Serpent's Den

The Black Roses

Turning back to the two men, I thought I could see a line of blood running from the corner of the other man's mouth and down his chin. A bad bruise was already starting to form on his cheek and one of his eyes was swelling. I decided that I had to help, having a sudden rush of courage.

Standing up from my hiding spot despite my aching foot, I tried looking for an opportunity to join the fracas. It looked like the attacker had his hands tight around the other man's throat. I had to do something, and quick. The two turned so the back of the attacker was facing me. Using this to my advantage, I grasped his shirt and yanked him to the ground with all my strength. The other man started falling with him, but I managed to catch him. He looked at me, his exhaustion clear in his expression.

Now that I could see him clearer, he looked like he was in bad shape. Blood was running down his face from his nose and mouth and bruises were showing up all over. His right eye was starting to swell at the corner as it turned purple and green. Both of his eyelids were drooping.

"Shoshon!" the abductor's friend called from the truck. "Give it up! Hawks are circling!"

Shoshon, who had just started to get back up, took one look at the growing group of people at the edge of the alley and jogged past the other man and me to the truck. "This isn't the last you'll see of us! The Black Roses are coming for our prize!" he called out before closing the doors. The truck sped out of the alley and quickly out of sight.

Looking back at the other man, I realized that my hands were still on his shoulders. He was looking at me for a few heartbeats before smiling. "I guess we won."

I copied his smile. "Yeah. I guess so." We just looked at each other for a few moments, neither of us knowing what to say, and both of us breathing heavily. I gazed into his blue eyes as he slowly wrapped his arms back around my shoulders. I felt a strong connection start to grow between us, but I had no idea what it meant.

Noticing a new colouration on his neck, I glanced down. Bright red and purple lines were fading in where Shoshon had choked him. I didn't get much time to say anything about it because the adrenaline was fading from my system, making me weak and shaky. Feeling more weight on my hands, I figured that the man felt the same.

"Let's sit down for a while," the man suggested. I just nodded, too tired and stunned to say anything. I looked down as we made our way to the closest wall. This turned out to be the opposite side of the alley from the dumpster. I was starting to limp from my foot aching more as the adrenaline drained from me.

Once we sat down, a couple bystanders offered both of us styrofoam cups of water and asked if they should call the cops for us. We gratefully accepted the water and I asked for another cup so the man could clean the blood from his face.

"I don't think you should worry about that right now," the man replied, referring to the cops being called. "We don't know that much about them, so there's no real point right now. She's safe, and that's what's inportant."

Now that I was sitting down, my foot started to throb painfully where Shoshon had stomped on it. The woman who offered us the water returned soon with another smaller cup. Thanking her, I set it on the ground nearby. The bystanders hesitantly went on their way, not knowing what else to do.

"I never caught your name, by the way," the man said to me after a couple heartbeats. I looked up at him, shocked at first.

"Oh, sorry. I'm--I'm Emma," I stammered. I felt my cheeks redden from my awkward reply.

"Emma," the man echoed, nodding. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ben." He held a hand out to me.

Accepting his handshake, I nodded stiffly. Exhaustion washed over me in waves, almost threatening to drag me into a nap.