Chapter Two

After slipping it on and feeling a little better, he shut the door, locked the car, and approached the people in the alleyway. Three men stood there: two holding knives, while the last, who looked like the leader, was busy going through the woman's bag.

"You don't have any money?" The man demanded. "How can you not have any money? You work four jobs, Eds." 

"I know. They aren't enough to pay my bills and..." She began to babble.

"Blah blah blah. Excuses, excuses," The leader cut her off, tossing her bag to the ground. "You remember what I told you I'd do to your boys if you don't pay me my money?"

"Please, don't hurt them," She pleaded, dropping to her knees. "Give me a month."

"Because of my love for you, I gave you six months, Eds," The leader reminded her. "I don't do that and you know it."

"Please," She sobbed. "Please."

"How about this? You give me your body and I'll let you off the hook for now?"

"What?" She stared wide-eyed at him. "No!" She exclaimed.

"Really?" The leader chuckled darkly. "I'll take you by force then."

"What's going on here?" Sinjin demanded in a bored voice, causing the three men and the woman to stare at him in surprise.

"Who the fuck are you?" The leader questioned, drawing his gun from the waistband of his jeans. "You better not be a cop or you won't leave here alive."

Sinjin sauntered towards them, hands in his pockets. He glanced down at the woman still on her knees, but he couldn't see her face very well. It was covered in grime, and she wore a dirty baseball cap. He figured she'd be around his age, maybe two years younger.

"Why are they bothering you? Do you owe them money?" He asked her. It was quite obvious, judging from their earlier conversation but he was pretending to ignore the men.

"Ye... Yes, sir." Her voice shook. "I owe them... a lot of money."

He turned to face the men then. "That doesn't give you the right to treat her like this." He stated. "You're all assholes, you know?"

"What the..." The leader cocked his gun. "I give you five seconds to turn around and leave or I'll blow your brains out with this thing."

"I'll need just five seconds... Or a minute to finish you." Sinjin remarked, smirking smugly. "Don't hide behind your gun, asshole. If you're man enough, fight me with your fist."

"It's been twenty four hours since I killed somebody." The leader informed him. "I won't hesitate to use this. I don't give third chances."

"You see, I love rescuing damsels in distress so I can't leave." Sinjin cracked his knuckles and rotated his neck. "Which one of you assholes want to go down first?"

"Fine. I'll let them beat you up first before I put a bullet in you." The leader agreed.

Sinjin took exactly a minute to disarm the two men and left them unconscious before turning to face the last man without breaking a sweat. Thankfully, the woman, positioned behind the man with a gun, acted just in time; as Sinjin was about to be shot, she grabbed something from the ground and struck the armed man on the back of his head, causing him to fall unconscious, while a bullet discharged from the man's gun.

"Are you okay, sir?" The woman inquired.

"Uh... Yeah. Thanks for that," He gestured to the unconscious man. "I saw my life flashing before my eyes." He chuckled.

"Thank you for coming to save me," She said. "Um... We should leave before they wake up."

"Right," He sighed, and they walked away. "That's... My car." They halted approximately five feet away from his car, which, thankfully, remained untouched.

"Oh," She muttered. "That looks... expensive." She cleared her throat. "Thank you very much once again."

"They'll be back. You should report them to the police." He said.

"The police pay us no mind here in the badlands of Elderstone," She chuckled nervously. "They'll leave me alone when I pay them."

"How much do you owe them?" He asked.

"Um... About... Six hundred thousand dollars. Well, it wasn't up to that amount but every month I couldn't pay back, they increased the interest," She shrugged nonchalantly even as she took a deep shuddering breath.

"How about I help you pay them back?" He asked.

"Oh! I... What you did for me back there was enough," She protested. "You risked your life to save a stranger and you don't even live here. I don't want to owe you any more than I do now. I'll take care of it."

"I don't mind," He assured her.

"I do mind," She said. "Thank you for your help."

"Fine," He sighed. "Can I at least know your name? I'm..."

"Uh... No thanks," She cut him off. "I don't want to put you in trouble. They'll definitely ask me about you and I can't lie to save myself."

Sinjin chuckled. "I have the means to protect myself. You saw how I took those men down, didn't you?" He asked.

"It was impressive, but Taron and his men are not the only ones. He has someone more powerful backing them up. That man, Tiger, doesn't give any chances." She said.

"Then you're the one in danger," He said. "You live here, don't you? I don't, and they can hardly come to beat me up in my house. Let me help you."

"You're a wonderful person, sir," She sent him a smile. "I just... I'm sorry, but I have to go." She took two steps back. "I'll never forget this." She turned and fled.

Sinjin watched her go until she disappeared from view. With a sigh, he shrugged and unlocked his car, opening the door and sliding in behind the wheel. Fastening his seatbelt, he started the car, reversed, and drove back the way he came. 

He had many things to worry about, but none of that mattered. All he could hope for was that the woman would be safe, along with her boys.