Braving The Storm

7 - Enemies

We stepped out of the store, lugging shopping bags with us, which Orm called noisy. I had him wait in front of the exit so that I could get us a cab and walked down the curb.

Unexpectedly, a taxi swerved out of nowhere and almost crushed my legs. I was able to get out of the way with a loud squeal, but I fell and scraped my elbow.

The car doors opened and out came Bill, and a trio of guys with him.

Steam came out of my ears at the sight of him. He snickered and came to stand over me.

“Fancy meeting you here, waitress.” He taunted with an evil chuckle. “I thought you would be in the morgue by now, but since you're not dead yet, how about you gimme that twenty? While you're at it, you can tell me how your dog's doing.”

At that, I fumed, stood up quickly and lunged at him without warning. My fist connected with his nose and it cracked – as well as a few fingers on my hand. I winced in pain and cradled my hand.

“You're full of crap, Bill.” I spat. “And I'll make sure you pay for what you did to me.”

Bill wiped the blood off his nose and yanked a pocketknife from under his jacket. “Maybe I got it mixed up the last time. The knife was meant for you, not the dog.”

I shuffled back, scanning the environment, but as usual, people were scarcely about whenever I was going to get seriously hurt. The goons all produced knives too, even bigger than Bill's own.

“Say your last prayers, waitress.”

Just then, a series of footsteps sounded from behind. “Don't tell me you've taken so long because you remembered another great hangout sp—”

Bill and his goons turned. Orm realized who they were and his nose wrinkled. His upper lip began to twitch. The slightest anger made him look like a treacherous villain, and it was scary.

“Brought your boyfriend again, didn't ya?” Bill chuckled, fiddling with his blade.

I checked my elbow. It was bleeding. “What's it to you?”

They all faced Orm.

“Stubbornness is a trait amongst living things in general,” Orm began. “And one would think that after the last warning, you empty-headed buffoons would stay away. But it looks like you are stubborn in a quite different manner than that of common living things.”

“You talk too much, pretty boy.” Bill snapped, holding out his knife. “I'm gonna cut your tongue off.”

“Sure you can see with that black eye?” I sassed in a salty tone.

Bill made a head gesture in my direction, and one of his buddies raced toward me whilst the others attacked Orm. The man tried to grapple me. I violently slapped and kicked, refusing to let him come close enough. Still, he came around and grabbed me from behind, caging my hands to my chest.

I screamed and kicked more, but his grip was iron-like. From that position, I watched Orm. He tossed Bill's goons to the side like they were made of paper after doing a few numbers on their faces. Then, he rounded Bill.

“I can tell you're a coward – coming back to a hurt a woman who's done nothing wrong to you.” He growled.

“You don't know anything, bastard.” Bill countered, clumsily trying to keep up with Orm’s pace.

Dipping a hand into his jacket pocket, Orm sprayed a few dollar bills at Bill. “There. It's more than what she owed.” He halted. “I'm going to count to three and before I get there you best pick up the money and be on your way. If not, I'll blur your sight in the other eye.”