On her side, Rose was heading toward her last client of the day. As usual, she skipped along while humming a soft melody on her way to the exchange point. Her lovely voice seemed to echo through the alleys she skillfully crossed.
Music and dance represented a part of Rose's life; she had been fascinated and passionate about these arts since she was little. From her somewhat dark childhood until now, music had always been her shield.
Indeed, when she was about five years old, Rose's parents abandoned her because of extreme poverty. She had been left in a shabby house rented in BK City; her parents owed unpaid rent to the landlord. The only thing they left her was a small old radio with an external memory card, which played the same songs on repeat. She was alone, abandoned, but when she listened to those sounds, she felt soothed.
Rose was now near the meeting place, and all her senses screamed that something was wrong. From across the street, she could see her client standing in a small alley that led to a dead end. Rose felt a bit reassured seeing him alone, so she advanced, though not without caution, step by step.
Just a few centimeters from the man, she was removing her backpack when suddenly, a sharp blow from a baseball bat struck her back. She barely had time to react and crouch down before a violent kick hit her right side. She twisted in pain but then clenched her teeth and leapt forward, turning around to face her attackers.
It was a group of four young men with gangster-like appearances. Two of them were in front. The first, around his twenties, had blond hair in a crest cut, white skin, and piercings on his ears, eyebrows, and below his lips. He had black eyes and wore torn black jeans and a sleeveless white t-shirt with a huge silver chain around his neck. In his right hand, he held a bat — the one he had tried to hit Rose with.
The second, who also seemed to be in his twenties, was bulky, of medium height, and had a shaved head with a scorpion tattoo on it. He wore a short-sleeved black t-shirt and dark green pants. On his lips was a sadistic, mocking smile that revealed tattooed teeth. He was the one responsible for the kick.
The other two wore gray uniform outfits; one seemed very young, around twelve years old, and the other in his twenties.
Rose quickly scanned them one by one; they weren't people she knew.
‹‹ What do you... ››
A headbutt from the shaved man interrupted Rose's sentence. She was caught off guard by the move but still managed to cross her arms as a shield to soften the impact.
Rose wasn't particularly skilled in combat, but the mere fact that she had survived in BK City since childhood was enough proof of her physical resilience. Between small conflicts among residents, general brawls, misunderstandings, or even drunks and junkies, there was no way to spend that much time in BK City without ever being caught in a fight.
The blows from the two men multiplied while Rose, dodging the bat's swings, blocking the bald man's punches, and stepping back, quickly found herself nearly against the wall at the end of the alley.
As if to try everything she could, Rose suddenly pushed off the wall behind her, propelled herself forward, and delivered an upward vertical kick to the blond's chin. She then followed up with a light acrobatic movement around his shoulders and a violent horizontal roundhouse kick to the bulky man's face.
But very quickly, the two in uniform who had been waiting in the back suddenly stepped forward. In perfect synchronization, they quickly subdued Rose. The older one threw her to the ground, allowing the younger one to immobilize all of Rose's leg movements using a martial arts technique.
‹‹ Jiu-jitsu: Ashi Garami! ››
The kid shouted the name of the technique he had just used as if it were a game. His face showed an expression that was both sadistic and joyful.
Rose writhed in pain. She felt that the slightest sudden movement could permanently cost her the use of her legs. Moreover, the blows she had received from the first two were taking their toll — not to mention the weight the duo applied to restrain her. She felt drained of strength and burned out from within.
However, she still managed to clear her thoughts a little.
‹‹ What... do you... want from me? We could... try... to talk, you know? ››
She had to draw from her remaining energy to utter that sentence intermittently. But her attackers completely ignored her.
She turned her head to the side, and her gaze met that of her supposed client. He seemed frozen in fear at the situation and quickly avoided her eyes, his legs trembling. The blue jeans he wore were soaked at the bottom with a light brownish liquid — he had wet himself.
Meanwhile, the blond man with the crest hair had already recovered from Rose's blow. He was now furious, his eyes red and his nose bleeding.
‹‹ Let go of that bitch! We're gonna have some fun. ››
He then picked up his weapon and walked toward Rose without a hint of humor.
‹‹ The boss told us not to hurt her. ››
The man paired with the child, who hadn't said a word until then, finally spoke. His voice was calm, hoarse, and steady, but it carried a threatening tone.
At that moment, the sunset had completely disappeared from the sky, giving way to dusk. The night was growing deeper with every passing second.
Faced with agony, Rose's memories began to resurface little by little, without her understanding why. Those memories she had wished to bury forever.
Thank you very much for finishing this chapter!
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