone being abandoned by everyone was more painful for her than him being beaten and her eyes brimmed with sudden tears. Even through the cold rain drenching her face, she could feel the warm trickle of her tears and at that exact moment she made a decision: she would help him, no matter what.