Late night call

I spend the rest of Friday working, then eat dinner with Ashley and Mom. We don't hear from Kelly until much later. Well after I've gone to sleep, I am awoken by my cell phone ringing. I look at the caller and see Kelly's nice.

"Hello? Kelly?"

"Hey, Dom," she answers. Her voice is wavering and weak, on the verge of tears. I spin out of bed.

"What's wrong? Where are you?"

"The lake house. Can you come to get me?"

"I'll be there in twenty minutes, as soon as I can."

"Thanks, bro. Please hurry." Her voice cracks on the please, breaking my heart, and she hangs up. Thankfully, I know where the lake house is from taking her there a few summers ago. I throw on some sweatpants and a shirt, a pair of shoes, and an extra nootropic just in case I need it for some reason. A few minutes later, I'm speeding down the highway towards the lake and my sister.

I pull up to the lake house to see a massive party raging. Dozens of cars are parked along the road and people cover the yard around the home. I park at the end of the cars and run inside. Kegs of beer litter the living room and teenagers stumble around everywhere. I look around for Kelly, but I don't see her.

I dial her on my phone and she picks up on the fourth ring. "Kelly? I'm here. Where are you?"

"Upstairs, in the bedroom," she answers, her voice still quivering.

I run up the stairs, pushing aside some drunk guys and breaking apart a couple in the middle of an intense makeout session. I open each door as I pass it, seeing more of the teenagers than I want to, until I find Kelly alone in one of the bedrooms, sitting on the bed.

"Kelly?" I ask, as I enter the room. My sister has her blonde hair done in perfect curls, with makeup applied to match. She stands up when I enter, and I see she is wearing a low cut white tank top with a hot pink mini skirt, accompanied by a pair of converses. I don't see anything about her outfit, instead choosing to close the gap between us and wrap her in a hug. My sober mind doesn't understand what's going on, so I try my best to just be present for here. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," she answers, and she sags into me. "Just having a bad night. Some of my friends aren't as good of friends as I thought, I guess. Can you take me home?"

"Follow me," I answer, and take her hand to lead her out. I spearhead a path out of the roaring crowd: through the hallway, back down the stairs, and into the yard. Just as we make it halfway down the driveway, I hear a voice behind me.

"Hey, faggot!"

I ignore the voice and keep pulling Kelly with me. "Just keep going," she says, and I nod.

Suddenly, I feel her hand jerk from mine. I turn to see that one of the teenagers, wearing a varsity jacket, has grabbed her hand and pulled her away from me. "Hey, faggot, I was talking to you. Where the fuck do you think you're taking Kelly? She's hanging with us tonight." He grins, and one of his buddies beside him gives him a high five.

"Hey, man. This is my sister. I'm taking her home," I say, trying to remain calm. Another guy stands beside the man and his friend, and they're all built like tanks.

He hands off Kelly to the other guy beside him and walks up to me, getting in my face. "Let me make it real clear, pussy. She isn't going anywhere." I smell **** on his breath, hot on my face.

"Don't do this, dude," I say, holding my hands up to try and placate him.

"It's alright, Dom, you can just leave," Kelly says, her eyes downcast. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I give her an incredulous look. "Kelly, I'm not going-." My words are interrupted by the disruptive **** of the drunken teenager's fist slamming into my face like a fire truck. I spin around on the impact and fall to the ground, immediately tasting blood in my mouth. I look up at him and see a gloating expression on his face, and the other two guys high-five.

"Dan, what the fuck!" Kelly says and breaks away from the guy holding her to run up to Dan. She starts slapping him on the back, but he just pushes her down to the ground.

"Shut the fuck up, Kelly. You had your chance to play nice."

He can hit me, sure. I get it. He's in high school, too young to understand his decision. But he's not hitting my sister. No one gets away with that shit. I feel around in my pocket, my sober mind barely coherent enough to recognize the one course of action I need to take, and find the pill I brought. As Dan turns back to face me with his arms outstretched, I pop the pill and swallow it down.

And it hits.

Suddenly, I recognize a thousand things happening around me. The dilation of his pupils. The way he favors his left leg instead of his right. The braces on the guy who held Kelly. I climb back to my feet and stumble over to my sister. She lays on her back, skirt pooled around her waist and revealing a hot pink thong to all of us. I reach a hand out to her and help her to her feet, then push her behind me.

"Stay back," I warn her, and I raise my fists at the three teenagers.

"Dom, you can't fight them! Just go, I'll be fine. Please don't get hurt."

Dan charges at me, and my brain clicks into motion. I slide to his left and slam my leg forward in a low kick, colliding with his favored knee with explosive ****. I hear bones cracking and popping. A thousand hours of video games and YouTube flow through my brain in real-time, guiding my movements, as I sprint forward and throw a perfect cross into the jaw of the guy that had held Kelly back. He falls down, ****, and I step into a spinning back fist that breaks the other guy's nose. Blood gushes down onto his chest, and he looks down in horror.

"Dude, what the fuck!" he screams and runs off. Dan has already climbed back to his feet, stumbling towards me now that I've injured his good leg.

"You shouldn't have fucked with her." I run forward to launch myself into a flying front kick. The sole of my foot collides with his solar plexus and I feel the breath leave his body in a whoosh. He falls down to the ground, unable to breathe, and wreaths against the grass. He'll be fine in ten minutes, I know.

Not looking back, I take Kelly's hand and guide her to the car. Open the door for her, put her in the seat, and buckle her in. I can tell she's in shock, either at the events of tonight or at me, I don't know, but I am gentle with her. She doesn't say anything until we're halfway home.

"I didn't know you could fight like that."

"Me either," I answer, "but I was never going to leave you there."

She nods and we continue the drive in silence. I keep a wary eye on her and realize exactly how much skin she is showing. The crests of her full breasts, much larger than Ashley's or even Mom's, almost overflow the top of her tank top. The soft skin of her thighs is hardly covered by her skirt. I don't say anything. No matter how she's dressed, no one deserves to treat her badly.

When we get home, I help her upstairs and into bed. She doesn't say another word. I'm sad to waste the remaining effects of the pill, but I soon follow.