Tear Down These Walls (3 page)

“I have to use the bathroom,” Emily says quietly. “I
will only be a minute.” Teagan had almost forgot she was there. Emily had a way
of blending into the group unnoticed.

“It will take us that long to get Victoria in the car,”
Isaac exhales. “We will meet you out there, too.”

“Okay, I will be right back,” Teagan declares. She spins
on her heel and walks through the bar.

The streets are dead outside. There are a few people
sporadically along the way, but for the most part, everyone is gone. Teagan
twirls Isaac’s keys around her finger as she walks. When she gets to his car,
they fall off and onto the ground. “Crap,” Teagan mutters, as she bends over.
She picks them up and says, “Smooth, Teagan.”

Unexpectedly, two hands are on her. One is around her
waist, the other is tight against her mouth. Teagan screams, but the noise cuts
off instantly when she feels something sharp on her neck.  Harry walks
into view. “Ready to be put in your place, BITCH?” She is quickly dragged
backwards into the trees. Harry follows closely in front of her, pointing a
knife in her direction. “You make one sound, and I will cut you. Do you understand?”

Terror rips through Teagan. She jerkily nods. “What are
you going to do with her?” The person holding her asks, with a deep
chuckle.  Teagan’s heart races.

“Get what I want,” Harry chuckles menacingly. “You
should have given me a chance sweetheart.” She sees his lips curl again, and
her insides freeze with fear.

Her heart races a mile a minute, and all she can think
is that she doesn’t know how to escape.  The guy behind her moves his
hand. “Anything to say, beautiful?”

“Let me go, please,” Teagan pleads, turning her head
from him. His breath is hot on her neck.    “Not likely,” Harry
laughs and turns his head to the sky. He looks back at her; a menacing glare
chills her to the bone. “I am going to show you what kind of man I am.”

“Please, please, leave me alone,” Teagan cries, almost
losing strength in her legs.

Harry holds up the knife.“I told you to shut up!”

“Please,” Teagan gasps. Harry backhands her across the
face, and she screams.

“Shut up!” Harry growls. “Take off your pants.”

“No,” Teagan whimpers.

The knife is shoved to her throat.  “I…said…TAKE
OFF YOUR PANTS.” His voice curls around her and hangs in the silent air around
them.

With fumbling fingers, Teagan grabs the button of her
pants. She is shaking so bad that she can’t grasp it. “Hurry up, you little
bitch!” The urgency in his words causes bile to rise in her throat, but she
knows that if she throws up on him, it could only make things worse for her.

“Please. NO!” she cries. Her fingers fumble around the
button of her jeans. She can’t stop shaking.

The knife tip goes under her chin, and he lifts her head
up. “Take….them….off.” Teagan gets the button undone as her first tear falls.

Suddenly, there is a flash in front of Teagan. Before
she knows it, the knife is gone from Harry’s hand. “What in the hell!?” He
yells. A figure steps in front of her and grabs the guy’s arms that are
gripping her.

“Get down,” is all that she hears. The guy’s arms are
quickly dislodged from around her. Teagan falls to the ground and covers her
head. There is a crack and a blood-curdling scream. Something falls to a heap
beside her. Teagan looks up. A guy is standing in front of Harry.

“What in the hell did you do to him!?” Harry screams.

“I believe I broke his arm,” her savior replies calmly.

There is moaning from behind Teagan. She quickly
scampers away from the guy on the ground.  “Dude,” Harry growls, “You will
have wished you hadn’t done that.” He steps forward and punches at the guy.
Before Teagan knows what’s happening, Harry is spun around and slammed into a
small tree with such force the tree actually cracks. He crumbles to the ground
and doesn’t move.

The shadow figure turns to her. “Are you okay?” She
vigorously shakes her head and cowers away. “I am not going to hurt you,” he says
in a softer tone. “Did they hurt you?”

Teagan starts to cry uncontrollably. “No…no,” she
stutters. “They didn’t….but he almost. Oh my god.” She starts to bawl into her
hands. The guy slides off his jacket and puts it around her.

“It’s getting cold out. I have to call the police,
okay?” Teagan nods. The guy pulls out his cell phone and steps over to Harry.
“Yes, we need some police assistance at Arrowhead Park. I have two assailants
that are down. Yes, they attacked a young woman. I disarmed one. He had a
knife. We will need an ambulance for both of them. One is conscious, the other
one……hold on a second.” The guy pushes Harry with his foot. There is a moan.
“They are both conscious.  Yes, I’m unarmed. The girl is not hurt, shaken
up though. What? Hold on.” The guy turns to Teagan. “What’s your name?”

“Teagan….Teagan Murphy.”

“Her name is Teagan Murphy. Teagan….T…E…A…G…A…N. Teagan,
it’s not that hard!” Teagan grabs the jacket tight around her. She puts her
face to it to wipe her tears. The leather smells good and helps her relax.
“Yes, we are right off of 12
^th
Avenue.  The main gazebo is
about thirty yards to the right of us. No, I am not planning on leaving. We’ll
wait here. Thank you.”

The guy bends down to her and Teagan gets the first real
look at him. “Your eyes….” She whispers.

“Excuse me?” The guy replies.

She shakes her head and looks at him. “Do I know you?”

“Not that I know of,” the guy says. “I have never met a
Teagan before.”

“Sorry,” Teagan mutters, grabbing her head in both
hands. “I think I’m just in shock.”

“That’s understandable,” the guy murmurs. He reaches
over and strokes her head. “Are you sure they didn’t hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine,” Teagan replies. “Just shook up, really
shook up.”

“You will be okay,” the guy assures. “We need to get you
home.”

“My friend brought me. Oh my gosh! My friends are
waiting for me to get the car!”  Teagan actually wonders where they are
for the first time since she walked out of the bar.

The gentleman laughs. “Once they hear the sirens, they
will know something is up.” Almost on cue, the faint sound of sirens is heard
in the distance.

Teagan starts to slip off the jacket. “Here is your
jacket.”

“Keep it on for now,” the guy instructs. “You can get
chilled easily after an incident like this.”

“Okay,” Teagan replies. She puts her arms through the
sleeves and realizes how big the jacket is compared to her. Her eyes drift to
the guy and notices he is built, incredibly built. She can’t help but stare at
him. Teagan’s gaze turns up to his face. He stares at her gently. His eyes are
so dark that they are almost black, but their warmth catches her off guard. His
hair is just as dark. It falls into his eyes a little. Teagan can’t get over
him. She also can’t stop looking at him. Even in the faint lamp light from the
road, she can see more than enough to know she wants to see more. His chiseled
features seem so familiar. “What’s your name?”

“Ummm,” the guys starts.

Two figures push through the brush. They are police
officers. Both of them have their guns drawn. “Hands up!”

Her savior puts his hands up. “NO!” Teagan yells. “He
helped me! He isn’t the bad guy.” She turns and points to the two crumpled
bodies. “Those are the assailants.”

One of the officers holsters his gun. “Come with me.”

“Let me help you up,” her savior murmurs, sticking out
his hand. Teagan takes it, and he pulls her to her feet.  She is only as
tall as his chest.

“Wow, you are really fricking tall,” Teagan laughs.

The guy gives her a peculiar look. “Yeah, I’m 6’ 5”.”

“Holy cow,” Teagan exhales. She swears she has met him
before, but her memory refuses to cooperate.

“Come on,” he chuckles. Teagan follows him out to the
sidewalk. There are two police cars in the street with lights flashing. 

The officer ushers them to the squad car. “Now, would one
of you like to explain what happened?”

“Well,” Teagan starts, “The one guy approached me in the
bar.” Taking a deep breath, she explains everything that occurred. Finally, she
says, “And then he appeared.”

“And your name sir?” The officer inquires.

The guy looks at Teagan. “I would like to talk to the
officer alone.”

“Oh,” Teagan says, completely surprised. “Okay, I’ll go
sit on the bench.” She turns and walks over to it. When she sits down, Teagan
wraps her arms around herself. Then it’s like a wall crashing down as the tears
fall and she can’t stop crying. She puts her face in her hands and sobs.

A minute later, she hears, “Teagan!  Oh my god,
Teagan!”

She looks up to see Victoria rushing over to her. “What
happened!?”

“I was attacked!” Teagan cries. “It was horrible. It was
that guy from the bar. He had a knife and everything!”

Victoria quickly sits down and hugs Teagan. “I’m so
sorry!! I got sick and wasn’t even thinking you weren’t with us. I realized it
after I almost puked all over Isaac. Are you okay?”

“Nothing happened,” Teagan sniffles. “That guy saved
me.”

“What guy?” Victoria asks.

“That one,” Teagan retorts, pointing over to the police
officer, and then she realizes her rescuer is gone. “Where did he go?”

“Where did who go?” Isaac asks, coming over to her.

“This guy…he totally saved me,” Teagan whispers, looking
all around. “He practically destroyed Harry and the other guy.” The ambulance
shows up and two EMT’s run into the bushes.  “I mean, he saved me. Those
guys were going to assault me, and he broke one guy’s arm and nearly knocked
Harry unconscious.”

“Wow,” Victoria exhales. “Did you find out who he was?”

“No, but I am going to find out now.” She stands up and
walks over to the police officer.  “Excuse me, where did that guy go?”

“He said he would go down to the police station and give
his statement,” the officer replies.

Teagan frowns. “Do you know his name?”

“Yes, but he didn’t want to divulge that,” the officer
states. “Once this becomes public, you can get his name.”

“Oh, okay,” Teagan murmurs.

“Are you sure you are uninjured?” The officer asks. “It
looks like you have some bruising on your face.”

Teagan brings her hand up and winces. “That is where he
backhanded me.”

“I would like you to get checked out by the EMTs,” the
officer states, not giving her the chance to refuse.

Victoria comes up next to Teagan, holding her stomach.
“Teagan, I don’t feel good.”

“You are going to puke again aren’t you?”

Grimacing, Victoria says, “I think I need to go
home.  Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” Teagan replies.

“I would rather stay here with Teagan,” Isaac
interjects. He puts his hand on Teagan’s shoulder, and she’s too tired from the
events of the evening to even try to remove it.

“I need to go home,” Victoria whines. She looks green,
and she grabs her stomach.

Isaac’s face doesn’t bother hiding his anger, and he
starts to grumble. Teagan sighs. “I’ll be fine.  I will catch a cab home.”

“After you were just attacked!” Isaac yells.  I
don’t think so!”

“We will give her a ride,” the police officer
says.  She won’t have to worry.”

“I don’t know,” Isaac starts.  “This isn’t a small
thing.” He presses his lips together.

“Isaac, I’m a big girl. The guys are being arrested.
They won’t get near me again. It’s okay.” 

He pulls his hand off her shoulder and crosses his arms,
scowling, “Fine.  I will call you in the morning.” He looks weakly at
Teagan, and she knows that leaving her here hurts him.

“I’ll be all right. I promise,” Teagan reassures him.
“Just take Victoria home before she hurls all over the place.”

“Come on Victoria,” Isaac sighs.

“Are you sure you are okay?” Emily’s wind chime voice
wisps past Teagan’s ears.

Teagan turns to Emily. “Yeah, I promise. Nothing
happened to me. They are the only ones injured.”

“Okay,” Emily replies. “I will call you tomorrow, too.
I’ll bring Panera for lunch after I finish my last cello lesson.”

“Thanks sweetie,” Teagan says, reaching over to hug her.
“I’m going to go home and pass out. I am suddenly very exhausted.”

“I need to go,” Victoria burps.

“Let’s go,” Isaac groans, putting his left arm under
Victoria for support.

She watches her friends walk away and realizes that she
is all alone. The officer startles her when he taps her on the shoulder. “The
EMT would like to look at you.”

“Alright,” Teagan sighs. She walks over to the
ambulance. While she is sitting with the EMT, Harry and the other guy are
brought out of the brush on stretchers.

“That bitch is lying!” Harry howls.

“Excuse me!” Teagan yells back. “You were the one
holding the knife at me!”

The officer steps in front of Teagan. “You, sir, need to
keep your mouth shut. Anything you say can be held against you in a court of
law.”

“Come on ma’am,” one of the other officers says. “I want
to get your information, and then we can take you home.”

“Okay,” Teagan replies. She quickly looks at Harry.
“Maybe you will think twice before trying to put another woman in her PLACE.”

“Ma’am,” the officer sternly says. “Come on.”

With a huff, Teagan follows the officer to the squad
car. She gives the officer her ID. After he writes everything down, they get
into the car and he takes her home.  He rolls down the window and Teagan
enjoys the warm, night air breeze past her face. It calms her.

“Are you going to be okay Miss?” The officer asks,
before Teagan leaves the car.

“Yeah, thanks to that random guy, I’ll be fine. 
Thanks for the ride home.”

“No problem,” the officer replies. “Have a good night.”

“You too,” Teagan says, with a small smile. She gets out
and walks to her apartment complex’s door. Teagan takes a deep breath and
whispers, “You’re going to be fine,” as she opens the door.