[b]"The girl's kinda nice Eric except your hands are making her look hideous."[/b] One of the men said as he grated the uppermost part of his club against the ground. He then lifted it up and caressed it beside his right shoulder. [b]"There's one thing though."[/b]

He inched himself closer to Charlene, narrowing his eyes towards her once he did. Then he grabbed her glasses and dropped it to the ground. It was followed by a single stomp of his foot which immediately shattered it into chunks. Charlene screamed again, struggling to free her mouth from her captor. She knew it won't save her immediately but letting the sound of her screaming be heard in the dead night might increase the chances of being saved. Ed was still lying on the ground, half unconscious and ensnared by a giant man's foot. 

[b]"Now you look better."[/b] The man said as he laughed hysterically. The menacing sound of it sent sheer terror towards Charlene. She felt like a part of her was slowly being killed away just after hearing his laughter. 

[b]"Yo boss! am I just gonna hold her up? or is there something we can use to tie her down?"[/b] The captor asked. He was slowly losing grip of Charlene as she started to squirm. Her attempt was weak though but the one who was holding her concurred that it might become a problem. [b]"Because she's starting to get slippery."[/b]

The man laughed again, somehow screeching like a hyena.

[b]"Awww that's cute. Little princess thinks she can escape from her prince. Don't cha worry dear, I'll give you a nice lil' treatment."[/b] He giggled as he placed his hands on her chest and delicately brushed them down to her breasts. Charlene squirmed as much as she could with whatever strength she could muster. But every time she tried, her captor's grip became stronger. Then she realized that both of her feet were free from any restraints. She didn't spare a moment and immediately swung her right foot towards the man, hitting his lower part. It sent him stumbling backwards then groaned in pain. Afterwards, she felt the captor's grip on her mouth weakened. She took the opportunity as she gnashed the man's fingers with her teeth.

[b]"HELP! ANYONE! "[/b] Charlene immediately yelled on top of her lungs as her mouth was released from her captor's hand. Still, her entire body was locked by the man's other arm but that didn't stop her from struggling to be released. A few others who stood at the sides stepped in to bind her. One of them picked up a thick cloth from his bag, covering Charlene's mouth right away. The supposed leader of the group had already recovered from the kick just after binding Charlene again. His mood changed; his eyes were filled with a raging tension. 

[b]"Get that cloth off!"[/b] He roared and as soon as it was removed, he slapped Charlene hard. 

[b]"So you like to play rough huh? well then."[/b] He slapped her again then followed by another. Both were done to different sides of the cheeks. Charlene wanted to do another attempt of screaming but after being slapped three times in a row, she was burned out. It was too much to withstand, her face started to turn red after the fourth slap. 

[b]"Please....stop."[/b] She said right before the man could slap her for the fifth time. Her voice sounded weak. It was like a mix of sobbing and excessive panting. 

Ed slowly regained half of his consciousness. He craned his neck to see the unpleasant state of Charlene. He tried to move his body from the foot that was pinning him down. Unfortunately, there wasn't even a slight progress to that. 

[b]"You ain't going nowhere."[/b] The man said. Ed ignored his words as he struggled to let his voice out. 

[b]"Let...her...go...please."[/b] His mouth felt dry but despite that, he managed to utter a few words that were enough to be heard. But it did not give any progress in terms of diverting the men's attention to him. Instead, he was treated with a heavy stomp to his back.

The man stopped slapping Charlene once after both sides of her cheek reddened. He then proceeded to where he first started. As he placed his hands back to her chest, he briskly ripped her shirt off without unbuttoning it. 

[b]"I tried to treat you nice but since you refused, I'll give you a rough one."[/b]

[b]"Yeah and I'll be the next one boss since I'm the one who's giving an effort here."[/b] The person who primarily bound her added. 

[b]"Shut the fuck up! She's mine."[/b] The man growled angrily. 

Charlene glared at the man as he hurried to undress her. Right after he got closer, she threw a quick spit aimed at his face. The man stepped back as it landed only to fuel him more with rage. 

[b]"You little...BITCH!"[/b] He then gripped his club as he lifted it up. Then swung it, thrashing Charlene's skull with a force powered by his anger. She stopped moving after that strong blow. Her eyes remained widely open. After being unbound, she immediately fell and was sent to the ground like an object being disposed. 

Ed felt a strange sensation in his lungs as he panted more and more. He was shaking in complete fear just after hearing the sound of Charlene's skull smashed with a club and her body hitting the cold cement. He couldn't afford setting his sights on the scene but then again he had to know whether or not it was a trick played by his brain. 

[b]"You fucking killed her boss. YOU JUST FUCKING KILLED HER!"[/b] One of the men yelled. [b]"That wasn't part of what we're supposed to do."[/b]

[b]"It is now,"[/b] The man said. [b]"And if you're against it, you might as well join this boy as he will receive the same fate as this whore."[/b]

Time was running short as the men started to move towards Ed. They were likely to bind him up like they did to Charlene but Ed imagined something more brutal than what she faced. He closed his eyes while remaining still on the ground. One of the men grabbed his hair as their leader inched himself closer. His laughter was unbearable but there was nothing around Ed that could prevent him from hearing it. 

[b]"Let's see if you can still be a pretty boy if I beat you up."[/b] The man smiled, acting like he had no remorse on killing Charlene. Slowly, Ed was grabbed on both arms, forcing him to stand up but no action was further followed as the ground began shaking. It left the men frozen. The first wave was weak and abrupt but after a few seconds, another one followed and it was a quite stronger. 

[b]"What the fuck?"[/b] One of the men said. 

The shaking grew stronger and stronger until it eventually caused streetlights to tremble continuously. Trash bins nearby boomed a clattering sound as they fell to ground in unison. As the men noticed, some of them released their grip on Ed and started backing away slowly. It was when a streetlight collapse to the ground that had them panicking. 

[b]"Shit! It's an earthquake. Let's get outta here."[/b]

Immediately, they scrambled altogether. The tremor stopped abruptly as they retreated. After that, Ed felt shattered. The immense power he gathered had affected him greatly. It was like being crushed by a boulder followed by another one. Charlene was the next one on his mind. Ed rolled his head to see her but his eyes were languid, preventing him to get a clear view. He tried to stay conscious for a moment but he was completely drained. All of a sudden, there were two figures who came rushing by. They were blurry and couldn't be identified from Ed's line of sight but he assumed they were poking Charlene's lifeless body. If they had the same motives as the men earlier, Ed knew he'd certainly die as there wouldn't be anything else he could do to stop them. It was the last thing he saw before losing his consciousness.