It was a warm if rainy night for early autumn in the coastal town of Santa Maria. The streets were empty aside from the odd passerby. Everyone knew that the Sharks walked the streets at night, but for some traveling at night was unavoidable.
For a pizza delivery boy, it was unavoidable for the night shift; it was more like a fact of life. Jayden had been in the town for a few years since he's left home after a major argument with his father. The rain plastered his raven hair against his pale skin. He pedaled thru the dimly lit streets on his way home from his shift; he did his best to avoid the alleys in which Sharks were known to "stand guard" or whatever it was they called it. Still there were the areas in which shadows meged and refused to offer more than the slightest trace of light. Shadows tended to appear every few feet and the street lights flickered due to lack of repair.
Just one more straight and he was home free (not that it was much of a home, but it was all he had). He kept promising he would do better, if only for his own sake. He refused to go back to his father and brother in the big city several counties over. Jayden was determined to keep his independence. Yeah, it was a struggle to even make rent and buy food, but he did that he had worked for it. He didn't need tainted money; being starving and homeless was better than accepting dirty money from his family.
As Jayden started to turn the corner, he heard the sound of shattered glass and broken wooden boards against brick walls and metal trash cans. Jayden was almost safe in his own small apartment and yet, either due to his own curiosity or concerned for whoever was it was that might be injured, he followed the noise. Flight or fight seemed to have turned off. Around the corner in an alley that some Sharks were even seen in the daylight, it was there he saw a girl about his age surrounded by members of the Sharks. Her light brown hair was a mess of frizzy ringlets. Her grass colored tunic clung tight to her. They circled her in the misty rain that almost made them appear as if they were the animal they had taken their gang name from.
She was searching for a way, an opening to escape, but they made sure she was trapped within their human circle. Their every movement was deliberate and in synchronization like clock work. Jayden looked at the broken window of the nearby building; he knew it well-- he had lived in that old shop last year and the door on the side was still unlocked. The building had long been abandoned and left to rot by the city. Without thinking twice, he parked his bike just out of sight and snuck into the building. The city had never turned off the water and a bucket used by the former owner at one time to catch rain from leaks in the roof was still there. He filled it up with dirty brown water from the a rusted sink. He kept glancing at the Sharks closing in on the girl. The sharks tightened their circle almost close enough to grab her, he threw the bucket of water at their leader.
The Shark leader, already soaked from the misty rain stood in shock as water was dumped on him from behind. He jerked around as if expecting to see someone or block another attack. The entire group stopped and the girl found her opening to escape the circle. Jayden turned around as fast as he could to escape the building before the Sharks could trap him inside. His father once said no good deed went unpunished, though he had no intention of being cornered. The gang leader was still scanning for the source of the water and the sharks hundled together as if they expected another attack.
Jayden saw the girl at the front enterance. She seemed lost and he motioned for her to hop on his bike with him. Jayden didn't want to leave her alone, but he had no where to go. He couldn't go home, at least not till morning. The Sharks would be waiting for him; they met him at his own door enough on his good nights. He knew he would be a suspect to the sneak attack. No one wanted to captured by the Sharks. Some of their captives just disappeared and others . . .
"The lighthouse on the cliff." The girl whispered. Her green eyes pleaded more mercy and there was no denying her. "Could you take me there?"
Jayden nodded and adjusted his route. Not that there was much of a choice. "The lighthouse on the cliff. No problem."