Stellium Bonus Chapter - Into The Night

As the rain lashed down on a moonless night, only the illumination of the metallic streetlamps arcing overhead managed to break their way through the grim darkness. A teenager walked through the gloom, dressed in white shorts, a dark blue t-shirt, and trainers. He’d not yet had a proper growth spurt, so his height didn’t match his age. He hunched his shoulders as he walked, as if trying to protect himself from the downpour. His newly dyed bleached blonde hair swam down to slightly above his eyes, dripping in front of him.

The liquid was warm with the heat of summer; a thunderstorm would be likely to come later tonight. Cars splashed through huge puddles as a month’s worth of rain hammered down. The boy was fast approaching sixteen, but he still had a curfew to adhere to which he’d already broken. He knew his dad would be angry with him, which was why he loped through the torrent rather than hurry home. It was hardly his fault that his best friend had a new Zombie Slayer game they had both been dying to play. Him overstaying his allotted time was an inevitability. Zane’s parents would have phoned ahead to let his father know he was on his way home. They’d offered to drive him, but he’d politely refused them several times.

Leo was walking down a street in town, which was now deserted apart from him. It was lined with commercial buildings, shops mainly that were all packed away for the night. The only other light came from a public house that seemed empty inside when he peered through the windows. His clothes clung to him with dampness. He sighed to himself as he wondered if his dad would be too mad to let him have a shower when he got in. Although he was soaked already, there was something more comforting about it being in his own house.

Rounding a corner, he found himself in front of three men who barred his path, spread across the street intentionally so he couldn’t get past them. He looked up to acknowledge them. They were only a few years older than him, pushing twenty at the most, he thought. Leo took note of their height, each about half a foot taller than him. They had a scrawny appearance about them but Leo could tell they were probably used to fighting. Two of them had tattoos on the various exposed parts of their skin. The last one appeared to favour piercings - having enough on his face that Leo thought he must have a dire problem every time he passed a magnet to not get sucked onto its surface.

“Is there something I can help you with?” He tried to remain calm, knowing already from experience with one of the school bullies that there wasn’t going to be a good way out of this situation. The group didn’t reply, they just leered at Leo, staring him down. He wondered if he might be able to outrun them. He tried his luck and attempted to step around them, already wishing he hadn’t.

The one closest to him had grabbed him by his wet shirt, clenching the material tightly in his fist so Leo couldn’t escape. The stranger lifted him onto his tip toes before striking him across the face, sending Leo sprawling into the gutter with a great deal of force. He lay holding his stinging face, the three of them loomed over him. Then one of them kicked him in the back and he was rolling across the floor, water cartwheeling off him.

Leo tried to pick himself up so that he could put up a fight. Running didn’t seem to be an option any more, so he needed to stand his ground the best he could. His eyes watered but he refused to let them see him cry, holding back his tears of pain. He wondered if their older and stronger bodies had managed to break his bones. The three older teenagers just laughed at him as he lay bathed in the glow of a yellow streetlamp struggling to his feet.

It was then that Leo heard something behind him that made him quiver with fear - the sound of a flick knife being activated. Even in the pouring rain it was a distinct noise. He flipped over to see them all laughing wildly as they advanced, the one in the middle holding the knife. He must have been their leader. The blade shone through the haze of the rain. It had death written upon it. This couldn’t be happening, he thought, panic stricken.

The other two went onto either side of Leo and dragged him to his feet, holding him so that he couldn’t get away. His arms were wrapped tightly in their strong grips. It was at this point that Leo noticed his nose was bleeding down his face and over his clothes. The warm liquid was gushing down his shirt, dripping slowly down his chin, mixing with the rainwater. He wondered fleetingly if he was losing enough blood to die from this before they had a chance for their sick games. The knife was reflecting the light from the streetlamps, and Leo found himself staring at it with the utmost fear in his eyes as the man holding prepared to slash at him with it.

Something landed behind them that made the whole group turn. Leo saw it was a woman as he squinted through the darkness. Without hesitation, in one quick manoeuvre she had lunged forward and grabbed the one holding the knife in front of him. With a massive feat of strength, she threw him over her shoulder and down the street, his back slapping hard against the sodden pavement. The other two dropped Leo, rushing to help their companion. Leo scraped his knees as he landed roughly on the tarmac.

Leo watched in awe as the stranger demonstrated great martial arts ability in saving him from his attackers. Bathed in an orange streetlight, he struggled to see everything that was happening, screwing his eyes up to sharpen his vision. The two teenagers who had dropped him were both trying to use crude, street fighting techniques, but the elegance and grace of the stranger’s moves quickly dealt with them.

The person dodged below one of their swings whilst lashing out with their foot into the stomach of the man who had thrown the punch; he crumpled to the ground, winded in an instant. The next attacker soon followed suit after a sharp blow to the head. There were now three lumps on the floor that were the unconscious bodies of the teenagers, and a standing outline of the person who had done the deed, who now turned and walked partially into the light. Leo could just make out her faint features. She wasn’t much older than him, dressed in orange with dark hair in a ponytail that dripped water.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

“I’m – I’ll be fine,” said Leo, getting up to his feet and wiping his bloody nose on his arm; it still appeared to be flowing merrily.

“Glad I got here in time,” she smiled at him, seeming genuinely glad of the fact.

“Thank you.” He felt he could only utter the two words after witnessing both fear and pure amazement at what had happened.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my job.” She looked at his nose and tore the arm off her orange outfit, tearing it again into two and handing it to him. “Here, use this.” Leo took the two pieces of material and used them to stem the flow. “Super handsome again.”

She left him with a grin and leapt up the side of a building, scaling it quickly and jumping onto the roof, vanishing from sight as she leapt onto the next one over. Leo began to walk home, but not until he had taken the opportunity to kick each one of the teenagers in turn in the stomach. Adding insult to injury, he thought. He was sodden, covered in blood and aching all over. With his knees still hurting from when he’d been dropped to the floor, he hobbled home in the pouring rain.

All the way back walking through the harsh conditions, he wondered about what had just happened and who the mystery woman was. She had said it was her job - did she mean to protect him, or was she an overactive vigilante who prowled the mean streets at night, striking down villains? Maybe she’d read too many comic books. When he finally made it to his village, he realised his house key must have dropped out during the scuffle. Knocking feebly on the front door he heard his father’s stomping footsteps approaching.

“What time do you call this? You had me worried sick…” he raged as the door swung open and Leo was bathed in the soft light of home. As soon as he noticed the state his son was in, he hurried him inside and shut the door again. “What happened? Are you all right, Leo?” He stooped down to his son’s height, looking him up and down, examining the pieces of orange clothing hanging out of his nose.

“I’m all right, Dad, just bruised, tired and wet.”

“Did you have a fight with Zane again?”

“I got jumped on the way home.” Leo’s father put his hand on his shoulder.

“Tell me everything.” He led Leo through to the kitchen and handed him a towel so he could start drying himself, getting a first aid kit out and examining his injuries.

“Three guys pulled a knife on me and gave me a going over.” Leo looked down. “I’m sorry to have made you worry.”

“I’m just glad you’re in one piece still. Did you run away from them?”

“Not exactly. Someone saved me, kicked their bottoms and then ran off, disappearing up onto a rooftop if you can believe it. She helped me stop the bleeding before she went. She tore a piece of her uniform off to give me these.” Leo pulled out the pieces of orange cloth out of his nose, sniffing and touching his face. It didn’t feel broken, but it was stinging. 

“She wore an orange uniform?” His father pulled a face, suddenly being transported back to when he was a young boy. A long-forgotten memory surfaced that he’d spent a lot of time trying to forget. “Like robes, you mean?”

“Yeah, that’s right. How did you know?” Leo looked at his father quizzically. Before he knew what had happened his dad grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

“If you see that person again, get away from them as soon as possible. They’re nothing but trouble. Don’t get involved for any reason.”

“What? Dad, do you know who that woman was?”

“Just promise me, Leo.” His father was speaking in hushed tones, trying to keep his voice down for fear of waking Leo’s grandfather upstairs. Leo looked into his eyes and saw what he recognised as fear. His dad was spooked, badly.

“All right, I promise, Dad. I’ll stay away from her if I see her again.” Relief appeared to wash over his father.

“Good, son. Now let’s get you dried and patched up then it’s straight to bed for you.”

Leo nodded his agreement, feeling tired after the ordeal. He decided it was best not to question the strange turn of events and his father’s reaction. It would just be another unexplained event in his life, like the disappearance of his sister, Sylvia. Hopefully he would never see any of them again.

Little did the pair know that just over a year later, Leo would be attacked by an otherworldly creature and whisked away to China by his history teacher and the same person who had saved his life that night.