Chapter 7 (Beggar)

She hands me my fake ID, a wad of cash and a black kids size backpack with the grenades inside.

“The address you wanted is on this piece of paper. Memorize it if you can. I am going to trip the lights in ten minutes you would have at least five to get out of here. Good luck Mia.”

I nod, take the thick heavy rope and begin tying it around the window.

My climb down is uneventful apart from my throbbing back and burning hands. The night sky is alight with stars flickering across as the lights around the house get cut off.

The air is cold and green with the amount of trees in the garden, I can smell the familiar smell of the outdoors.

I hear the sounds of footfalls. It is my cue and I take it.

I sneak around the small hedge trees as I spot two of the guards in the front of me armed to the knees in weapons.

My back is burning as I feel some of the blood drip down my left side, over my waist.

When the men rush past me I keep my knees down and run to the other tree.

I am still a long way from the gate and three guards left to fight before I make it out of here tonight.

Taking a long breath, I touch my jeans pocket with the money and ID to make sure it is safe.

The lights come on and I get the grenades out of the backpack, before throwing the empty bag on the ground.

I pull the clips from the first grenade and then I run, my legs feel like they are taking twice my size because of the pain I am in.

There is no way to prevent the men from seeing me now. Only their deaths can save me. The second grenade is thrown next as the bullets go through the air, and I reach the code panel for the gates.

I puncture the code for the gate and scream as a fist goes into my back.

The guard grabs my hair and I kick the side of his knee joint as hard as I can, something Spade taught me in one of our lessons.

The guy screams, as his bullet gets me in the stomach. I am taken a few steps back as my stomach caves in with impact.

At first, it is burning pain, then it is a numb ache that spreads, and hot, it is extremely hot.

He punches me once in my collar bone and the other in my face. I hit his nose with my palm and grab the blade strapped to his thigh. The blade now in my hand goes straight for the killing spot in his neck.

He drops down and I run to the code panel and key in the digits again as fast as I can. The alarms blur through the house.

Men start running toward me at full speed. One tackles me to the ground, he stabs me in my ribs, and punches me over and over in the face that I am not sure how I do it when I slice his neck.

I get up and fling a knife at the other one and he falls. Grabbing the nearest gun, I let fire loose.

My vision gets fuzzy as my head throbs, my eyes swelling fast. Gunshots rain through the air, my ears ringing from the sounds.

I manage to get most of them until I hear the sirens. The sound of cops approaching is Magdelaine's doing and my chance to run which I do. And as suspected the men fall back.

I duck around trees and houses, my lungs feeling heavy.

My body is forcing me to slow down but I don't stop, even though I should. Finally, I slow down a good distance away from the Sanati Palace, there is no choice, I am weak.

I know I am shot a few times, my head is probably bleeding, my face is definitely swelling up. Where I was stabbed is bleeding, my ribs on my right feel sensitive and throb like a beating heart, but the fact that I am still breathing is good news.

I hail a cab, the guy flinches at my movements and clothes but quickly changes when I hand him a few hundred and the piece of paper.

“Take me there,” I croak.

Days before I left The Satan Snipers, Killer told me that if I ever needed a place to go, go here.

I look down to the blood on my body. The ride is long, the cab driver is talking but I just know I am saying no, telling him to go.

Everything is a blur after that. I gag a few times on the ride. When I get to the address the driver opens my door and says something but I stumble out and crawl.

Like most people he does help me a bit. He leaves me on the pavement in front of these big gates and presses the intercom then he is gone.

I grip the gates and pull myself up just as it opens, then I fall down again. It feels like I am going to die, but I can't. I made it this far, I can't die. Not yet anyway.

After a couple of minutes the gates close and I use it to pull myself toward the intercom that I press again.

“Who's there?” The Southern twang comes through sounding familiar yet different.

I met this girl twice and she offered me help. Once I thought she was just another false rich barbie but she was anything but.

When Killer told me to come here if I needed a place I knew I would eventually. I groan as the pain in my stomach gets unbearable, not sure if I am shot in my leg too, it could be it aches so bad.

“Who ever the fuck you are don't waste my time.”

“Help me.” I manage to say before my legs collapse.

I am bleeding out, maybe she can't help me.

Things are misty for a while, I feel so much pain.

Cold hands holding me. There is some dragging.

A bright light, nice smell.

I hear a lot of noise.

Kylie Bray talking to me, can't make out what she is saying.

After that it's mostly flashes, some broken words here and there.

Kylie, Deno, Marco, Vincent.

I am not sure how many days I spend lying in the bed.

It feels like not enough but it could be days or weeks.

Mornings blur, nights remain haunted with Lucca until Zero steps in them, his scarred eye piercing me with hatred that I wish to claw out my own throat.

At one stage I feel them tie me down, it is the moment where I wish to die, to finally just leave.

I keep hurting myself, I know this as she keeps screaming it to me.

Kylie is always around, talking to me, even when she thinks I am sleeping.

She sometimes tells me stories of famous people, the times she fucked up, her feelings for Vincent, she tells it all to me.

But the saddest ones with the happy memories are always told about a girl named Diamond, when Kylie talks about her I can hear the pain in her voice.

It reminds me of mine when I talk about my mother.

My evenings are spent listening to Kylie, learning more about her in this time on a bed than I am sure not many would know about the Texan girl, and slowly every day my body heals.

Every day I breathe easier, with the knowledge that I am safe, that maybe I could see Zero again.

It wasn't a possibility before but now, I can say it for the first time since I was small and found out I was actually clever, I feel a thread of hope for a brighter tomorrow.