City full of Empty People

6

𝙹𝙰𝚂𝚈𝚁𝙰 𝙱𝙰𝙽𝙺𝚂

What the fuck?!

I gulped and gasped for breath.

His palm was pressing against my throat, keeping me on the floor and making sure I couldn't move.

His grip was steady and firm, strong. His hand felt rough. I have never felt this helpless.

That's a lie.

I haven't felt this helpless since my father's death. Rhett made me feel weak and I hated feeling weak. He was also trying to choke me to death.

Fear was spreading inside me, making me shiver as I tried, once again, to grasp for air.

What was he doing? Why was he doing this?

His eyes burned with emptiness and anger.

I tried saying his name, but it was no use since my main struggle was to manage breathing.

I clawed my fingers at his hand uselessly, trying to remove it from my throat but failed. I was way too weak in this position.

"Rhett, stop it!" I could hear Chase saying in a distance. He tried to push Rhett off of me, vainly. Rhett didn't budge and managed to remain a firm grip as he roughly pushed Chase away.

Small ragged gasps were escaping my throat.

I had to do something. Anything. But I couldn't, he was too strong.
A thought crossed my mind.

My daggers.

I still had my daggers. No one knew about them though. If I used them now, people were going to talk.

Screw it. People would talk anyway.

I had no other choice.

The same moment I tried grabbing my daggers from beneath my sweater his hands tightened around my neck before he swiftly backed off.

I coughed trying to catch my breath again.

"What the hell Rhett?!" I said, shouting but it came out more quiet and breathy than I intended.

"What's going on here?" Coach was coming our way, taking his time. Took him long enough.

I didn't know how long Rhett was choking me since I lost track of time trying to fucking survive, but it had seemed like a lifetime.

"He pushed me!" Chase was standing up from where he was lying just a second ago.

Is he being serious?

"He also tried to fuckin-" I couldn't finish the sentence since Rhett interrupted.

"Show her that one should always be prepared and never let one's guard down."
Rhett was already standing confidently with his hands behind his back, stiff like a soldier. As if he didn't just try to hurt me while I was still helplessly sitting on the ground.

"Why, that is a marvelous lesson Mr. Williams." Coach shifted his attention to Chase. "We're here to fight young man, if you can't handle a push or two-"

"I can handle a push!" Chase interrupted, making sure that if anyone hadn't noticed the show they for sure were watching it now.

"That's enough! Lesson for today is over. Please head out the main entrance." Coach was looking over to me now, still sitting on the floor. "Are you okay Ms. Banks, do you need a hand?"

Is he serious? Did he actually just ask me if I was okay?

"It's fine, I'll help her. You go ahead." Rhett's voice seemed even deeper now than usual, or maybe that was just a side effect of when you try to kill someone.

Coach left the gym, leaving me alone with the lunatic who was choking me what seemed like seconds ago.

Rhett reached out for me, using the same hand I could still feel wrapped around my neck. I gulped.

I stared at him stunned for a moment before pushing his hand out of the way and standing up by myself.

I couldn't even talk to him right now so I just uselessly petted my wrinkled clothes ignoring his presence completely.

"It's killing you, isn't it?" His voice sent shivers down my spine. I tried convincing myself it was because of fear and disgust.

I kept ignoring him, not answering his question. He didn't deserve my attention.

"It's killing you that you couldn't fight me back. That you were useless." He stopped for a second. "Weak."

That's enough.

"What do you want Rhett?" I slightly stroked the spot his palm touched before. "What the hell do you want from me?!"

"You make it too easy." He took a step towards me as if to reach out, but stopped himself instantly. Thinking. It seemed as if he regretted what he had just said. He waited a little before continuing talking.
"You can't fight me." His dark eyes were piercing on mine.

I could feel tears building up. Now I was the one stepping forward. I had enough of his crap. He made me furious. He made me feel emotions no one had made me feel before.

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do." My voice was shaking, but I didn't care. Someone should put him in his place.
"I know guys like you. You think you're so strong and cold. Well guess what, you're just cold. You might have muscle but you're weak. You're rotten inside. Entirely dreadful."

"Sure. Paint me as a villain." His gaze didn't leave mine.

I stepped forward. "I hate you."

He grapped me from behind my neck and pulled me close. Our bodies were only inches apart now. His hand did not leave my neck, once again sending shivers down my spine.
I had to look up to not break eye contact.

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I felt my whole body heating up. I stood there, not able to move. Not because of his strength though.

He leaned his head down and to the side, whispering in my ear.
"I like to make people who hate me, hate me even more."

That's when he let go of me. Without sparing me another look, he walked past me, his shoulder brushing against mine. Pushing me to the side, making me stumble.

I didn't move. I couldn't move. I kept standing there for a solid minute. It's when I was certain that he wasn't around anymore that I managed to walk past the main entrance, feeling the wind brush against my skin and the sun hit my face.

This meant war.

~

𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 6 𝑜𝑓 "𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒" ☁︎︎

𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑛'𝑠 𝑃𝑂𝑉 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛, 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 ✍︎︎

𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑟 ఌ

𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢. ☕︎︎