Asa
“Come on, Asa!” Lauren called again as I walked down the alleyway, chain in hand.
These three guys were all light weights, just a bunch of vultures who were swooping in on her because she screwed them out of their money fair and square. Now they saw what they thought were some easy pickings and some nasty bit of fun. Like I said before, I hate men who beat women, and I hate rapists. But, still, I wanted her to stew in her decision for a moment. Wanted her to suffer contemplating the consequences.
“You know, I don't exactly need you,” I called back as I stopped about fifteen feet from the scene.
The guys, now, were shifting their attention to me as I let the end of the chain with the padlock still attached drop to the alley floor.
“Your daddy probably doesn't trust you worth a damn, anyways. You probably got more reason than anyone to kill him.”
“Asa, you motherfucker!” Lauren spat.
“See?” I asked. “It's that attitude that's gotten you here in the first place. You're a real pain in the ass, even if you're a great lay.”
“Feeling's more than mutual, asshole!” she snapped.
The guys were all looking at each other now, confused by the whole interaction. The blonde skinny kid who seemed to be the one with the most beef, just looked flatly at me. “We gotta fuck you up, dude? Or what?”
I ignored him and moved a step closer.
“Help me get in to the Fortress,” I said to her. “Fortress, or whorehouse. Your pick.”
She gritted her teeth and growled in frustration. “Fine,” she finally said, realizing she didn't have any other options left. No real ones, at least.
“Fucking finally,” I growled as I struck out with the chain and whipped it around at the head of the guy on the right, knocking him off his feet. I bared my teeth at the other two as I slinked the chain back into my grip, shortening it into a closer quarter weapon.
They fell on me in a drunken rage, their fists flying at my head. I ducked the first set of fists and danced away, twirling my chain to gather momentum. I swatted the middle one, the tiny blonde guy with a bad mustache, across the knee first, then wrapped it around his neck, the weight of the weapon throwing him completely off balance and knocking him to the alley's floor, gasping, clutching desperately as it closed off his throat.
I turned to the other, dipping my forehead to take his poorly punched fist, then closed in on him as he yelped and shook his hand in surprised pain. I kick-stomped his extended knee, following through with a shattering, satisfying crunch that resounded like a snapped tree limb in a storm, the crackling break bouncing off the brick walls on either side of us. His stunned scream rose above his buddy's gagging as I cut him to the ground with two quick slashes of my fist. One to the chin, the other to the nose.
He went down like a bag of misshapen rocks, blood streaming from his face and pulling beneath his head as he rolled sideways onto a discarded aluminum can.
“Jesus,” Lauren gasped. “Holy shit, what did you just do?”
“Saved your fucking life,” I said as I went over and offered her a hand up.
She looked warily from me to my extended hand, then back again. She grasped it, finally, and I pulled her to her feet.
“Come on,” I said as I yanked her along. “Cars around the side. Let's get out of here.” I stopped in my tracks as I heard the gasp from the man around whose neck I'd wrapped the chain. I bent down next to him and loosened it. He gasped for breath, his face beat red as I slapped his cheek.
“Let me give you a piece of advice,” I said as I stood up and coiled the chain back in my hand. “Don't play pool with pretty blondes. They always got an advantage over you types.” Then, I kicked him in the side a couple times to drive my point home. Then a couple more on top of that. Like I said, I hated rapists.
“Asa,” Lauren said, finally grabbing at my arm and tugging me away.
“What?” I growled as I turned and followed after her. “They were going to rape you.”
“Doesn't mean you need to kill them,” she muttered.
As we walked back to the car, I decided I needed to come clean with her. I needed to tell her that I hadn't been working for her father - I was actually trying to get my own revenge. The only question now was, had I been lying so long that she wouldn't believe the truth, even when she finally heard it?