赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“How about we catch up after these kids are safe?” Wyatt said with a pained grin.

He was injured. Alice wasn’t sure where exactly, but wherever it was, it was bad.

“Can you shift?” she asked.

Wyatt shook his head.

“Roman gave me a silver injection,” he replied.

Alice’s eyes widened. The panic inside her mind grew.

“Then you should stay back, you’ll just get yourself killed fighting with silver in you,” she said, turning back to the door.

“I’ll be fine,” Wyatt said, stepping forward. He gave her a gentle smile. “How can I face my son if I let you run into danger alone?”

Another pain in her head, a man with stormy hazel eyes and a deep scar on his face. Her chest ached, and her heart beat faster.

The sound from the staircase brought her back to the danger that was coming toward her.

“Alright,” she said. Pulling the paring knife from her boot where she had stored it. “But you stay here while I take the first ones. Get the kids down the stairs safely, and then you can join the party.”

Wyatt grunted in response, just in time, as the first of three came running up the stairs.

Alice charged forward, jumping at the man. He was caught off guard as she landed with her knees against his chest, sending him falling backward into the two men that ran up behind him. The first and second man tumbled down, but the third caught himself on the railing.

He looked up at Alice with a snarl and she smiled back at him. He ran forward and she jumped from the top of the stairs at him. He tried to catch her, her hands hit his shoulders, and he grabbed her waist. He planned to throw her against the wall, but the knife in her hand surprised him, and she stabbed his neck in fast repetitions.

The two men that had fallen struggled to their feet at the bottom of the steps. Alice held tightly to the knife and lunged forward. The men prepared to stop her at the bottom, but she threw herself to the ground rolling on the floor just out of their reach.

She got to her feet and ran down the hall and into an open door.

“Who the fuck are you?!” a grizzled voice called.

Alice was surprised by the two men already in the room. But not enough to stop her momentum. She ran at the first man, he swung at her, but she dropped to her knees and jammed her knife into the carotid artery of his thigh, quickly pulling it back and jumping to her feet as he fell to the ground.

The other man ran toward her, she turned out of his way, but he was quicker than she expected, turning back, and catching her with a fist to the chin. It was a heavy blow that sent her to the ground.

She shook it off and got up before he was able to take advantage of her mistake.

The two men from the stairs appeared in the doorway.

“Get her!” one of them shouted.

Suddenly Alice felt a sharp pain in her head.

‘Every movement should flow from the last, every kick off from the ground should have force behind it, and every landing should be strong and powerful.’

She was small, only eight or nine. She wore a dark blue leotard and stood on a large red mat. She ran forward, throwing her hands to the ground as she kicked her body off the ground into three cartwheels.

When her body came to a stop, she wore a black leotard with black tights and ballet slippers. Her leg was stretched on the bar as she lowered her body into a standing split.

‘Graceful and controlled, every movement is an extension of yourself.’

Turning away from the bar, she now wore boxing gloves, shorts, and a tank top. Her bare feet bounced on the mat, keeping up her movement. A large man came forward, he swung at her, she ducked, he swung again, and once more, she avoided the hit.

But the second swing was intended to miss. As his fist and elbow moved past her face and she grinned, he suddenly shifted, and his elbow slammed into the back of her head. With a heavy groan, she fell to the ground.

Alice rolled onto her back, and the large man was on her in an instant, punching her over and over until everything went black.

Holden’s voice whispered in the tangled memory.

‘Either learn to embrace the pain or learn to avoid it. Because this life will be filled with it.’

Her mind snapped back to the present, she gasped and dodged just as a fist came flying at her face.

She put distance between herself and the man that had already been in the room with her. The other two were still pushing through the door.

Alice turned her attention to the man before her. She ran toward him as he took another swing. She grabbed his wrist and just above the elbow, pulling him toward her. She let go of his wrist and wrapped herself behind him, stabbing his side with the knife.

The man cried out and fell to the ground.

Alice turned her attention to the first man to enter the room, he charged at her, catching her at the waist with his shoulder, he continued running until her body slammed into the wall. He dropped her as he stumbled back, and she fell to the floor.

She let out a pained groan, but as the man moved toward her again, Alice kicked out her foot and swept his legs. He stumbled forward, and Alice rolled out of the way, getting to her feet, she turned back and slammed her foot at the base of his skull.

It wasn’t enough to break, but it was enough to knock him out for a little while.

The third man was all that was left. He took a swing at her; Alice ducked and hooked her arm around his neck as she moved under his arm. She jumped onto his back. Wrapping her leg at his thigh, she turned her body away from him and threw her weight to the floor.

She succeeded in rolling him onto his back and got to her feet. He tried to correct his position by moving forward. But Alice spun around and brought her knee to his jaw, sending him flying back and knocking him out cold simultaneously.

Alice took a moment to catch her breath, then she rushed out the door and went back toward the stairs. Before she got there, she heard the sound of fighting down the hall.

“Wyatt…” she whispered, hurrying toward the sound.

As she moved toward the open door, she found several men knocked out or dead. She stepped out into the night air, it was smokey and thick with the earthy, mildewed scent of rotting wood.

A roar drew her attention, it was Wyatt. He let out another as he charged forward into a group of three men. He threw his entire body at them, bowling them over.

Alice caught sight of movement in the distance, she lifted her eyes into the shadows and saw the four small figures hurrying along toward the wooden pallets.

She smiled.

The sound of running feet drew her attention. Four more men were joining the party. Alice looked around and saw something that brought another smile to her face.

She stepped over a body and grabbed the baton that lay on the ground, she held it up and pressed the small button, a blue and white line of electricity at the coils told her it still had a decent charge.

She turned to the new arrivals.

“Welcome to the party,” she grinned.