Revenge

Chapter 1

Ashley POV

"Ugh!" I woke up with a large, pounding headache. "What time is it?" I looked over at the alarm clock... "12:00 PM?!" I started to rush out of bed, bunching up the blankets, and undressed my self. I was only in the warm, hot shower when I realized " Wait.... Damn!" Today is Saturday! I laughed to myself as I finished taking a shower. "I could finally relax today!" I said while I plumped down on the couch. Yesterday, at that crazy party my best friend, Sierra, dragged me to, is the reason I am feeling like this right now. I knew I shouldn't have gone; the party was so predictable. Most of the "men" or should I say boys, were hitting on me or tried to get in my pants at least. But I was taught from my mother... "Never let boys walk all over you." Oh God, I miss her!

The thing about my family is that... their dead. It wasn't a natural death, no. It was someone who killed them, brutally murdered them actually. I was there to witness the murder.

***FLASHBACK***

It was one cold night in San Francisco and my mom, my dad, and I just came back from dinner, when there was a crash in the kitchen. My mother told me to hide in the closet, as my dad rushed to the kitchen. I hid in the closest, which was dark and sort of scary. In the closet, I found a little peephole. Suddenly, I see my dad backing up, hands up in a surrendering position. Following was a man dressed in black, pointing a kitchen knife to his throat. My mom let out a nasty scream, when another man dressed in black rushed in with another knife covered her mouth with his hand. He pointed the blade towards her throat. My dad stammered,"Please don't do this." As soon as he said that, the man swiped the blade across his throat. Blood spurted out. My dad fell to the floor, lifeless. My mom let out a muffled scream. The man holding her also swiped the blade across her throat. She fell to the floor, lifeless. For a 7 year-old, I knew what happened; My parents were both killed. I stayed quiet; I didn't want to die.

I heared some whispering coming from the men,"Are you sure there is no one else in the house?" Man 1 asked. "They have two children, a son and daughter. The son lives in Seattle and the girl isn't here." Man 2 replied. "Alright, let's get the money." Man 1 said. They went to the family room, where there was a safe. They unlocked it and stuffed their pockets with the money. "Boss is gonna be so proud of us!" Man 2 exclaimed. "Yea just hurry up!" Man 1 said, "We have to go before people get suspicious." They got up and headed for the door. I heared the door slam and wheels screeching. I didn't want to get out the closest; I didn't know if I was alone or not. I waited for someone to come. I started to cry silently. I had to stay in the closet for the night and my parents just died. I wanted to go cry over them, but I knew I couldn't do that. I cried to myself until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I heard some people talking. It must be those men who probably came back to kill me. I stayed quiet and looked through a peephole. There were five guys dressed in black. I looked away from the hole and started to cry again. They brought more people, I thought. I looked again and noticed "They had a daughter who lived with them." one of the men said. "She must've been kidnapped." another one said. "I don't think so. Cortez doesn't keep people. Let's just look around and make sure she isn't hiding anywhere." They all agreed and split to search the house. One of the men walked towards the closet. He opened the door and found me wide-eyed. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed. The other rushed to his side. "Shit! James you found her!" one man said. "I'll call an ambulance" another man said as he rushed away. The one named James bent down so he could be eye-level with me. "Hi sweetheart. What's your name?" he asked. My mouth was so dry, I couldn't open it. He stood up and reached for my hand. "Lets get you some water." I grabbed his hand and he led me outside. I had to shield my eyes from the sun; I hadn't seen it since yesterday.

James picked me up and I put my arms around his neck and laid my head on his shoulder. We walked over to his patrol car where he sat me down on the hood. He got out a bottle of water and gave it to me. After I chugged down the bottle, I looked at James. "Thank you." I managed to say. "You're welcome." We sat in silence for a while. "So can you tell me your name sweetheart?" he asked. "Ashley." I replied. " Well Ashley, my name is Officer James. Is it OK if I asked you a few questions?" I nodded. "Do you know what happened to your parents?" he first asked. I choked back a sob "Yes, some people killed them." I replied. "Can you tell me what happened to you?" he asked. "My mommy told me to hide in the closet. There was a hole so I could see. Then I saw these men dressed in black holding knives. Then my dad told them not to do it. And then th-then..." I started to cry. Officer James put his arm around me and rubbed his hand up and down my back. "Its OK Ashley. You did great."

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That night was like a living nightmare. I've been afraid of the dark because of that night. I am more cautious and alarmed because of that day. I started training, fighting in case anyone of them came back to finish me too. That night changed me completely. I just wanted to relax today. I checked my cellphone. 'Heyyy!!! How great was that party yesterday?! I'm with a guy I met yesterday. He is SO hot! Ttyl!!!' Text message from Sierra. I shook my head and chuckled to myself from reading the text message.

It's 12:00 PM; what can I do today?

I decided to go to the mall. I always go to the mall when I'm bored. I put on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, black combat boots, a white tank, and a mini black leather jacket. I grabbed my purse, turned on the alarm to the apartment and left. I didn't want any surprises today.

I left the apartment building and hailed a taxi. I told the driver to take me to Pineland Mall, my favorite mall in San Francisco. I paid him and walked towards the entrance. I didn't know which store I wanted to go in, so I walked around until I found something that pleases me. I finally decided to go into Macy's. I went to the Electronics Section to see if there was anything cool. This is the part where my whole life changed...again.

There was this hot man, walking around through the aisles, looking at the devices. He was so gorgeous! He was wearing a black loose-fitted T-Shirt, dark blue jeans, and a pair of black Jordan's. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him; even the cashier was giving him hungry looks. He looked up and our eyes locked. He gave me a half smile and my heart skipped 3 beats. That's bad right?!

Anyway, I slowly started to walk away from that section. He started to walk away as well, following me. I decided to pick up the pace, hoping he doesn't do the same or...hoping he does. Unfortunately, he goes the opposite way when I turned the corner. Goodbye Mr. Hotness.

After walking around the mall, stopping at several stores, and sometimes looking for Mr. Hotness for 4 hours, I decided to go home. I suddenly felt someone was following me. I turned around hoping it was Mr. Hotness, and not who I think it would be. When I turned around I saw two mysterious men dressed in black, sitting at a table in a nearby cafe. I walked a little faster; I've had bad times with men dressed in black.

I turned the corner when I felt a hand grab my arm. I tried to scream and fight back but the man put his hand over my mouth, muffling my scream. He held my down with his other down. I don't know why but his touch calmed me down. As we stood there in silence, I saw the two men who I thought were following me, walk past. So they were following me! I didn't know to be grateful or more alarmed of the man who grabbed me. After 5 minutes, the man released me. The corner was dark so I couldn't see who it was. "Thanks. Who are you?" I asked. He stepped into the light. It was Mr. Hotness! "You?!" I gave him a confused look. "Why were those guys following you?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders; I couldn't tell him that I was the daughter of murdered victims. "I don't know. How do you know them?" I asked. "They work for Alex Cortex." Cortex? I've heard that name before. "Alex Cortex?" I asked.

Yea. He has the biggest drug cartel in San Francisco. He is also the most wanted serial killer in the West Coast." Serial Killer? Maybe he is the one who killed my parents. "So how many people work for him?" I asked. "At least thousands. They do drug runs, ambush other cartels, and even murder people." So he couldn't have done the murder, but he was behind it. "OK last question, what is your name?" This really was my last question, I had to get home to process this information. T"I'm Michael. Look just be careful. These guys are serious." And like that, he turned and walked away.

After arriving home, I plopped down on my bed.