Deadly Knives and Permanent Scars

My palms were sweating as the three men stood before me, menacing. I didn't lie when I told Sorcer that this wasn't the best part of the city to be hanging around in at night.

As I was trying to figure out which plan of attack to carry out first on these men, I heard a familiar voice shout from behind me, “Leave him alone!”

Their eyes whipped over to the younger male as I muttered a thousand curses in my head. That boy should have never meddled in my business in the first place, and now he's gone and gotten himself in as much trouble as I was in.

“You must be his boyfriend,” Glasgow says, eyes narrowing at Sorcer. I watched the younger male's body tense up as he shouted, “No! I'm not--”

“Know what, I don't really care,” Glasgow spouts out before he looked over at the man standing to his right, “Take care of his sight; teach him a lesson. I'll take care of this one.”

His eyes met mine again, his one seeing orb zoning in on me before he gave me a ghastly smile. My grip tightened even further on my knife as I worried for Sorcer's safety, but I couldn't focus on that boy right now; I had my own problems to deal with, with these men looming over me as if I was a piece of prey.

Glasgow came after me, as I saw Lefty run off, heading towards the younger male. A part of me wanted to help, but just as I was about to turn around, I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. I gritted my teeth as Glasgow swiped his blade against my skin before I spat out, “What kind of person are you, picking a fight with a high school student?”

He chuckled softly, “I don't care if you're in high school or not. You interrupted an important meeting, and if you heard anything, I'd have to kill you for it.”

Sorcer shrieked from behind us as I backed away from Glasgow only to feel another blade push into my back. The wound wasn't deep, but I turned around to see the man's other minion standing there with a perverted grin on his face. Of course, there had to be at least one of them who got off to seeing a person in pain.

“Guess it's my lucky day then,” I said, sliding my left hand into my jacket pocket, “I didn't hear a single word that you said.”

I twirled my blade around in my fingers as I glanced over, noticing that Sorcer had gotten away before I muttered, “I will say though, you picked the wrong person to fight with.”

Glasgow raised an eyebrow as Lefty approached us, and I pulled another knife out of my jacket pocket. I flicked it open, pointing it towards each man before saying, “I wonder which one of you I'll stab first? Eeny meeny miny moe.”

Lefty came towards me, growling, “I'll fuck you up like I did your little boyfriend,” and his words brought the largest grin to my face.

“He's not my boyfriend,” I said, flipping my knife to where I was holding it by the blade before throwing it. I watched as it whipped through the air before burying itself into the man's chest, his face contorting with pain.

The minion behind me attempted to attack me, but I grabbed his wrist, twisting it until I heard an audible snap. He cried out in pain, dropping his knife onto the ground before I retrieved it.

I chuckled softly as Glasgow stared at me before saying, “Why I outta--”

“Do what? Kill me?” I asked, voice cocky as I continued to flip my other knife around in my hands, “As if that isn't the first time that I've heard that threat. Now, unless you want to end up like your boys here, I suggest you fuck off.”

Glasgow glared at me, before he snapped, “You better hope I don't see you again, kid. If you do, I'll make you regret what you did.”

“Whatever,” I said, walking over to Lefty before pulling my knife from his chest. He grunted loudly, leaning up against the brick wall before I walked away, listening as the trio ran away with the tails between their legs.

As I began to head out of the alley, reality came back to me. My cocky, aggressive attitude faded fairly quickly as I pulled out a cancer stick, lighting it before I saw a trail of blood dripping down the sidewalk. I knew it had came from Sorcer and the feeling of worry struck me. A part of me hoped that the younger male was okay, while the other half questioned why I even cared.

For someone I had known for barely a day, he had already been through quite a bit relating to me.

I shrugged it off, knowing that I needed to go home and bandage up my bleeding wounds, and try to just forget everything that's happened today.



“Jasper fucking Applewhite, you better get your ass out of bed.” Was what I heard the moment I picked up the phone. I had just woken up to my phone ringing, and accepted the call before even looking to see who it was.

“What do you want this early in the morning, Kara?” I groaned, rolling over and wincing at the pain in my back and shoulder.

“Early?! Jasper, it's almost eleven. Where are you at? Did you decide to ditch school today?” She shouted and I could almost imagine the amount of stares she was getting at the moment. She had to have been in between classes if she was calling to yell at me.

I rubbed my eyes, sitting up a little bit before saying, “I had a few too many drinks last night, got into a fight, and I'm pretty scratched up, Kara. I don't think I should be around anyone at school at the moment; I'm not in the best of moods.”

“Jasper, what did I tell you about fighting? You're going to get yourself killed one day and the thought of that terrifies me.” Her agitated tone turned into one of worry and I rolled my eyes, grabbing my cigarettes from off of the bedside table.

I opened up the pack, lighting one of the cancer sticks before taking a drag out of it and muttering, “You know how it is around here, Kara. It's the only way we can really survive, but never mind. What's the true reason you called me; I know it wasn't just to get me out of bed.”

She was silent for a moment before she said, “Is there anyway you can come meet me after the next class? There's something I need to tell you. I'll be by the school's entrance.”

I could tell something was bothering her and as I flicked the ashes off the end of my cigarette, I said, “This better not be about what I think it's about.”

“I-I'll just tell you when you get here. Promise me you'll be here though?” She asked and I grunted in agreement before she sighed, “Well, I best be getting off to class. I'll see you later.”

She hung up the phone without another word, and I sighed, climbing out of bed before pulling down the first thing I saw in my closet. I winced as I pulled the articles of clothing on, sitting down my cancer stick for a moment.

It didn't take me long before I was sneaking out my bedroom window, a couple of knives hidden in the pocket of my jacket. The bright sunlight made me squint my eyes as I made my way down the sidewalk, cars going well over the speed limit rushing past me.

Before long, I found myself on a street that I had meant to avoid. My feet chose to carry me where ever they wanted, and that's when I saw him, heading the opposite direction of me. Sorcer glanced up at me, eyes widening slightly when I saw it.

“Your eye...” I said softly, covering my mouth after I spoke the words. His left orb was cloudy, a few flecks of blood still on his cheek as the cut drug upwards into his eyebrow. I remembered his shriek fairly clear last night, but I didn't know what Lefty had done to him... I knew that Glasgow had gave an order, but I didn't remember clearly what it was from the rush of adrenaline.

Sorcer covered his eye wincing slightly as he muttered, “I'm glad to see you in one piece.”

“That wasn't my first fight,” I said, shoving my hands deep into my pockets. A part of me felt bad for what had happened to him. If I hadn't approached him in the bar this wouldn't have happened; he would have been fine and wouldn't have stumbled into the fight that I had drug myself into while I was running from him.

“D-Did they hurt you any?” He asked, moving his hand away from his eye, concern crossing his face as I shrugged.

“I've got a couple of scratches, but nothing too serious. They weren't hard to take down; I've fought people worse than them.”

Sorcer nodded his head before he said, “About last night... Before the fight--”

“T-That wasn't anything,” I stuttered, cutting him off. He stared at me as I clutched my knife a little tighter before I muttered, “I'm not interested in a relationship. You don't look like a person who could handle a one night stand anyways, kid. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but it's the truth.”

He dropped his head a little bit before he said, “Oh... Okay... Um, I have a question though...”

“Shoot.”

“Can I get your number...? I mean, you know that I'm new and all and I just didn't know what to do in that situation last night. Just in case I need some advice, or maybe you could teach me how to handle a knife...” He said, his eyes moving off to the side as a blush dusted his cheeks.

I sighed, pulling out my phone before opening up my contacts and handing it over to him. I watched his hands shake as he punched in his name and number before handing it back to me.

“I can't promise much, but if you need help or anything, I'll do what I can,” I said, sending him a quick text before sliding the phone back into my pocket. My fingers brushed my knives once again as I put my hand in my pocket before I pulled one with a blue handle out.

The younger male glanced up at me, eyes wide before I said, “Take this. You look like you need some protection and this is one of my lucky blades. Like you said, maybe I can show you how handle one, but in order to do that, you need to figure it out a little bit by yourself. You think you can do that?”

He nodded his head slightly before taking it from my hand and mumbling a small, “Thank you.”

“Don't cut yourself, kid,” I said, waving my hand.

I could feel his eyes burning holes into me as I walked away and I just sighed. I didn't know what was so special about him, but I had a feeling that he had a chance of being as close to me as Kara was.



“I'm gonna fucking kill him,” I growled as Kara was hunched up against the brick wall. There was dark bruises around her wrists and neck, and I was shaking in fury.

“Jasper, don't. He's not worth it. I know he's in a bad mood, but--”

“Kara, I don't fucking care. You know that I didn't like you dating this dickhead from the start,” I shouted, and I saw her wince. She closed her eyes, cowering, before I tried to calm down. I knew that my anger was only making her current mental state worse, but I couldn't help it.

Not long after the two of us broke up, Kara found herself entranced by someone who was in Matt's posse. Little did she know, he'd end up being an abusive asshole, but I saw that from the start. I had warned her about his behavior, but being the love struck girl she was, she couldn't resist him. Since then, she had found herself trapped in this relationship, unable to leave in fear of what this boy was going to do to her or the people around her.

“Jasper, please... Just... Don't hurt Grey. You know I love him, but...” She said, not able to find her words as I grit my teeth. Time after time I had seen her come to me in this state, and each time, she told me the exact same words.

“I'm okay. I'm fine. It just hurt a little, but Grey told me that he didn't mean it. He was just mad because you got into a fight with Matt,” She sighed and my fingers tightened around the knife in my pocket. I almost saw red before I shook my head.

“Kara, you can't keep living like this, you know. This toxic relationship is just not good for you. There are so many other great people out there, a lot better than Grey. We both know this, but...”

“Jasper, stop,” She said, pulling down her sleeves once again before moving the turtleneck back up on her neck, “We both know that this isn't going to make me leave him. He's just about the only guy who has an interest in me anymore.”

Her eyes lost mine and I sighed, pulling her into a tight hug as she rested her face in my chest. She hugged me back before I kissed her forehead and muttered, “You know I'm here for you, even if I hate him. If he does this again, Kara, I can't make anymore promises. I hate seeing you hurt like this.”

She nodded her head as I felt something wet my shirt as I realized she was crying and I just stood there, holding her until she couldn't cry anymore and the tears began to slowly fade away.

Even if I had made another promise to her, I couldn't keep them anymore... Grey... I couldn't let Grey hurt her anymore than he already had and I knew for a fact that I wasn't going to let him anymore. I couldn't lose Kara because of that dickhead's abuse, and I knew for a fact that I needed to do something.

What, though?