“All right then, wise guy. How did she die? Who killed her?”
She was expecting a weird and wacky, well thought out answer. But instead Mark said,
“Remember when the Lions killed Chloe last year? Then a couple of months later you lot killed one of the Lions to get even. The Lions weren’t too happy about this, so they took out your sister to get their own back.”
This was not the answer Michelle wanted to hear. She realised there may have been some logic in what he was saying, but she did not want to believe it.
“Well, how do you know it’s her they killed?” she said inquisitively.
“My mate saw the ambulance take her body,” he replied.
“It could have been someone who looked like her,” she said in disbelief.
“She’s gone Michelle. She’s dead.”
Michelle was speechless for a second. But this was just the silence before the storm.
“She can’t be dead! She’s still alive! You’ll see!” she screamed and slammed the door shut.
Michelle climbed back into bed looking for refuge. A cold chill entered the room from the open window. She pulled the quilt over her head and tried to get back to sleep. She thought she might wake up and find it was a dream after all, but it was useless, she could not sleep. She got up and sat in the hall, waiting for her sister to come back. She expected her to walk through the door any minute, but three hours had passed and she had not arrived.
Knock. Knock.
Someone was at the door.
“It’s her,” Michelle thought to herself.
Michelle jumped to her feet and swung the door wide open.
To her disappointment it was Mark.
“Hi. This was on your doorstep,” he said cautiously, handing her an envelope.
She opened the envelope and put her hand inside. She could feel something soft. She took it out. It was an ear! She screamed and threw it on the floor. She put her trembling hand into the envelope and pulled out a photo. She stared at the photo in shock. Her body froze over. Her face turned as white as a ghost. She suddenly burst into hysteria. The photo was of her sister’s corpse lying in a pool of blood. Michelle curled up into a ball on the floor. Tears were sliding down her cheeks.
“I should have been able to protect her. She was only thirteen. If I didn’t let her stay out so late she’d still be here. She was my responsibility and I failed to look after her,” she said as she sobbed.
Mark crouched down next to her
“Don’t blame yourself. It ain’t your fault. It’s the Lions who you should be blaming. Don’t worry we’ll get ‘em back” he said comfortingly.
“You’re right. It’s their fault she’s dead. They killed her. And I’m gonna make them pay for this,” she said eerily.
Michelle stood up, her face looked deadly serious. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists.
“Tonight, I’m gonna go to the Lions hang out and make them regret ever laying hands on my sister.”
“Are you crazy? It’ll be one against ten; you’ll have no chance! They’ll kill you straight away,” Mark protested.
Michelle swung her head around to Mark and gave him an evil stare.
“This is stupid Michelle. If you’re gonna do something as insane as this, don’t expect me to back you up,” Mark said, hoping she would change her mind.
“Fine then. I don’t need you. You’re a bloody wimp any way!” She said wickedly. Mark’s plan had backfired terribly.
“If you’re not gonna be any help, get out. Go on then, out!” She ordered as she pointed towards the door.
Mark’s pride had been wounded. He obeyed and stormed out of the flat.
Night had fallen; the sky was dark and murky. Thick sheets of clouds covered the full moon. Michelle was just about to leave her flat. She opened her door; Mark was standing in her doorway.
“Michelle, you can’t go alone. We’ll get our revenge, but not like this. It’s too risky. This isn’t what your sister would’ve wanted. It won’t bring her back,” he pleaded.
“Look, you can either stay here and do nothing, or you can come with me. Which is it?” she asked plainly.
“So are you coming or what?”
Mark shook his head in decline.
Michelle stormed into the Lions territory. The Lions were surprised to see her. They crowded around her like a pride about to butcher an unwanted intruder. Michelle’s heart pounded through her chest. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
“Which one of you killed my sister?” she asked daringly.
The group muttered to one another for a while. A girl emerged out of the crowd. It was the leader of the gang. She was tall and slim and had long blonde hair. She came forward out of the crowd and stood in front of Michelle. She stood straight with her head up high.
“Why d’you do it? You could’ve killed anyone of us, but you picked the weakest one. Aren’t you woman enough to pick on someone your own size?” Michelle demanded an answer.
“You made a mistake coming here, so I’m gonna give you ‘til the count of ten to run, if you’re still here after that I’ll send you to see your sister,” said the Lion.
“One
two
three
four
five…”
Michelle’s feet stood anchored into the ground.
“…six
seven
eight
nine
ten”.
Michelle’s heart was beating frantically in her chest. Beads of sweat made their way down her forehead. Michelle and the Lion were face to face. Michelle clenched her fists. She lowered her head and looked straight at the Lion. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. Michelle’s nose flared up. She was like a bull about to charge.
“Grrrrrr” she viciously grunted, warning off her enemy.
She charged into the Lion and head butted her straight away, like a bull locking its horns into its opponent. The Lion had not anticipated this and flew back onto the floor. Michelle stamped on the Lion’s body with her feet, like a bull beating the ground with its hooves. The Lion speedily rolled over to the right of Michelle. She got up and scratched Michelle on her eye with her talons. Michelle could not see-she was vulnerable. The Lion pounced on her and ripped off Michelle’s flesh with her spike. Michelle had blood gushing out of her stomach. Time seemed to be standing still. Michelle looked down at her stomach. Her body collapsed to the ground. Her lifeless corpse lay in a pool of blood. Rain plummeted down on her limp body. The street was dark without a soul in sight…
