Burning Fury

XVIII

Ryder was over for supper a few days later. My dad had ordered food from Joe's and we were going to pick it up. We climbed on my bike and I started it, reveling in the growl.

"You know, it's pretty badass that you know how to ride a motorcycle."

"And you get to ride bitch," I joked.

We zipped across town and stopped at Joe's. I put the kickstand down and Ryder offered to go inside to get the food. I gave him my card and watched as he walked in.

"You degenerates did it again."

I whirled around and pushed off my bike to see a group of girls in ski masks.

"We told you we'd come back for you if you killed again."

"I don't know if you heard, but I wasn't even there for this one. Why don't you go beat up one of the others."

I turned back and leaned against my bike again, picking at my nails.

"It's disgusting how you can kill your own friends with no mercy."

I turned to face them and stood on both feet, staring them down. "It's pretty ballsy to come to me in broad daylight."

"You're lucky the townspeople don't kill you."

"What are you waiting for, come at me."

They started advancing but I was prepared. I dodged a right hook from one of the girls and landed a punch to her masked face. I bounced from foot to foot with my fists up in front of my face, protecting myself.

"Did you really think you could stand against me in a fight that I'm prepared for this time? Pretty cowardly of you to sneak up on me the first time."

They couldn't focus on words while trying to beat me up. One after the other they came after me. A few of them were able to land some punches but I had the upper hand mostly. My body was aching and I was beginning to tire, but there were five of them and they kept coming. The wind was knocked out of me as one of them punched me in the stomach, taking advantage of that, they kept raining punches on me. I held my own as best I could until Ryder came out, yelling for them to stop.

They fled then, running off across the parking lot and around a building. I wiped some blood from my nose and glared as they went.

"Jesus, Clover. Are you okay?!" He dropped the food on the asphalt and grabbed me by the arms, helping me up from my knees.

"They said they'd come back if anyone else died. Guess they weren't lying."

"Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah, I was more prepared this time. But one on five is not easy."

"Are you okay to drive home?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm losing a lot of blood though. They were all wearing fucking rings."

"Come on, let's hurry home. I'll patch you up."

The drive home was difficult. Blood kept running into my eyes from cuts on my forehead and it was dangerous trying to wipe it away. Once we finally got home, I collapsed in the grass, feeling too weak. Ryder ran in and got my dad who easily picked me up and brought me inside.

"Clover, we need to go to the police."

"Will they arrest me again? I fought back this time."

"They better not."

Ryder continued cleaning my face as my dad went to call the police.

"Will I need stitches, doctor?"

"Possibly. Let's see if the police will let you leave the county to go to the hospital."

When the police came, they took my statement. Only one girl spoke and I didn't recognize her voice. I saw that one of the rings was a class ring, but there was nothing they could get from that. They gave me permission to leave the county to go to the hospital, so after they left my dad and Ryder helped me in the car. My wounds were still bleeding and Ryder sat in back with me to keep pressure on some of them.

"You're always getting wrapped up in something," he said quietly.

"I'm just glad you were there to stop them. They probably would've killed me otherwise."

"It should've been me, Clover."

"They were a bunch of girls. Why would they have beaten you up?"

"That's the last time I be a gentleman, that's for sure. You can go in and get your own food from now on."

I laughed and winced as the action hurt my face. Once we reached the hospital, the boys had to help me inside because I was weak from blood loss. In the end, I ended up with twelve stitches, six in each deep cut. They gave me an antibiotic to prevent possible infection and told me to take some ibuprofen for the pain.

"Can't believe I just got twelve stitches," I said on the way home.

"You've never been accident prone. Definitely shouldn't start now," my dad replied from the front seat.

"I'm really tired," I whispered to Ryder.

"I'll wake you when we get home."

I rested my head on his shoulder and dozed off until we got home. We sat down to eat with Kai who had waited for us. We had to warm the food up again, but it still hit the spot. After supper, Ryder left to go home leaving me with my dad and brother.

"We're going to go stay with grandma for a few days to help her clean out grandpa's stuff. Should we ask the police if you could come help?" my dad said at a commercial break.

"No, that's okay. Just FaceTime me again so I can see grandma. Will you guys be able to handle it?"

"For sure, I just figured I'd ask you."

"Just put me on FaceTime and I can help grandma direct you guys."

He laughed and ruffled my hair.