Mike knew he was lost when he saw the fifth homeless man give him the evil eye. “Mike?” asked Teddy, a tinge of worry at his voice.
The buildings were run-down town houses, with trash in the street. They were not near Times Square, and they were certainly not near Central Park. He had to admit it. “We’re lost,” Mike said.
“Maybe we can get a cab,” said Teddy.
Of course, he was being sensible. If they could only retrace their steps, but Mike had taken so many turns that he didn’t realize what streets they had taken.
“You look lost,” said an obvious bag lady, pushing a carriage and pulling another one behind her, full of trash bags with clothes spilling out. Even in this hot weather, she wore four layers of clothes. Her hair was long and ratty, just a short way away from dreadlocks. The woman smiled – she had four teeth.
“That obvious?” said Mike.
“Follow me,” the woman said, and started walking up the road. Mike and Teddy shrugged and followed, assuming their guide would bring them to the light of civilization. She turned down a thin street, mostly cobblestones with some asphalt patches. There were a lot of missing stones that Mike had to deftly cross the potholes.
Then, the woman stopped. Mike could see two men in front of her. Both men held bats.
“Charlie,” said the woman, “Look what I brought you.”
Mike muttered, “Oh, fuck,” and rolled his eyes. “I should have known.”
Teddy knew, as he crouched in his boxer’s stance, fists close to his face.
“Go left,” said Mike, as he pulled the darkness toward him to begin the spell to create creatures of darkness to fight for them.
“Right!” said the guy in front of them on the left hand side. Mike took that to mean the one Teddy was going after. He got through half the spell, when he felt a train hit him in the back of the head.
Mike fell to the ground, unconscious, as Teddy whirled to see a man with a bat also behind Mike. “Mike!” Teddy screamed, and took three steps to him, trying to pick him up. However, the three men with bats fell on Teddy, who curled up around Mike, protecting him from the blows. Teddy played dead.
They pulled out his and Mike’s wallet and phones. Teddy didn’t move, even though he was fully conscious and, in fact, could easily have taken down the men. But he lay there, holding onto Mike, letting the men steal anything on them, even the wedding ring Mike wore. When they left, Teddy sat up, cradling Mike, seemingly afraid to lift him, and equally afraid to leave him.
Dark fell. A man in an overcoat shuffled by. Teddy called for help, but the man kept going, not even stopping. Finally, Mike took a deep, shuddering breath and opened his eyes.
“Ohhh, God,” he moaned, turning his head. “What the hell hit me?”
“A guy with a bat,” said Teddy.
“Did you kill him for me?”
Teddy looked away. Mike’s eyes narrowed. “Shit, Teddy…” He tried to sit up. Teddy lifted him to a sitting position.
“I’m sorry, Mike. I didn’t know if they’d beat you more.”
Mike felt the back of his head and his hand came away sticky. There was blood on the cobblestones. “We have to find our way back,” he said. “I wish Scott was here. He’d heal me up a lot faster.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I’m not Scott.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Mike said. He got to his hands and knees. The world tilted. “I’m going to need your help to get up. And then, I’m going to kill those bastards.”
