It wasn't the dirty blouse or skirt that made the panic soar; it was the angry marks on her skin, little pricks that were still bleeding. It was also the sight of the needle next to her body as she lay there, the only sign of life was the flutter of her eyelashes, and as I drew closer, I could see her chest rising and falling.
Fuck, they'd drugged her.
"We got a kid in here, they gave her that shit!" I snapped, kicking the guy's legs aside as I made my way over to the mattress on the floor that he girl was curled up on. Gently as I could manage, I pulled her onto her back and checked her pulse and breathing as best I could. Everything was still there, but the pulse was quiet, not weak, but definitely not what it should have been.
"How…ow!" Kayden snapped, and I heard something heavy hit the wall or floor. "Hold still! You've got a kid in there with drugs in her system, you know damn well your ass is under arrest!"
"I didn't do shit!" the woman shrieked, and I didn't bother to check to see how they were doing, if Kayden needed help, I'd know, and if I misjudged, he'd be quick to let me know.
"How is she?" Kayden called again over the noise the woman was making.
"She's breathing, not great, but not..." My voice trailed off as her skirt shifted when I moved her, and my attention locked onto the blood on her thigh. It was such a small thing, just a streak that went further up her leg and out of sight. But there was the blood on the man?—
"Jace?" I heard Kayden call from the next room, but it was like someone had dialed down my ears, everything sounding murky and muted.
That was until I heard a masculine groan behind me and heard him speak. “The fuck are you bitches doin'? I'm tryin' to sleep!"
A haze wrapped around my senses, something inside me cracked right down the middle, and I was moving before I knew what was happening. I was yelling something, but what really stood out was the repeated blows of my fist, radiating up my arm. I could see blood splattering the floor and my hand, and I could hear the cries of the man as I savaged his face. But that wasn't a problem for me, in fact, it wasright. I was causing the man a great deal of pain as I drove my fist into every part of him I could find, and that was pleasurable, that wasgood.
Well, it was good, until I felt more than one pair of arms wrap around me and pull me back from the bloodied, unrecognizable face of the man on the floor, who I saw was still stirring despite the beating he'd taken from me. The haze around my thoughts grew thicker, hotter, and I lashed out, bringing the heel of my boot down onto his groin savagely, once, twice, and a third time before I was yanked out of the room. It wasn't right that I was taken away before I was done, but I had seen his face, and I had seen his groin, and I bet even surgery wasn't going to fix the damage I'd done using all the strength I could muster with my booted foot.
Someone was screaming about the little girl, the sound raw and horrible, filled with a rage and a pain that I understoodcompletely. The first woman was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, and I knew she’d been as much a part of it as the bloody man still on the floor in the bedroom. Her eyes were wide, but there was no horror, no disgust at what I had discovered, only fear. Fear for herself and what was going to happen when we were done.
She found herself with a lot more than bags under her eyes when I lashed out, boot finding her face and sending the most wonderful cracking sound through the air, blood spurting down her chin. Her head was shoved through the thin drywall, but before I could get more than a cry of pain from her, I was yanked back again.
"Stop! Fucking hell, just stop!" a strange voice shouted at me. "Make him stop!"
"You fucking do it, he's not listening!" a more familiar voice snarled back. "Jace, buddy, you have to…ow! Fuck, I swear to God, if I have a black eye tomorrow, I'm pissing in your boots!"
“Kayden?”
"Yeah, dude, it's me. You have to stop."
“I said that out loud?"
"Mm...yeah, you did."
The haze was beginning to clear, but instead of clarity, all I found was a cloud of thoughts and feelings left behind. Neither was particularly clear, and I blinked, looking around and seeing a stairwell. My back was pressed into the corner of the landing, and I was staring up at Kayden, a bruise on his cheek and blood running from his lip. Another guy, I realized must have been one of the EMTs, was standing behind Kayden, his lip busted and sweat shining on his face.
"Th-the girl," I said, eyes widening.
"We're looking at her," the EMT said, his brow furrowing. "And the guy you?—"
"Forget him for now," Kayden said quickly, his eyes staying on my face. "How is the girl?"
"She...she'll live," the guy said, a shadow passing over his face. "I hate working this fucking run. Something fucked up always happens. Don't blame you, buddy, but you can bet your badge that your ass is grass for this one."
My heart thundered, and I managed to get to my feet. “I-I need air. Kay?"
"I'll be down in a second, I need to make sure everyone's secure up there before backup arrives," he said gently, his face twisted into an expression I couldn't quite place. "Are you, uh...gonna be able to manage?"
"Yeah," I heard myself say, but even to my confused hearing, I didn't sound all that confident.
"Just...don't go anywhere," he told me slowly, looking me over. "They're gonna need to look you over, and...you're going to need to do the report on this. The captain...well, he's going to want...to talk to you."
Talking probably wasn't going to be on the captain's mind, but that didn't really matter. What mattered most was that little girl, but even in my...state, I knew there was no point being in that room. The people who were best equipped to help her were already with her, and there wasn't much I could do. I was basically going to stand around and wait before I was dragged off and either suspended for even longer and shoved onto a desk, which would be the best case, or I would be let go out of fear of the abuse of police that had been growing with people for years.
My feet moved of their own accord as I stumbled down the stairs and out onto the street. The smell of cigarette smoke and piss filled my nostrils, and I turned to walk to the cruiser where Kayden and I had left it. Someone was leaning against it, but since they scattered the moment I approached, I decided they weren't worth dealing with, and I opened the driver's side door. Istared at the seat for a moment, trying my hardest to remember what it was I'd been planning to do before closing the door and staring at my faint reflection in the window.
