That Which Lurks
by Billy Wong
That Which Lurks Copyright © 2013 Billy Wong
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the Author. Your support of author’s rights is appreciated.
All characters in this compilation are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Having waited for hours in the dark, stinking alley for the girl to leave the club, Josh was barely awake enough to notice her walk by. However, when he heard the clicking of heeled boots on the pavement and spotted the flash of her red leather jacket, contempt and anger snapped him back to alertness. Her designer jeans and well styled hair annoyed him too, since he felt she pretended to be something she was not. He doubted her chic facade fooled many people for long, once she opened her mouth.
He stepped out, grabbed her arm and pulled her into the alley. "Enough hiding. You're coming with me."
"Like hell I am." His sister tried to resist as he dragged her towards his car on the other side of the alley. "When I block your ass, shouldn't that give you the hint to leave me the fuck alone? I won't give the old man the time of day, never."
"You can't run away from everything. You can't run from me."
"If I can't run away from a problem..." she said quietly, before her voice suddenly rose, "then I'll kick that problem's ass!" She spun, an elbow from her free arm instantly bloodying his nose. As he reeled, she doubled him over with a kick to the balls. Her headbutt to the face wobbled him further. "Haha!"
He punched her, hard. The impact spun her around, then she collapsed to her back. He bent over her and hammered down punches into her face. A second later, her legs came up to wrap around his neck and flipped him to the ground.
They both got up. "So that's the way it's gonna be, huh?" she asked. "You're going to make me come back?"
"Yeah. Sucks, but if you're gonna be so stubborn..." His words aside, he'd kind of been wanting an opportunity to beat her stupid ass up. He wondered if he could.
"Okay. Good luck with that."
She rushed him, throwing strikes high and low with no pause in between like in a freaking video game. He hadn't forgotten how well she could fight. Jabs, crosses, hooks, leg kicks, body kicks, knees, even the odd head kick assailed him, driving him back across the alley. He hit her back to be sure, pulping her features with powerful punches whenever he saw an opening, but she took them in stride and got in more blows in return. It felt odd punching a person wearing makeup in the face as hard as he could, and he struggled not to be distracted by the greasy cosmetics rubbing off on his fists.
Forced to retreat past an open trash can, Josh saw his chance. He grabbed a small garbage bag out of it and threw it in his opponent's face. Momentarily blinded, she had no chance to brace herself for the murderous haymaker he launched into her chin. Her legs buckled completely, and she flopped face down on the filthy concrete. Her eyes were closed and her mouth open, but instead of assuming it was over, he decided to make sure. He threw himself onto her back and blasted several more punches into her face.
She groaned and started to push herself up with him on top of her. Damn, what did it take to keep his she-beast of a sister down? Getting off her, he grabbed her by the back of her jacket and flung her headfirst into the brick wall. She fell to her back. Her arm came up, and he thought she still meant to fight. He raised his fist to hit her again. But then she laid the back of her hand over her face and didn't move anymore. Looking down at her in her defenseless pose with manicured nails and smeared lipstick actually made him feel a little guilty and sad. No matter how much she aggravated him, the girl he had just savagely beaten was still family and a female.
He took out his phone and snapped a picture. It'd be nice to tease her with later on. He tucked her body under his arm and carried her to the car, arms swinging limply beneath her. He tossed her into the back seat. When he went to close the door, however, she kicked him back onto the sidewalk.
She pulled herself up out of the car and raised her fists. "Nice rest you gave me. Time for round two."
They were about to go at it again when they noticed someone talking nearby. Josh looked to see a short middle-aged man using his phone. "Yes, I'd like to report a kidnapping in progress. A man is trying to force a brutally beaten young woman-"
"No, wait, don't! He rescued me from a bar fight."
The man stared at her. "What? You just kicked him and said time for round two!"
She shrugged. "I was punch drunk."
"I guess you're not going to testify to the cops. Whatever. Your loss." The man spoke into his phone, "Sorry, misunderstanding," hung up, and walked off.
She leaned on the hood of Josh's car and pointed at him. "Don't hit me again. You owe me one."
He sighed. "I suppose I do. But what, you don't think you can take me huh?"
"I just don't want to mess up my clothes... well, more than they already are."
They shared a moment of awkward silence. "Sis, you have to come," Josh finally said. "Our father's dying. No matter what you think he did, doesn't it make you feel even a little anxious and sad that you'll never see him again?"
His sister kept a stoic face. "He was dead to me the moment I realized. If his liver had given out while I was in jail I would have thought, good riddance. Why should that change now?"
"He loves you, Hunter. He loves us both, he always has. You know how hard he worked to keep us happy and well fed? Neither of us would be alive if it wasn't for him—well maybe the government would've had us taken care of, but we had a good childhood. He suffered to give us that."
"It's a parent's duty to raise their children. That doesn't excuse him for anything else. I had a good childhood? How did that turn out again."
Josh shook his head. "Look, I know how you feel. I get it. And before you say I don't, okay, I didn't have the same experience. But how can you be so sure it happened anyway? You yourself got rid of that quack boyfriend of yours sooner than later."
"I found out Stefan is a jackass. It doesn't change what I know. If you found out Newton was a murderer, would you stop believing in gravity? Besides, Stefan didn't suggest anything to me. He just helped me look into my past—I found what I saw on my own."
"Okay, fine. I won't ever believe Dad did what you think but let's say he did. So what? He can't hurt you now. Don't you want to prove to yourself you don't have to be afraid of him?"
"Why should I even give a crap? Maybe I'd rather deny him the chance to see me ever again." She exhaled. "But now that I think about it, maybe forever is too long to hate."
"So you'll come? I'm glad you can listen to reason."
"Whatever. Let's go before I change my mind." She reached up, grasped her misshapen nose, and set it with a gruesome crunch.
"I broke that shit?" Josh chuckled. "You have a weak nose."
"Shut up." She waited for him to open the door.