Into the City

Chapter Two

 I walked into my apartment and threw my backpack onto the bed. My mom was sitting at the counter on her half dead laptop researching other jobs in the city. "How was your first day honey?" she asked, continuing to stare at her computer. I sighed, "It was okay." "Did you at least try to make friends?" she questioned, finally looking away from her screen. "Yeah." "And? Did you make friends?" "Yes mom, one friend. Her name is April." She raised an eyebrow, "O'neil?" "Yeah... how do you know that?" "Her mother and I were friends in grade school, before she disappeared." "That's cool." I said as I pulled my binder from my bag. I wanted to get a head-start on my homework and study for my math test at the end of the week. I had never been in an honors class until this school, so keeping my grades up was going to take some work.

As nine rolled around, mom headed off to work and I was just finishing up my studying. I decided to call up April to maybe give me a tour of the area at night. I had always wanted to see the city in the dark, but she didn't answer. "I guess I'm going myself." I whispered. I began my walk through the city. The sight was just as beautiful as I had imagined. The bright city lights, the faint sound of cars and people. I could see why my parents wanted to move here, this was truly a beautiful sight. I found a bench outside of the local pawn shop and sat down admiring the city lights and the stars. All of the sudden I heard a crashing sound coming from the alley next to me. I looked over and saw the lid of a metal garbage can roll out into the street. I sat up in my seat, straining my neck to see around the corner. I stood up slowly, and just as I did, I heard a yell, causing me to jump back. A boy was thrown out of the alley and landed on the sidewalk, rolling back slightly because of his skates. He stood there for a second. His face covered with a mask painted as a skull. He had hockey sticks strapped to his back and a baseball bat in both hands ready to be used. I froze in my place, holding my breath hoping he wouldn't notice me. Suddenly he pushed forward on his skates, rolling full speed back into the alley, disappearing into the darkness. That's when I heard the loud sounds of a fight breaking out.

Metal clashing, voices yelling. It was so loud it made my ears ring. I couldn't make out the words being yelled, so I began to sneak quietly to the corner of the building to hear. Just when I was about to peek my head around, the head of a robot came flying out of the alley. I whipped my head back around and pressed my body flush against the wall. Trying to catch my breath, I tried to listen in through the loud ringing of my ears. More robot parts flew at me, one hitting me in the arm, slicing my skin through my shirt. I winced and covered the wound with my other hand to keep the bleeding down. I inched closer to the corner, still trying to listen in, when suddenly the noise stopped. I looked down at my wound, it was deeper than I thought. The blood had run all the way down my arm, leaving a puddle on the concrete. I slid down the wall, sitting down against it, that's when I heard footsteps. Whoever was fighting back there was coming towards me.