Home Alone 2
by Alpesco



We never intended to go back into the county again, after our run-in with the
kid from hell. But times were hard, and we knew there was plenty worth
stealing in the bigger homes in the district. We chose the Bellman place. The
family were known to dislike banks, and there would be thousands of dollars
worth of valuables and equipment. It was lonely and isolated. This time too,
we knew it was deserted. Our contacts had told us that the owners had gone to
see relatives at the coast. The place was ripe for the picking.

Larry, Carl and I still worked together, and our partnership had been very
successful in the two years since our release. Twenty four burglaries without
capture was a good record. But we still needed money.

Larry steered the blue delivery van into the drive with the headlights off. We
drew up at the darkened buildings and looked round. No dogs. No security
lights. Good. Carl went off to cut the phone lines. The front door opened
easily, leading to a big, open living room with a stairway leading up to a
balcony landing. Larry's girlfriend, Jane, had come with us to stay in the
truck and keep watch.

'Move the light stuff first,' I said. 'Then go upstairs for the jewellry,
money and credit cards. Look for a wall or floor safe. Take your time. We've
got five hours to sunup...'

Suddenly a light blazed on high above us. I turned to look to the up, and saw
a vaguely familiar face looking down from half way up the stairway.

'I don't believe it,' said Carl. 'It's her!'

'It's who?' I said.

'The girl. The kid from the lakeside place.'

'It can't be!'

'I remember you three bozos,' the girl said, her voice all too familiar. 'Have
you come back to this neighborhood for more punishment? Oh.' she grinned. 'You
didn't know anyone would be here, did you? My sister is housesitting here, and
brought me along.'

'Sister?' I looked around.

'She's out visiting. She'll be back soon.'

'This ain't the little kid we met at the lakeside place?' Larry asked. He
caught-on fast - for a clam.

'But she's...' Larry paused.

'Bigger?' the girl finished. 'Well, last time we met was three years ago. I
was only nine then, now I'm all of twelve.'

Even I'd forgotten how fast kids could grow. She still looked basically the
same, but now she was somewhere between five foot four and five-six. She'd
filled out a bit too. She was still tall and gangly but there was more meat on
her bones. But however much she'd grown, she wasn't going to ruin our plans
this time.

'Get her!' I roared.

Larry, Carl and I sprang forward. The girl turned and ran further up the
stairs. As she got to the top step, she suddenly turned and sent her foot
flying outward in a vicious kick into Carl's chest. I heard the deep thump of
the impact, and the whoosh of air as it was driven out of Carl's body. Not
expecting any form of attack from the kid, he fell backward with a grunt of
surprise, losing his balance to topple back on top of me and Larry just a step
behind him. All three of us lost our balance. Larry and Carl fell together,
collapsing in a tangled heap at the bottom of the stairway. I managed to
regain my balance, circling my arms to keep myself upright on the upper step.

That's when the punch hit me. At first I couldn't believe it was the kid,
except that she was the only one on the landing in front of me. A rock-hard
fist came out of nowhere and struck me in the side of the face. Despite he
size, the kid could throw a punch. Sharp pain flashed through my
consciousness. I felt one of my teeth crack somewhere deep down in the jaw,
and my head flew back. My arms spun helplessly as I tumbled backward, crashing
down the stairs to join the others.

Looking up I saw that the girl had vanished.

'Find her!' I yelled in fury, feeling the bruising on my back and arms as well
as the rising lump at my jaw. I staggered to my feet. 'You and me up the
stairs!' I pointed to Carl. 'Larry, circle round the back.' I pointed toward
the kitchen.

Larry nodded and crossed over to the kitchen doorway as Carl and I began to
clinb the stairs once more. We'd got half way up, when I noticed a large and
growing shadow looming above us. At first I couldn't see what it was. Then I
recognised the squared bulky shape. It was a dresser. A heavy wooden dresser
with a large mirror, moving slowly along the corridor near the ceiling. Then I
saw the girl underneath, holding the five foot wide dresser above her head on
her outstretched arms as she walked towards us. The sight was surreal. I
stared, amazed that this twelve year old girl had found the strength to hold
an eighty pound dresser above her head as if it was an inflatable pool-chair.
Too late when I recognised the danger. She halted at the top of the stairs,
and her arms flew forward, releasing the dresser to topple down the stairs on
top of the two of us.

'Run!' I screamed as the two of us dove down the stairs. Somehow we managed to
escape the main force of the falling dresser. But it clipped both of us as it
crashed downward, pinning us both to the floor at the bottom of the steps as
it broke up with a fearsome crash.

'As you can see,' Brionn looked down on us with an evil grin. 'I'm an awful
lot stronger than I was three years ago.' She flexed her arm, and a
baseball-sized sphere of muscle suddenly sprang into existence in the middle
of her upper arm, swelling and hardening as she contracted. I remember
thinking it was an impressive bicep for a twelve-year-old. Then a wave of
anger overtook me.

'I'll kill you, you brat!' I roared, struggling to tear myself free of the
wreckage of the dresser, my whole body full of pain.

'First you'll have to catch me.' she said. 'Before you do that, I'll have
wiped you bozos out.'

'Keep talking kid,' I said, for I could see Larry coming along the passage
behind her. She was caught already!

She must have seen something in my face, for she turned at once, finding
herself face to face with Larry on the landing. As he moved towards her, arms
outstretched, I saw the girl adopt a martial-arts stance. Larry smiled. He had
her cornered at the end of the landing, and was just four feet away from her.
But just as he was about to grab her, she gave a loud cry of 'Hayah!' and a
massive karate kick fired upward from her right leg to crash into the side of
his head. She was clearly very flexible, and very strong.

Larry staggered backward in pain and surprise. I too was startled by the sheer
force of the blow. The kid must have legs of steel to slam a full grown man
backward like that, blood trailing down from his now misshapen nose. Unfazed,
the kid took a brisk step forward and her long leg sent two more hugely
powerful kicks smashing in to the left side of his head.

Larry literally flew into the rear wall, slamming into it with a thud that
rattled the doors. He staggered a step forward, trying to grab her once more,
but he looked dazed and unsteady. A third fearsome kick from the girl sank
deep into his stomach, doubling him over in pain. Her legs were long, slender
columns of muscle, clearly capable of projecting a lot of power. The worst
thing for me was the triumphant look on the face of the kid - as if she'd
expected to take this guy apart all along.

'Grab her, Larry!' I yelled.

But he was too groggy and disorientated to respond. Seeing this, she drew her
hands into two angular fists, and began to send a stream of punches flying
into his body. The amount of power the kid's punches bore was unnerving. The
crack crack crack as they landed filled the room, each one sounding at least
as heavy as the one that had knocked me down the stairs, and they struck not
once or twice, but in a continuous heavy chain that echoed down the corridor.
Her slim body coiled first this way and then that, driving each punch as it
scythed into Larry's face and body.

It was amazing to see this 180lb man being beaten back by punch after
shattering punch from this 12 year old. On its own, each punch would not have
troubled him much, but one after another, each blow did more than enough
damage to prevent Larry's recovery and weaken him still further. I watched,
amazed, as she drove him remorselessly back along the landing, grunting louder
in pain as each punch hit. She never let him regain his balance or recover
from the storm of punches she just kept on unleashing. She simply didn't seem
to tire, each punch actually sounding harder and fiercer than the one before.

'Unghh. Ungh. Unnghhh! Unnghhh! Uuhhuurrghh!' Larry was making hideous groans
as the punches slammed into his gut. I still couldn't believe how hard those
blows were hitting. The punches were doing real damage and Larry was beginning
to look and sound like he was taking a real beating.

After five more punches she took a step back to admire the groggy figure in
front of her, the bruised and bleeding face she had created, the swaying,
groaning figure, almost ready to drop, and allowed herself a triumphant grin.

'I'm real strong, aren't I?' She spoke to her dazed and shaken victim. Again
she flexed her arm in front of him. 'Bet you didn't think a small girl could
hit you so hard? What's best is I'm really enjoying teaching you bozos a
lesson.'

In response to the taunt, Larry actually managed to lurch forward a few steps
- only to be stopped by another brutal kick to his weakened stomach. He
staggered back, gasping for breath. Brionn took two steps forward, a wicked
smile on her face.

'Now eat this!'

Her right arm drew back, her whole body coiling back through 180 degrees in a
telegraphed haymaker. But no amount of warning could have saved him from what
was coming. He just didn't have the speed or co-ordination left to avoid it.
The huge punch exploded into his jaw, sending his head spinning round like a
flywheel.

Boy, could she hit!

The sheer weight of the kid's uncoiled punch sent Larry staggering back a full
ten steps along the hallway, and then crashing down the stairs. The girl
rubbed her fist, blew on it, then pulled up the arm of her T shirt to make
another surprisingly large, rounded muscle as she watched Larry groaning in
pain at the bottom of the stairs.

Carl and I had now managed to get back to our feet, and prepared to charge up
the stairs after her.

'Boys...' her voice came from above us. 'Do you remember these? The fun we
had?'

I looked up to see her tossing and catching a small hardball in one hand. 'The
Bellmans just love baseball,' she said. 'They have a whole box of these.'

'Quick. Get her!' I said, 'before she...'

The first ball crashed into my forehead with about twice the force I
remembered from three years before. I was shocked. I saw stars and staggered
backward. Beside me I heard Carl cry out in pain as a second ball hit him in
the head. What an arm she had! I was dazed and bleeding from just one strike.
Then a second hit me in the mouth, knocking out more teeth. Carl gave a yelp
of pain as a fourth ball hit him just above the nose.

'Run!' I yelled. All thought of attack was gone as we dodged those painful
missiles hurled from above our heads, heading for the shelter of the kitchen.
I saw Brionn's arm move, and a millisecond later, a third ball smashed
directly into the back of Carl's skull with such accuracy and pace that it
sent him crashing to the floor, moaning in pain. I raised my arm to deflect
another, homing straight in towards my ear. I howled as it crashed into my
elbow instead with bone-cracking force. The pain was unbelievable as suddenly
I couldn't move my left arm. In this kid's hands common baseballs had become
fearsome weapons, so great was her accuracy and the strength of her throws.

Somehow I managed to stumble into the safety of the kitchen, but I was on my
own. Larry was still groaning at the foot of the staircase, and Carl was
semi-conscious on the lounge floor. I looked to see where the girl was, and a
ball came whistling in towards me. I only just managed to evade it, and it
shot past me to crash into the washing machine, hitting with such force that
it left a dent in the metal. Shaking, I retreated into the darkness of the
kitchen, keeping silent to listen for any sound.

After a few minutes I heard the sound of the girl creeping downstairs. Perhaps
she was coming to check on her two victims, or perhaps she had run out of
ammunition. I waited till I was sure she was in the middle of the room, then
burst out of the kitchen to surprise her.

I sure startled her, so much that the ball she was holding in her hand shot
past over an inch from my face. I charged towards her with a roar. With a
scream, she dived out of my way, rolling to her feet, just to the left of me.
She gave an ear-piercing shriek of 'EEEEYahhh!' and sent her right foot
crashing into the side of my knee. Now I screamed in pain as I felt the joint
shatter as her heel struck home. It hit like a pile-driver. However strong her
arms were, the brutal power of her legs made them seem puny. I fell to the
floor moaning in pain.

'I'm a state champion in martial arts,' she said matter-of-factly. 'I usually
break concrete blocks with that kick, but your leg does just fine.'

At the doorway there was a movement as Larry at last managed to stagger to his
feet. 'I'm gonna kill you, bitch!' he said, his voice slurred as he stumbled
toward the center of the room.

'I warn you,' Brionn said, her hands held up in front of her like knives.
'Don't come any closer, or I'll really hurt you.'

'Oh yeah?' Carl was suddenly back on his feet beside Larry, looking mad as
hell. 'You don't have any dressers or baseballs with you now, do you?'

She shook her head, then turned and fled through the door to the kitchen,
pulling it shut behind her. Larry and Carl ran in hot pursuit. They reached
the door in a couple of seconds. Larry had stretched out a hand to pull it
open, when suddenly the whole door exploded in his face.

It happened with an ear-splitting crash. The composite door burst outward from
the center, ripping itself off its hinges, as it simply flew apart to smash
into the startled figure of Larry. He fell back with a cry of alarm as the
shattered door tore into his face and body, propelled by Brionn's sneaker-shod
heel.

Bruised and bleeding, Larry fell to the floor amid the wreckage. Even after
the injury to my leg I was in awe of how much damage this girl could do with
just one of her extraordinarily powerful kicks.

Dashing out between the startled Carl and the wall, Brionn ran towards the
double window, Carl in furious pursuit. She halted, cornered in front of the
big 28 inch TV in front of the window as Carl advanced on her. Suddenly she
bent, then turned, hefting the heavy TV set in her arms. Again, I was
astonished by the strength in her slim figure as she swung round with the huge
TV set in her arms, lifting it as she swung, then releasing, to send the sixty
pound set soaring nine feet into the darkness before it came crashing like a
stone into the advancing figure of Carl.

Taken completely by surprise, the 200 pound man hadn't a chance, either to
avoid the heavy missile or protect himself. He gave a despairing cry as the
huge set smashed down into him, carrying him down with it to the floor where
it smashed into pieces in a terrible implosion of tubes and components.

Carl just lay there groaning beneath the mess.

'Look,' I said. 'That's enough. We're going to leave now, just like you want.'

'Oh no.' The twelve-year-old shook her head. 'You blew your chance of that a
long time ago. Now you're going to stay right here and wait for the police.
Then you're all going to jail.'

It was at that moment that Jane walked in the front door.

What's going on,' she asked staring at the wreckage. 'It looks like a junkyard
in here.' She stared at Brionn. 'Who's this?'

'I'm the person looking after the house.' Brionn said.

'She wants to call the police!' I shouted. 'Don't let her!'

Jane turned to face the kid. She was 38, but only a little taller than Brionn
at 5 ft 8 inches. She was a lot heavier though, at 150 pounds. Jane stretched
forward to grab her, but the girl's hands were faster, flashing forward to
clamp around Jane's forearms and stop the larger woman's arms dead in their
tracks. I saw Jane start to struggle, unable to believe that this young
schoolgirl's arms had the strength to stop her arms dead like that. Then she
cried out in frustration as the young girl's long, sinuous arms began to force
her own arms back. But slender as they were, Brionn's arms were strong as the
forelimbs of a horse, and Jane could do nothing to stop them.

Sharply-etched muscles coiled up Brionn's long arms as they forced the larger
woman's heavy but flabby arms further and further back, twisting them slowly
up behind her. Brionn's grip was like a vise on the larger woman's arms. I
could see red bruising where her hands clamped tight. Jane grunted with
exertion as she tried to resist, but to no effect, her arms shaking as they
were foced backward. I saw the smug look on Brionn's face as she dominated the
larger woman, thoroughly enjoying the fact that she had the superior strength.
Her wrist twisted sharply, and Jane cried out in pain, dropping the van keys.

'But you're just a kid!' Jane gasped in disbelief.

'A pretty strong kid,' Brionn grinned fiercely. 'Want to see how strong?'

Releasing her captive's near wrist, she coiled her right arm round Jane's legs
and lifted. Jane cried out in surprise and alarm, as she found herself swept
clean off the floor and cradled in the twelve-year-old girl's long arms. I too
was amazed, seeing this thin girl, who must have weighed a good deal less than
a hundred pounds, holding the full weight of a hundred and fifty pound woman
cradled in her long, sinuous arms. And the girl showed no strain at all. She
just held her there like a baby at just above waist height.

Jane began to struggle.

'Put me down, you hateful little brat!' she screamed. But Brionn only leaned
backward slightly, tightening her grip to control the larger woman's
struggles. I watched, astonished, as all Jane's attempts to break free failed.
Her arms and legs flailed, but she couldn't tear them out of the young girl's
grip. Brionn just stood firm, swaying gently to hold her balance, the
surprisingly large, round biceps in her arms etched rock-hard as they bore the
much larger woman's weight, pinning her arms to her sides. For a moment or two
she stood there, seeming to enjoy the older woman's fruitless struggles, a
slight grin on her face as Jane continued to writhe impotently in her steely
grip.

'I told you I was strong.' she said as Jane finally gave up her struggles,
exhausted.

She began to climb the steps with her burden. The girl seemed to be made of
steel, reaching the top a little breathlessly, but still clearly in charge.
'If I put you down, will you behave?' she said to Jane.

Jane nodded and Brionn let her slip back to her feet.

At once Jane swung round with a furious punch directed straight at her former
captor's head. Caught by surprise, Brionn only just managed to dodge back out
of its way. Even so it grazed her forehead. Brionn's eyes narrowed as her
right arm drew back.

Without further warning it came lashing round, open-palmed, to deliver a
searing slap that tore into Jane's left cheek. I gasped. The crack of the slap
striking, sounded just like a plank hitting a concrete floor from thirty feet
up. It echoed round the walls as Jane cried out in pain and shock. The girl
had swept her long arm round like a flail, generating enormous pace as the
flat of her hand sped towards its target. Once again the solid weight of the
girl's blow belied her slender frame. Jane's head was driven right round by
its raw power. She staggered backward clutching her face.

'You little bitch!' she cried out in fury, hand raised to hit back. But her
second attempt didn't even get as far as her first. A stern Brionn sent her
left hand flashing out to catch Jane's wrist, halting her blow in full flight.
Then her right hand scythed round again to a send a second huge slap cracking
into Jane's left cheek. Reversing its swing, the back of her hand lashed
backward to land an even fiercer slap on the right side of Jane's face.

Jane literally screamed with the pain as she was sent flying backward into the
wall.

The young girl stared at her opponent pitilessly as Jane shielded her face in
her hands. Still moaning in pain, she lowered her hands. Now I could see the
huge red welts on both sides of her face where Brionn's slaps had landed. Jane
was shaking now, tears streaming down her face.

'You... You...' Jane couldn't get the words out.

'Now you'll do as you're told.' Brionn pointed a finger at her. 'Go up in the
loft,' she pointed to a ladder with the same hand that had done the damage,
'..and you find me the cellphone. Then you bring it to me - or call the police
yourself. You hear me?'

'I won't do it..' Jane began. 'I can't...'

Brionn opened her right hand, palm flat out, and began to draw it back.

'No please!' Jane sobbed, shaking her head. 'I'll do whatever you say.'

'Now for you bozos.' Brionn turned to look down at us. Her T shirt, displaced
in her action now revealed the knotted mass of abdominal muscles at her waist.
'Does any of you want any more of a beating?'

There was no answer as Brionn descended the stairs. With a shattered leg I was
in no position to resist. Carl was going to need many hours of surgery to
separate him from the pieces of the TV set and Larry had taken a heavy beating
and was full of splinters from the shattered door.

I was galled as the kid came and sat in a big armchair facing us, Apart from a
bit of redness where a punch had glanced her forehead she was entirely
unmarked. Her lithe body glowed with health and her recent exercise. The
sinuous muscles danced across her legs, shoulders and torso as she moved. I
had to face it. This twelve year old had said she was going to make mincemeat
of us, and she'd done just what she said.

A few minutes later Jane appeared carrying the cellphone.

'Don't give it to her,' I called out. 'She'll call the cops to take us to
jail.'

'Run!' Larry groaned. 'Get away.'

'I could give you a fifty yard start and still catch you inside a hundred.'
Brionn said matter-of-factly as her long arm stretched out. 'And don't even
think about making a move. I'll take you apart.'

Wordlessly Jane passed her the cellphone.

'Look. I'm not really involved with these guys,' she said as Brionn took the
phone. 'I've helped you. Can't you give me a break and let me go?'

'I could let you go,' said Brionn. 'I almost thought it might be a good idea.
But I've decided that you have to stay. You only helped me because I made you
afraid not to. Now sit quietly on the floor with your boyfriends, and don't
move an inch unless I say so.'

'Please!' Jane begged. 'Won't you please just reconsider - change your mind
please. I don't want to go to jail.'

'Once I've made my mind up it tends to stay made up,' Brionn said. 'Now sit
where I told you and don't say another word till the police get here.'

She began to dial the number.

'Hello. This is Brionn at the Bellman place,' she said a few moments later.
'We've had a break-in...'