Spilled Ink and Scribbled Lines (Crimson Lines Sequel)

seventeen

[ J a c k ]

"I have been kicked out, bullied, and flunked out of high school, I survived being stuck in a burning room, I woke up from a coma, I have been pregnant, I have been legally dead twice, I have eaten upwards of 300 twinkies in my lifetime, and now I can truthfully say I've been mugged and had my ass handed to me by three grown men in a park" Kat boasts, if you could call that boasting, as she leans over a bucket. She hasn't thrown up in a few minutes, that's an improvement. Her small hand grips onto my arm and I notice that at least two of her fingers are definitely broken.

"Wait, you were up against three guys?" Alex asks in amazement.

"Well I broke a bottle of gin over the one guys head and he was out cold so like two and a half" She shrugs as if this was a common conversation.

"You broke a glass bottle over his head? Kat I think you may have killed someone" Zack chuckles as he searches through the freezer for an ice pack.

As angry and worried as we all are, we have to try to keep the conversations light for Kats sake. I look up at Rian, his eyes locked onto his sisters injuries. I've never seen this look on his face, or anyone elses for that matter. It's pure rage.

Alex seems to notice as well and he turns to Rian "Dude, you need to take a deep breath. It's alright"

It isn't alright. Alex is as upset as the rest of us. He just handles his emotions a lot better than most.

We all want to ask Kat about it. Exactly what happened. If there was any injuries other than the ones on her face. If she could describe the pieces of shit who did this to her. We should have called the cops and taken her to a hospital the second she got back, but instead we keep quiet and make sure she's okay.

I grab a cloth and run it under the sink. "We gotta clean your face up and see what we're dealing with" I feel a lump form in my throat as she looks up at me. Her eyes are swollen and the blood vessels are broken. I can't imagine the pain this poor girl must be in. Nobody deserves shit like this, but Kat... She really didn't need another battle to fight.

As carefully as I can I wipe away the dried blood and dirt that's caked onto her skin. She scrunches up her face and clenches her fists. "Do you want me to take a break?" I ask, pushing her messy hair back.

"No," She shakes her head "We need to see how bad it is, right? Let's just get it over with while I'm still running on adrenaline"

I sigh, trying my best to be gentle. There's no good way to do this. Thankfully Rian tries to distract her. He pulls up the notepad on his phone and asks Kat to describe the three men. She doesn't remember much about them. They had masks and it was hard to see anything in the dark. She tells him everything she can and he excuses himself to call the police station.

"No, no don't call them right now" She reaches out to him

"You do realize that these guys could be long gone by now? The longer we wait the harder it's gonna be to catch them" He frowns

"Please, I'm so tired. I just want to sleep and not be in pain. I really can't handle staying up all night talking to cops. Please, Rian, just wait 'till the morning" She begs. Tears fill her already glassy eyes and he lets out a sigh of defeat

"I'm calling them first thing in the morning to file a report" He takes a few pictures of her face to show the police, not that she will look much different in the morning.