Expanded Horizons: Beyond the Blue

In the Ring: Chapter Two

Idara rubbed her cheek to dull the stinging as she cleaned up the drinks from the floor. Gren's friends laughed as she picked up the mess, making their usual comments as she bent over and moved away. Gren chuckled right alongside them, not a care in the world except making his guests happy.

Idara took the broken glasses and wet rags to the garbage where she usually brought them. She didn't have to take them to the trash outside, but it put some distance and time between her and the cretins, so the effort was worth it. She hoped maybe someone outside would see and help her, but that was a pipe dream. No one who saw her ever helped.

The brown, dry grass crunched beneath her bare feet as she walked back toward the house, and she decided to take the long way around and take the other door on the side. It would put her away from the drunkards before they could try to make any advances. She had learned to fight them off by going for their weak points, but when it was her against more than one, she didn't want to take any chances.

"Soon," Idara whispered to herself. "Soon I'll be out of here. Not that much longer. Just need to make it until then." It was the same thing she had started whispering to herself when she started to grow more feminine. The same thing she told herself for years.

Idara snuck in through the side door and through the house to her room. She grabbed her dresser and slid it over to the door to block it in case they tried to get in. Over time, she figured out that when they get drunk like this, they usually just give up before long and go back to whatever they were doing originally.

Tonight, though, that wasn't the case. She could hear their boisterous laughter from down the hall moving to the front door and outside. Carefully, Idara peered out her window to spot the cluster haphazardly making their way to the street and off into the night. Gren wasn't with them, which was odd, but Idara was just glad they were gone.

She moved back to her door and listened for a moment to see if she could figure out where Gren was. Not a single sound echoed through the house, so Idara slowly moved her dresser back to its original place, careful to cover the stain lines on the floor so it wasn't obvious it had been moved. With the night over, it was time for some well-earned sleep.

"IDARA!"

The night wasn't over, though. Not yet.

"Coming!" Idara called out. She could hear the displeasure in Gren's voice and mentally prepared herself for what she would face.

As she bounded down the hall and rounded the corner to the kitchen, she was met with a plate to her face. She recoiled back just enough before it hit her to minimize the impact, but she still felt it connect hard just below her eye. Her lower body continued forward, legs arcing up and sending her horizontal as she fell to the ground.

Idara clutched at her face, blocking as much with her hands as she could, and looked up through her fingers. Gren seethed with anger as he raised the plate again. Idara shot her leg up and planted her heel into his gut just below his sternum and knocked him back. He wheezed and frantically reached around for anything he could use to stabilize himself.

Idara scrambled to her feet and leaned against the wall, wearing an expression of terror that she had struck back against Gren. When he recovered his breath, he somehow managed to look even angrier, dropping the pan and picking up a knife in its place.

"What are you doing?!" Idara screamed.

"You little bitch!" he slurred. "Ya know, they- URP- they just wanted ta look at ya, ya had ta just LEAVE?"

Idara tried to process what he was saying as he lunged forward with the knife, and just barely managed to sidestep him and get into the doorway. As she turned to run, she felt the tip of the knife stick into her cheek and rip back out. She cried out as she spun into the hall, bouncing into the walls.