Jesse and I ran toward the scream. He was very agile on his feet, and very fast. I was huffing and puffing, just trying to keep up with him. We ran until we heard the scream again.
" Over here!" I said. I took a sharp left down a back road I didn't recognize. I ran past a beaten up road sign that had graffitti all over the white letters. The pavement was mainly black with patches of coppery red here and there. I saw demolished houses and eviction notices. All this flew by with a blink of an eye.
" HELP ME, SOMEONE, PLEASE!" The girl screamed.
We turned into a driveway where we heard the scream. Jesse kicked down the door with his right foot in one smash. We slowly walked into the shack and I looked around. There were books thrown every which way, and there was a moth eaten couch in the middle, of what seemed to be the living room.
" Help," someone near us croaked, as if they were exhausted.
" Where are you?" Jesse shouted into the abyss of the home.
He ran towards a shuffling sound. We walked into a room with a girl laying on the red hardwood floor. Actually, as I would soon realize is that the floor was stained with this poor girl's bodily fluids.
I bent down next to the girl, and examined her body. She had been sliced with a knife. Two crosses on each of her cheeks. No other wound was visible. She had dried blood all over her face and sweat across her brow. She had blond hair and impossibly blue eyes.
Jesse scooped her up.
I pulled out my iPhone and was about to dial 911, when Jesse stopped me. "What the hell?" I said. " Shouldn't I call the paramedics?"
" Not unless you want her to go to jail." Jesse said.
I didn't know what he meant by that, but before I could comprehend anything further, Jesse was out the door. I followed him out of the shack. He pulled out his iPhone and mumbled something into the microphone. We stood in silence for two minutes, before a custom made green Mustang pulled up. A man with wispy white hair got out of the very handsome car, and opened the back door. Jesse set the girl down in the back and instructed the man to stay with her and keep her still. Jesse got in the drivers seat and I hoped in the passenger one
" Where are we going?" I asked after a few minutes silence.
" Headquarters." Was all I got back.
After about a half an hour, we arrived at a huge remote mansion. We pulled into a garage as big as my backyard. He quickly got up, and opened the door. He picked the girl up gently and walked inside the house. I didn't see any other choice then to follow him inside the mansion.
The inside looked like a bunch of teenage boys lived here. There were clothes everywhere ,and pizza boxes and other fast food items thrown around. There was a maid cleaning up around the house. I saw a lot of very expensive items, such as a couple of iPads and flat screens and Mac books. I looked up and saw a boy with white blond hair upstairs. When he saw Jesse, he bolted down the stairs and turned as white as his hair.
" Ashley. My baby is hurt. We gotta help her. Jes, Where did you find her?"
" Your old hangout." He replied.
" Shit! How could I let this happen?"
" Nash. You couldn't have done anything to change the outcome." Jesse consoled him.
Nash seemed to just now notice me. " Who is this? Is this the girl you said you saw near your mom's house?"
Jesse blushed, just enough to be seen through his tan skin. " Shut up."
" I'll go get Zane." Nash offered. He ran down the hall screaming Zane's name. In a short time Zane showed up with medical equipment in hand.
" Jes, what's going on?" Zane leaned over Ashley and examined her cheeks. "The wounds aren't too deep, but she's gonna need stitches."
As Zane worked I seated myself on the chair on the other side of the room. Jesse came and sat with me.
" I suppose I should give you some answers, huh?"
" Why didn't you call the ambulance?"
Jesse only stared off into space. " Oh he better talk before I twist his arm into a pretzel." I thought to myself.
" Welcome to our headquarters," he said, when he came back to our planet. " How good are you at robbing banks?"
