City of Kinetics

EIGHT ✴ Snitches Get Stitches

       Letting out a tired breath, Mila stepped off the elevator once it reached the fourth floor of her apartment complex. She was freezing and her feet ached, but she was thankful to finally reach home. She had a massive headache while working at Sweetie's and another waitress was kind enough to cover for her for the rest of the day.

       Now, three hours before her shift was supposed to end, Mila found herself walking down the warm hallways of her building until she rounded the corner, nearing her door.

       Sticking her hand in her bag, she began fishing around for her keys. She really needed to organize her bag better, she was always losing things in there. When she finally found them, she pulled them out and unlocked her door.

       Mila then stepped into her apartment, switching on the lights. Dropping her keys on her side table, she closed her door from behind her.

       All of the sudden, hands grabbed her from behind and turned her around, slamming her back against the door. Before she could scream in fear, a hand clamped down over her mouth, muffling her voice as she felt a cool, pointed edge push into her throat.

       Her heart pounded in her chest as she stared into the dark eyes of a man she didn't recognize. He looked to be in his late twenties with dirty blonde hair a scar running across his cheek.

       Mila whimpered in fear as she felt him press his knife further into her neck.

       "You must be Camila," he said, his lips tilting up into a smirk.

       She tried to control her breathing, her eyes shooting to the ground where she had dropped her bag at her feet. Her cell phone was in there.

       "Try anything and I'll slice out your vocal cords," he threatened.

       Mila yelped as he suddenly pulled her away from the door, removing his hand from her mouth allowing her to breathe better. The man pushed her towards her couches and she immediately stumbled, catching her footing at the last second before whirling around to face him.

       He held up his knife, giving her a challenging expression.

       "You going to be good?" he asked.

       Mila stared at the silver blade, knowing there was no way she could fight him off without a weapon of her own. If she so much as moved, he could easily gut her open like a fish. For that reason, she found herself nodding her head.

       "Good," he said, smiling. "Glad we have an understanding."

       He twirled the knife in his hand and Mila swallowed uncomfortably, trying to calm her breathing as she watched him take a step towards her. In response, she took one back, causing his smirk to widen.

       "Do you know why I'm here?" he asked.

       She slowly shook her head. Wasn't he just an intruder? Her eyes went over her apartment quickly, but nothing seemed to be touched or rifled through, telling her he was wasn't a burglar.

       "W-Who are you?" she asked, her eyes going back at to him.

       "Let's just say you've stirred up some trouble in Psychotics," he said.

       At the mention of the gang, Mila's heart dropped. That's what this was about? She felt herself pale as he continued twirling the knife around.

       "You worked under Travis Ruben, correct?" he asked. "Money counter?"

       She didn't answer him right away, and for that, she paid the price. The man suddenly closed the distance between them, using the hilt of his knife to hit her temple hard enough to make her shout in pain and fall to the floor.