the bad boy's scared of bugs

Chapter 7- Whoops...

R I L E Y

The masked man looked at me warily while Liam just stood there frozen. I could feel his glare burn into my soul.

"Put the knife down." I commanded.

"Look girly. How about we sit down and talk this out?" The man said casually, still holding onto the knife.

"I said put it down." I repeated, flicking the safety hatch. Damn...this is one heck of a realistic toy gun!

"Alright, alright." He said, putting the knife onto the ground.

"Kick it here." I demanded, and the man did so unwillingingly. I picked up the sharp knife and handed it to Liam who had walked over to me.

"What are you going to do with my family?" I questioned sternly.

"Dunno exactly but the boss is gonna take 'em." The masked man shrugged.

"We should call the police, my phone's dead so you're going to have to do it. " I murmured from the side of my mouth, the gun still pointed the man.

"No, they won't do much anyway." Spider-Man replied, grasping the knife tightly.

"Well then what?" I asked but before Liam could reply, a redhead walked up to us.

"Hey Liam! I got the Jeep-......what's going on here?" He asked, evaluating the situation. Ahh...so this is Ricky...

It must've been almost a comical scene, a fat masked man holding his hands up in surrender as a girl points gun at him. Beside her, Liam was shooting daggers at her. In the background, two expensive cars were parked haphazardly on the road.

"You got the Jeep? Okay, we'll be taking it. By the way, this is the sucker who was following us. Report him for us, yeah? We're in a hurry, gotta go." Liam said briskly, ushering me away. Ricky nodded, knowing that the full story was too complicated so he just went along with it.

When we climbed into the red Jeep Cherokee, I let out a breath in relief and shoved the gun back into my pocket.

"What were you thinking? How the heck do you even have a gun? What if you shot yourself, or more importantly, SHOT ME?" Liam accused, as he started the engine.

"Geez, it wasn't even a real gun you wimp! Calm the heck down!" I retorted.

"It was a fake gun?! How is that supposed to make me feel better? What if the dude saw through your bluff? " Liam yelled as we zipped into another street.

"Just calm down, okay! It isn't about me right now! It's about my family!" I huffed in annoyance.

"Ughh whatever." He grumbled, we as sat in silence....

"Did you really stab a dog when the police were after you? And why were the police even after you in the first place if your gang's working with them?" I asked once I realised things did not match up.

"No, I didn't stab a dog. It's ridiculous the amount of stupid rumours people come up with. After the police arrested some of us a couple of times, they decided to strike a deal with us. They'll help us take down other gangs as long as they get some of the money. It's a win-win situation. Except only, our gang and police are the real losers. The winners are the civilians." Spider-Man boasted, smirking slightly. Scoffing in disgust, I looked out the window to see the sun tint the sky a cotton candy pink.

I fidgeted nervously, until I decided to play some music. I pulled out my phone and soon Karma Chameleon by Boy George filled the car.

"Desert loving in your eyes all the way." I sang along with the music. Liam gritted his teeth annoyance.

"If I listened to your lies, would you say....I'm a man with conviction!" My voice filled the car, as his knuckles turned white around the steering wheel.

"I'm a man who doesn't know, how to sell a contradiction." I belted out as Liam growled quietly.

"You come and go, you come and go!" He suddenly sang in a croaky voice without warning. I looked at him strangely but just kept singing. Hey! When I'm in my jam, nothing's stopping me.

"Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon
You come and go, you come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green."

We practically yelled at each other for the rest of the song, competing for dominance.

"You sing?" I asked as the song ended, my voice hoarse from shouting.

"Yeah, used to." Liam cleared his throat. "Probably 'cause you can't sing every well." I muttered snidely.

But I felt better, it was like we were on a casual car ride to the mall or something, not rescuing my sister and mother from the clutches of evil kidnappers. Not that I'd ever go to the mall with Liam.

Liam glared at me but said nothing. I looked at the street sign and felt all signs of my earlier serenity shrivel up into a tiny dehydrated lump of nothingness and disappear into the unknown abyss.

"We're here." I croaked out nervously. My hands instinctively reached out for my large bottle of pepper spray and the fake gun. We slowly got out of the car and surveyed the dingy streets that were littered with rubbish. The houses were constructed of bricks, their original colour long forgotten due to the years of wear and tear.

"So...do you know where Greentown Road is?" I turned around to see nobody around me. Feeling fear claw at me, I spotted Liam turning a corner around an old shack. I ran to catch up with him.

"Oi, Liam! You idiot! How dare you leave me there and not tell me! You jerk! I friggin hate you! How about you go die in a effing ditch and stay in that ditch...." Liam turned around and I felt my heart stop.

Since when was Liam blonde? And why was he suddenly around 30 years old? Wait....

"Ha...ha....you're not Liam...." I wheezed as I seemed to see through tunnel vision.

"No, I'm not. I'm someone better." The man grinned evilly as he made his way towards me. I turned around and sprinted away as far as I could. My chest started throbbing with pain. A pair of hands grabbed me as I heard the real Liam running towards me.

"Riley, you idiot!" He yelled from the down the road, running towards us at full speed.

Charming, I thought sarcastically as my legs buckled under me. Reaching for my pepper spray, I aimed it at the blonde man and sprayed.

"Take that bitch! Remember this the next time you want to prey on a poor girl!" I panted as he cursed in pain. Liam had already caught up to us and was dragging me away. I sprayed him with pepper spray as well for a good measure.

"It's your fault!" I blamed venomously.

"Just shut up." He grumbled as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain.