Starting Over

Chapter 8

I wake up in the middle of the night having to pee. I climb out of bed and stumble toward the bathrooms. I hear a bed shift behind me but when I turn around nothing's out of place. I turn around and walk into the bathroom.
A few moments later I stumble back out I hear someone behind me. As I go to turn around I feel a hand close over my mouth and someone pulls me back into them.

"The more you fight the uglier it'll be, Stiff," says the mysterious figure behind me, but I recognize the voice. It's Thomas.

"Bring me the knife, Grayson," Thomas whispers in my ear.

Thomas releases his grip on me just long enough to take the knife from Weston. In that instant I bring my foot down on his as hard as I can and grind it down.

"Bitch!" Thomas whisper yells as the bones in his foot crack.

I spin out of his grasp but Grayson grabs my arm. I turn and punch him in the throat. He gags for a second but doesn't loosen his grip. When he recovers he throws me to the ground.

"Maybe this time you can see how it feels to be kicked while you're down," Thomas hisses as he comes up to me.

Right as he draws his leg back I roll out of the way and onto my feet. As soon as I stand up Grayson punches me in the nose. I hear it crack and blood starts to pour down my face. This time I'm the one with the broken bone.

As I stumble backward, Thomas comes at me, swinging his knife. I'm able to back out of the way the first time, but the next time I'm not so lucky. I try to move out of the way but I feel the bite of the cold metal above my left eyebrow. I feel more blood start to trickle down my face.

"Fight me like a man!" I shout at Thomas as I kick him in the ribs.
He falls to the ground and I quickly kick him in the head. He goes unconscious. I'm done playing.

Grayson reaches for the knife but I kick his hand and he yanks it away. He stands back up and I elbow him in the mouth. He spits out a mouthful of blood but looks otherwise unfazed. He swings at me and his fist hits me in the arm when I go to block it.

I quickly punch him in the gut and back out of his range. He swings at me again but I duck under his arm and come up behind him. When he turns toward me again I punch him as hard as I can in the jaw. He falls down and hits his head on the stone floor. He blacks out.

I know I can't go back to the room looking like this. I wouldn't want to be there either when they could come after me again at any moment. I know Laurel wouldn't stop them and Weston is still in the infirmary, not that he wouldn't jump at the chance to help them. Maybe I should go to the infirmary and have my head stitched back up.

I start walking down the hall and the next thing I know I'm knocking on a door. Someone answers a few seconds later.

"Tobias," I say, "I need your help."