A Perfect World

Chapter 29

“Give us the keys to your rides and we’ll let you go.” I recognize the voice in a second, and apparently Claire does too.

“Get lost, losers. You’re outnumbered and overpowered, so step off and you’ll be fine.” She threatens, her knife stretched out in front of her.

“Haha, funny.” Markus says, “Give us the keys. Now, Claire.”

“Oh, so you do remember me? Maybe you should leave me alone before I kill you for what you did to my sister,” She says, “Or maybe, I’ll let her kill you.”

“Her boyfriend wouldn’t let her,”

“He didn’t let me last time, but he will this time,” I say, flicking my knife out of my pocket, “Get lost, Markus, before I send you to see Adrien.” I growl sharply through my teeth, remembering the wolfish creature from my dream.

“Come at me.” He says, his arms out wide. I sense someone learning closer to me, over my back, and I spin around to see almost three times as many thugs as I expected holding my family tightly, knives or guns against their throats or heads respectively. Claire is fighting off two of them, and I make a move to help, when a gun clicks.

“I wouldn’t do that, princess.” Another one of them says, his gun steady and well aimed.

“Fine. You win, Markus. Let them go, we’ll give you the cars,” I say, folding my knife, tucking it away, and raising my arms just up to my shoulders. He’s dumber than I thought, and signals to his gang to let us go, each of the captured becoming the captors in just a few seconds. Claire knocks both of her attackers out in quick, calculated moves, and Jack and Matt both have their captors flat on the ground with knives against the back of their necks. The others obviously aren’t as experienced with gang fights, but they make up for it with either brains or brawn to immobilize them.

Something clatters against the ground at my feet, and I crouch down and grope around for a second, before I feel the warm metal under my fingers. I smile to myself, picking it up and aiming for the left side of Markus’ chest. He doesn’t dare move, just stares at me in terror, his panic showing on his face. I hold the gun steady for a second, but I can’t bring myself to do it, so I throw it across the ground to the three still standing. I would have kept it, but I’m afraid if I hold onto it much longer I’ll either shoot or trigger another panic-fueled fight.

“Get out of here. Now. I might still kill someone.” None of them move as my friends release the other members of the gang, so after a few seconds I turn back to them, standing close to Dan to hide my shaking hands, “Now!” The sound shocking them into motion. For a moment none of us move, but I let go of my tense, angry stance, turning and tucking my arms between Dan and myself, burying my face into his chest as I struggle to recover from everything that had just happened. He holds me tightly, one hand around my back, the other running through my ponytail.

“Are you alright, Ayda?” He asks quietly, his dark green jacket soft against my tear-stained face.

I nod, unable to trust myself with words. For a while, I just hear the others talking, one or two people coming to talk to Dan, but most just talking amongst themselves.

Finally, I mutter, “I should have killed him,” and step back, my body still tense, but at least I can think straight now.

“You know you would have regretted it,” Dan says, brushing my hair behind my ear gently, “At least, from my knowledge you would have.”

“You’re probably right,” I say, laying my hand on his, both resting on my cheek, over the place the 28 stitches had been, but had been removed, probably in the hospital, “At least I wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore,” I say, reaching up and planting a kiss on his cheek before stepping away to the main group.