Raven opened the door to her apartment building and took the stairs two at a time. She felt good as she went grocery shopping after checking on her sister. Anise was so happy living the college life that she practically radiated good vibes and Raven felt them. Their talk had been short but fun and Raven was glad her sister was safe. Now all she had to worry about was getting old too fast. Was that why she had that new white streak in her hair? At least Anise thought it was a hairstyle she was trying out.
Truth was, Raven had woken up with the white streak. It wasn’t there yesterday or the months before that and there was no way she could have missed it… right?
As she moved to her apartment, she shifted the bag of groceries to reach for her keys. She unlocked her door and pushed it open. She stepped inside and pushed the door with her foot to close it, unsuccessfully. Deciding to go for it later, Raven continued into her apartment to place the groceries on the kitchen counter but she froze. Something tickled her nose and she took a deep breath to smell baby powder.
With a gasp, Raven dropped the groceries to get into a stance at the exact time a blonde dropped in front of her. She heard more drop from the rafters as she raced toward the first blonde. He got ready but Raven pivoted to the side and jumped onto a chair. With a grunt, she pushed off and rolled over the counter into the kitchen. She grabbed a sharp knife and turned to see eight blondes staring at her with wicked smiles.
The one closest made to grab her but Raven kicked him away and stabbed the middle of his chest with the knife, leaving it there. The blonde man grunted and wheezed, sinking to the floor and grabbing his chest. Raven turned to see the others start to move forward and rolled back over the counter to give herself space.
Raven ducked under the next one’s punch and pivoted around to kick at his back while blocking another hit to her face. She reached under and sent a quick jab behind the blonde’s arm and he grunted as she kicked at his face next. He stumbled away, his arm limp. Raven gasped as another blonde kicked at her back, sending her stumbling forward to another blonde who punched her. Raven grunted but turned with the punch to back punch the blonde. Her knuckle hurt but she ignored it to jab at the distracted blonde. She had him immobile as she cartwheeled over him to avoid another punch. She turned and kicked at the next closest blonde but he ducked and sent a strong sidekick into her chest.
With a shout, Raven flew back and hit the floor of her apartment hard, the air knocked from her lungs. Groaning, Raven whirled her legs over her to turn. She pushed herself up as another blonde stood in front of her and managed to kneel before him as he kicked. Raven blocked his kick and punched twice at his middle before jabbing at his thighs. The blonde grunted and his knees began to give way when Raven leaned on her hands and kicked up at him, making him jump back and tumble to the floor. His legs were numb.
Rolling, Raven stood up and faced the others, her coffee table between them. They were so strong. She noticed none of them were panting but she was. Hell, she knew bruises were already forming on her body and her hands were shaking but she couldn’t focus on that.
“You’re coming with us,” a blonde growled.
Thinking quickly, Raven remembered what her father had said to her: “Do not give up without a fight but living to fight another day is just as important.”
And Heaven knew she’d put up a fight.
“Pass!” Raven used her left foot to kick up the table and sent it into the first blonde’s chest before whirling around and running full speed to a window. Holding her breath so she wouldn’t lose her nerve, Raven crashed through the window and flew out. With a tiny squeal, Raven grabbed onto a tree branch and used it to stop swinging. With a glance at the not so far ground, Raven let go and landed with a grunt. Looking up to her apartment, she saw three blondes stick their heads out of the window she’d crashed.
Before they decided to come after her, Raven forced her stiffening-from-shock body to run.
She pelted across the street and ducked into an alley. She jumped onto a Dumpster and used a building’s escape ladder to climb up to the roof. She practically threw herself over the edge to the roof; so tired. She army-crawled to the edge of the building and glanced back at her apartment. The blondes were arguing and gesturing at the window she’d gone through. One of them sat on her couch and flipped on her tiny TV. The others began to look through her things.
Cursing, Raven wished she’d packed a kit for this kind of thing. She should have been ready. Now she put herself and Anise at risk. Smacking her already hurt forehead, Raven did a self-inventory.
Nothing was missing and nothing was broken. But her chest hurt where one of them had kicked her and her cheek burned from one of their punches. She was covered in sweat from the effort she had to put into her attacks. She reached up to rub the back of her hand on her lip and saw blood. Alright so her lip was bleeding too. She looked at her knuckles. Three were cut and bleeding and her second knuckles were swollen. It was like punching at brick again.
Raven sighed and analyzed her situation next. She was unarmed and the blondes were physically strong. She was hurt and they were in her apartment, gathering more information on her. If she didn’t act soon, she’d be putting Anise in danger. If she did act in her current condition, she’d be killed or disabled completely. Cursing like a sailor, Raven looked at her apartment again as the sun began to set.
The blondes were trashing the place, searching every nook and cranny. They were tossing her clothes everywhere. They hadn’t yet found the only frame with a picture of herself with Anise.
Anise… shit! Raven felt her heart race. If they found that picture and targeted her sister to get to her…
From the corner of her eye, Raven saw a giant black shape strolling up the block. She stared when she realized it was Mr. Muscle from the other night. He was still walking with his limp but still looked as strong as ever. She watched as he walked into her apartment building, wondering what he’d do when he saw all the blondes.
She knew the exact moment when Mr. Muscle appeared at her apartment because all the blondes moved forward at once. A few seemed to fly back as if Mr. Muscle had thrown them. Then Mr. Muscle came tearing out of the building, followed by four blondes while the rest seemed to return to the apartment.
Her apartment was still not safe so Raven forced herself to move. She army crawled back to the staircase and slid down it, landing on the Dumpster with a grunt. She tested her body by jumping off the Dumpster with a flip. She could run and she did.
She raced down the street in the same direction as Mr. Muscle had. He was fast on his feet, she realized when she saw his leather coat turn a corner two blocks up and the blondes all race after it. She followed, cutting through alleys and jumping fences with minor difficulty. She had to keep off the blonde’s radar or she’d be in for the fight of her life again.
Raven jumped over a fence and realized that she was now in the direction Mr. Muscle was running. She jumped back over the fence and heard the sounds of fighting a second after she landed. She didn’t dare move a muscle as she overheard the grunts and screams of guys in pain. She heard an eerie silence followed by four popping sounds and flashes of light.
Raven fought the urge to look over the fence as she listened with everything she had. Where did the flashes of light come from? She heard tired, ragged breathing start to move away with the sound of heavy feet.
Mr. Muscle won.
Raven jumped off the wall to hold onto the fence and peeked over it. There were pools of black liquid on the ground but no bodies. Raven rolled over the fence and jumped around the pools to look around the corner of the alley. Mr. Muscle hopped into a giant SUV and drove off, looking angry.
Raven waited a bit before moving to a mini four-door Sedan Cooper and used a key around her neck to open the door. Then she reached under the wheel and hot-wired the car. She followed Mr. Muscle at a fair distance, letting him take the turns before she did.
He turned off the road and drove up a long driveway to an amazing mansion looking place. Raven continued driving and realized that if she hadn’t followed Mr. Muscle, she would never have found the place. She put the car back and left it as it was when she’d gotten into it. Then she began to plan her next moves.
The next morning, she went to her PO box and took out her police issue gun holster and placed a gun into it. Then she took out an extra wallet that only contained $500 in cash and went to an armed goods store. She bought a hip holster for two knives and extra gun ammo. She hid her whole arsenal under a dark green windbreaker. She also bought gloves after going to a pharmacy to buy first aid essentials and a sidesaddle bag for the kit.
After reassuring the cashier that she didn’t require medical help and that she was fine, she left the store wondering just how bad she looked. Then Raven started the long walk to Mr. Muscle’s mansion, while also cleaning herself up.
The blondes had shown up in her apartment. It wasn’t safe anymore. They already knew too much. Then Mr. Muscle showed up. If those two were focusing on her now, they were going to have another thing coming. They’d violated her space, made her run, jeopardized Anise’s safety.
If they make a move on her, I’m going to kill everyone until we’re left alone. Starting with you, Muscles!
