A Proscriptive Relationship (28 page)

I glanced over my shoulder, trying to see if they were on my tail. Relief swept through me when I couldn’t see them. Then suddenly, I was falling. I held in my cry of pain as I felt my ankle twist painfully. I landed on a different rock, sliding down its slippery surface until my face came to a new crevice. My head fell in, but I managed to pull myself up in time before my whole body followed.

I heard a voice now and I held my breath fearfully, looking up to where I had just fallen from. Ryan passed, not even looking in my direction. He disappeared from view after a few moments. I was about to let out a sigh of relief when Eric, the one with the switchblade, came out. My stomach tightened and I silently begged him not to look down.

He didn’t. He continued following Ryan, and my eyes bulged with disbelief.

Since when had I become the luckiest girl on earth? I waited a few moments until I was sure they were gone before climbing to my feet. My ankle throbbed and I hissed in pain.

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t the luckiest. But a twisted ankle was better than being cut with a switchblade. I forced myself to ignore the pain in my ankle and climbed back to the flat top of the rock from where I had fallen. My ankle protested as I slipped once or twice, but I kept going.

Slowly, I went back the way I had come from, hunched over, gripping rocks for support so all my weight wasn’t on my injured ankle. My heart was pounding with adrenaline and anticipation. Those two could return at any time. I came back to the crevice where the hidden area was and wondered for a split second if I should hide, or try to go back to where the class was.

“
Found you!”

I startled gasp left my lips and I twisted on my good heel to come face to face with Ryan. I relaxed slightly. That was, until he started reaching into his pocket. Without thinking, I kneed him in the crotch as hard as I could. He shouted in pain, bending over. I panicked, not knowing what to do. I saw he was reaching for his pocket again, so I did the thing I found I was best at.

I punched him.

He fell to the ground unconscious. I stared at him for a moment in wonder, then looked at my fist in horror. I had to stop punching people! I didn’t have to resort to violence every time! And I had actually knocked someone out this time. I could have seriously hurt him. I bent down to check that he hadn’t landed on a rock that was jutting out, and found him uninjured for the most part.

I sucked in a deep breath of air when I realized Eric had probably heard Ryan’s cry. Quickly, I jumped down into the crevice. My ankle stung, but I did my best to ignore the throbbing pain. I moved slowly backwards, keeping an eye on the opening of the crevice above me. I trailed my hand along the moist wall, making sure I didn’t fall.

I felt the corner, and slowly turned myself, still keeping an eye out for any motion above me. I felt safer now, out of view from the crevice. Hopefully, now they wouldn’t be able to find me—

I froze, bumping into something too warm to be rock behind me. I felt a chuckle reverberate through his chest.

“
Found you.”

I felt my hair being yanked and I bit my tongue to keep from shouting out. I was yanked into the beach area, my ankle growing worse and worse with each step. Eric continued dragging me, oblivious to my pain. I tried to twist out of his grasp, sliding my arms through my overshirt and slipping out of it before making a break for it. Before I could take more than three steps however, Eric grabbed the back of my undershirt and forced me back. I was pushed against the rock, and pinned there by Eric’s knee between my legs. I scowled at him, trying to not let fear get the best of me. Eric scowled back, tapping his switchblade angrily.

“
Where’s Ryan? Damn it,” he muttered, glancing at the way we came.

My heart skipped a beat, and I tried to keep a straight face. I didn’t want to know what he’d do if he found out I knocked out his friend. But I was also terrified that Ryan would wake up and come in here.

“
How did you get in here?” I whispered, knowing Eric had walked by me earlier.

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you think you were the only one who knew of the place or something?”

I shook my head. I knew others would know about it . . . I just assumed these guys didn’t. I sighed inwardly. Assuming never led to good things.

It was a stupid idea to come in here. How could I have been such an idiot? I felt like I was going to cry.

The feeling of cool metal against my skin snapped me out of my reverie. My eyes widened as I locked gazes with Eric. He smirked, his eyes glowing with excitement. “I’m not waiting for Ryan,” he told me, even though I could care less. “But I don’t know what to do to you yet.”

I tried my best not to show him any weakness, but the switchblade pressed to my throat terrified me. “Please, don’t kill me,” I whispered, finding it hard to breathe.

Eric chuckled. “I’m not going to kill you.”

I relaxed the slightest bit, but the blade was still pressed against my neck. I watched Eric cautiously, trying to control my breathing.

“
But I can’t say I won’t hurt you.” With that he started to move the switchblade up, and he pressed down a little harder right under my jaw. I flinched away as pain shot through the spot where he had now broken skin. The blade was withdrawn and I let out a shaky breath, but it turned into a cry when I felt a hard slap to my face.

“
That was for punching me yesterday.”

I raised a hand to my cheek in shock, unable to say anything. There was a sudden shout from the entrance and Eric’s head snapped towards it, a smirk appearing on his face. “That must be Ryan. Finally he figured out where we were.”

I froze, my heart dropping into my gut. Was he serious? How was I supposed to get out of this now? My chest tightened, and I blinked rapidly, making sure no tears spilled down my face.

Eric glanced at me with a frown. “I’ll be right back, stay here . . . Well, you don’t have anywhere else to go, so I guess saying that is pointless.”

He headed back towards the entrance and when he disappeared from view, I sprinted to the other side of the enclosed area. I spotted the small cave I had refused to go in the day before. However, now it was my only chance of safety. I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled in.

I could barely fit. It looked so much bigger from the outside. I managed to squeeze my way a fair distance from the entrance. I pulled my knees up to my chest, cursing myself for not grabbing my shirt before running. I put my head onto my knees, trying to calm my racing heart. What was I going to do? I felt so helpless. I was trapped and no one knew where I was, and there were two guys after me because I had punched them yesterday.

I
really
needed to stop punching people! And getting myself caught in such dangerous positions! I could fight, but it probably wouldn’t end well. Besides, they had switchblades. It was too dangerous to try to attack them. There was really nothing I could do.

New tears prickled at my eyes and I rubbed them furiously, hating how powerless I was. I drew my knees closer to me, my body shaking. I hadn’t realized how cold and wet I was. It felt like I had gone swimming.

“
You,” a voice growled.

I immediately looked up to see Eric glaring at me.

“
Get out here. Right now.”

“
No,” I responded, staring at him with wide eyes. Was he crazy? There was no way in hell I was leaving!

He growled in frustration. “You know, I do have a friend who can easily fit inside there and grab you.”

My eyes widened the slightest bit. “No you don’t.”

Eric chuckled. “Oh, yes I do. He’s only about five minutes away from here. In fact, if you want I’ll give him a call now.”

I couldn’t tell if he was bluffing or not, so I stayed silent. He sighed and a moment later I heard him talking to someone. “Yeah, I need your help. It’s the cave again. Yeah. I don’t know why they always hide in there. Okay, I’ll meet you by the entrance.”

I listened very carefully. Was he faking the phone call? And what did he mean again? Did he chase girls in here often?

Eric ducked down again, looking in at me. “I’ll be right back. You can come out if you want, I’ll be by the entrance.”

He disappeared, leaving me staring after him in disbelief. He wasn’t kidding. New tears formed at my eyes and I bit my lip. This was unbelievable. Why me? How pathetic could I be?

Hearing footsteps outside the cave sent my heart flying,

“
Holly?”

My head snapped up so fast it cricked my neck. I ignored it, though, staring in incredulity at the man standing before me. It wasn’t Eric. Or Ryan. It was Mr. Heywood.

He peered at me, his expression relieved. His hair was matted to his forehead, his clothing, completely soaked.

“
How?” I whispered, tears flooding my eyes again. “How did you find me?”

“
The man passed out a little ways back and your flip-flops were good clues,” he responded, a small smile on his lips. “Come out here, quick.”

I shook my head violently. “I c-can’t!”

“
Why not? Are you hurt?”

“
No,” I responded, shaking my head again. “My, er . . . my shirt is out there.” Yeah, I still wore my undershirt. But still . . .

He froze for a minute and then I saw him looking around. After a moment, he took off the gray sweater he was still wearing and threw it to me. “Put that on.”

I nodded and pulled it on eagerly. Even though it was damp, I instantly felt warmer. Feeling much better, I crawled forwards, and out of the cave. Immediately Mr. Heywood pulled me to my feet. I gazed at him for a moment, feeling the overwhelming urge to hug and kiss him, but I fought it back—with much difficulty.

He inhaled sharply. “What happened to your jaw?”

“
Um, switchblade,” I muttered, averting my eyes.

“
Holly,” he groaned, running a hand through his dripping wet hair.

It made me wonder how long he had been searching for me for his hair to be so wet. My eyes came across my shirt lying in the sand. I made a move to grab it, but became paralyzed with fear. What would happen if Eric came back and I wasn’t close to Mr. Heywood? Swallowing, I grabbed onto the back of his T-shirt. He looked at me curiously and I felt my eyes well up again. I blinked them away as quickly as possible.

“
Holly, what’s wrong?” he asked, his eyes soft. “What happened?”

“
Nothing,” I responded, rubbing my eyes. “I’m just scared. There was nothing I could do! I thought I was just going to be stuck in that cave until he came to get me out! I thought no one knew where I was and no one was going to come help me and I couldn’t even do anything. I was helpless . . . and scared.”

I wasn’t sure if he understood the last few things I said, because I had started to cry by then. I felt him pull me into a warm and protective embrace. I didn’t even think to be embarrassed. I clung onto him, trying to blink away my tears. He rubbed my back soothingly.

“
I’m sorry I didn’t find you earlier,” he said quietly.

“
It’s not your fault,” I sniffed.

He suddenly pulled away from me, his face an unreadable expression. I stared at him for a moment, trying to decide what it meant, but found it nearly impossible. After a second he ran his hand through his hair.

“
Come on, we’ve got to get back before you get in some serious trouble.”

“
Please don’t tell anyone what happened,” I begged, grabbing onto his shirt again. “Please, Chris.”

His eyes widened in surprise and he opened his mouth, but no words came out. Eventually he just nodded. “I won’t tell anyone,” he promised. “I’ll tell them you got lost or something. But we should still go.”

I nodded. “Okay, thank you.”

“
Don’t mention it,” Mr. Heywood muttered, turning towards the entrance.

Realization swept over me and I grabbed Mr. Heywood’s shirt again. He halted, throwing me an amused glance. “Now what?”

“
How’d you get in here?” I whispered.

“
I heard someone, so I just jumped from . . . Holly, what’s wrong?”

My expression must have made him worried, because he looked over his shoulder and back with a confused expression. And then we heard the voices.

“
They’re back,” I said, eyes wide.

“
Who are?”

“
The men who are after me.”

He didn’t seem phased. In fact, he looked eager. He pushed me behind him completely and stood still, waiting for the men to come into view. In a few seconds, three men appeared: Ryan, Eric, and the new small guy. So Eric really wasn’t lying.

Eric narrowed his eyes at Mr. Heywood. “Who are you?”

“
Your worst nightmare,” Mr. Heywood responded, cracking his knuckles. “Which one of you cut this poor girl’s jaw?”

Eric’s gaze hardened. “That would be me.”

Before I could protest, Mr. Heywood was in front of Eric, sending a fist flying into his face. My jaw dropped as Eric fell a few steps back, but not down. Since when did someone stay conscious after being punched by Mr. Heywood? There was a glint of metal and I noticed Eric had the switchblade out again. I took a step backwards, shaking my head.

“M-Mr. Heywood,” I croaked, watching the three men close in on him.

He sent me a smirk. “Remember, Holly, I was gang leader for a reason.”

The first one down was the new guy—he didn’t even stand a chance against Mr. Heywood’s fist. And I almost missed Mr. Heywood’s fist landing in Ryan’s face—another one-hit K.O. But then Eric swung the knife out. To my astonishment, it actually came in contact with Mr. Heywood’s arm.

“
Mr. Heywood!” I cried, shocked.

But that’s when I realized he had let it get him on purpose. He yanked the switchblade out from Eric’s hand and turned it back onto him. Eric’s face immediately whitened and he stepped back.

“
W-wait,” he stammered, holding up his hands.