The Clever One

Getting There

[Adante]

I wake up just before the sun begins to rise. I dust myself off, gather all my belongings, and start climbing back down the fire escape. I go slowly, and before I know it, I'm back on the street.  Right now I'm on Starkly Avenue. Weird name, right? The street is named after a teenage boy who got his arm ripped off by a shark while he was surfing. When I was younger, classmates would tease others who lived on this street. They would say that Starkly haunts it, or that every time someone goes to the community pool, he'll be watching you. I never believe in that, and I didn't have the time or energy to pretend I did. This was my short cut so I could get to Seph faster.

A few minutes later, I'm still on this street. I must be walking really slow, or it's just longer than I remember. It's pretty empty and quiet, but that must only be because it's so early in the morning. I glance to my right, and there's a scrawny, dirty, orange cat growling at me. It's almost like it's looking past me, almost like, "What thee haall are yee doin soo eerly in da mornin', sport?" I have a hand on the shoulder and a knife at my neck, holding me in place. I try to see who the man is, and you could tell he's homeless. He's wearing a hat with holes in it, a beard that is clearly out of control, yellow teeth, and a scar slashed across his cheek. Maybe this man would let me go if I play dumb, because if not, I'll have to make things go the hard way. "I was looking for a girl, maybe you've seen her", I say with my totally innocent tone of voice. The man smiles, and chuckles, "I've a'been seein' a lot of thee girls lately, but I don't want none of em'. Man gotta eat. I need money, kid. Yee got any." I try to hold in my laughter, and go back to acting, "Sir, I don't have anything with me. Please let me go. I'm don't have any money." The man pushes the knife harder against my skin, "I know yee got money, boy. I'm sorry this have to bee thee hard way, but yee give me no choice." He then raises his knife and I know what he's thinking. He thinks he can stab me, take whatever money I have, and run off. Sorry, but that's just not how it's going to go down with me, sir.

I grab the arm that's holding the knife, and his other hand that's holding me down by the shoulder, and twist it as I turn around. The knife flings over a few feet behind me, but the man who is now shocked at my sudden reflex, gets back on his feet and storms toward me. I duck and trip him, so he falls on the ground face first, grab both his arms to his head behind him, and hit his head on the cement. There's a trick to which part of head you should hit that way they'll be knocked out the first time their head hits the surface. I learned it when I was 18, and only used that technique twice. Not including this time. I see his whole body stop stressing and it just lays there. I walk over to where the knife landed, and put it in my sweaters pocket. When I look back to where his body lays, there's a small puddle of blood. My thoughts freeze. I take step by step towards him, repeating in my head, "please don't be dead please don't be dead" over and over. I turn him around so he lays on his back and...there it is. I can't believe it. I must've been too much in a rush that I shoved his skull too hard on the cement.

Now here he is, bleeding to death. I can't just leave him here. My fingerprints are probably all over his arms when I twisted them. I just have one thought:

I need to hide his body.

Author note:

I dedicate this chapter to Lauren! Hey Lauren hope you have a great time at Howler Con and everyone thanks you for putting something nice together from the TW fandom to Shelley! She really deserves it and I'm sure she'll truly remember it. You're awesome! Also, can't wait until you write another beautiful article :)