Chapter 27

The air was cool, not too chilly though I felt the chills of walking alone at night. The park was a short distance to walk, about five to ten minutes but it felt like I was taking forever to arrive. There was barely anyone on the street; it somewhat felt like a ghost town. I heard loud cackling in the distance, causing me to be even more alert as I looked at my surroundings. I would constantly turn around with the feeling that someone was behind me then quicken my pace. I suddenly heard whistles, spinning my head to my left to see a couple of guys on the other side of the road, all staring at me. I couldn't see their faces clearly and decided I wasn't going to slow down to do so as I continued walking faster. However, this time, I could clearly hear the footsteps behind me and knew for a fact that I was being followed and on turning around for a split second, I saw that it was the same three guys from across the road.

"Come back sweetheart!" One called out to me but without sparing another glance, I started running only to come to an abrupt halt when three more of them appeared in front of me with their face partially covered to only reveal their eyes.

My heart stopped because turning both directions, I realized that I was now surrounded by six of them in total.

"Where are you going so late baby girl?" One asked in a husky voice.

"Are you lost? Because I can give you directions to my place," another piped.

My mind was flooded with dreadful thoughts but I cleverly remembered what Tao was teaching me earlier.

Don't let them know you're scared, his voice rang in my head.

"Leave me alone," I demanded, immediately looking for an escape.

"And why would we do that now honey? You're too good to pass up," one spoke.

My eyes switched from person to person, trying to predict their next move before they could make it. My heart was palpitating incredibly fast that it increased my fear.

"What do you want?" I enquired, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Ain't it obvious darling? You," one to my left stated, reaching out to grab my wrist.

Adrenaline kicked in as I attempted a move Tao taught me earlier. Rotating my wrist so that my thumb met his thumb, I harshly pulled my hand towards myself, succeeding to break free then shoved him aside, making a run for it but before I could reach far, another grabbed me from behind and on instinct I elbowed him in the ribs. Another came at me and on instinctive reaction I punched him in the face but not as hard as I hoped to. He gave a slight groan and the other three looked on in shock. Before anyone of them could make a move towards me, I kicked the closest one in the unspeakable, causing him to fall to his knees, groaning loudly in pain.

"Dammit Sariah! Ouch!" He suddenly cried, taking me by surprise.

"You know me?! Who are you all?!" I demanded and the fortunate other two pulled off their masks, shocking me like a thousand volts.

"What the ?!" I cursed loudly when I saw who they all were.

The six of them stood there silently, four of them still recovering and another revealed himself.

Where the hell do the surprises end?

"Mark? What the hell is this?!" I demanded.

"It was a test," he admitted softly, visibly swallowing hard. "Are you mad?"

I simply looked at him with fury and hurt as well as a slight amount of disappointment.

He bit his lip, taking a step closer with a remorseful look.

"Umm, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would end up like this. I was just trying to see how you would react in a situation like this; how you would defend yourself. If it's any consolation you did pretty damn good for not knowing self-defense."

"Mar