The Guardian Wars: Part One #Wattys2016

Chapter Twenty-One

The man leapt toward us. I dodged him, but he managed to tackle Mabel. Her body slammed awkwardly against the car behind us. He stood over her, his body poised to attack, as she cowered underneath him. I protectively moved forward as if to grab him, despite the fact that he was twice my size. Mabel met my gaze and shook her head slightly.

"What do you want with us? What is it that we know!?" she demanded trying to pry his hands off of her arms. He looked in my direction before he spoke.

"Your boyfriend shouldn't have told you so much about the Department. You know things that will get you and a lot of people in trouble. You made a mistake leaving your Sector," he growled. A patch of red hair showed from under the front of his hood. I tried but I couldn't place his face. He had a sharp pointy nose that dipped almost down to his top lip, and beady green eyes. He looked back at Mabel who was struggling roughly beneath him. He smiled at her before releasing her left arm and grabbing her around the waist.

"Clive never told me that his sister was so pretty," he purred down at her. Mabel visibly grimaced as he leaned his face closer to hers.

"What does it matter to you what I know!?" I demanded, trying to shift his attention back to me. He looked up quickly. I stood awkwardly beside them. I wasn't sure what my next move was supposed to be. I didn't have a weapon, and leaving Mabel trapped against the car by that strange man was not an option. He finally released her and stood up straight, before walking in my direction.

"Rowan started something he couldn't finish. Now it's my job to keep you two from finishing it for him," he explained as he looked back at Mabel, who was still leaning against the car.

"Look," she said. "We don't know anything ok? We are just taking a road trip together. Honest," Mabel told him, holding her hands up innocently. He turned back to me and studied my horrified expression for a while. Then his lips turned up into a snarl.

"You can make up whatever stories you want, but it doesn't matter. I was sent here to stop you, and that's what I'm going to do," he growled, before grabbing my arm and forcefully throwing me against the car beside Mabel.

I closed my eyes and wished that Rowan could somehow magically appear and save me like he did the night that Penn had slapped me. I opened my eyes, but Rowan was not there. The man walked towards Mabel until his body was less than a foot from hers, and reached for the gun at his hip. Without a moment's hesitation, Mabel brought her leg up with full force and hit him right between his legs.

He fell to the ground with a groan as the gun was knocked loose from his hand and skidded across the concrete. Mabel picked it up and grabbed my arm, forcing me to follow her as she ran. We could hear the man moaning as he tried to get back up. There was no clear way out of the dock yard, and we ran through the maze of containers for what seemed like forever. Finally Mabel found a container that had been pried open, and she yanked me inside with her. We leaned against the corrugated metal wall and tried to catch our breath.

"Nice move back there," I whispered, breathlessly.

"Thanks, I learned from the best," she smiled and gave me a small wink.

We were in almost complete darkness. There were small slivers of light coming in through rusty holes on the ceiling of the container, and there was an odd smell emanating from the far corner. The possibility of a wild animal or homeless person crawling out from the darkness was horrifying, but I forgot my fear instantly as we heard heavy footsteps approaching. Mabel, who was still holding on to my arm, tightened her grip and held a finger to her lips to signal for me to be quiet. We both stood as still as statues as the footsteps approached the entrance of the container. Mabel had tried to pull the door shut as we ran in, but it was still hanging slightly open. I closed my eyes and once again wished that Rowan was there. I pictured him standing beside me, holding my hand.