Days of the Old

This was it. I actually felt sort of happy that things were going to go back to normal. I couldn’t wait to be on good terms with everyone again. I stopped myself then, reminding myself that there was still a possibility that things weren’t going to go back to the way they were before everything happened. What if I was too late? What if Matt didn’t believe me? What if he’d already given up on me, too?

A small, quick, barely there patter of heavy shoes on the sidewalk from behind startled me out of my daze, and I slowed in my walking to try and hear a little better. Nothing. But I was still paranoid. I’d just called a taxi a few minutes ago (I was pretty sure Matt wouldn’t appreciate having to pick me up) and I said I’d be back at the club because that was the only address I knew around there, but there was just one, tiny problem.

I had no fucking clue as to where where I was. In the span of three minutes, I’d gotten myself royally lost. Tyler and I must have walked farther than I had thought, and I cussed at myself for not following him back, but continued walking at a slightly faster pace.

More sounds, footsteps and almost like a polyester jacket was being rustled. There was definitely someone behind me, I knew that then and quickened my pace, breaking into a jog as I down the sidewalk, praying I wouldn’t trip on one of the cracks in the cement. I wasn’t stupid. I knew I was practically just shy of four foot nothing and my muscles—what muscles?—were almost nonexistent. I was a decent fighter, but I knew I could only hold a person off for so long. And out in a dark, deserted street, there wasn’t much chance of getting notice if something went wrong. I needed to get back to where a few people (even if they were druggies, I was sure they would at least try and help out, right?) and some lights were.

The footsteps got louder and quicker then, and I broke out into a full run. Someone was chasing me, and I had to get away from them. I didn’t care how lost I was and the cab could wait. I just had to get away from the goon was chasing me.

Abruptly, hands curled around my waist and I was roughly pulled back into someone’s chest, and I immediately began struggling. They weren’t speaking and they were too tall, I couldn’t get a good look at their face. “Yo, let me the fuck go!” I yelled, kicking punching, and elbowing anything I could get into my reach. The person squeezed harder around my waist, making all the air in my lungs rush out in one quick gasp.

My attempts to get away were useless, and I had barely even registered that someone even had their hands on me, that they more than likely wanted to hurt me when they pulled me into a tiny, narrow alleyway. It was barely wide enough for me and my captor to squeeze into. As soon as they let me go, I whipped around and began swinging at them, knowing I had to get them on the ground first.

They easily block my attempts and grab my wrists in both hands, sufficiently stopping me. I took the chance and looked up to see who it was, and my stomach instantly twisted into knots at the sight of who it was.

“What do you want, Andy?” I asked, trying not to sound scared shitless, because that was exactly how I was feeling. Wrenching my hands out of his grip, I backed up until my back hit the wall of the building on the other side of the alleyway. That was only a few feet, though, and I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me so I glared straight up at him.

He smirked at me, that same, deranged glint in his eye like he had the other time we’d gotten into a fight.

Why tonight? Why now? Was I ever going to catch a break? Was I even going to make it out of here alive?

Taking a step forward, his smirk twisted into a snarl and I knew things weren’t going to go well, but I still didn’t back down. I wasn’t going to show him how intimidated and outright frightened I was, because that was obviously what he wanted. “What do you want?” I repeated, refusing to let any fear seep its way into my voice. “I thought we were done. Why can’t you just forget about it?”

All of the possibilities of what could happen to me in a dark, secluded alleyway flash through my mind then. Especially with someone as sadistic as Andy and I didn’t know what he was capable of, either, but I had a feeling he could do a lot more to me than break a few ribs. And if I couldn’t help it, I knew he would.

“Did you really think that little ‘fight’ at school was going to be enough? I promised you were going to get payback, Payton. And that wasn’t enough.” He said, using air quotes when he said ‘fight’. He took another step closer, he was practically breathing down my neck. My gut told me to run, to fight back now, but I held my ground. I waited for the moment.

“You fucked up my nose; you fucked up my girlfriends jaw! And you she won’t even trust me. She’s jealous of you. You. Of all the fucking sluts in school!” He said, taking on a maniacal laugh. That last comment made my fists clench, and I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything. I didn’t want to provoke him. “She thinks I’m cheating on her with you. She won’t fucking trust me, and you’re going to pay for that.”

Just like that, his hand came up and slapped me across the face, instantly making my cheek feel like it had spontaneously-combusted, and just like the first time we got into a fight, he knocked my legs out from under me and I landed on the cold, hard cement ground with a dull ‘thud’.

I felt stupid for not expecting that. I should have known he only knew one way to fight. I should have been expecting that he wouldn’t give up as easily as he thought he had, because nothing is ever easy for me. Nothing could ever work out as perfectly as I had planned. Something always had to get in my way.

He was too strong for me, and the fear had settled into my bones by then and I fumbled as I tried to get up. I was scared, I wanted to go home. I had to find away to get out of there. I couldn’t take this guy on by myself without backup, and that was now nonexistent.

Grabbing the hood of my jacket, he pulled me up, causing tension in the front of my hoodie and my airway to constrict. I gasped and clawed at it, trying to get it to loosen some so I could breathe, but as soon as I had even moved his foot connected with the middle of my back and I went headfirst into the brick walls, my hands instinctively going out in front of me.

Once again, I landed on the ground in a heap, both of my hands then marred with deep scratches and cuts, bloodied to the point where all I seemed to see was red. I let out a small sob, my hands were burning and stinging to the point where I thought I was going to throw up and my back was tense from the pressure Andy’s foot had put on it.

As quickly as before, he was coming at me again, lightning fast but I rolled out of the way just before his foot was about to kick me in the side. I was not getting more broken ribs from this douche bag. I could deal with everything else, but not broken bones again.

Seemingly stunned that I’d been able to move, he stepped back and stared at me for a moment. I used this to my advantage and stumbled to my feet before he could even blink. That pissed him off; I knew it would. He was mad he hadn’t injured me as much as he thought he had, but I was ready for him. As soon as he was within my reach, I kneed him where it hurts, feeling pathetic for having to resort to that again. But I couldn’t fight him off with my hands, and hey, if it was there, I was sure as hell willing to injure it.

Letting out a groan, he bent over and held his groin, and again I took advantage of his position and brought my knee straight up into his face. I heard another crunch and knew I had broken something. He let out another loud groan that sounded like a strangled cry and toppled over to his side, holding his nose while he pulled his legs up to his chest in the fetal position.

God, I thought as I stared down at him, I broke his nose again. How pathetic was he? The last time we had gotten into a fight, I had three fractured ribs and even then I still managed to get back up. Yet he was there, just like last time, cradling his nose as if he thought it were about to run away from him.

While he was down and stunned, I did the other one thing I had once promised myself I would never do, I ran. I ran as fast and as far as my legs could get me, not stopping once. I had to get away from Andy. If he caught up with me again, I couldn’t defend myself as much as I had managed to just then. The pain in my cheek and back was really beginning to set in, and my hands still felt like they were on fire. I had to get away while I could.

After I had run so far it felt as if my lungs were about to burst, I fumbled with the gate to a park, it wasn’t locked, but my bloodied hands were slipping all over the open lock. I winced as I wiped my hands off in a patch of grass, but I knew I had to get out of sight, that Andy could be looking for me at that very second.

Once I finally got it open, I slipped in through the crack I’d made and shut it before stumbling off into the park, wishing I could run faster. The park was small, but there were a lot of trees and bushes around so there was enough cover. I would be safe in here, at least for a while.

I collapsed onto a bench and pulled my knees up to my chest, but I wouldn’t let myself rest yet. My fingers shook as I dialled Matt’s number, consequentially getting blood on the screen of my beloved iPhone. The leaves in the trees rustled, making me paranoid again, and I had to fight back a whimper.

Please, please pick up, Matt. Three rings, five rings, and finally, just before it was going to go to voicemail, I heard his groggy voice on the other end. “Hello?”

“Matt, it’s Payton,” I started quietly, trying not to sound as terrified as I really was. “Could you come pick me up, please? I’m lost. I don’t know where I am.”

“Why should I?” He snapped, and my heart dropped into the bottom of my stomach as fear completely took over my mind. I was alone, Matt wasn’t going to come get me. Andy was going to find me and beat me to a bloody pulp and/or kill me.

“Please Matt,” I said, not being able to hold back a sob. “I’m really, really scared.” I clutched my knees to my chest even tighter, the park seemed to be getting even darker and scarier by the second.

On the other end, I heard him fumbling with the bed sheets as he sat up in bed, now alert. “Patey? Payton, what’s wrong, what happened?” His tone had quickly grown worried, and I was guessing that was because he had heard me crying.

“I went to a club to talk to Tyler and I left him and I got lost and Andy... he came out of nowhere, dad. It wasn’t mine!” I babbled, not being able to keep my voice down. I hadn’t even realized that I’d called him ‘dad’. “I’m sorry and I’m really fucking scared. Just please, please come get me!”

“Alright, alright. I’m coming sweetie. Just calm down. Tell me where you are.” He sounded worried out of his mind then, and I could tell he was forcing himself to stay calm.

Shit, what was the name of the park? “I’m in a park... I didn’t—I don’t know!” I sobbed, holding the phone tighter to my ear as my body convulsed with a sob.

“Payton, Payton!” I quieted when he raised his voice. “Calm down. Everything’s going to be okay, you just have to figure out where you are and I’ll be there. You’re in a park. Okay. There’s a sign with the name on it, probably around the entrance. Look for it, sweetie. It’s there.”

With wobbly legs, I slowly stood from the bench and made my way back the way I had come, my eyes darting around for signs and dark figures standing in the shadows at the same time. Matt continued comforting me, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay as I searched for it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found it, and Matt was right, it was on the grass to the right of the gates. How had I not noticed that?

“Wheeler Park.” I breathed into the phone, still looking around for anything that wasn’t normal.

“Wheeler Park? Shit,” He began mumbling about how far away that was and my breath caught in my throat as I wrapped my free arm around my middle protectively. He heard my panicked breathing and cussed at himself. “I’ll be there in a few minutes Patey, just don’t move. Stay where you are okay?”

“Please hurry,” I said, and another sob racked my body. I didn’t even care if I seemed pathetic. I’d never been so scared in my entire life.

“I will, just a few minutes. Be careful and I love you.” I heard keys jangling in the background and the front door opening and closing and felt a little better. He was already on his way.

“I love you too.” I said, trembling as I walked back to the bench I had vacated, hating that I had to hang up. I didn’t want him talking to me on the phone while he was driving, though.

I would be fine, he said I would. Just a few more minutes.