• I live in the year 2020, in the heart of Sydney Australia. This once great city full of music and laughter is now reduced to rubble. The very centre of Sydney is still somewhat intact, no thanks to the war. The war is between two rival gangs, and no one has the means to stop them. There are only a few people that live in this centre. Surrounded by a destruction quickly closing in, my mother and I have tried to survive but it gets harder everyday. Fear creeps into your soul every waking moment. Every creak from the wind, every yell from a gang member, this fear haunts you until you die…but…what can you do? Only sit and hope and watch as your world comes tumbling down. My name is Misty, welcome to my nightmare.                     

    My Normal days
    I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was frozen with fear while the gang members circled around me in a ballet of violence. I closed my eyes hoping it would go away, but when I opened them again, there were bodies on the ground. Most were still moving in pain, others were still fighting, others were just still. The ones with weapons used them in frenzy, swinging at anyone they didn’t know in their gang, including me. One boy who was larger than the rest came toward me, raising a bloodied bat above his head. I couldn’t move my feet, so I screamed. He brought the weapon all the way behind his head and, with much built up power, he brought the bat down.I sat up in my bed, feeling sweat run down my face. I wiped it away and took deep breaths. Just a dream, I told myself, it was just a dream. I looked to my alarm clock. 6:30, my heartbeat slowed down considerably. No it wasn’t a dream, more of a nightmare. Well, I was awake, it was gone, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. I decided I might as well start breakfast. I stretched and slide my legs over the edge of my bed. With my slippers on I dragged myself from my room to the kitchen. Luckily our apartment was small and the kitchen was right beside my bedroom. I turned on the stove to heat up and went to the TV.  I switched it on to the news channel and went back to the stove. I was scrambling the eggs when the news anchor sparked my interest. “Last night another battle took place between the so called “takers” and “breakers”. The battle was said to have lasted over an hour with only 2 casualties. The rest of the surviving gang members retreated with wounded comrades to the unknown hideouts. There is still no sign of the war letting up anytime soon. Our news casters are prohibited from entering either gang’s territory, and so we wait. Back to you Chris.”   I let the news faint to a distant buzz. I hated those gangs. I hated them with every bone in my body. Most people were afraid of them, but I was different. I was angry. Before I get too ahead of myself, I bet your probrobly wondering what the news casters and I are talking about. It all started about 5 years ago. I was 12 years old when the gangs declared war against each other. The first gang that was ever formed was called “the breakers”. As their name implies, they are worth more in destruction than a hurricane. If they were a force of nature, the world would have probrobly ended by now. Instead, the force is trapped in human form. Their leader is named Hades, after the Greek god of hell. He likes to scare people on TV, that’s how everyone knows him. He’s very tall and very strong even though he’s only 19. His hair is a wild mess of dark blue and purple. And one ear is pierced with three large earrings. His most recognized feature is two huge scars. One runs from the top right hand corner of his face down to the bottom left corner of his chin. The other scar is vice-versa. Yes, as you might have guessed, it’s in the shape of a huge X. People say he got it when he was a kid, after he picked his first fight. But everyone knows the truth. That he was marked by him.This brings me to the next gang. They were the newest gang after the breakers were established, called “the takers”. Their hobby is also implied in their name. They steal everything they can get their hands on, from small convenience stores for extra cash, to stealing top secret files from big corporations for other big honcho’s. Of course this pays better than breaking stuff, so they have most of the high tech gadgets. The takers are made up of clever guys, while the breakers are all muscle. The leader is unknown to everyone. The only person that’s ever seen him up close is the takers gang members and Hades. He fights every once in a while, but pretty much just stays in the hideout. Anyway, the war started when Hades accused the takers of moving in on breaker territory. But the takers denied this and settled in rather than take threats from Hades. This made him extremely angry, so he started attacking their hideout, and the takers attacked the breakers. While all this was going on, they destroyed the city area surrounding central Sydney. The city was parted straight down the middle. Takers on the west side, breakers on the east. So why isn’t the war over? Hades holds a grudge. His face was scarred by the takers leader, and he won’t stop battling until the leader is taken down by Hades himself. So the war continues, but no innocent is hurt unless their caught in crossfire. Then they’re as good as dead. See each team knows who’s on their side. If you show up unexpected, they think you’re an enemy. That’s why I hate them. My father was police chief for Sydney police task force. They tried to stop the war when it didn’t end on its own. His force was caught in crossfire, outnumbered. His men made it out alive, but my dad didn’t make it. They still don’t know who killed him, but I hate both gangs either way. So that’s the story, the reason why we live in such fear for ourselves. We have all the basic necessities and a few luxuries. But fear can turn those useless. I went back to scrambling the eggs after I heard the news. I just finished my egg when my mom walked in yawning.“Morning sweetie” she said slowly.“Morning mum” I said.She sat at our small dining room table. “What’s for brek?” she asked.“Eggs and bacon. Want some?”“Surrrrrrrrrre” she yawned stretching “why not”.I cooked her eggs and put the bacon in the microwave. I sat down across from her and waited for her to open her eyes all the way. When she finally did, she opened her eyes and looked at me.“So…what was on the news? That’s what woke me up in the first place.” She looked to the TV. “Must have been something odd, you don’t usually turn it off unless…” she stopped and looked at me. I nodded. “Yeah” I said.We both went silent at the table. Since my dad was killed, my mother and I never really discussed the gangs. She hated them as much as I did. In other words, we both hoped that the gangs would kill each other off. My mom never admitted she thought this. She would only say “I just hope they find the right path someday, and settle this war gently”. I knew what she thought, and it was far from what escaped her mouth. The silence went on for at least 20 minutes. Then mum broke through it.“Hey, you going to get our brek before it burns?” she said with a smile.I jumped out of my chair and opened the microwave door. A puff of smoke smelling more than feral came at me. I coughed and reached in blindly. I quickly pulled out the plate with the now super crispy bacon and slid it on the table. Then I ran and opened the window. The smoke crept out of the room as I stood by our sink. I sighed and looked at my mum. Her face was almost rose red with her hand over her mouth. I cocked my head and turned to look at a pan in the sink. I had so many white bits that stood out in my shoulder length red hair, that it made me look like I had a very bad case of dandruff. I had also wiped my hand across my forehead after opening the window, so now there was a black streak across my pale skin. It made my blue eyes stand out nicely, though it also looked like a uni-brow. I looked at my mum and we both started laughing. Then we started to laugh so hard we both doubled over. When we finally got control of ourselves, I closed the window and sat down for brek. “ When you’re finished, go and shower before school” my mum said through a mouthful of eggs. “You might scare someone if you go to school like that.” I glared at her and scoffed my eggs and bacon down. Then I dropped my plate in the sink and ran off to the shower.  “Be quick!” she shouted after me “Sam should be on his way soon.”I jumped into the bath and showered quickly. I dried off, put on my uniform, and made my lunch. I finished just before7:30, which left me some time. I did the dishes to have them out if the way and I took inventory of the food and made a shopping list. Before I could go so far as to arrange the veggies in coloured order, there was a knock at the door. I sprinted to the door and was about to open the door, until I stopped myself. I looked down and smoothed my skirt. Then I pushed my hair behind my ears and took a deep breath. Then I reached for the knob again and opened the door this time. Sam looked at me and grinned. Unlike other boys, who have small meek smiles, Sam’s smile looked like it belonged to the Cheshire cat.  It took up almost the whole lower half of his face. “Hey Sam” “Hey Mist”“Sam please, Misty, it’s only one more letter. Mist makes me sound like a hippy’s daughter.”“Fine, hey Mist-Y” He emphasized the Y. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag by the door. “SEE YA MUM!” I called.I closed the door before I could catch what she said. I shrugged it off and walked with Sam to the stairs. Sam has been my best friend ever since I started school. All the girls make guy friends in order to have a “bodyguard”. Though there were no gang battles until night time, it was better to be safe than sorry. I was lucky to have made friends with Sam at an early age. He was skinny but still a comfort to walk with. We talked the whole way to school about our assignments and the kids in class. Sam talked about his new job and how great it was. We got to school and he left to get to his separate class.  I was so lucky to have him. He was my strong shoulder (so to speak).I went to class after visiting my locker. As soon as I had settled into my seat, Cal came over to say good morning, along with her daily gossip.“GOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING MISTY!” she yelled. She loves attention, as you might have guessed already.“Morning Cal.” I said. Cal had been my friend since middle school. Her real name is California, but she hates it and instead calls herself Cal. She tells me everyday what everyone is talking about. Today though, most of the gossip was about Dan Collin.“Did you hear” I thought this was a stupid question “that Dan finally broke up with Emma?” She said excitedly. I looked at her and folded my arms. “What’s that got to do with me?” I asked her.“It’s got everything to do with you! You’re his equal! Besides Dan you’re the coolest person here!” Dan Collin was the coolest guy in school. I’m sure you have one too, a guy who everyone looks up too. A guy that’s smart, athletic, funny, kind and handsome. Not to mention being able to pull off the maroon shorts and vest uniform. That was our cool guy, all the girls really loved him, but he never took much notice. He did smile at me once, and told me good morning. That’s when Cal got it into her head that he was head-over-heels for me. I was the only student in the school who treated him like a person and not a god. “So we’re both good at sports and math. What’s your point?”“My point is what I’ve been telling you all along. You guys were made for each other, and you’ve got the chance to show him that!”We both looked to where Dan sat. His fan club of girls, in their usual spot, watched him finish his homework.“Sorry Cal, I just don’t think he’s right for me.”I looked at her and almost laughed. Her law had dropped and her eyes were wider than dinner plates.“He’s right for anyone! Haven’t you noticed the 18 year old Adonis sitting next to the window every day?!”I looked down at my hands which I was twiddling unconsciously.“Cal, that’s the very reason I think he’s not for me. He’s perfect, but just too perfect. I want a guy with a few flaws, that way I’ll never get bored of him. Sure I want him to be handsome, but I want him to have soft straight hair that I can run my fingers through every day. Maybe he’ll even have a scar to show he’s strong enough to protect me. I don’t think Dan has anything like that. And his skin and curly hair are perfect. Like I said, that’s not what I want.”She looked at me funny and sighed.“So…did you ever find that glass slipper you lost at the ball Cinderella?”I gave her a playful punch and she grinned.“Don’t make fun off me, every girl has her dream guy” I told her.“Yeah” she said “but I think yours will probrobly stay a dream.”We both laughed and talked casually until the teacher came and started class. I never really payed attention. I mostly thought about my dream guy. Cal may have made fun of the idea, but at least I thought about it enough to keep me from thinking about that nightmare.


    Nightmare come to life
    The rest of the day went on with no particular excitement. We did get a transfer from another class. She almost fainted when she realized Dan was to be her desk neighbour.  After school, Sam came from his class to walk me home. He dropped me off at the front gate of our apartment building and left. I had just entered the stairwell when I realized…I had forgotten my homework notes! I dashed back outside to try and catch Sam, but he had already turned the corner. Oddly enough, I had never been to his house, therefore I couldn’t go after him. I looked at my wristwatch. 3:30. I had plenty off time to run back to school and find my books before dinner. I was sure I’d be quite fine on my own without Sam. I dropped my bags inside our apartment before I left and locked the door behind me. I was able to run the whole 10 blocks and 3 turns from my apartment to school. When I finally reached my destination, I was out of breath. I took almost 20 minutes just to get my breath back and finally headed into the school. It took me quite awhile, about a half hour I’d say, to convince the security guard to let me in. When I had finally won the argument, I went in acting as calmly as I could after my ‘heated discussion’.I reached my locker and opened it, but my notes weren’t there. I figured I had left them in my class. So I had to look in 7 different classrooms, as I’d had 7 different subjects today, and had no success. I was about to go home, til I heard someone’s footsteps. I thought it was the security guard, so I held my head up to show                        I wasn’t scared. I was ready for another ‘discussion’ when my science teacher, Mrs. Bailey, came around the corner. She jumped out of her skin when she saw me. It was the first time I had seen her surprised by something.“Oh, it’s you Misty.” She said while gathering her senses back together. “I didn’t know you were a border” She gave me a questioning look.“I’m not Miss, I just forgot my notes and I needed to come look for them.”She squinted her eyes for a moment, and then they shot open.“You know, Mr.Palmer” my English teacher “was looking at a work book with your name on it. I wondered why he took it, but I asked him and he said he found it. I told him off for reading something that didn’t belong to him without permission. He apologized and gave it to me; he didn’t trust himself being near it. It’s in my office now if you still want it.”I smiled. “That would be great.”I followed her to the science lab to lock up, and then we travelled to her office at the other end of the school. I looked out the window as we walked. The sun was already setting. I knew I had to hurry if I was ever going to make it home before dark. WE finally reached her office, which was even messier than my pig sty of a room. It took her awhile to sort through her class books to find mine. She finally found it and gave it to me.“Be careful with your things next time. You never know who will pick them up.”I thanked her and wished her a good week. I ran to the side of the school with my locker. I had never been in the other half because it was for older kids. Juniors were in the north wing, seniors in the west. I didn’t know where the exit was, and the sun was almost completely gone. I made it out of the school and to the front gate. The security guard, different from the one I argued with, stopped me.“Hold on there miss, do you need someone to walk you home?”I walked backwards as a answered, eager to get going.“No thanks! I’ll be fine!”Before he could object, I took off at a sprint. I had gotten halfway to my block, when a sign suddenly barred my way. Evidently, a car had bashed into a power line pole and knocked it down. There were no workers, so I could have squeezed by, but I was too cautious. So I took a turn that added two extra blocks to my way home. That was the single, most idiotic mistake of my life. I had gotten back to my original route, but the sun was completely set, and the streetlamps were on. I was in the middle of the road, in plain sight. Paranoia finally set in. As I mentioned before, the gangs don’t fight in the day. Most of the battles take place at night. That’s the reason the power line workers were home. It was a very big mistake to be out on the street at night, especially if you’re alone. I gave everything I had into my run. I got tired quickly though and had to lean against the wall for a moment. I have to keep going I thought or else… then I heard the reason I was running. I heard a battle cry. I looked all around me. Shadows were beginning to mould into forms from the walls of the buildings. I could see light bouncing of weapons. As the shadows began to grow in numbers, I knew right away. The takers and breakers were preparing for another battle. The largest shadows were on my right. Those, I guessed, were the breakers. They stepped out in under the street light, and I could see muscles bulging with anticipation. Their eyes had a sort of insane look to them. Their hair was set in wild fashions from Mohawks to dreadlocks. Their clothes looked like the kinds you’d see on a heavy metal fan. They ranged from 17 to 19 years old, yet they were all insanely tall. Most of them stood a whole 6 inches taller than me. They swung chains round to make them glimmer in the light. Others cracked their knuckles in hopes of intimidating the takers.  This brought me to look to my left. The takers were of average size. The ages were also ranging from 17 to 19. They wore either suits or leather ensemble and cloak. If you think of the matrix, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Their hair was either short and slicked, or short and hung loose, or in a long grown ponytail. Since the takers had a lot of money, they didn’t bother with chains and knives. They could afford to learn martial arts, and were able to buy guns. When you think about it, they were kind of like secret agents and assassins. The breakers were just street punks. Neither could beat each other easily because of varying strengths and weaknesses. Hence, the war still raged.At first I was more afraid that Hades would be here as well. When I looked at the group of breakers, I was relieved to find he wasn’t there. Then a new realization hit me. There was no member of either group that was looking at me. They simply stared at each other. You may be thinking this is a good thing, that this will give me a chance to sneak off without getting hurt. This would, of course, be a great idea. I f my legs weren’t glued to the spot.It turns out that as I was watching these forms of destruction come out of the blue, my fear grew and got the best of me. My feet were saying Move you idiot, while my fear barked back mind your own business! I wasn’t stuck between a rock and a hard place, that would have been nice. I was stuck between a breaker and a taker. While trying to overcome my ‘rude’ sense of fear, the breakers started barking insults at the takers.“Why don’t you crawl back in the holes you came out of worms!” shouted a boy lashing his length of chain like a whip.One of the taker boys smiled. “Pretty big words coming from a mountain ape” he said calmly. The breaker gritted his teeth.“Watch who your talkin’ to bug. I may decide to step on you.”“I’m pretty sure you couldn’t catch me if you tried fathead.”“Bring it slime!”“LEECH before beauty.” And that’s when they rushed at each other. I was able to move just before the frontline collided with one another. I backed up the way I had come, which I didn’t realize was a bad decision at the time. When I finally realized I had moved the wrong way, I immediately tried to think of a way to move through the crowd without getting killed. I tried to think straight, but between the crunching of bones and the bang and firing light of guns, I felt totally helpless. Then…I saw it. It was the very scene in my nightmare. Bodies were all over the ground. Bleeding and still, still bleeding. The remaining fighters swirling around them while fighting off blow after blow. I watched this go on, until I felt eyes watching me. I turned to see where the sensation had come from, and saw a boy with a bloody bat standing over a coughing body. He was looking at me first with confusion, which moved to understanding, which moved to a murderous grin. He slowly stepped over the body and walked towards me. Everything was happening just like in my nightmare. But unlike my nightmare, I could still move. So I bent my knees and waited for him to come closer. He raised his bat and brought it down with a yell. Before it hit me though, I was able to spring out of the way and straight into the battle. I ran between fighting pairs and jumped over bodies.  I didn’t stop to think what was going on around me, even though I was getting multiple cuts and bruises to my legs and arms. I even felt a sharp pain across my back. I ignored all these pains and just focused on breaking through. I was surprised I’d been skinned instead of fully shot down.  I had finally reached the other end of the brawl and was about to high tail it out, when I tried to pick up my foot and fell flat on the ground. I looked back and saw a bloody hand grasping my ankle with white knuckles. I tried to pull my leg up, which made me succeed in pulling my attacker into view. It was a taker whose long hair draped bloody and light blue over his angry face. “I’ve got one of them” he called “make sure he can’t move!”Before I figured out who he was calling to, my head was forced to the pavement. I felt a large weight on my body and my hands being forced together. I could feel a rope being wrapped around my wrists and feet. I couldn’t move my arms either, as they had been strapped to my back. I couldn’t fight back because of this, and I couldn’t see anything. My head was still being held to the pavement. I had to give these guys their props. They were fast and knew their way around a knot. Suddenly the weight on top of me lifted. Before I could get up though, they gagged me and put a blind fold on. It wasn’t until I felt myself being thrown over someone’s shoulder that I actually thought to scream for help. “Shut up pip-squeak” said the boy who picked me up. “They probrobly don’t care what happens to you, you haven’t even grown muscles yet. Now hold on.”To what?! I thought angrily.I knew he was running when the wind started whipping my hair around my face. He also started jumping things which made my situation very uncomfortable. This went on until I could no longer hear the breaker’s battle cries or the gun shots. I finally stopped bouncing around and started to groan from the bruises I would have on my stomach.“Stop complaining. We’re already here.” The voice said again. I didn’t know where here was of course, but wasn’t in the mood for arguing. I was now another object that the takers had stolen. I heard a few cheers as I continued to be treated like a sack of potatoes. There was a flight of stairs every once in awhile, but other than that it was a smooth but long trip. I finally felt a door under my feet as I was used to push it open. Then I was roughly thrown down in a hard chair. The bag was left on my head as I heard the cheers leave the room and shut the door behind them. Now I was all alone. I didn’t know whether that was good or bad. I hated the takers for kidnapping me, but it also felt so odd being alone in a place I had never been before. I doubt you’ve ever been kidnapped by a gang and thrown into a room then left alone. Nothing but your thoughts keep you company. It’s like sitting in the abyss, feeling drained of all hope. I f this has happened to you, then you know how traumatized I might feel after this, if I live after this. I still couldn’t grasp why they had taken me. They didn’t seem to notice me until I broke through the crowd. I could’ve probrobly made it home if I backed the other way. I could’ve been home if I hadn’t taken a breather. I could’ve made it if Mrs. Bailey wasn’t a slob. I went through all the possibilities in my head, all of the things that I could have done to avoid this predicament. I finally got to the point when I thought I could’ve made it home, if this stupid war hadn’t started.I was plenty angry by the time I heard the door open again. There was no cheering anymore, only footsteps. I counted 3 pairs of feet, each at a different pace. The door was shut, and the footsteps stopped.“Here he is boss” said the voice I knew already “wrapped up like a present.”I thought two things at this point. First, they were obviously too stupid to notice I was a girl. Second, I was scared and angry at the same time. I was about to be the first non gang member to meet the takers boss face to face. I closed my eyes as I felt someone grab the top of the bag and quickly pull it off.  When I opened them again, the room around me was stone grey. There was only one window which was enough to light the small room. I was sure I’d see the boss. What I saw was the bloody, blue haired boy that had grabbed my ankle. He was looking at me hard with his arms crossed. He had a purple striped suit on the was torn all over. His face was thin and he had a long pointed nose. He seemed about 18. A boy I had not seen before stood by the door. He simply looked straight ahead instead of at me. He had short brown hair that had been slicked back. He was more muscular than the other takers I had seen, but still smaller than the breakers boys. He wore black slacks and a black no sleeve that showed off his biceps. Obviously he was very proud of them. He looked about 19. I guessed that neither could be the boss. They just didn’t look the part. I couldn’t move with my ropes, so I couldn’t look past my peripheral vision. At first I thought the boss could have left the room, but I noticed that neither of the two other boys had the bag that was covering my face. “Tell me Carlos” came a gentle voice from behind me. “Did you tie this boy up yourself?”  “Uh…well, yeah. Mike sat on him to hold him, and I tied him up. Why?”I heard the footsteps move from behind me to my side then I watched the boss stepped in my line of view. He stared at me hard, like he was trying to read me as he would a book.The boss wasn’t exactly as I had expected. While the two boys in the room were 18 and 19, the boss had the looks of a little boy. I guessed that despite this, he had to be at least 17. Otherwise he wouldn’t be part of the takers. I looked him up and down. I had to say, he was way ahead of Dan Collin in the looks department. He even made Dan Collin look mortal compared to his godly form. Instead of a suit, He wore loose jeans and a long sleeved tight shirt. His feet were bare but still clean. His hair was a light blonde that hung down like a curtain to his mid back. Pieces of it fell over his broad shoulders and down to his pecs. His eyes were a piercing green that acted like acid to your heart. Though all of this would have most likely swooned other girls, I was much to angry to be impressed. I looked at him with hard eyes straight into his own. He smirked and turned to my kidnapper. “You couldn’t have tied the rope” he said in a soft but somehow threatening voice. “Because if you had tied the rope…you would’ve noticed that our friend here” he looked at me “had a slightly larger chest than most men, and longer eyelashes.”The long nosed boy looked confusingly at his boss, then at me. His eyes went wide when I winked at him. “Boss, I…I didn’t know! I had blood in my eyes! The…There was dust everywhere!”“Yet you were right on top of her, tying the rope around her. And you were still too dense to notice.”“Mike was there too! He could have told me but...”With amazing speed, the boss had run over and lifted the boy, Carlos, up by his neck. I looked to the boy at the door but he continued to stare straight forward. Still and silent.“I hate it when people don’t take responsibility for there mistakes. Let alone blame it on someone else.” He said with a sharp hiss. Carlos clawed at the boss’s hand and arm. I was surprised at how strong the boss was for a guy of his size and looks. Carlos sucked in sharp breaths “I’m sorry boss,” he wheezed “I’ll put her back. I’ll kill her if you want.”My eyes went wide at this statement. I started tugging slowly at the ropes, still tightly wrapped. “No, we can’t put her back because she knows too much. I can’t trust you to kill her because she may continue to live. Then she’ll become a spy for the breakers.”I slipped a hand out of my bonds. I checked the stances of the boss and his bodyguard. They didn’t seem to notice. The boss let Carlos drop to the floor.“Get out of my sight. I’ll decide wether or not I should punish you.”Carlos scrambled up from the floor. He ran to the door and left the room in such a nervous scramble, that he forgot to close the door. The boss stood motionless for a second or two, and then turned to look at me. I narrowed my eyes at him. He walked over to the door and slowly shut it. Then he turned and came toward me. When he reached for my face, I instinctively turned my head away. He let his hand drop to his side.“Now I know you’d rather have that thing out of your mouth right about now. I won’t do anything else.” He grabbed the gag and pulled down to my neck. “I just want to see what you…”I lashed my untied hand, now balled in a fist, into his cheek. I untied my other hand and started on my feet. The boss sat on the floor beside me rubbing his jaw. I thanked god my dad taught me and Sam those standard police defence moves. The boss’s bodyguard rushed to his side. I’d finally gotten my feet untied and all the ropes off. I bounded for the door and reached it, but two strong, tough arms wrapped around me from behind. I tried to break free of them but my arms were pinned to my side. I was lifted up off the ground and turned around facing the inside of the room. The boss had gotten up and was rubbing his face where a blue bruise started to emerge. “Fine,” he said looking at me. “You don’t want to talk to me, I can wait. Just know that I’m the one keeping you alive.” He motioned to his bodyguard to leave the room with me. I struggled as much as I could while being carried down stairs and numerous twisting hallways. The bodyguard finally stopped in front of a door similar to the one for the room I was just in. With one arm still pinning me to him, he brought out a ring of keys from his pocket. He unlocked the door and threw it open. Inside the room were a small cot, toilet, and a window with a grate in it. I was thrown in the room onto the hard concrete floor. Without a word, the door was shut behind me and locked with a small click. I backed against the cot and listened as the footsteps became faint, and disappeared entirely. Only after I was sure I could hear no one else. I brought my knees to my chest and hugged my legs. For the first time since my dad died, I began to cry.

    Angel’s Idea
    Angel stormed into his suite on the 15th floor of “The View” hotel. They had ransacked the place when the war began and made it their hideout. The suite was close to a presidential suite, so it automatically became his. He threw himself down in his chair that sat looking out over the taker part of Sydney. His bodyguard walked in and came to stand by Angel’s chair.“You alright boss?” he asked. “Looks like she put a lot in that punch.”He looked at Angel for a reaction, but he simply sat with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped under his nose.“Julius, I’ve never felt a punch like that since I fought Hades the last time we met. The guys at the battle said they saw her burst through the fight instead of running away. She still had all that power even when she was covered in gashes and blood.”Julius nodded. “She seems very strong indeed. The question is…what do we do with her?”Angel closed his eyes. “That is a tough question.”He stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. “She seems familiar to me, but I just can’t place her face. Of course, with a lovely face like that, how could I ever forget her. Well, it’s obvious now we can’t let her go, so we might as well keep her.” He looked back to his friend. “Julius, how do you make a street animal into a pet?”Julius looked to his side and squinted in thought. Then he shrugged. Angel smiled. “You find out its name.”

    A Formal Introduction
    I continued crying into my knees for at least a half an hour. I cried until I figured all of my fear and sadness of these events had drained out. Now, I was only filled with anger. I tried to get a sense of where I was by climbing onto the cot and looking out the window. I felt uneasy at the creaking and leaning the bed did, but I was able to look out all the same. I had to pull myself up a bit in order to get my eyes above the ledge. Outside it was completely dark. There was only a barbed wire fence and the ground beyond the fence was littered with rubbish. Besides this, it was barren. There was no life to be seen. I couldn’t reach high enough to look down into the yard below, but I could oddly smell green grass. I thought it just might be my imagination, but I still felt something was down there. I tried to pull myself up with all my strength, but I heard the door open behind me. I panicked and fell back on the cot. I didn’t realize the cot was so small and my head and shoulders fell over the side. I bounced and did a back flip onto the floor. The impact sent a shock through my body, targeting the gashes I had from the battle. I forced down the scream of pain and replaced it with a low hiss. I looked up to see the bodyguard from before, looking down at me with an expression between confusion and humour. “What do you want?” I asked coldly.“I need you to follow me for a minute” He said, trying to not to laugh at my recent stunt. “Why should I follow you anywhere?” I asked getting up painfully.“The sooner you get cleaned up, the sooner you can see the boss.”I thought this over. Caution made me think of the consequences of following him. Sense told me I needed to treat these wounds as soon as possible. I supposed if anything seemed funny, I could fight him off easily. I was able to slip away from that breaker too, and he was twice this guy’s size.“Fine” I said quietly “I come along. But don’t even think of trying anything.” I walked to the door. The brute gave a little chortle.“Heaven forbid” he said sarcastically. “By the way, if you suddenly have an urge to talk to me, call me Julius.”Naturally I never once said anything to him. He walked in front of me the whole time, blocking my view of any upcoming exits I guess. I was actually looking at the floors and walls of the hallway. The floors were carpeted with a thin material, while the walls were painted a plain tan. Every few steps there was a small lamp sticking out of the wall. I felt as if I were in a hotel. In fact, I was in a hotel. I found this out when I was led through a pair of doors and into an extremely large room. Being as this place belonged to a gang, the furniture that once decorated this room had been turned over and spray painted. The wallpaper on the pillars in the room was torn and also sprayed on. The only thing that seemed untouched was the front desk with a shelf of numerous key holds, and the large glass skylight in the ceiling. Through it, you could see up the wall to the top floor of the hotel. The front doors were barricaded from top to bottom with locks, and the two large windows at the front had been boarded up. Besides the doors, there were no other exits. I walked on with Julius to one of 3 elevators. At first I was surprised to know these were in good condition compared to the state of everything else in the room. Then again, these guys were said to be fairly smart, so running an elevator wouldn’t be hard at all for them. I stepped in with Julius when he motioned me to come. As soon as the door closed, I felt slightly uncomfortable. Julius never moved, never looked over his shoulder at me. He just stood where he was, thinking of god knows what. The silence ended when the doors opened to a cream white hallway with a door in the opposite wall. I could just barely hear the sound of running water behind it. A million possibilities popped into my head. Most didn’t suit me at all. I backed up to wall of the elevator as Julius stepped out. He held the door open for me to follow him. When I didn’t, he stepped back in holding the ‘door open’ button. “Look, the boss wants you to take care of the blood and gashes. I don’t know why so don’t ask. He only told me to bring you here and show you where everything is. It used to be a spa for the guests of the hotel. Now it’s private for the boss’s use only, so the other guys shouldn’t bother you. I’ll stand watch at the door if it makes you feel any better.”It didn’t.