A shiver wracked through my body as I stood in the freezing air, my jacket doing little to stop the cold from permeating throughout my body. Shawn stood a few feet away from me, his hands shoved into his pockets. He rocked on the balls of his feet, whistling quietly to himself. Off a little ways was Mikey, looking incredibly bored and just as cold as I felt. One more other person was standing near Mikey- the driver of the car. He was a large, burly man with a shaved head. He caught me staring at him and he grinned. Immediately I turned my attention to the building we were standing by. Or rather, what was left of the building.

From what I could tell, it was the skeleton of a two-floor country house. However, the place looked like it had been through hell and back. The wood that was still standing was completely black and had some weird type of moss growing on it. Two sides of the house were still standing, also covered in the weird moss. Vines grew up one side of it, all the way up to the caved in roof.

Surrounding the decimated house was thick, dense forest. It disturbingly reminded me of the old warehouse we were at only a little more than a week before. A sudden gust of wind whipped my hair around my face, blocking my vision. As I raised my hand to push it away, the sound of an engine roaring came from the distance. My head turned in the direction the sound was coming from, and a moment later Mr. Heywood's car entered my vision.

"Finally," Shawn complained loudly. "I was beginning to think he wouldn't show. Eh, Holly?"

I glared at him for a moment before returning my attention back to Mr. Heywood's car, which was now coming to a stop near Shawn's vehicle. I started for the car, but Shawn gruffly grabbed my elbow, pulling me efficiently to a stop. Once more I turned my narrowed eyes to him. He held me fast as Mr. Heywood climbed out of the car, not even bothering to shut the door behind him.

"Good to see you!" Shawn chirped, using his free hand to wave at him. "How was the drive?"

As soon as Mr. Heywood got close enough to reach me, he grabbed my arm, forcing it out of Shawn's grasp. In a blink of an eye Mr. Heywood's fist was in Shawn's face. A startled gasp escaped my lips as Mr. Heywood brought his fist back and punched Shawn again, this time knocking him to the ground. Shawn smirked up at Mr. Heywood, wiping the edge of his mouth, which already had blood on it. Mr. Heywood struck him again, using as much force as he could.

"Three," Shawn stated, not even bothering to defend himself. "Keep them coming, Chris."

"What the hell are you counting for?" Mr. Heywood demanded, pausing in his assault.

Shawn's smirk grew wider. "Why don't you let Mikey show you?"

My eyes flew open when I felt a fist connect with my jaw. I stumbled to the side, turning to gawk at Mikey, who was approaching me menacingly. I staggered backwards, bringing a hand up to rub my sore jaw.

"Holly!" Mr. Heywood shouted, taking a step towards me. Shawn quickly clamped his hands around Mr. Heywood's ankles.

"One," he commented in a casual tone, keeping a vice-like grip on Mr. Heywood.

Mikey swung towards me again. This time I ducked to avoid his fist, but he brought his other hand up, smashing it into my gut. I doubled over, gasping in surprise. Before I had the chance to straighten myself, I once again felt a blow to my face, this time sending me sprawling into the dirt.

"Three," Shawn counted off.

"Holly!" Mr. Heywood shouted again, trying to break free from Shawn's grasp.

I stayed on the ground, sucking in as much oxygen as I could. Having the wind knocked out of me twice in one day definitely wasn't good. I waited for Mikey to hit me again, but nothing came.

"Holly, are you okay?" Mr. Heywood shouted at me.

I turned to him, struggling to push myself off the ground. "I'm fine."

Mr. Heywood turned his attention back to Shawn. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Let's see how quick of a learner you are. You should catch on quickly- you are a teacher after all," Shawn commented, finally letting go of Mr. Heywood's legs. "What will you do?"

Mr. Heywood once again punched Shawn face. "Shut up!"

This time I felt Mikey coming at me. I dodged his fist, making sure to keep an eye on his other hand so he couldn't use a cheap shot like last time. Mikey swung his fist at me again and I barely managed to stop him from hitting my face by blocking with my arm. Pain spread through my forearm at the contact of his strike. I took his moment of surprise from my block to return one of his punches. A look of surprise crossed his face as I managed to nick him pretty good on the jaw. However, in my elation of hitting him, he ended up striking me back in the nose.

I cried out in pain, my hands automatically shooting up to my nose. When I pulled one away, I could see blood covering it. Panicking slightly, I leaned forward to let it drip out.

Mr. Heywood started towards me again, but Shawn quickly grabbed him. "Four," he said in singsong voice.

"What are you counting?" Mr. Heywood demanded, trying to kick his leg free. "Let go, damn it!"

"You can't figure it out?" Shawn asked in a mockingly disappointed voice. "Wow. Holly might end up dead before you do."

I stared at Shawn in surprise. What was he talking about? And whatever happened to the not hurting me part? Mr. Heywood looked at, his expression probably mimicking mine.

"What shit are you spouting out now?" Mr. Heywood demanded, glaring down at Shawn. "What do you mean by that?"

Shawn shrugged. "You figure it out."

Mr. Heywood stayed quiet for a moment, staring down at Shawn with a hard expression. Shawn stayed on the ground, not even attempting to stand up. There was blood trickling down the edge of his lip, much like the blood that was still coming out of my nose, staining the ground below me.

"You're a bastard, you know that Shawn?" Mr. Heywood suddenly growled, bending down to grab the front of Shawn's shirt. In one swift movement, Mr. Heywood had him on his feet.

"Have you figured it out?"

"What do you want?" Mr. Heywood demanded, ignoring Shawn's question. "Tell me, Shawn. Before I kill you."

Shawn laughed loudly. "If you kill me, Holly dies."

Mr. Heywood scowled. "What do you want?" he repeated.

"To see you get the shit beat out of you," Shawn responded simply, losing all signs of humor. "To see you get what you deserve."

"So you're going to use dirty tricks so I won't attack you?"

Shawn cocked his head to the side. "Pretty much."

"I thought you said you were going to fight fair!" I shouted at Shawn, feeling the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

"I lied, Holly. You think you'd be used to lying, wouldn't you?"

Mr. Heywood yanked on Shawn's shirt, bringing him closer. "If I let you have me, are you going to let Holly go?"

Shawn glanced at me, amusement flickering in his eyes. "You want to bargain with me?" He made an tsking noise, looking back to Mr. Heywood. "I don't think you have the power to do that, Chris. I have the upper hand."

To prove Shawn's point, Mikey grabbed me by the hair, yanking my head back. A cry of pain escaped my lips before I could clamp them shut. Just as I was about to retaliate at Mikey, he let go of my hair. I quickly smoothed down my hair, taking a wary step away from him.

"What are you going to do with her?" Mr. Heywood growled, his shoulders tensed.

"You really want to know?" Shawn asked. "Well first I'd punish her for landing me in jail... but actually, I was planning to do that with you still conscious-"

"Punish me?" I repeated incredulously. "Because you were in jail where you belong?"

Mr. Heywood sent me a warning look. "Holly, quiet."

"Holly, jail sucks," Shawn responded simply. "And it's your fault I was there. You and your little antics."

"You belong there!"

"Holly!"

"What?" I demanded, giving a hard look to Mr. Heywood.

He returned my look with the same expression. "Stop talking back to him!"

"You're sticking up for me? Aw, thank you!" Shawn said, grinning. "But it's okay. That's what I like about this Holly- she's feisty. It'll be fun when I..." Shawn paused, for a second. "Well, I rather not ruin the surprise."

"You're not touching her, Shawn," Mr. Heywood stated threateningly. "If I don't kill you now, you're going back to jail."

"Kill me?" Shawn repeated with a scoff. "What makes you think you can kill me? I have back up."

Mr. Heywood glanced at Mikey, then the bald man. An amused expression flickered across his face. "I can handle them."

Shawn narrowed his eyes, but there was also an amused tone to his voice. "You sound confident. Tell you what, Chris. Let's fight one-on-one. Fairly."

"How can I trust you?"

Shawn glanced over to Mikey. "Mikey, go wait with Justin."

Mikey grunted in response, moving away from me. He walked over to the bald-man, Justin, and stood by his side, still looking menacing. With both of the other men a safe distance away from me, I felt more relieved. However the tense atmosphere between Mr. Heywood and Shawn still kept me on edge.

"Alright," Shawn started, turning back to Mr. Heywood. "Regular rules?"

Mr. Heywood crossed his arms. "One-on-one rules. That means no help, and no involving bystanders." He sent a pointed look at me. "If you as much as take a five steps in her direction, I'll resort to dirty tactics."

"Done and done," Shawn responded, taking a few steps away from me. "See? I'm moving away."

"Then let's get started," Mr. Heywood said, clenching his hands into fists. "Last time we fought it took two minutes and forty-three seconds for you to go down. Let's see if I can beat my record."

Shawn chuckled. "You were always so sure of yourself Chris." On the word Chris, Shawn sent his fist flying in Mr. Heywood's direction.

A startled gasp left my lips as Mr. Heywood narrowly dodged. Shawn swung out again, his eyes glued on Mr. Heywood. Mr. Heywood evaded the attack and countered, but Shawn quickly blocked it. After his block, he quickly brought his fist across, nicking Mr. Heywood's nose.

"Mr. Heywood!" I cried out, taking a step towards him.

"Holly, don't come closer!" he shouted back, never taking his eyes of Shawn. "Go to the car-"

"Nope," Shawn interjected, glancing at me quickly. "Holly, you stay there. If you try to go to the car, Mikey and Justin will stop you."

Mr. Heywood paused, his fists still at ready. "Why can't she leave?"

"You might not win," Shawn responded simply.

Mr. Heywood cast his fist towards Shawn's face, but Shawn eluded it by leaning backwards. They continued a small match of swing and dodge for a few minutes. Neither of them landing any hits, nor having one landed on them. My stomach twisted uncomfortably every time Shawn came close to landing one on Mr. Heywood. Shawn suddenly caught Mr. Heywood's fists, quickly bending Mr. Heywood's arm behind him. I gasped, wincing at the sharp twist of his limb.

"I say Chris, jail really took a lot out of you, huh?" Shawn commented casually, forcing Mr. Heywood's arm further against his back. "First you let me hit you with a shovel, and now you let me catch your arm."

Mr. Heywood stayed silent, bending over with his arm so it wouldn't break. My heart was in my mouth as I watched helplessly. I wasn't expecting Shawn to get the upper hand in the fight. Without warning, Shawn briskly flipped Mr. Heywood over his shoulder. Mr. Heywood landed on the ground with a hard thump, emitting a small groan. Shawn stepped over him, putting a foot on each of his arms.

"Having trouble, Chris?" Shawn asked teasingly.

"I'm fine, thank you," Mr. Heywood responded in the same tone.

Shawn smirked. Mr. Heywood let out a huff of air, his arms twitching under Shawn's feet. It wasn't that hard to figure out Shawn was trying to crush Mr. Heywood's fist. My eyes were glued to Shawn as he continued to smile smugly down at Mr. Heywood. It didn't seem like he was going to stop until he broke Mr. Heywood's wrists. A sick feeling spread throughout me as I stood by ineptly, unable to do anything to help.

"Does it hurt?" Shawn inquired when Mr. Heywood let out a small groan. "I remember how you always used to be wary of your wrists. You never liked them being touched."

Shawn lifted one of his feet off of Mr. Heywood's wrist. Relief washed over me- until Shawn abruptly brought his foot back down, stomping on Mr. Heywood's wrist. A cry of surprise left my lips as Mr. Heywood cried out in pain. Shawn lifted his foot up to do it again.

"Stop!" I shouted, watching him in horror. "Shawn! Stop!"

Shawn spared me a single glance before grinding his heel into Mr. Heywood's wrist. "Sorry, Holly. This is a fight."

"Damn it," Mr. Heywood groaned, trying to pull his arm out from under Shawn.

My feet started moving before I had even told them to run. When Shawn went to stomp on Mr. Heywood's other wrist, I leapt at him, tacking him to the ground, and off of Mr. Heywood. We landed hard, Shawn somehow ending on top of me, and crushing me into the ground. His eyes were wide in surprise as he stared down at me, caught off guard.

"What are you doing?" he growled, putting his hand on either side of me, and trying to push himself back onto his feet.

I quickly wrapped my arms and legs around him, trying to keep him on the ground. His arms gave out from under him, and once more we fell back to the ground. Shawn scowled at me, trying to pry my arms off him.

"This is a one-on-one fight," Shawn enlightened me, pushing up from the ground again, taking me with him. "No help from bystanders. Or else we turn to dirty tactics."

I gave him a confused look, trying to figure out what he meant by that. What were dirty tactics to fighting? Shawn pulled his arms out from under him and my back hit the hard ground roughly, causing me to exhale sharply. Shawn gave me a knowing look.

"If you don't let go of me, I'll keep doing that."

"No you won't," a new voice interrupted. "Holly let him go."

I shook my head. "No, Mr. Heywood, you-"

"Let him go," Mr. Heywood repeated, his tone hard. "Now."

Reluctantly, I released Shawn from my hold, holding my breath while he hovered over me. Mr. Heywood appeared in my field of vision, and he kicked Shawn off me. Shawn rolled, swinging both his legs out, and somehow knocking Mr. Heywood over. He landed half on me, half on Shawn. Shawn got a tight grasp on him, flipping him onto his back. I scrambled out form under his legs, reaching over, and grabbing Shawn's head. He growled in annoyance, letting go of Mr. Heywood to grab my arm. Mr. Heywood used this chance to rectify himself. As soon as Shawn shoved me away from him, Mr. Heywood shoved Shawn back to the ground, straddling him. Shawn gave Mr. Heywood a disgruntled look while Mr. Heywood pressed down on Shawn's collarbone.

"Are you ready to die?" Mr. Heywood questioned, moving his hands to Shawn's throat.

Shawn laughed humorlessly. "You can't kill me, Chris."

"What makes you say that?"

Shawn's eyes trailed over to me. "Shouldn't you keep an eye on Holly, too?"

My arms were suddenly tugged behind me, bending backwards painfully. I glanced behind me to see Justin grinning at me. He yanked on my arms harder, making me take a quick inhale of breath.

"What are you planning on doing?" I heard Mr. Heywood demand.

"I'll leave that up to your imagination," Shawn responded in a wicked tone. "I'll give you a hint. Remember with the other Holly-"

I turned back to the pair just in time to see Mr. Heywood smash his fist into the side of Shawn's head. "You're a bastard," he growled, grabbing the front of Shawn's shirt to pull him up, only to punch him down again.

"Mr. Heywood!" I called, trying to pull myself free. "Wait-"

He ignored me, continuing to pummel Shawn who lay exposed underneath him. Shawn didn't even bring up his arms to protect his face. It made me nervous. Why wasn't Shawn fighting back? Why was he just letting Mr. Heywood batter him? Eventually Mr. Heywood stopped hitting him, relaxing his shoulders.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" he asked.

Shawn shrugged, but before he could answer, a loud shout came from behind me. Mr. Heywood's head snapped towards the noise, but I couldn't turn to look because Justin still had his hold on me.

"Shawn! The cops are on their way!"

Shawn's head turned towards the new voice, his face hardening. "What? How?"

"A little friend named Jeremy," Mr. Heywood informed him, rolling his eyes. "Did you really think I'd come here unprepared, Shawn?"

Shawn narrowed his eyes. "Shit! We're out of time. Send out the others."

My eyes widened. The others? What others? Justin wrenched me around, making me face the old, rundown building. My heart stopped beating when I saw many men filing out the broken down door. At least seven of them came out, all looking intimidating and ominous.

"I told you I had back up," I heard Shawn comment. "I'll let them take care of you."

_________________________________________

Hey-oh folks! So this chapter is going to be longer than I expected, so I have to break it up into two parts. Here's the first part, but I have to go Christmas shopping, so I don't have time to write the second part yet, but hopefully when I get back I can finish it up! Or maybe tonight. It depends. It might be out tomorrow morning. I'm actually planning to go to Avarie's house tonight but... Eh, we'll see lol. Enjoy the first part!

I didn't proof read. I actually never do.

The video attached to this chapter is something my 13 year old cousin wanted me to show you guys. So check it out if you want. Leave a nice comment. The best part is when Jake is like "why?" and Charlie is like "... Why what?" loool. Just... yeah. Watch it. It's a lot to sit through but that's a good part.

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