The Ashes

Chapter 16

Hi I hope you have a great day and enjoy xoxo
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Unable to hold still any longer, I struggle against the man's arm, only succeeding in tightening his vice grip further. An ache forms under his thick fingers; there will definitely be a bruise tomorrow. If I even get a tomorrow. Desperately trying to remember what I learned in that one self defence class I had about three years ago, I analyse the situation.

Some fifty-something man with obvious hygiene issues and with breath reeking of stale alcohol is trying to do goodness-knows-what to me. My shoes skid uselessly against the grimy pavement as he slowly succeeds in tugging me in the direction of a badly lit street behind the pub.

My fumbling brain finally begins to form some kind of plan. There's a possibility that it will make my situation worse, but what else can I do?

To his surprise, I stop tugging against him. The sudden lack of resistance makes him stumble, giving me the open window I need. I wrench my wrist free and swing clumsily for his head. And miss. How do you miss a punch?

He smirks at me, an expression which quickly turns starry-eyed and misty from pain as I execute a traditional move. My knee meets his crotch violently, adrenalin putting more force behind the action. I seize the moment, backing away from the groaning man, before turning on my heel, almost tripping before catching myself, and running towards the colourful of the High Street, which is only a minute from my house. My breath comes in panicked and heavy lungfuls, and it's not from the exercise.

The first of many hot tears scalds my cheek as I carry on running, my vision becoming blurrier by the second. As I round the corner onto my street I can see practically nothing. I have no time to register the blurry outline of a person before I crash straight into them.

"Thal?," they groan from beneath me.

Smearing my tears away from my eyes with the heel of my hand, my prey-like and darting vision settles on James. His mere presence reassures me, and I fully let out all the terror I had felt. Sobs shake my body as I hyperventilate.

"Hey, hey, what happened?" he asks in complete astonishment. Unable to reply, I shake my head, hiccuping and starting to shiver as I cry, the only warm thing in contact with my body being my tears on my face and James' hand in mine, lifting my up. He pulls me tightly against his side and walks me to our door, murmuring in my ear.

"Take a deep breath, T. You're okay now," he says, reaching for his keys and opening the door with one hand. Once he closes the door behind us I spin to face him and hug him tightly, my tears soaking into his soft jumper. He rests his chin on my head, rubbing my back until my sobs begin to subside slightly.

"Come on," he says, taking my hand. I let myself be led up the stairs into my room like a small child as he calls Luke in. My parents aren't home, of course. Again. I mean, my brothers are 18 but it's not the same thing. There must have been something in his tone as he called because Luke comes quickly, dressed in trackies and a baggy t-shirt, looking at my messy state in confusion as he enters and closes the door behind him.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," James admits.

"There- there was this man and then he tried to pull me away and I thought, self defence lesson but he wasn't leaving and I -" I babble incoherently in between gasps of air.

"Hey, it's okay," Luke says, sitting on the bed and pushing my hair back from people my face where it was stuck from a combination of tears and nervous sweat.

"I was so scared, Lukey," I cry. Both of my brothers hug me tight, James wiping what probably looks like tar from under my eyes but is only makeup.

"Sh," Luke whispers into my ear.

"I'm going to kill that fucker," James states at the same time. There's a dangerous, protective glint in his eyes.

"Come on, let's go get you cleaned up," Luke says softly, but there's a similar look in his eyes too. He brings me to the bathroom, hands me my towel and tells me he'll be in my room when I'm done.

I let the shower run hot as I strip off my school uniform, noticing that my legs are shaking from shock. As I turn to enter the pouring water, I catch a glimpse of my body in the large mirror. Mascara streaks run down my cheeks; my eyes are puffy and red. My right arm is starting to throb now that the adrenalin is finally wearing off, and fat red finger marks are obvious on my pale skin.

Unable to face my reflection any longer, I turn away and step into the shower. Suddenly, I feel filthy. I reach for the soap and scrub my body all over but it still doesn't feel right. Frustration builds as I rub at my arm, trying to erase the evidence of his touch and only managing to make the rest of my arm the same colour as the finger marks.

I lose track of time; goodness knows how long I would have been in there if Luke hadn't come back and interrupted me.

"You okay? You've been in there for half an hour."

With a sigh, I step out, staring resentfully at my arm. I wrap my towel around me. I do actually feel a bit better.

"I'll be right out," I call. I spot some trackies, underwear and James' Blink-182 tank top on the drying rack, so I pull them on and open the door. The steam curls softly through the door frame as I leave.

I cross the corridor and go back into my room, where Luke is spinning on my desk chair like a child and James is on his back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. When he hears me come in, he looks up, rolling his eyes.

"Isn't that my top?"

"Maybe."

"Yes, thank you for asking, sweet sister, of course you can borrow it," he teases. I stick my tongue out at him and collapse onto the bed beside him. The clock on my bedside table says it's only nine o'clock, but I'm exhausted.

My eyes start to drift shut. Luke, noticing this, pushes James onto the floor.

"Let her sleep in peace, idiot."

He leaves the room grumbling, softly closing the door behind him. Luke slides my blanket from under me, fluffing it up and tucking me in. When he switches off the light, I suddenly feel afraid. His hand is on the door handle when my voice stops him.

"Lukey, will you stay with me please?" I mumble quietly. He hesitates, then answers.

"Of course, Thal."

He slides into my bed and wraps his warm arms around my waist. He kisses my cheek.

"Night."

~~
Ok ok so she's alive yay
Luke and James are bæ tbh
Bye