“I said give it to me, bitch!” the man shouted before introducing the back of his hand to the side of my cheek.
His knuckles hit me with such brute force that my head flew to one side, my hair flying out all around me. I whipped my head back to face him in shock, strands of hair sticking to my eyelashes and lips.
Did he just hit me?
“That guy just hit Cassie! Hey!” I heard Dean shouting and the sound of feet heading in my direction.
I couldn’t move. My body was still frozen with shock. I couldn’t believe this stranger hit me.
He struck me again, this time punching me with a closed fist on the other side of my face. As I stumbled with the force of the blow, I looked in the direction of the group, my eyesight crystal clear. Dean sprinted full speed toward me when the man suddenly appeared in front of him. I watched as Dean shoved him, but the man lifted his brown paper bag and slammed it against the top of Dean’s head.
Thick green glass shattered and spilled onto the sidewalk as Dean’s body crumpled lifelessly to the ground, blood spilling from his head. I wanted to scream, but no sounds came. My mind immediately replayed the scene: Dean’s tall, muscular body losing all coordination as it collapsed into a heap on the concrete, then blood. Lots of it. Brett ran to Dean’s limp body and quickly pulled Dean’s arm around his shoulder, lifting him and dragging him away in the opposite direction.
I watched the rest of the group as they scattered like animals in a forest fire.
Hey, wait!
Where is everyone going?
I took two steps in their direction before the man suddenly reappeared at my side. “Where do you think you’re going, bitch?”
I instinctively bent over and tried to cover my face with both arms. My eyes focused solely on the black and white design of his shoes as they danced around me. The colors blurred to the left where forceful blows crashed against the side of my face and head.
Please stop hitting me.
Blurry movement to the right and the other half of my face exploded in pain.
Please stop.
His fist interrupted my internal pleas as it collided with the side of my head once more, almost knocking me off my already shaky feet. I was his personal punching bag. Blow after blow, his blasts showed no signs of stopping, the force of each punch only growing in intensity.
Dear God, please make it stop.
I don’t care if I die right now, just please make him stop hitting me.
Please.
It hurts so bad.
And just like that his shoes disappeared from my view. I glanced up to see him running between two sets of houses in the distance, my camera flailing wildly from the strap wrapped tightly around his hand.
“Cassie!” I jerked my head down the street to see Cole waving frantically at me. “Cassie! Run!” he shouted.
I didn’t run.
I couldn’t.
My legs were shaking so forcefully I could barely hold myself upright. I stumbled toward Cole, keeping my eyes locked on his face the entire time.
“Jesus, Cassie, are you okay?” His eyes widened at the sight of me and I couldn’t stop myself from spitting, my taste buds revolting at the metallic taste.
I didn’t speak. Blood-covered saliva covered the area where I continued spitting. I pressed my fingertips against my cheeks, the pain sharp where my teeth had ripped up the inside of my mouth.
My mind couldn’t process what just occurred. I kept thinking, Did that just really happen? Did he just hit me? The words kept repeating over and over again in my mind.
“Where’s Dean?” I looked around anxiously, visions of his body crumpling to the ground replaying once again in my mind.
“I don’t know. Come on, we have to find Jack.”
“Where’s everyone else? Where were you?” I asked, my tone almost robotic as a metallic taste filled my mouth. I spit and blood spattered the pavement.
“I…I don’t know. Everyone scattered. It just happened so fast.” Cole winced as his eyes avoided mine.
He tossed his arm around my waist to help steady my incessant shaking. We were walking slower than Cole would have liked toward the campus entrance when I saw Jack. He ran full speed in our direction, his hat gripped tightly in his fist.
“Cassie!” Jack’s eyes grew wide when he recognized me. “Cassie!” he yelled, as he quickened his pace toward us.
I stopped moving, tears suddenly filling my eyes. I didn’t recognize it at first, the feeling that overwhelmed me at the sight of him. My entire body released the shock it held as I fell into his strong arms. For the first time since this whole mess began, my lungs filled themselves fully with cool evening air as I took a cleansing breath. I looked into his frantic brown eyes and finally relaxed.
I was safe now because Jack was here.