Long Gone

Prologue- The Day I got Arrested

I never was the sort of person to follow rules.

In my opinion, rules were overcontrolling, domineering and something that knew just how to crush the atmosphere. 

They're a waste of time.

The law states that drinking underage is illegal. We say different.

I clutched the bottle of vodka, nearly empty, in my left fist. The ground beneath me sways in and out of focus. My friends seem to have similar effects, they were staggering all over the place. 

A peal of hysterical laughter escaped from my lips as I see one of my friends topple onto his side. I felt free, delirious and relaxed. Nothing could destroy our good mood. 

Almost nothing could destroy our good mood.

"Oi Lyra!" Liam yells at me, his northern accent slurred, "d'you have any spare cash for another round?"

I slip my hand into my pocket, trying to feel around for any excess change. Dismayed, I show him my empty hand and his face falls. 

"Should we head home early?" Calum suggests. I scoffed. 

"At 7 pm? Are you being serious?" I shove him roughly, "don't be such a lightweight. We've only had a couple of bottles." 

"Yeah, and you're completely smashed," He argued back, "How do you expect to get home if you can't tell the difference between your left and right?"

Liam stepped up to my defence, nudging him back roughly.

"Are you calling Lyra stupid?" He demanded, spraying the ground with spit. Calum shook his head and held his hand up in surrender. 

"I'm just looking out for her, that's all. I'm worried about her."

Liam laughed, rolling his eyes up to the sky. My other friends have gathered around the three of us, their phones aloft in the air. They were filming us. 

"I don't need your worry," I interject, giving him a hard glare, "And I never will. So you can take your sad little worry, head home and give it to your precious mummy."

Calum looked crestfallen. His eyes met mine, looking sad and disappointed. 

"I can't believe I actually wasted time hanging around a group of losers like you," He snapped. 

I felt a surge of anger bubble up inside.  My fists clenched, and my gaze darkened. My friends who were onlookers all let out gasps and noises of eagerness; they wanted to see what would happen next. I fixated a sarcastic, winning, deadly smile on my face. If my friends wanted a show, I made sure that they would get one. 

"You heard Lyra," Liam stands up for me, "Back off." 

Calum doesn't. He stood his ground, breathing heavily out of both of his nostrils.

"Go!" I shriek at him, taking a menacing step towards him. He doesn't react. 

"Oh, you think you're such a big man?" scowled Liam, "Typical, obnoxious, idiotic Calum..."

Calum reached up his hand shoved Liam back two paces. It was only a light shove, but Liam was intoxicated and fell straight back onto the ground. His head smashed into the concrete and I couldn't help but wince. 

Then I faced up to Calum. How dare he touch Liam like that?

"You jerk!" I yell, fury pumping through my veins. My vision was blurred and the ground was unsteady beneath my feet, but I somehow managed to stagger right up to Calum, a dirty look on my face. 

In a flash, my fist collided with the side of Calum's face. A ripple of gasps echoed out from my friends. Somebody cheered in the background. This egged me on to go further. 

I leapt on top of him, swearing, screaming and flailing. I smashed the bottle in my hand against his head, punching every bit of him I could reach. 

"Go Lyra!" Somebody shouted. I smirked.

I aimed a particularly painful kick to his balls and I heard him cry out.

It must have gone on for several minutes of me continuously beating up Calum. As I did so, I felt free and alive. I was letting off all of my anger. My hand must have subconsciously reached for his wallet somewhere in that brawl. 

Then I could hear police sirens in the distance getting closer and closer and closer. 

I rolled off Calum, breathing heavily. I had to get out of there quickly. I wiped off the blood on my forehead, unsure whether it was my own or Calum's. 

Before I knew what was going on, I felt a hand grab me around my waist. It was a policewoman. Her grip was surprising gentle but it was firm and restrained me from escaping. 

I had never had such a close encounter with the police before. 

"Let me go!" I begged, watching my friends turn their heads away from me one by one. They weren't going to help me. I felt a small stab of betrayal as they walked off without giving me a backwards glance. 

"Stop resisting," She commanded in a cold voice, fastening handcuffs around both of my wrists. I felt them tighten and it was at that moment when I knew I was in trouble. 

"I'm arresting you on suspicion of assault..."