"To Never Be" - A Sudden Light

       The bottle smashed against the wall above the couple’s head, spilling flames across the brick structure. The flames burned bright, giving much needed light to the dark alley, and for the first time both of us saw the man. He was standing above the girl, holding her down by the neck, and ripping at her clothes with his other hand. The sudden burst of light had surprised them both, but he seemed to have the clarity of mind to be more concerned where the illumination had come from. He tilted his head slightly, probably trying to pick us out from the darkness. He released his grip, began to stand, but before he was fully upright, he forced one of his feet back against the girl, once again pinning her to the dirty street.

       “Who’s there?!” he demanded.

       I only answered him in silence. He wasted no time in reaching behind him to pull out an interestingly shaped knife. He squeezed his hand against it as I walked out from the shadows, but before I could speak, or even think out my next action, he was running towards me with the knife. He arched the knife down at me, but I caught his hand with my left hand, quickly knocking the knife away with my right hand. The next move came from him by bashing his knee into my chest. The force was so strong, that I was thrown up against the brick wall behind me.

       He lunged on me, using his weight to pin me against the wall. Despite my advantage in size, this man was bending me backwards and preventing me from moving. Suddenly his grip loosened in time with the sound of metal impacting bone; Nicene had picked up a rusted pipe and struck him in the head as hard as she could. He was barely phased by the blow, but the distraction had given me enough time to brace my self against the wall, bring my right foot up to the stranger’s chest, and push off shoving him back towards the fire. He stopped quickly, still a safe distance from the fire, and rushed at me again. He came lunging in with his fist, and I went down avoiding the blow. Again I heard his bones giving in as his fist hit the brick wall, and again he didn’t seem to be in any pain as he shifted his arm to reach for me. I swung up, as hard as I could, crashing his teeth together as his head went flying back. But he just stopped; he didn’t fall, he didn’t move, but just lowered his head and smiled. He stood there, smiling at me, still seemingly oblivious to pain, but I wasn’t. My hand was aching, and I could feel some unexpected moisture upon it. I didn’t have to look to know what it was, because his mouth was covered in blood. And still, he just smiled.

       Nicene was moving about behind him, pipe still clutched in both her hands. She lifted it above her head, took aim, and swung into the man again. He shifted, lunging with the blow that had caved in the side of his head, but he did not fall over. He didn’t even lose his balance. He twisted around, grabbing for the metal tubing in Nicene’s hand, and pulled it from her grasp. Without thinking, I grabbed at his face with my right hand, and pulled it back towards me as hard as I could. I heard snapping and tearing coming from his neck, as he seemed to just give into gravity.

       Nicene began to talk, “You broke his neck.” The look in her eyes told me it was a statement as much as a question.

       “I didn’t know what to do,” I paused, still trying to process what had just happened, “he was going to hit you with the pipe.”

       We stared at each other, both still processing, when my mind went back to the part about the girl, there was another girl. I snapped my head around to the fire, some of it had gone out, and I remembered some random high school science fact that alcohol fires don’t get as hot as gasoline ones, and therefore they burn a little longer. The girl was still there, but didn’t look to be as shocked as we were. She was just staring at the body, the man who was now lying face down on the ground. I walked over to her and picked her up from the concrete. She wasn’t responding to my movements or words, she just kept staring at the man.

       “What’s your name?” Nicene asked, in the way that she does. She is a very smart woman, but often too curious for her own good.

       “I don’t think she can talk yet.” I replied, after numerous seconds of silence.

       Nicene looked at me, then the girl, and followed the girl’s stare to the body. I tried to put myself between the man and the girl, but she always seemed to be able to see him.

       “Tobi?”

       Nicene’s voice was much quieter when she said that, almost like a whisper. I turned around to respond, but her back was to me, she too was starring at the body. Looking down, I finally saw what was drawing so much attention, he was moving. His right hand was clenched into a fist, and he was trying to push off the ground. His left hand was spread out against the pavement, and was raising his body slightly higher.

       “Nicene!” I yelled, much louder than I meant to. “Nicene, take the girl, and go get in your car.”

       “What?” She turned to face me, looked down for a moment, and then back into my eyes. “No, I won’t.”

       “Look, I need you to take her away from him. I don’t know why, but he is not dead. You have to get her out of here.”

       “Then you help me get her out of here.” She pleaded.

       “Nicene, I have to stay, I have to try.” I moved the girl into Nicene’s arms, and said, “Please, for me, do this for me. Get out of here”

       She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but then closed her eyes and nodded. The man was almost to his knees now, and already had the pipe back in his hand. Nicene helped the girl to walk, and shuffled her back into the darkness.

       Once she was gone I shifted my mind to a frantic search. The man was nearly to his feet, and I knew I had to have a weapon if I stood a chance. I looked back at the dimming fire, it wasn’t there. I looked near the wall I had been pinned against, and still no sign. I looked at the man again, to determine how much time I had left, and there it was, his knife. I sprinted towards the man, rushing up to him and lashing out against his leg, hoping he would fall, but he did not. I continued to run towards the knife, and I heard wind being pushed to my ear by some narrowly missing object. I went down to my knees, grabbing for the knife, and with contact, I spun back around onto my heels.

       He was fully standing now, a little wobbly, his head and neck jolted over to the left side of his body, when suddenly he spoke, “You won’t win tonight, brave little boy.”

       I straightened up, making myself as intimidating as I could and said, “But I still have to try.”

       He smiled again, with his now sideways broken smile, and lashed out violently. I jumped back, not out of planning but out of fear, barely missing his first swing. He didn’t stop, not wasting any time before making his next attempt. He was fast, still just as fast as the first time he rushed me. His third swing went up, over his head, both his hands were on the pipe now and I knew this was my chance. I took the risk and bound forward, plating the knife far into his chest. All motion stopped, we stood there, his shocked eyes looking up into my terrified face. Seconds passed, and he smiled again, as his arms came crashing back down. I was too close for the blow to be as powerful as it could have been, but it still landed me on my back. He raised his arms again, and I coiled up to help absorb some of the blow, when suddenly the fire got brighter. He stopped his motion to look at the fire, and in that moment I thrust both my feet into his chest. He went flying back against the wall, and I followed as fast as I could. When he hit the wall, my hands were wrapped around the knife’s handle, pulling it out from his chest, and shoving it into his head just above his nose.

       His eyes rolled up into his head, and his mouth fell open. He wasn’t moving again, a gradual lean had taken over his body. It speed up, and once again he had met the ground. I retrieved the knife, and took a seat against the wall opposite to the man. Squeezing the knife in my hands, I was going to make sure this time that he wasn’t getting back up.