The Art Of Us

5 • Cocktail

After having Hermione's words echo through his mind the whole night, he decided that she was right, as always. Not all was lost yet. And even if there was nothing left of what once was, he didn't want to leave town on bad terms. Not again. So, he locked his car and made his way towards the Wyrm, until suddenly he lost his balance and was being pushed to the ground by two strong arms that attacked him out of nowhere.

In a reflex, he braced himself for the worst, but when he rapidly looked around he saw four men hovering over him, holding him down. FP was about to raise his fist and defend himself, when one of the guys held down his arms into the gravel. The next thing he knew was that a punch was being delivered to his jaw and when he groaned in pain he got another one, in an attempt to knock him out. 

He tried to kick to get the men off him, but it was no use. Another punch followed right on his temple, making him feel naseaous and dizzy. He couldn't see, he could barely breathe, his heart rate had increased rapidly and all he wanted to know what these sudden attackers wanted from him.

However, FP didn't give up that easily. He pushed one of the robbers away, in a weak try to break himself free, but it was impossible to win it against the other three when he was all by himself.

Or so he thought.

He wasn't sure what was happening, but suddenly he felt one of the men being pulled off him, which was followed by a loud groan. The distraction gave him the time to overpower the two that were still holding him down, while the other went after his mysterious helper.

When FP crawled up again, he could look at the one who came as an angel from heaven to save him. It was Alice.

This was how he had never seen her before. Almost effortlessly she defended herself against two grown men, as if she knew exactly what they were about to do and when. A few kicks and punches followed, eliminating them as their opponents.

But FP didn't have time to stare, as he still had two other men to defeat. He bawled his fist and punched as hard as he could in the face of one of them, while succesfully kicking the other right into his chest.

"FP, watch out!" Alice called, noticing that one of the robbers was trying to attack FP from behind.

He turned around, but he didn't have enough time to react. However, Alice took a piece of wood that had broken free from the porch of the bar and smacked him hard.

It seemed that the four knew that they couldn't defeat them together, which is why they ran off as fast as they could, leaving FP and Alice in front of the Wyrm. FP looked at them get out of sight, while catching his breath as much as he could. He felt awful.

"Fucking hell, who were those people?!" He touched his jaw with his fingers, immediately regretting it when he felt how much it hurt.

"Ghoulies. They might have been waiting for the right time to attack." Alice said bitterly, her eyes still glued to the spot they had run off too.

"And they had to pick me? Jesus Christ." FP hissed when he noticed the blood on his fingers and his bruised knuckles.

"You're parading around with your Rolex, they can smell that. There bloodhounds." She told him and for the first time that day met his eyes. It was no secret to see that she was shaken up too, even while she tried to remain tough.

"Hate that thing anyway." FP groaned, looking down at his watch. It surprisingly didn't have a scratch.

"Come, let's patch you up." Her face softened and she gestured to the Wyrm, inviting him in.

He didn't react, but just followed her. He was too overwhelmed because of the attack to even say anything. So, for the first time since his return the two didn't fight. Instead, he let her lead him to one of the booths and sat down next to him with her first-aid kit.