"Your sister around?" he asked, looking toward the farmhouse. "Maybe she'd like to join the fun this time."
Naomi let a whimper escape, feeding their cruel excitement. She could see Ethan adjusting his camera angle, making sure to catch every moment of what they thought would be another easy victory.
"Got nothing smart to say today?" Chase taunted, circling her like a shark. "No big sister to hide behind?"
Kyle moved faster than his size suggested, shoving Naomi hard from behind. She let herself fall, landing face first in the mud. The impact split her lip against her teeth and she tasted blood.
"Look at that," Kyle hooted. "She's already crying."
Naomi stayed down, shoulders shaking as if with sobs. Mud seeped through Nia's shirt, cold against her skin. She felt boots surround her, heard the click of Ethan's phone getting a closer shot.
"Not so proud now, are you?" Chase's voice came from above. "This is what happens when you forget your place."
Someone spat, the glob landing inches from her face. Naomi pressed her forehead into the dirt, letting red drops from her split lip fall onto the mud. Her hands clenched in the soil, but she forced them to relax. Not yet. Let them get closer. Let them think they'd broken her completely.
"Maybe we should help her up," Travis suggested with fake concern. "You know, show her how nice we can be."
"Yeah," Chase agreed, and Naomi could hear the cruel smile in his voice. "Let's show her some real southern hospitality."
The four boys laughed, the sound echoing across the empty field. Naomi stayed perfectly still in the mud, coughing weakly, letting her bloody lip tremble. Every muscle in her body itched to spring up, to fight back, but she held herself in check just a little longer. Let them lean in closer, confident in their power over what they thought was a helpless girl.
Through her mud-streaked hair, she watched their boots shift closer, surrounding her completely. Above her, Ethan adjusted his grip on the phone, determined to capture every second of their supposed triumph. Chase grabbed Naomi's chin roughly, forcing her face up from the mud. His fingers dug into her cheeks as he sneered down at her.
"You're weak, just like your people. Always have been. Always will be."
Naomi's muscles coiled tight as a spring. She rose slowly, mud dripping from her clothes, and spat a mouthful of blood onto Chase's pristine white sneakers. Her voice came out as a low growl that none of them had ever heard before.
"You really shouldn't have done that."
The change in her demeanor was instant. Gone was Nia's timid posture, replaced by something dangerous and controlled. Her eyes, no longer downcast, blazed with cold fury. The transformation made them hesitate, confusion flickering across their faces.
Kyle recovered first, his massive frame launching forward with a roar. "You little—"
Naomi moved like lightning. She stepped into his charge, gripped his extended arm, and used his own momentum to send him flying. Kyle's feet left the ground completely. He crashed onto his back with a heavy thud that knocked every bit of air from his lungs. He lay there gasping like a beached fish, eyes wide with shock.
"What the hell?" Travis scrambled backward, grabbing a loose fence board from the ground. He swung it wild and clumsy, but Naomi was already moving. She ducked under the board easily, stepped inside his guard, and trapped his arm against her body. With one smooth motion, she twisted and drove her hip into him.
Travis yelped as his feet left the ground. He landed hard on his shoulder, the board clattering away. Before he could move, Naomi had him pinned, one arm locked behind his back at a painful angle.
"Stay down," she commanded, voice cold as winter steel.
Travis whimpered and nodded frantically.
Chase's face had gone from confusion to rage. He charged forward with a wordless scream, fists swinging. But Naomi had been waiting for this moment. She released Travis and flowed around Chase's wild punch like water. Her hands found his arm, guiding it past her as she pivoted. In one fluid motion, she dropped to the ground, pulling Chase with her. His arm extended across her hips as she locked her legs over his chest.
Years of training took over as she arched her back, applying precise pressure to the elbow joint. Chase's scream cut through the morning air as his wrist snapped with a sound like a green branch breaking. He rolled away, clutching his arm, high-pitched whimpers escaping through clenched teeth.
The only sound now was Kyle's desperate gasping and Chase's pained whines. Travis stayed frozen where he'd fallen, too terrified to move. Ethan stood rooted to the spot, his phone slipping from nerveless fingers to clatter in the dirt. His face had gone ghost white as he stared at Naomi.
She rose slowly to her feet, mud and blood streaking her clothes. Nothing about her resembled Nia now. Her stance was balanced and predatory, hands loose at her sides, but ready to strike. When she spoke, her voice carried across the suddenly silent field.
"You touch my sister again." She took one step forward, making them all flinch. "You come near our farm again." Another step. "And you'll either crawl out of here," her eyes locked onto each of them in turn, burning with promised violence, "or I'll bury you here."
The threat hung in the air like summer lightning. For a long moment, nobody moved. Then Kyle managed to roll onto his hands and knees, sucking in ragged breaths. Travis scrambled backward like a crab, eyes never leaving Naomi. Chase cradled his broken wrist, tears streaming down his face.
Ethan was the first to run, abandoning his phone in the dirt. The others followed in a stumbling rush, supporting Chase as they fled. Their boots kicked up dust as they raced for the truck, all previous bravado shattered.
Naomi watched them go, standing tall in the morning sun. Her split lip throbbed, and bruises were already forming where they'd struck her, but satisfaction burned bright in her chest. Behind her, the chickens had resumed their peaceful clucking, as if nothing extraordinary had happened at all.
The engine of Chase's truck roared to life. Tires spun in the gravel as they peeled away, leaving only a cloud of dust and Ethan's abandoned phone as evidence they'd been there at all. The phone still recorded, its lens capturing nothing now but the sky, and the silent aftermath of justice served.