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Andy

Loss of Control.

“Ash!” Trevor shouted to me from across the park, beconing me before turning back towards the half pipe ramp.

I looked at Andy before getting up to go investigate. His eyes were settled on something distant, heavy concentration settled in his features.

“You cool?” I asked him, concerned.

“Huh? Yeah... Just tired.”

“Tired? I thought you couldn’t get tired.”

“I’m visible right now.” He says, attempting to give me a genuine smile, but it came weak and unsure. “I’m trying to test the limits of the ability, to see how long I can remain visible before I flicker out.”

I pursed my lips to keep from telling him frantic words. Concern in my voice when I spoke. “Don’t try too hard, I don’t need you disappearing on me.” I say semi-jokingly. He nods in acknowledgement, and I stand up, dusting the stray bits of grass from my legs before heading towards the skate portion of the park, where a wide variety of emo and punk kids were hanging out. Some smoking, others discreetly playing My Chem on their iPhones, pretending to be inconspicuous, even though it was at full volume.

Seven different sets of Helena, Welcome to the Black Parade and Famous Last Words bled into one another, an unrecognizable hum.

I found Trevor finally - he had deviated away from where he’d been originally.

“What’s up?”

He pointed across the slope of the halfpipe, his forehead creased. I shielded my eyes and looked that direction. I saw Mike, slowly unraveling from his spell, sitting on a cinderblock a few yards away.

“Yeah? He’s doing better.”

“No, not him, them.” He pointed again, and I looked back, seeing in the background, the group of three men walking towards the park, popping their knuckles, faces set into stoic masks of annoyance.

“Gangsters?”

“Wannabees.” Trevor corrected with a slight nod. “They’re trouble, anyways.”

I looked at them, the three pale men with mismatched suntans on their arms and necks. Chains hung from their pockets, rattling with every movement, but still, they remained silent.

The way they carried themselves made me uneasy.

“We have to get Mike...” Trevor muttered under his breath, hopping on top of the half pipe to jog towards his friend before I could even respond. I vaulted myself up onto the concrete landing, and ran after him. He had just reached him when the men did. Trevor tugged on Mike’s arm to get his attention, but it was too late. The men were speaking to them both, and I was too far out, and too many people were talking around me for me to hear them.

But from what I could tell, things were already getting heated. The man in front of the others in the small group appeared to be their leader of sorts. His long, slender fingers curled into fists before straightening out again, he cocked his head slightly, eyes narrowing at Trevor.

I climbed down the other side and jogged towards them, placing myself on Trevor’s left side. I noticed that tucked under the man’s left arm, was Mike’s crushed drum. Mike still sat, but not by choice. His jaw clentched and unclentched as he sat there, stewing in anger.

“Who’s this, Trev? Your girlfriend?” The man sneered. I felt disgusted, his eyes fleeting up and down my body.

“No.” Trevor replied simply with a growl of defense.

“Look man, there doesn’t have to be trouble. Your man Mike here just owed us, and we came to reposess.” He held up the small crushed drum as evidence, a proud, smug smile on his face.

“That’s not yours.” Trevor growled in defense.

“Yeah?” He man responded, admiring the drum cover briefly before his eyes fled to mine, then down at Mike. “But the drugs he stole? They were mine. And that shit ain’t cheap, you can imagine.”

“Mike doesn’t do drugs.” Trevor spat back, the confidence in his voice overwhelming.

A sickeningly proud smile crossed the man’s lips and froze there. “Well ain’t that cute!” He exclaims, tucking the drum safely under his arm again. “Brothers and besties, and you still don’t know about the secret life your brother is leading.” He nodded towards Mike. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not looked down at him, and instead of seeing another serving of white hot rage, there was shame and guilt in his eyes. Drawn down, no longer filled with determination.

The three men just started laughing, a chorus of obnoxiously loud laughter to be the soundtrack to the awkward moment between the two brothers. Trevor looked over at Mike, his eyes widened.

“You didn’t...” He shook his head in doubtful denial.

Mike didn’t respond.

“Anyways-” The man said after his laughing fit had ceased. “You understand why he has to pay in this way.”

I looked at Trevor again, and there was a hint of betrayal hidden in his hazel eyes, he blinked it away quickly and shook his head. Too much faith in his friend and brother to take this stranger’s word for it.

“No. No, Mike would never do drugs. Ever. Give me back his shit or you’ll be sorry.”

“Sorry?” He laughed, pointing at himself. “Boy, I won’t be the sorry one.”

He reached down, pulling back the corner of his dark purple silken jacket, revealing a small handgun tucked into the waistband of his jeans. “Trust me, I won’t.”

My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty. The gears were churning in Trevor’s head.

“Come on.” I choked out, surprised where my voice had come from, regardless of it beind shaky and unsure. “You don’t have to be this way. We can all walk away.”

“Kiddo-” He addressed me, taking a friendly waltz forward to rest his hand on my shoulder in what was supposed to be comforting, smiling at me with tabacco-yellowed teeth. “One or more of us aren’t walking away - and I can assure you,it won’t be me or my boys.”

The henchmen chuckled.

“So I’d suggest you shut the fuck up.”

His hand fell from my arm and he stepped back. I’d seen plenty of examples of bad company and gangs on TV, and just like in all those shows, these men were the same, with an added 10+.

“Kay... How ‘bout this?” He drawled out suggestively, “Your friend can have this piece of crushed shit back and we just take the girl.”

“No.” Trevor inched forward to place himself between us, which surprised the shit out of me. As far as I could tell, Trevor couldn’t stand me, but here he was - standing for me.

Another amused smirk.

“And what would you do if I did?” He challenged, “After all, doesn’t look like you have a weapon on you anywhere.”

Trevor fell back a bit, but still stood planted in front of me and Mike.

The man’s smile fell, and all amusement was wiped from his expression. He purposely dropped the drum with a clatter.

“Fuck this shit.” He mutters, pulling back his jacket and drawing his gun, thumbing the hammer before raising it on Trevor’s chest.

Ka-boom!

The shot echoed, and I was deaf. There was a painful ringing in my ears and I lacked comprehention for what had happened. I looked in panic to my right, but to my startled surprise, Trevor still stood there...

“I’d back the fuck up if I were you, motherfucker.” A familiar voice warned, a perfect balance between sounding dangerous and amused.

The three men were a few feet back now, Andy poised between us, the handgun’s trigger hanging from his finger. He smiled brilliantly at the men, no fear in his stance.

“Who the hell are you-”

“I’d shut up.” Andy warned, his smile almost psychotic mixed with his dangerous words.

Anger in the man’s eyes, and his forehead scrunched up as he prepared to give Andy a piece of his mind. He opened his mouth to shout something nasty, and stopped, his words stuttering, eyes locked with Andy’s. He seemed to forget what he was even going to say.

Andy hadn’t done anything spectacular as far as I could tell. He just stared into his eyes, but in a different way than he looked at me or anyone else, almost as if he was staring into his soul.

Andy’s next words sent a fearful shiver down my spine.

He leaned in close to the confused, and partially terrified man, and whispered
“6/1/16”

“Huh?” The man stuttered in confusion.

“One day your mugging will get you stuck, and you won’t be able to ever go back. The weight of your sins will settle upon your chest, pressing down on you, second after second until after fifteen minutes of painful suffering, you will succumb to your injuries. 6/1/16, Four-Thirty-Three.”

The man made a face, like he was trying to process things.

“Go.” Andy growled, taking another step closer to him, his tall frame looming above the three gangsters like Jack Skellington. They held their hands up in surrender, and backed away. The main man, although shitting himself, still looked pretty fucking pissed off.

“Thanks, man... Who are you, anyways?” Trevor asked, finally exhaling a long held breath.

Andy took a breath and straightened his posture before turning back and extending his hand.

“Dennis.”

There was a spark of curiosity in Trevor’s eyes as he gratefully shook his slender, inked up hand. “Trevor Murphy. That’s my brother, Mike.”

He pointed towards Mike, who was on his feet now, ready to shake Andy’s hand.

“Thank you so much man, I- I didn’t know what he was going to do or what he was capable of.”

Andy nodded, a smile on his face. “You’re welcome. California, no matter what part, is terrible for gangs and people like those assholes.”

He turned and looked at me, and I expected him to crack a joke like normal, but instead, he extended his hand towards me. “Hey, I didn’t catch your name.”

“And- I’m Ash.” I clarified, trying my hardest not to elbow him in the ribs. I had no clue what he had planned.

“Guys?”

I looked behind us and Eva approached us. “What are you guys up to? I saw Mitch over here and thought the worst...”

“Handled it.” Trevor assured her, jabbing a thumb in Andy’s direction. “All thanks to this dude.”

“Oh?” She cocked her head in surprise, taking in his ‘interesting’ attire, before extending her hand aswell.

“Eva.”

“Nice to meet you.” He smiled at her, too.

A rumble of thunder worked it’s way across the sky above us, followed closely by a jagged streak of white lightening.

“Shit, the storm caught up to to us... Probably should head back, huh?”

“Yeah.” I agreed. “Thanks again, Dennis, right?”

He nodded in secret satifaction. “Like I said, no problem.

Trevor, Mike and Eva thanked him, too, and said their goodbyes, before starting the walk back to their house. I held back to talk to Andy.

“Thanks.” I told him genuinely without the acting. “I didn’t know what he could do... Or would do, if no one stopped him.”

He gave me one of his real, lopsided smiles. “It’s an honor to protect you. It is my job, remember?”

I rolled my eyes, “I remember. I should go, y’know, act normal...” I kicked at a rock, sending it sailing out onto the pavement of the street. “You might as well hitch a ride with us, freak.”

“Emo bitch.” He snickered, walking beside me faithfully as we hurried to catch up to the others before the rain could start falling.

Notes

I was channeling a bit of Negan's character from The Walking Dead for the gangster's attitude.

This was a spur of the moment idea I had, and wanted to explore, so I wrote it as a draft, and I like how it discreetly introduced a few very important future elements.

Comments

I just want to say, I am here to support you no matter what you do <3

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
4/12/20

Oh gosh, I'm getting weird vibes towards this "sketchy" part of town.

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
5/8/19

I am absolutely in love with this book!

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
4/30/19

Poor Ashley. Poor Andy. Poor Asheen. Wow, what a story! :)

Merelan Merelan
4/29/19

I am conspiring so many theories about this book my head hurts... lol... anyway, great chapter as usual! Can't wait to read what happens next

Mezzy18 Mezzy18
4/25/19