The Crimson Prince： Awakening 24 Chapter 23: Jake

Will sighed, 'third option it is.' he thought as he finally gave into the situation. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked as he scratched his head. "Is my friend there really worth your dignity?"

The three men stared at him. They were much larger than him, they had a knife to his friend and he was still calm. "Kid, I don't think you understand the situation you're in." the bald thug with the knife said with a smile, "do you really want to be responsible for this kids death?" pointing the knife to Jake's throat, a bead of blood forming under the tip of the blade.

"You see sir, I just claimed responsibility for my friend there," he pointed to Jake. "If anything happens to him it would be like me going against my word," he said with an innocent smile. "So would you kindly let him go?"

The bald man stared at Will for a time. 'This kid either has a death wish or he really doesn't know what's going on.' he thought to himself. Suddenly he started laughing. "Sure kid, prove your word and give us all the money you have!" saying between breaths as he laughed at Will.

Will only smiled at the man. Of course he wouldn't be taking him seriously, Will was just a kid. Anyone else in the city would probably just turn their heads from Jake and wait until later to see his face on the news as a result of a brutal murder. Will hated the ones who would turn their heads more than the ones who would actually do the deed. In a city like New York, there were millions of opportunities to stop a situation like the one he was dealing with. Will knew how dangerous these people were to the inhabitants of the city, if left alone, they would just return to what they were doing when he left. Jake was an infinite money token, if he wasn't saved from this situation, he would no doubt be put back into it again within minutes after he paid.

"I know how that turns out," Will said with a smile. "The only way for you three to let go of my friend," suddenly his smile vanished and a murderous glare replaced in his features. "Is if you are incapable of holding him anymore." Suddenly the nice cool day turned to a blazing heat as Will unleashed his aura. He allowed his disdain for the three men show in his disproving glare. If he didn't hold back only a little, the man and his friends would undoubtedly be dead within moments.

The three thugs had enough at that point. A kid no older than eighteen was threatening them. That in itself was enough for the bald one to switch his knife from Jake to Will. "Kid if you think you have what it takes to take me on, I'll show you just how wrong you are." he said while flas.h.i.+ng the knife in front of Will.

"Fine then sir," Will looked at the man while in a haze of murderous intent. "You take the first shot," he said with a smirk. "Show me how wrong I was." Will was ready for anything. He had been through h.e.l.l and back in less than a year. He had been to a different world in which he only knew suffering. Maya's face flashed in his mind. He was not ever going to lose an innocent again, as long as they were within his ability to save, he would bathe in blood before allowing even one to feel pain.

Jake just stared at Will, he had been around a lot of people in his life. Some of them had been as friendly as Will, just to turn into something else completely after a threat had emerged, though none of them had been that young and not hardly as intimidating.

What could he possibly gain by helping him? He was putting himself in the line of death, just to protect someone like him who had no value within the world. If he could only get away from the two henchmen, he would at least be able to give Will a running start. But as he looked at the other man, he was completely calm. If he were yelling or screaming obscenities it wouldn't be as bad, but as he looked into Will's eyes he saw someone who shouldn't even be talked to the wrong way. It was as if he were a completely different person from the one who approached him. He knew somehow, Will wouldn't lose this match.

As he was being held down, Jake saw the bald man lunge for Will, he could see that by the man's movements, he wasn't a stranger to using the blade. His movement was quick and calculating, obviously going for a kill with the first strike.

Had he not had extensive training by his uncle, Will would undoubtedly been hit by such a strike. Seeing the blade coming for him, Will side stepped to the right, sending his elbow towards his a.s.sailants exposed neck from behind. The bald man was knocked off balance by the surprise counterstrike as he stumbled past Will. He had to hold back almost all his strength so he didn't accidentally break the man's neck, but he figured just that should have been enough to make the man back down. Will didn't feel as though he should kill this man. If he did, what would make him any different from his a.s.sailants?

Hardly able to keep on his feet, the man finally regained his balance, turning around he sent a murderous glare to the boy that was staring at him as if nothing happened. Will only smiled back at him, obviously not even feeling the severity of what he had just done.

Will felt sorry for this man. It wasn't too long ago that he was in the same position, fighting an inevitable defeat. Will had been beaten so many times without any hope of success, he knew what must be going through this man's head. First the wraiths, then Michael. He had even lost Maya because he wasn't strong enough. He had made a silent oath after that horrible defeat to never let someone he cared about be harmed again, that he would be strong enough to fight for those who stood with him. Now it was time to live up to that oath and show Jake he was a man of his word.

With new conviction, the man entered a barrage of stabs towards Will, though nothing compared to what he had to deal with when sparring with Michael. He dodged every blow without any help from his aura. Jake could clearly see the look in Will's eyes as he dodged every blow. The man felt as though he were a ghost. Just before the bald man landed a hit with the knife, Will simply stepped aside as though he were just avoiding an object.

The man showed no intention of letting up, and Will was getting bored. Finally, after what seemed like ten minutes, Will caught the knife arm. The man tried to pull away, but Will put a little of his aura into his hold increasing his strength. The more the man pulled, the stronger Will's hold became.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere, the man used his other arm to punch Will in the ribs. With each punch he realized this kid wasn't normal, he didn't let go, he didn't even look like the blows were affecting him.

The man had no intention of stopping anytime soon. He continued to punch Will in the ribs, trying as hard as he could to make this kid let him go. With each hit, Will's eyes grew darker. No matter what he tried, the man wouldn't let go of the knife, he wouldn't stop trying to kill. Will's demeanor had changed from playful to dangerous. He grabbed the man's other hand right before yet another strike. Holding it as if he were holding a child's hand, he lightly squeezed it. The man screamed as he felt a finger break.

"Let Jake go." Will said in a dangerous voice, "He's not going to help you anymore and you should already know you won't win." The man face twisted into a look of pure rage.

"Get over here and help me with this a.s.shole!" The bald man screamed at his men. In an instant, Will was surrounded by the men, yet he still held the man's hands.

Jake couldn't believe what he was seeing. The bald man had attacked and killed dozens of people for their money right in front of him. He was the reason Jake felt like the situation was useless, that he would never get out. To his astonishment, the young man William was the only person needed to push him to the limits. Jake looked yet again into Will's eyes, he didn't see even a shred of mercy within them. If the man didn't give up, Will would kill him.

The two men pulled out their own knifes and within moments, they were going for Will. In their minds it was an easy fix, his two hands were preoccupied by their boss. All it would take was one of them to land a hit and the kid would be down.

As the two ran in for the kill, Will twisted both hands until he heard two snaps. The boss screamed as both of his hands broke. With the man on the ground in shock, Will had his hands back. The men with knives came from both sides, but Will had plenty of time to react. Using his aura, he allowed time to slow down around him. Both knives were about to reach his ribs on either side. Before that happened, Will s.n.a.t.c.hed both hands, snapping them as he did their boss. Both of the men clutched their hands as they howled in terror.

"As I said, my friend over there is under my protection." Will said as he looked from baldy to his goons. "Your boss just lost the ability to put his hands on my friend there," he said with a smile. "You have also tried to lay hands on me," he said while turning to the two, "I've left you with one hand each, that should be enough to take your boss and leave." His smile s.h.i.+fted to a dangerous scowl, "unless of course you want to lose those as well." The men could sense his intent and quickly got to their feet. Eyes wide in fear, they grabbed their boss and ran away.

Will waited until the three rounded the corner before looking back at Jake. "Maybe you would think of joining me now that your debt has been cleared?" He asked with a sincere smile on his face.

All he could do was stare at the boy. His first thought of him was that it was less likely that he could hold up his end of the deal. Seeing the way Will fought the bald man, fighting for a complete stranger made him wonder if what Will said was true. Maybe he should take a step out of himself and take him up on the offer.

Will lowered his hand for the tattered clothed Jake to grasp. Still smiling, Will gestured him to get up. "By taking this hand, you cast off all ties to this life. No more street corner, and no more submission by intimidation." he said with a serious look down at Jake. "If you take this hand, your life begins again."

Jake looked at the hand. He was sure to a point that will could hold up the deal in which he made. He looked back at the corner, where he had been for the past year doing nothing but begging. His life has been bleak at best, struggling for his next meal, more times than not having to resort to restaurant dumpsters to stay alive. At that time he realized what Will was offering, no matter if it was false or not, was a better deal by far than what he now had.

Jake slowly reached his hand up, half expecting Will to take his back like it was a joke. Showing his sincerity, Will met him half way and brought him to his feet.

"Hey Bianca," Will called out behind him with a smile. "We are going shopping for one more." Will pointed behind him to Jake with a smile.