Hated (10 page)

Chapter 13

Stephanie
Wilson

Boston 8:07 pm Thursday February 15
th
2029

              Tyler and Zack are two of the nicest guys I’ve met in a while. Tyler is my boss and Zack is the head chef at the restaurant where I wait tables. They are probably the closest thing I have to real friends besides the nurse at my school, Isabella. It’s not like I haven’t tried to make a friend my own age, it’s just that every time I try the relationship turns sour.

             
Ever since Hayley started being a…witch, for lack of a better word, it kind of feels like I’m cursed to never be friends with someone my own age again. Then I met Antonio and it seems like I could become very close to him if I wanted to. But I can see in his eyes that he is hiding something from me and anyone else who dares to look. I just don’t know what it is or how deeply rooted it is in him…or if I could do anything to help ease the pain that I once saw in his eyes.

             
Of course he isn’t the only one with secrets, I have some too but I…don’t like to talk about it. The whole thing makes me feel kind of queasy and sick to the stomach just thinking about it. I haven’t told anyone about what had actually happened when I was away for three days. No one knows and that’s how I want to keep it.

             
I grabbed my jacket and went out the front down. The cold air bit my cheeks and every where there was bare skin, and soon I was cold down to my bones. I shivered as I looked around the front of the restaurant. I was kind of disappointed that I didn’t see Antonio anywhere. I knew that I said I would wait five minutes, but if I didn’t get moving soon I would freeze before I made it half way home.

             
I turned and was about to start walking home when I heard the fast crunch of snow. Someone was running, towards me? I turned back and saw Antonio appear out of the darkness. I felt my heart leap in my chest, but why was I so excited to see Antonio? Yeah I like him, but as a friend nothing more…

             
“I thought you said that you would wait a few minutes,” Antonio said. I thought he was mad but then I saw that he was smiling.

             
“It’s freezing out here, I don’t think I could wait any longer,” I replied. Antonio cocked his head to the side, and then came to stand beside me. He put an arm around my shoulder and held me close to him. I looked up at him, questioningly.

             
“You’re shivering, we should get going so that you don’t catch a cold,” Antonio replied, and we started walking in the direction of my house. It took maybe a little over an hour to reach my house but I wasn’t as cold as I would’ve normally been if I had been walking alone. Antonio was very warm and…very good at blocking the wind. It seemed that the cold didn’t even faze him. He wasn’t shivering or shaking, and he was warm. I just didn’t get it.

             
We got to my house at around 9 pm and quietly entered so as not to disturb anyone that was asleep. The lights were off so I had to try to make my way around without bumping into anything. I found a light switch by the door to the kitchen and flicked it on. Lying down on the couch in the living room was Kevin, my brother. He must’ve been asleep but I guess the light woke him up, because he was staring at us with a gun in his hand.

             
“Hello to you too,” I said to my brother at the sight of the gun. He looked down at the gun in his hand and put it back into his holster.

             
“Sorry, I wasn’t sure if it was you at the door or…someone else,” Kevin replied getting up from the couch.

             
“What happened?” I asked. I knew Kevin better than that; he never slept with his gun unless something had gone wrong while I was away. Then I saw that he was trying to hide a limp and I remembered that he had used his left hand to hold the gun.

             
“Oh no, they found us didn’t they?” I asked I felt the fear try and grip me but I wouldn’t let fear take control of me.

             
“No, it was a different gang,” Kevin replied, how did he know that it wasn’t them? “They were very messy fighters.”

And then he smiled his devilish smile, and I sighed and smiled.

              I went to Kevin and did a quick inspection to see if he had any broken bones. The good news was that he didn’t have any serious damage. The bad news was that he did have a couple nasty cuts, a bullet hole in his leg, a broken arm, and he was going to have some bad bruising in the morning. Then I remembered that Antonio was still with me. I turned to look at him and he seemed confused.

             
“Can you do me a favour?” I asked Antonio, he nodded. “Go into the kitchen and in the top drawer is a small black bag; can you bring it out here?”

             
Antonio nodded then went into the kitchen. I helped Kevin back to the couch and got him into a comfortable position. I noticed that he was staring at me.

             
“What?” I asked, because his stare was starting to make me uncomfortable. Kevin just smiled like he had a secret but he wasn’t allowed to share it. I glared at him but it didn’t even faze him.

             
“When did they attack?” I asked since I knew I was getting nowhere with the other topic. Kevin’s smile vanished and he looked tired.

             
“Shortly after everyone else went to bed, you know how I normally wait for you to come home?” I nodded. “Well I heard something outside and I thought it might’ve been you or one of the night victims. It turns out to be a new gang that was trying to claim this area as their own territory.”

             
“Did you tell them that this area already belongs to someone else?” I asked. I saw a corner of Kevin’s mouth turn up.

             
“Yeah I did and they didn’t believe me,” he tried to sound offended but it came out funny and made me chuckle. I heard some ruckus coming from the kitchen. What was Antonio doing? I got up and went to the kitchen and I flicked on the light that was by the doorway. Antonio was glaring with his hands up in surrender at…MOMMA JEAN!?!? Where did she find my gun?!?!

             
“Momma what are you doing with my gun?” I asked as I walked in to the kitchen. Momma Jean just looked at me like
what are you talking about? There is a guy in my kitchen!
I walked over to Antonio and stood in front of him.

             
“Momma this is my friend Antonio, he’s staying the night because of some issues at home,” I explained carefully. Momma Jean has an itchy trigger finger and I was keeping my eyes on her to make sure that she didn’t accidently pull the trigger. Momma Jean’s mood changed but she kept the gun up.

             
“Look Jean I don’t have time for this Kevin was shot a little while ago and I…” I started but Momma Jean nearly dropped the gun when she heard the part about Kevin so I stopped.

             
“Kevin got shot!?” Momma Jean exclaimed. “Where did he get shot?”

             
“He was shot in the leg and he also has a broken arm,” I told her. “I had sent Antonio in here to find my mini EEFA kit. Now can I have my gun back and start to work on Kevin?”

             
Momma Jean looked down at her hand and seemed surprised to find a gun there. She kind of threw it, kind of dropped it in my direction. I had to lunge forward in order to make sure it didn’t hit the ground and fire. I breathed a sigh of relief when I caught the gun without it firing. I stuck the gun in the back of my pants and turned to Antonio.

             
He had his serious face on. This could mean that he was confused, he was wary or he was some other emotion that he didn’t wish to show to anyone who was present. I heaved an exaggerated sigh and grabbed the kit out of the drawer and went out to tend to Kevin.

             
He was still lying on the couch but he looked like he had moved. Frankly I didn’t have any energy left to lecture him about moving when he was wounded. Instead I just got to work on his leg. Lucky for me most of the damage was done on his shin and calf so I didn’t have to move the pant leg up much. The cuts weren’t very deep but they were long, he wouldn’t need stitches to help him heal.

             
I focused on bandaging up his leg and trying to be as careful as could. I didn’t notice that someone had come up behind me, until I leaned back to sit down and pretty much fell on top of him. I felt part of my back vibrate as the person behind me laughed. I turned and found Antonio beneath me. I tried to get up but ours legs were tangled together.

             
I looked to Kevin for help but he had turned his head away as if he had fallen asleep. I huffed a sigh and turned back to look at Antonio. He was staring up at me and there was something in his eyes that made my heart skip a beat. I untangled my legs and skittered back so that my back was against the couch. My heart was pounding in my chest but I tried to hide my nervousness by smiling.

             
“Please don’t sneak up on me like that,” I said as calm as I could, keeping the smile on my face.

             
“I wasn’t sneaking,” Antonio replied smiling the same forced smile I was. “You just didn’t hear me.”

             
I heard Kevin try to muffle his laughter. I glared at the back of his head but he didn’t move. I was about to smack him upside the head but then I heard a sound come from outside. I froze and listened, waiting for any kind of odd noise. Kevin must’ve heard it too, because he had turned over and was staring intently out the front window. Antonio even stiffened and sat up, turning toward the front window also.

             
Then we heard it again, but louder like they had gotten closer. I shot up to a standing position and grabbed for my gun that I had stuffed into the back of my pants. Kevin grabbed for his but I could see how much effort it took him to reach for it. He wouldn’t be of any use to me if I had to fight.

             
“Kevin you are in no condition to fight,” I told him hoping he would listen.

             
“I know, but he is,” Kevin replied then tossed the gun over my head to Antonio. “You, take care of my sister.”

             
Antonio nodded and got up to come stand beside me. I looked to Kevin to make sure he went to go get the spare but I saw that it was already in his hands. I nodded to him then went to the door, shutting the lights off as I went. I grabbed the flashlight I kept by the door and put it in one of my pockets. I waited ‘til our eyes adjusted to the dark, and then I opened the door and stuck my head outside. At first I couldn’t see anyone, so I stepped out a little further and looked around the corner.

             
Just as I thought it was clear, I caught sight of movement out of the corner of my eye. Whoever it was there were a few of them crowded around. I pulled back and explained to Antonio what I saw. He nodded and peeked around the corner, and I was right behind him guarding his back. Antonio fired a warning shot and I saw the figures skitter around then run out of the alley.

I noticed that they all came from a central area. Why were they grouped like that if they were coming to attack the house, unless they didn’t come to attack us at
all. They were in a circle before they scattered. Then I heard a pained sound coming from the general area of where the group had been.

“They weren’t here for us, I doubt they even knew we were here,” I told Antonio as my suspicion sunk in. They were here to get rid of someone not to attack the house. But who was it? I stepped around Antonio and keeping my gun up went to investigate the thing that made the noise.
Antonio watched my back as I approached the figure that lay almost completely motionless on the ground. They only thing that told me that the figure was alive were the slight movements of its chest.

I knelt down next to the figure and pulled out my flashlight. I flicked it on away from the figure so I wouldn’t scare myself, then carefully I went up the length of his body. It wasn’t too bad
, since most of it was covered by his clothes, until I got to his head. I had to swallow the bile that rose in my throat; I was surprised he was still alive. I tried to get a better look at the damage but he grabbed my wrist. Suddenly I was staring at a couple of piercing blue eyes and my heart was pounding. Antonio was about to jump into action but I waved him off.

“Who are you?” he asked his voice was scratchy and uneven.

“I’m a friend,” I told him gently moving the hair out of his face. He seemed to consider that for a moment then he let go of my hand.

“I’m not one to be saved by such a lovely young lady,” he said taking my hand more gently this time and kissed it. “My name is Alexander, and what may your name be?”

I became flustered by his words and old fashioned greeting. I mean it’s not like I’ve never been flirted with before it’s just never been put very nicely. I just answered on impulse because I didn’t know what else to do, “My name is Stephanie.”

“Such a lovely name for such a lovely young lady,” Alexander replied letting go of my hand.
I noticed that he seemed to be completely ignoring Antonio so I brought Antonio in to the conversation.