“So that’s one shepherd's pie, one portion of chips, a diet coke, one cheese and ham panini with a green salad and a glass of water?” I asked in confirmation with a fake smile on my face to the man and woman seated in front of me.

  “Yep, that's all.” The man replied, handing me his menu before turning back to who I assumed was his partner.

  With one last strained smile, I made my way through the row of tables and customers scattered across the cafe, nodding my head and smiling at those I had seen before, until I reached the opened window at the far back that led to the kitchen.

  “Derek! One shepherd's pie, one portion of chips, one cheese and ham panini and one green salad.” I shouted while placing the written ticket with the other orders that were still being prepared.

  “Got it kid.” Derek, the main chef at Tops’s cafe, echoed back as he emerged from the hidden right-hand side of the kitchen.

  Derek was an older man, not nearly as old as Eileen, mind you, but still in his mid-fifties, not that you could tell by looking at him. He stood at around six feet and three inches, with more muscle on one arm than I had in my entire body, with every inch of his dark skin covered in a multitude of tattoos of all different shapes and designs. Tattoos he said he had acquired during his long career in the navy. The only exception was the smooth, bald surface of his head that was currently hidden underneath a hairnet, something I constantly joked with him about wearing.

  When I first started working here a month prior and had met Derek, I assumed from his appearance that he was a man of few words, stern and cold, just like my father. Thankfully, I was swiftly proven wrong when, upon introducing myself, he proceeded to slap me forcefully on the back with a grin plastered on his face, wishing me good luck as I stumbled forward. Ever since, Derek had helped me more times than I could truly count, second only to Eileen herself, and boy did I need a lot of help. I still remembered my first day at the cafe; one second, it had been calm and relaxed, the next, it became frenzied and disorganised, with customers flowing through the door at a rapid pace. Derek still loved to laugh at the comical look of horror on my face as I experienced my first rush hour.

  Suddenly, I heard the familiar ring of the door. A noise that I was starting to despise more and more with each passing day. It’s high-pitched wail grating on my last few nerves. I quickly rushed back to the front just as the new customers found themselves a seat and took their order. The day continued in a similar, monotonous fashion, constantly taking and serving orders with the fakest and cheeriest voice I could manage, until finally the clock high up on the wall announced it was five o'clock and I was thankfully done for the day.

  The moment the clock struck five, I immediately left the front of the cafe and rushed to the staff room located in the back, grabbing my backpack and wanting to escape as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it seemed I wasn’t quick enough, as just as I had grabbed my backpack, a loud cough resounded from behind me. I immediately jumped in surprise, banging my head against the inside of my locker, forcing out a long groan in pain as I slowly turned towards Eileen with a scowl.

  “Oh quit ya groanin’ ya baby. I swear I’ve seen mice less twitchy than you,” Eileen muttered, a small feral grin plastered on her face showing just how much amusement she found in scaring the ever loving shit out of me. “I just came in to ask ya if you wanted to do any extra shifts next week.”

  “No, I think I should be alright.” I muttered, rubbing the back of my head.

  “Alright. If ya change ya mind howeve’, just let me know. Ya know ya can always talk to me.” Her tone turned slightly sombre as she spoke, her eyes quickly glistening with tears before she abruptly exited the staff room, leaving me once again alone and reminding me of how she had first reacted upon hearing the news of my fate.

  After the fight I had with my Dad and the second night out with Clark and the others, I realised, since I was going to die, that I might as well spend the rest of my limited life just having fun. However, the problem with such a decision was that I simply didn’t have the money for such a lifestyle. That was when I remembered the offer Eileen had made, that if I was ever in need of help, I could go to her. When I did, I thought she was going to smack me right then and there, hearing that I was planning on quitting school to work instead. Even when I told her I had reasons, she still didn’t budge, adamant on knowing what they were if she was going to help me. Suffice it to say, the moment she heard about my condition, she hired me on the spot, something I was beyond thankful for.

  Snapping out of my memories and returning to the present, I quickly grabbed the rest of my stuff from my locker before I left the cafe, happy I wouldn’t have to see it for two whole days, allowing me to enjoy my weekend. While walking down the busy high street, I opened up my phone to check the group chat and see where everyone wanted to meet up, despite already knowing it would be the exact same place we always ended up meeting at. As I did so, I ignored the missed calls from Sam that had accumulated during my shift and were appearing with more frequency and volume as the days went by.

  I had still not spoken to Sam after the fight we had a month ago. However, around a week after our fight, Sam had started to try and get back in contact with me, sparingly at first, only a single message or call every few days asking for me to message him back. But as time went by and I still didn’t respond, not knowing what exactly to say, the calls and messages became more and more frequent. Until it came to the point where I expected to see a missed call or message every time I checked my phone.

  It also wasn’t just Sam who I hadn’t spoken to this past month; the same applied to Helen, who, besides a couple of texts over a month ago right after the fight, hadn’t said a word. A fact that left me feeling melancholy, despite the hypocrisy of such a feeling, knowing I hadn’t messaged her either. Every time I tried, just like with Sam, I would find myself not knowing what to say. I would simply stare blankly at the phone, trying to find the courage to profess my inner thoughts and feelings, until eventually giving up.

  “Fuckface! Over here.” Suddenly, a blaring voice woke me up from my thoughts as I stepped inside Sharky’s to the familial hustle and bustle of the bar.

  I looked up to the sight of everybody already at our usual table on the right-hand side. A table that was placed extremely close to the pit and gave us a great view of the bloody fights that took place. Ever since my first visit I had found myself at Sharky’s more and more often, with it becoming the place we almost always started our evenings at. Mostly because of Lewis and Jamie and their almost unhealthy addiction to anything involving fighting. Loving nothing than to become enthralled or even participate in the brutal brawls that took place. Pit fights that In the many times I had been here I found myself participating in quite a few times. Mostly due to peer pressure from the others, with them giving me scathing looks filled with disdain whenever I tried to weasel my way out of a fight.

  The majority of the fights I took part in ended with myself getting my absolute ass kicked. An expected result when taking into account I was fighting grown men who were twice my size. That’s not even taking into account my physical condition, which had continued to plummet and worsen as time passed, making any strenuous activity I did feel ten times harder than it used to. Overall, it was surprising I was even able to squeak out the couple wins that I did.

  Yet, despite the initial excitement I felt, the more fights I partook in, the less excited I found myself feeling, until by my last fight a week ago, I was almost bored. No longer did I find my heart beating in exhilaration or my blood pounding in my ears, like when I fought Matthew. The fights had become something closer to a chore than anything truly enjoyable. Something I had to do if I didn’t want to be mocked or humiliated by the other guys, specifically Jamie and Lewis, whose love for fighting seemed to have only grown stronger.

  That was something I had realised over the past month I spent hanging out with everyone once the excitement and uniqueness of what I was doing had faded. How little I had in common with them all, both personality and hobby-wise. Most of the time, I found myself wondering if we took away the alcohol and drugs, drugs that had now become commonplace in my life, would I even be able to consider any of them my friends.

  ‘Probably not.’ I thought with a bitter smile as I gazed at the group.

  Jamie and Lewis were psychopaths in the making, constantly talking about fighting, and in Lewis’s case, killing. Every night, they would try to start a fight wherever they could, an easy task with Jamie's extreme anger issues and Cindy’s manipulations. Manipulations that showed she was just as much of a psychopath as Jamie and Lewis. She loved nothing more than to manipulate others, constantly flirting with anyone she could, not because she actually liked them, but to try and wind up Jamie and start a fight. Truthfully, I didn’t believe she even liked Jamie romantically, just that she enjoyed the control being with him actually gave her.

  Out of the five of them, it was only Clark and Alice I somewhat got on with, yet even still, we had nothing in common, leaving any conversation we got into incredibly boring and usually lead to us just discussing whatever happened to us the night before. Overall, I couldn’t help but compare the time I spent with them to the time I used to spend with Sam. How I never found myself getting bored with him and would wind up crying from laughter by the end.

  “Adam what the fuck are you doing? Hurry up over here, it's your round next.” Realising I hadn’t moved since entering the bar, too lost in thought, I quicked shuffled past the bustling crowd of people and made my way over to everyone, doing my best to forget my previous thoughts.

  “Hey man, how was work?” Clark immediately asked the moment I sat down next to Alice and gave everyone a nod in greeting.

  “Same old, same old. You know how it is.” I replied, knowing that they didn’t. After spending so much time with them all this past month, I ended up learning quite a lot about them. Such as how my initial assumption that they were all from working class families like myself was horribly wrong. It turned out that all their families were rich, hence why they could easily afford to spend day after day drinking and partying without a single worry about money or cost. A fact that every time I remembered brought up past feelings of envy I hadn’t felt in a while.

  Conversation soon flowed between us as time slowly passed. Throughout it all, I tried to get rid of the boredom I felt and have fun with the others. Yet with every repeated story that was told, I found myself wanting to smash my head harder and harder against the table. Quickly, I looked to my right to the only other person as silent as myself this evening. To Alice, who was staring at Lewis as he retold a story we had heard a hundred times before with that blank look on her face that I had come to associate with her, making one wonder what she could possibly be so lost in thought about.

  “What's up with you? You alright?” I asked, noticing her stare was even more vacant than usual.

  “I could ask you the same thing.” she replied as she turned to me, a smirk on her lips that brought up an array of mixed feelings.

  My relationship with Alice was bizarre, to say the least. At least I thought so; to Alice and the others, it seemed completely normal - Just one more thing that differed between us. After what had happened at the club the first night we met, I stupidly thought it meant the beginning of some kind of relationship between Alice and myself. Or at least some form of romantic connection.

  However, I later found out, after one extremely awkward conversation the following night, that Alice wasn’t the relationship type, preferring to just ‘have fun’ as she promptly described it. For the next couple of days, I wanted to die of embarrassment, unable to even look her in the eyes without my face lighting up like a Christmas, but eventually, after far too many drinks, I was able to move past what happened. Though it still didn’t change the fact that I still wasn’t sure how to talk with her some days.

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly, releasing a sigh. “ I think I’m just bored, to be honest.”

  “Did I hear someone say they’re bored?” Jamie's voice boomed from my side as he wrapped one of his muscular arms around my neck and all but crushed my windpipe, apparently having been eavesdropping without our notice.

  “I got just the thing for you bro.” And with that, he pulled out a small cylinder tube from inside his jacket. A cylinder tube I was more than familiar with.

  “No Jamie. It’s way too early for that.” I replied while trying to push his unmoving arm from my neck. Yet even as I spoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off the cylinder, knowing inside it contained the solution to my problem.

  Jamie, seeing my captivated stare, shot an insufferable smirk. “Whatever you say bro. That just means more to me.” And with that he left, dangling the cylinder in front of my eyes like I was a fucking dog before he headed to the bathroom.

  As I watched him leave, I tried to stop myself from following, trying to distract my mind with anything and everything around me. But as the seconds continued to pass by at a crawling pace, all I could think about was how good it would feel to finally be rid of this ever-present boredom and depression I was growing far too accustomed to, at least for the night. And so, embarrassingly, I quickly stood up and followed after Jamie, doing my best to not look in the direction of Alice where I could feel her penetrating stare directed at me.

  “I knew you would come. You know the deal.” Jamie said mockingly, standing back up from his bent position over the sink. Wiping his hand along his scrunched up nose with a frightening smile painted on his face.

  A part of me knew I shouldn’t, that it was bad for me and probably lowered the already small life expectancy I possessed. Yet I needed it, to escape from the shit show that was my life and all the mistakes I had recently made that continued to plague me. Mistakes that I had no one else to blame but myself. So after handing him a twenty dollar note, I marched my way past Jamie without another glance and leant my head down towards the sink, snorting a long strip of cocaine from against the metal plate in the container in a single breath.

  “There you go man,” Jamie shouted as he slapped my shoulder hard, forcing me to place my hands on the sink for support. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

  I didn’t reply, too busy enjoying the feeling of the stress and worry I had accumulated leaving my body, evaporating away and letting me finally relax. But not for long, as it was soon replaced with a deep sense of self-hatred that started to swiftly form within me for taking the drugs, even though I was trying to quit.

  I knew I was starting to develop a problem; the time between each high was getting shorter and shorter, with it only being less than a few days since my last one. I truly did want to stop, not wanting to be led to an even earlier grave than expected. But as each day passed since my last high, I was assaulted by each failure I had ever made. Feelings of guilt, sadness, regret, envy, and hatred burned with intensity inside me. And so, with a deep sigh of defeat, I stood back up and trudged my way out of the bathroom and back to the table alone, doing my best to get rid of all my negative thoughts and only focus on the euphoric high I was feeling.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Hours soon passed by in a blur of drinking, the jovial kind for the others and the wanting-to-forget kind for myself. I tried to join in on the conversations happening around me, tried to laugh at the jokes said and tried to get excited at the fights in the pit full of passion and bloodlust. Yet I just couldn’t. Not as if it made even the tiniest difference to the others, mind you, who besides Alice didn’t even seem to notice my abysmally low mood.

  It was then, after a few fights had taken place and I was feeling slightly tipsy, that I planned on calling it an early night, wanting nothing more than to just close my eyes. However, before I could do so, a mumbled voice coming from Cindy echoed across the table. A voice that was completely incomprehensible with her face planted onto the table.

  “What did you say?” Lewis piped up from her left-hand side.

  Suddenly, as quick as a flash, she sat back up with a jump. “I said I’m bored!”

  Instantly, half the bar's patrons drew their attention towards us, causing Cindy to turn a bright red in embarrassment. It was only after everyone stopped paying attention that Cindy continued, her voice far more subdued but no less agitated. “All we ever do lately are the exact same things! We either drink here or go to Underworld’s. Maybe we hang out in a park or throw rocks at other people's windows and cars, but still, we haven’t done anything truly exciting in months!”

  The moment she finished, the atmosphere around the others swiftly changed, with Jamie, Lewis and Clark all looking at one another in an exchange of glances and stares, as if they were silently communicating with one another. Throughout it all, as I received a few wary glances, I found myself starting to get intrigued, wondering why they were suddenly acting so suspicious. For the past month that I had known them, I had never seen them all look so unsure and cautious.

  Eventually, the silence was broken by Clark. “Cindy’s got a point,” He remarked while still shooting me an unsure look. “We haven’t done anything fucking crazy in a while. We should do something wild like we used to tonight.”

  Again, more glances were shared, and I soon started to realise why. For some reason the others seemed to be scared to involve me into whatever crazy shit they had planned, something that only got me even more interested. For the entire time I had known them, they were all but fearless in nature, never once showing either caution or fear in anything they did. I still remembered a couple weeks ago when we had almost gotten into a fight with what seemed to be a group of ten gang members inside Underworld. Each one packed full of muscles with prominent scars on full display. Even then, the only one who looked even the slightest bit afraid was Clark, and he still held his ground as he tightened his grip on his drink, ready to use it as a weapon. Thankfully, some bouncers, including Jamie’s uncle, arrived in time and were able to throw the others out before anything could happen, to my extreme relief and the others' disappointment.

  “I’m down. What exactly did you have in mind?” I asked, interested in what they had planned.

  For a moment, the others stayed silent before they slowly turned their attention to Jamie “Alright, you know what, let's do this. I’ve got just the perfect place in mind.” A massive grin spread across his face that sent a small chill down my spine when directed towards me.

  To such a statement, the reaction of the table seemed to differ slightly. Both Lewis, Clark and Cindy all started to show a predatory smile, matching Jamie’s own. Clark meanwhile seemed completely impassive while Alice appeared more resigned, letting out a small sigh as she focused back on her drink.

  As question upon question raced through my mind, wondering what activity could possibly get them acting as strange as they were now, my intrigue slowly started to turn into worry. A worry that only seemed to grow stronger as we exited Sharky’s, and instead of heading back towards the more populated areas of town as we usually did, we instead headed towards an alley only a few minutes away that was all but hidden to the naked eye.

  “So what exactly is this fucking crazy idea you got planned?” I asked in a faux calm tone, no longer able to hold back the mountain of questions I had built up in the small amount of time that had passed.

  The others all looked back to Jamie, who hadn’t stopped displaying a frightening smile during the whole walk to the alley. Seeing that all attention was on him, Jamie turned to face me, making me feel as if I was facing a predator about to strike. A feeling that was all too common when with Jamie and his incredibly short fuse.

  “I’m glad you asked,” He said as we slowly started to head into the dark, narrow alley. “You see, you haven’t been around long enough to know, but sometimes we like to do certain… activities.”

  “Activities?” I questioned. “What kind of activities?”

  “Nothing too serious. Just sometimes, we like to break into places. You know, maybe throw some shit around, break a few things, steal a bit of money. Like I said, nothing too serious. No one gets hurt or anything.”

  “Not yet at least.” I heard Lewis snicker to himself from behind me.

  “Anyway,” Jamie continued, shooting a glare past my shoulder. “What do you say Adam? You down?”

  I stood there frozen, unsure of what to say. At first, I thought maybe it was a joke and that they were just messing with me. Yet such a thought swiftly disappeared as I looked into Jamie's narrowed eyes that held not a trace of humour or mirth. No, they were serious, and I was suddenly stuck between a rock and a hard place. The last thing I wanted to do was rob someone and spend the last few remaining months I still had left in a fucking prison cell. Yet as I saw the manic grins the majority were wearing, I doubted I would be able to decline without consequences.

  ‘Maybe I can make a run for it.’ I thought as I looked for a way to escape. However, I quickly noticed how I had nowhere to go in the dingy alley, my retreat blocked off by the others who stood directly behind me. Something that I doubted was a coincidence.

  I wasn’t sure why, but it was at that point I remembered the argument I had had with Sam a month prior and what he had said regarding the rumours about these guys. At the time I thought it was complete bullshit, yet as I looked around at the others, it was looking more and more likely that he was right, that these guys were dangerous.

  “Alright, I’m up for it.” I eventually lied, seeing no other way out of this situation, at least not one that didn’t involve getting the absolute shit kicked out of me. I decided to simply go along with what they wanted before making a run for it when possible, or at least my best attempt at a run anyway.

  The tension that had slowly been building around us seemed to drop in an instant once I agreed, causing me to let out a long breath of air I hadn’t realised I was holding. “Perfect! Let’s fucking do this!” Jamie exclaimed, back to his usual jovial attitude.

  “It’s about fucking time. I’ve been telling you guys for weeks now that we should do another robbery.” Said Lewis eagerly

  “And we’ve been telling you that it was far too risky to do another one so soon after the last.” Cindy sneered.

  “The last thing we want is to draw unneeded attention.” Clark stated.

  I just stared blankly at the conversation taking place between them, realising how truly little I knew of these supposed friends of mine. I wondered how I had seen no sign of this kind of behaviour in the last month I had known them. However, I realised that the majority of the time I spent with them, I was usually tipsy at best and black out drunk at worst. A condition that typically wasn’t great for figuring things out.

  “Alright, so where exactly did you have in mind for this robbery exactly?” Lewis excitedly asked.

  “A place where we don’t even need to break in to rob them.” Jamie said cryptically, before looking back at me once more, making the hairs along the back of my neck snap up at attention and leaving me in a state of confusion as I tried to figure out what he could possibly be hinting at.

  It was then that he leaned his head in as the others and I nudged closer. “Top’s Cafe.” He whispered.

  “Ohhh! Thats fucking perfect man. Didn’t Adam here say that the old crone who runs the place gave him the code to open the front doors?” Lewis exclaimed in excitement as he looked back towards me.

  “That’s right. With Adam’s code, this will be the easiest money we’ve ever stolen!”

  The others proceeded to chatter in excitement, Cindy and Lewis in awe at the genius plan Jamie had thought up, while I simply stood frozen in shock, waiting for the moment I would wake up from this sudden nightmare.

  The idea of robbing the cafe, and in turn Eileen, made me sick to my stomach. After all the help she had given me, not only in giving me a job but also always making sure to look out for me, I knew I couldn’t let this happen. I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I betrayed her trust in such a way. Especially after how I treated the only other people who had ever cared about me beforehand. No, this time, I was going to do the right thing.

  “No.” Instantly, the conversations taking place stilled as they all looked back towards me in confusion, most not understanding what I said, simply pausing due to the seriousness in my tone.

  “What did you say mate?” Asked Clark, having clearly not picked up on the sudden tension forming around us. Yet before I could answer, Jamie quickly responded.

  “What I think our dear friend just said is that he won’t be helping us with the robbery. Is that right Adam?” Jamie asked, his voice soft and friendly, the complete opposite of how he currently appeared with his fists clenched by his sides and his body leant forward as if preparing to attack. A manic grin on his face that got scarier with every passing second, with even his menacing snake tattoo looking to be staring directly at me with its fangs bared.

  Immediately, I wanted to vehemently deny what I had just said. To say that I was joking and I was more than happy to go along with his plan. But just as I was about to, the image of Eileen and all the times she had helped and supported me popped into my mind. And so, with a heavy sigh, I steeled my nerves, stood up straight and locked eyes with Jamie.

  “That's right. If you think I’m going to help you rob Eileen then you can go fuck yourself.”

  At my confession, the others all instantly erupted in annoyance and anger - that is, everyone but Clark and Alice, who both seemed slightly worried. “Come on man, this isn’t the time for jokes like that.” Clark laughed awkwardly, it being the first time I had ever seen him look so uncomfortable as he tried and failed to diffuse the tension.

  “Do you even see the situation you're in?” Cindy mocked with a smile.

  “Maybe he needs some convincing,” Lewis said with glee as his gigantic but still skinny frame loomed above me in a domineering fashion from the side.

  As I saw how they were all acting, acting as if I was a stranger and not someone who had been hanging out with them constantly the entire past month, I wondered if maybe they suffered from some sort of personality disorder. I just couldn’t understand how they could suddenly be acting so crazy compared to their normal selves. Unless this had always been their true personality, and I had just never bothered to pay attention, being too focused on myself than on the people around me.

  ‘Story of my life.’ I sighed.

  “At the moment, you’ve got two choices, Adam,” Jamie spoke as he took a step towards me. “Either you come help us with this robbery, and we forget all about this. Or you get the absolute shit kicked out of you. The choice is yours.”

  As if they had choreographed it beforehand, all the blokes began to fan out and encircle me while the girls took a few steps back. Jamie stood to my direct front and blocked the exit of the alleyway while Clark and Lewis began to take their place to my left and right, respectively. I looked to Clark for support, seeing he was the only one who looked even the tiniest bit shaky at what was happening. Yet, as I watched him flash me a sad smile before taking his place in the circle, I knew the chance of any help was well and truly dashed.

  I let out a deep sigh, seeing no way out of my current situation. Even if I was somehow able to break through their little encirclement, with the state of my lungs, I knew I wouldn’t have been able to make it more than a hundred metres before I collapsed into a heaving mess, and they caught me. I was well and truly fucked.

  ‘Well,’ I thought bitterly. ‘If I’m going to get the shit kicked out of me no matter what, I might as well take down at least one of these fuckers first.’

  “Come on Jamie do we really have to do this? We’ve been friends for over a month. Does that mean nothing?” I asked, as sincerely as I could manage. Yet just as he prepared to respond, his demeanour relaxed and his mouth opened, to the complete shock of everyone, I rushed forward.

  By the time the others all began to react, I already found myself directly in front of Jamie’s dumb, gaping face. While over the past month, I hadn’t gotten stronger, in fact having only gotten even weaker if that was possible, the one thing I did gain from all the fights I took part in was experience. Experience I used as I quickly threw a fierce right hook, connecting perfectly to Jamie’s jaw and forcing his head to be thrown to the side.

  Before he could even process what was going on, I continued my assault, throwing as many punches as I could possibly manage, hitting his chest, stomach and head. As I did so, for a second, I started to gain a small glimpse of hope that I would be able to win, seeing the damage I was doing as blood started to fly onto the ground with every punch. However, such hope was quickly dashed as in the span of less than a second, I found myself going from standing tall to flat on the ground.

  Immediately, my body screamed in sudden pain as my head smashed hard against the concrete floor and the air in my lungs was forced out my throat in a ragged gasp. I looked slowly to my left, trying to understand what had happened with my blurry and spinning vision. From my side, I saw as Lewis also began to rise from the ground, his arms unwrapping from the bottom half of my legs.

  In what felt like only a couple of moments, I felt Lewis’s body on top of my own, my legs crumpled on the ground from his added weight on my hips, making it impossible for me to stand, regardless of the amount of thrashing I tried to do. The small kindling of hope that I had built up diminished as I saw from my prone position Jamie staggering forward, wiping the blood that was cascading from his nose and busted lip, his face an ugly expression of rage and sick delight as he got closer and closer.

  I tried with all my might to stand, my thrashing reaching such an intensity I could feel my muscles starting to strain and tear from the stress. But, besides a few small hits that collided with Lewis, nothing changed. Besides leaving me a panting, breathless mess by the time Jamie and Clark, who had been, until this point, hidden from sight, reached me.

  “Your going to fucking regret that.” Jamie seethed as he continued to wipe away the blood that leaked from his nose, his eyes peering down at my helpless form with vitriol.

  I attempted to say some witty comeback or retort, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing how truly scared I was in that moment. However, before I could do so, the feeling of his boot slamming against the side of my chest suddenly exploded from my side. A shrill scream escaped my lips from the feeling of my ribs as they strained against the force that was just inflicted upon them. Unfortunately, for me, it seemed Jamie wasn’t happy with just the one kick as he proceeded to unleash a barrage of kicks and stomps that I was helpless to fight against. I did my best to try and shield my head. Yet my arms offered only a meagre defence that was brutally destroyed by the viscous strength his legs unleashed.

  I wasn’t sure how long the assault lasted, as after one particularly savage kick to the temple, I was unable to fully focus on my surroundings, feeling as if I was encased in water both inside and out. Unable to think clearly, with both my body and mind sluggish and unresponsive. It was then, just as I felt it couldn’t get any worse, through the pounding of my ears as I laid still, unable to put up even the tiniest level of resistance, that I heard Jamie mutter something to the others. Who had, at this point, been content to simply watch the massacre taking place. Before I was even able to try and process what was said, the attacks continued, but this time with the addition of many more limbs that all began to strike from different directions.

  I blearily opened my left eye as I did my best to stifle the screams and shouts on the tip of my tongue. To my side stood Clark, releasing a string of hesitant kicks to my stomach that made me lurch with each impact. My only saving grace was the lack of force each of his strikes possessed, showing his hesitation to what was taking place. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the punches that came from above, punches I believed came from Lewis, who was still seated on top of me and possessed the same level ferocity as Jamie. Overall, I wasn’t sure how long the abuse lasted. At some point during it, I became unable to even voice the pain and agony I was feeling, my throat rubbed raw from the screaming.

  My lungs burned with every futile effort I made to breathe even the tiniest amount of oxygen. Every inch of my skin throbbed and spasmed at the slightest touch, no doubt going to bruise into a cacophony of blacks and purples by the next day. Something I was beginning to worry I was never going to see. I could feel my eyelids begin to get heavier and heavier as my mind started to constantly drift in and out of reality. I truly wondered if this was how I was going to die. Not from the illness that had dominated my thoughts the past month but by my own piss poor choices and decisions. Something that I thought was both truly ironic and deserved.

  Suddenly, through the haze of my mind, out of nowhere, I heard Alice's voice as she began to urgently shout. “We need to get the fuck out of here now! I can hear people coming towards us from behind this building!”

  “Are you sure? Maybe it’s nothing.” Lewis replied in between breaths, sounding completely exhausted.

  “Yes I’m sure! If you want to stay, that's fine, but I’m not sticking around here to get caught for assault and sent to prison.”

  After she had spoken, nothing else was said; at least, I didn’t think so. I couldn’t say for certain due to being a tad too preoccupied trying not to pass out. Eventually, however, I heard a sigh from just in front.

  “She’s right. Let’s go. We did what we needed to do anyway.” And with that, Jamie gave me one last powerful kick to my head, flinging it to the side so hard I got whiplash before he began to walk away, the sound of his shoes hitting against the floor sounding like music to my ears. That noise was soon followed by more as the others all chased after him as they went to leave through the alleyway.

  As they left, using all the remaining strength I had left in my body, I opened my unfocused eyes to witness their departure. The last thing I saw as I began to pass out, unable to fight off the darkness any longer, was the indiscernible stare of Alice as she left with the others. And then there was nothing.