Something Peculiar

10

A girl stood a few feet behind me. In the glow from the streetlamp, she looked ravishing. Her short brown pixie cut spiked up all over. Her skirt was short and her black leather jacket went down to her calves. A wind came up, blowing back her coat a bit, and she reminded me of some kind of action star, like she should be in The Matrix.

But the thing that caught my attention the most was that she was barefoot.

"Okay...um, I'm going to go home now," I announced. She just stared at me, so I felt like I had to say something.

"Jennie Kim, I think you should come with us," she said with a sly smile.

"Us?" I asked, but then I felt him behind me.

I don't know where he had been before that, but suddenly, I felt his presence behind me and I looked over my shoulder. A tall man with dark, slick-backed hair stared down at me. He wore the same jacket as the girl, and I thought it was neat that they had matching outfits, like crime fighting duo.

He smiled at me, and that's when I decided that I was in trouble.

"That's a really nice invitation, but my house is like three houses down." I pointed towards it, as if I didn't think they already knew exactly where I lived. "So I think that I should probably just get home before my brother starts looking for me."

"You should've thought of that before you left the house," the guy suggested wickedly.

I wanted to take a step forward so I'd be away from him, but I thought that would only make him pounce on me. I could probably take the girl, but I wasn't so sure about him. He was like a foot taller that me.

"You guys are trackers?" I asked. Something about them reminded me of Lisa, the way they stared at me and insisted that I come with them.

"You're a quick one, aren't you?" the girl smiled wider at me, and it didn't set right with me.

They might be trackers, but not the same kind as Lisa. Maybe they were bounty hunters or kidnappers or just big fans of chopping up girls into little pieces and disposing of them in a ditch. Fear crept through me, but I tried not to let on.

"Well, this has been a blast, but I have to get ready for school. Big test and all that." I started taking a step away, but the guy's hand clamped painfully on my arm.

"Don't damage her!" the girl insisted, her eyes flashing wide.

"She's not to be hurt!"

Not to be hurt. Okay. That's a good thing. I can work with that, at least.

"Yeah, ease up!" I tried to pull my arm from him, but he refused to let go.

I had already decided that I wasn't going wherever they wanted to take me. Since they were under some kind of instruction not to hurt me, I thought I might have some leeway with fighting them. I only had to get a few houses down, then I'd be at home, and Tae kept a gun under his bed.

I elbowed the guy in the stomach as hard as I could. He made a coughing sound and doubled over but didn't let go of my arm. I kicked him in the shin and raised my arm so I could bite his hand that was gripping me.

He yowled in pain, and then the girl was in front of me. He had to let go of me and she tried to grab me, so I punched her. She dodged it, so my fist just connected with her shoulder.

Then I was off balance, and the guy grabbed me around the waist. I screamed and kicked at him as hard as I could. Apparently, he got tired of that, so he dropped me on the ground.

I was on my feet instantly, and he grabbed my arm again and turned me so I was facing him. He raised his hand and slapped me harder than I had ever been hit before. Everything went white, and my ear started ringing. He let go of me, and I collapsed backwards on the grass behind me.