City On Fire

16

By the time she finally stopped she collapsed against a wall. Head spinning and lungs on fire she sat trying to catch her breath, the very last thing on her mind was opening her eyes.

There were sirens everywhere and people talking so loud it felt like her ears were rigging. The cable tie around her wrist was burning and she didn’t initially notice it but she had started tearing at it, to no avail. When she was finally able to open her eyes she was greeted with dirty streets, dilapidated houses and graffiti gang signs. To make matters worse, when she looked around she saw nothing familiar. She had no idea where she was or how she got there and more importantly, how the she was going to get out of there. Having looked around so fast made her head spin all over again and this time she actually felt nauseous. All she could do was pull up her legs and lean her head against the wall.

What was she thinking? Running away, was that really necessary? Couldn’t she just have gone home and done all of this from there and with Benny’s help?

Surely there were a thousand better things she could have done than run away. Look where it got her, she was lost in a bad part of town, she couldn’t find her way back to the abandoned buildings where she knew it was safe, she sure as hell couldn’t go home or even to Benny. This could not possibly get any worse. “Hi Bella, what’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?”

She just had to tempt fate. In front of her was a heavy set man old enough to have disembarked from the arc trying to make a move on her with a cheesy remark like that. Thank God her head was clearing. This was a situation she needed to get out of and fast. Getting to her feet proved a little more difficult and her head still spun violently. “Come on now, what’s you rush?”

He grabbed her arm before she could get far but she had hardly turned her head to demand he release her when he was hoisted off the ground by the collar.

“See now that, that’s not nice.”

Her would be rescuer lowered the man back down to the ground before he put an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey man, I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t know she was yours. I swear.”

Her rescuer had a massive gold ring on each finger and made a point of rubbing it in the man’s face when he spoke.

“Shhhh, you really shouldn’t be begging me.”

He leaned in closer to whisper in the man’s ear before he violently threw him to the ground.

“I I’m just following orders. You wanna beg, bet him.”

It was like watching a car accident, horrible but you just couldn’t look away. That was the only reason Ella still stood leaning against the wall still tugging at the cable tie. The man on the ground was petrified and didn’t are look up. It was only then that she noticed a man in a black leather jacket and a hood covering his face stood against the opposite wall.

“I’m not happy Steve, not even a little.”

Looking over at the terrified soul quivering on the ground close to tears reviled his face and Ella recognised him. It was the same man she had seen across the street from the gallery the day before, the one she awkwardly stared at. “Please man, please I’m begging here ok?”

The man in the hood might not have been amused, his expression showing just that, but her rescuer was not only smiling but laughing at the pathetic scene. “Steve, do you remember what I said the last time you crossed me?” Steve, who was urinating himself much to the amusement of the rescuer, went silent. When he didn’t answer the man in the hood straitened up and stood in front of him.

“What did I say Steve?”

Again Steve didn’t answerer. Instead he shook his head. “Please Conrad, I’m sorry.”

This seemed to be the worst possible thing he could say. Without a word Conrad nodded at his accomplice who, with great excitement, hoisted the man from the ground. There was no struggle and it seemed the man had accepted his fate. “What the f**k man? You pissed yourself in front of a girl? Not something counting in your favour.”

The whole situation left Ella feeling ill all over again and she sat back down on the ground. She had tempted fate once already but there was no way things could go further downhill from here.

Conrad removed the hood as he slowly approached her and kneeled down in front of her. “This is no place for a kitten to be seeking shelter.” She didn’t notice it until she saw him this close but he had a rather ugly scar running down his left eye. It must have been quite painful.

She hated him calling her kitten even if the two men had helped her, but just didn’t have the strength to deal with him at the moment. He noticed when she closed her eyes and kept any further comments to himself, for the time being at least.

“So you ran away? Not very smart.”

She stopped paying attention after his first attempt at humour and rather focused on regaining her strength.

Initially she thought he had left especially given how quiet things had gotten. While one part of her felt venerable out on the street, especially given what had just happened, but the lager part felt relieved he was gone. The fact that his very presence installed such a degree of fear in his advisories meant he was not the kind of man you hung around with.

To her relief the dizziness passes quickly and though she was still weak she felt like a human being again.

“Glad someone’s finally with us again.”

As it turned out he never left. Instead he had been standing against the opposite wall apparently keeping watch over her. She looked over at him briefly and when she did his lips curled up into a smile as he winked. She briefly thought that she could hold his gaze until he would be forced to look away but something told her he wasn’t the kind of person to back off that easily. So she ended up relinquishing control of the situation and looked down at her feet, although he seemed to see no control in her backing down. He did slowly approach but she refused to look up at him.

Unfazed, he placed a bottle of water in front of her and slowly retreated back to his corner where he dug a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, flipping shut the lighters cap Pulp Fiction style.

The more she stared at the bottle the more her tongue stuck to the top of her mouth. Still she was just a little too hesitant to except the offer and he noticed. “If you want to get back on your feet you better drink up.”

He was right and knowing it irritated her. “What are you still doing here?”

Her voice was so much softer, more subdued, that she had intended but rather than capitalized on it he seemed surprised. However that soon faded. “I can’t very well leave you at the mercy of the street now can I? What kind of gentleman would that make me?”

He took one last drag of the cigarette as a scrawny man in a dirty tank top and long hair walked past twitching every now and again. Seeing her he changed his course in her direction but changed his mind when Conner flicked the cigarette at his feet. Tucking his chin solidly against his chest he hastily walked down the street.

Ella had enough and she reached for the water bottle with shaking hands. This was probably not a good idea but she unscrewed the cap and downed half the bottle. The only reason she stopped half way was because she knew drinking any more would make her sick. This was after all not the first time she had gone this long without food or water. Although the reason for that had been nausea from witnessing excessive bloodshed. “Why do you run from them? Don’t you want to go home?”

Why she will never know but she was surprised when he brought it up. He obviously knew who she was she knew, which meant he knew about her escape and about what happened at the clinic. It would seem fate had found yet another way to proof the situation can still get worse.

He didn’t pry when she didn’t answer but she took the opportunity to take her leave. She got to her feet still holding the water bottle. The dizziness was gone and her hands were steady, she was ok now.

“Thank you for everything. I have to go now.”

As she walked back the way she thought she came she heard him scuffle and then the lighter cap opening and closing.

“You be careful kitten. This is a dangerous neighbourhood. The cops are out in full force and the residents are not your allies.”

Ignoring him she made her way through a narrow street and tucked the bottle into her bag. Unfortunately he had been right. Weather it was her or something ells, there were police cars everywhere and she had to duck behind dumpsters and grey graffiti covered buildings every view minutes.

The sirens, loud voices and blearing TV’s gave the surrounding dirty and unkempt streets a dangerous ambiance. Somewhere in the distance a baby as crying and a man and woman were arguing about someone having a drinking problem. It was pretty much the same for every block she passed. Sirens, screaming children and crying infants and arguing adults. To add insult to injury every block looked exactly the same, brightly coloured houses in need of paint and repair and ungodly characters stalking the streets. Black and green rubbish bins lay overturned and black rubbish bags were torn open and its contents strewn about the sidewalk on every corner and every now and again there would be someone rummaging though them.

This was bad. The more she walked the more she got lost. She had walked in a straight line from where she collapsed against the wall believing that it would be the easiest way to get back to where she had come from but all it had done was disorientate her. While trying to figure out what to do next a car cut her off, screeching to a halt in the middle of the street. The flashing lights was a very good indication wog who she was dealing with and it was allot worse than anything the streets could offer. “Miss stay where you are.”

He had thrown open his door and stood with his hands in the air as he spoke but she didn’t wait for min to finish. She ran back in the direction she came while he yelled for her to stop. As she ran she could hear the car door slam and the car come after her. There would be no out running it. Thinking fast she scaled a nearby fence and rant through someone’s dirty back yard. A dog on a heavy metal chain barked and snapped its jaws at her but she hardly noticed. Behind her the car screeched as it went round the block. At the same time she turned back and ran past the dog and back over the fence, however she didn’t run far when the car speed in her direction from up ahead. How the hell it had managed that only its driver would know.

She ran in between a narrow passage between two houses only to be cut off on the other end by a motorcycle. She stopped halfway down the passage as the driver of the car behind her leaped out. When the rider rose his visor and she noticed the scar, though she would die before admitting it, she felt just a little relieved. “It’s me or a cage kitten. Your choice.”

There was the tiniest hint of arrogance in his voice, as if he could tell that, though relieved to see him, the idea of going anywhere with him was not one she was overly fond of. The cop behind her would be right on top of her any moment now and she was left with only one other option. As she got on the back of the motorcycle Conrad lowered the visor and revved the engine. She had hardly had her arms around him when he took off leaving the cop in a cloud of dust.

As she might have expected, he drove like a maniac. Over sidewalks and into oncoming cars, she didn’t even want to know at what speed all this was happening. Eyes shut tight and holding on for dear life she pressed her face into his leather jacket and prayed. Her praying was cut short by the sound of sirens not far behind and Conrad stooping in the middle of the street and turning to face the police car. “What are you doing?”

He either didn’t hear her or he ignored her. Instead of getting a little distance between them her he revved once, twice and when the car was right on them he sped off. The disgruntled cop had just gotten out of the car when they flew past. When Ella looked back she saw him throw his arm in the air before getting back into the car. She found herself smiling when he had to go back and forth several times to turn around in the small street. Still speeding like a lunatic he turned down several small back streets and once even went over someone’s back lawn. The owner of said lawn had been on his back porch and yelled after then though Ella had trouble hearing exactly what he said over the engine. It was something about respect and the youth of today.

After leaving the cop to his struggles they didn’t see him again. They did briefly hear sirens going in the opposite direction but that was that and eventually Conrad did slow down but he didn’t stop. Not at the red lights, not at the stop signs and definitely not to drop her off. Although he seemed to bear her no ill will and had come to her aid more than once now she wanted to go back to the abandoned buildings and back to her new allies. There was, in all probability, not much separation them from him in that she hardly knew any of them but she would rather take her chances with them. Of course until he finally stopped there would be no doing so and figuring she was along for the ride she decided to open her yes. To her relief, even if only a little, they were well away for the dirty streets of were ever the hell she had landed herself and now were in a lonely, overcrowded neighbourhood where most of the houses were boarded up and empty. There was a lady seated on her porch surrounded by an aberrational hoard of cats in all colours and patterns how waved at them as they went past but other than her the only life they saw was a young girl walking in the opposite direction and avoided eye contact at all costs. Something about the cobble stone sidewalk and the tall wooden houses were strikingly familiar. So familiar in fact that not only bothered her but disturbed her. There was the feeling that she was supposed to know the place, it was like she knew what would be around the next corner. There should be a small bridge with three lamp posts on either side and on the other side of it should be more rows of houses. The ones on the right sat at the top of a hill and you had a clear panoramic view of the city if you looked out from behind them. Sure enough when the rounded the corner they were on the bridge and to her horror she realise why it had been familiar.