Poisonous

Chapter Nineteen

               The rain falls heavy as I stare at the fresh grave before me. Yet another person I have had to bury in the past three years, first was Sammy and then Destiny, now my mother. Her body is placed next to Lewis's. My gaze lands on the stone that marks their resting place. As I stare at their shared headstone, their names stare back at me, Lewis Allen Masters, Gina Ivy Masters. "Why?", I ask as the rain soaks me, "Why did you do this?". "If you two hadn't cheated on each other, we wouldn't be in this situation", I choke out, "I might not be here, but you would still be alive. Destiny would still be alive". Every emotion I have held inside of me takes over and brings me to my knees in front of the headstone, "Why me? I never asked for this shit!", I scream, "Why do your kids have to suffer because of your decisions?". I continue to kneel in front of their grave, letting all of my emotions flow through me until I finally feel nothing. I've become numb. Numb to the fact that my mother was killed in front of me and that my little sister was killed because of Lewis's actions. Numb to the idea that everyone that I have ever cared about has been taken from me. I feel nothing. Not pain, or fear, or remorse. I feel nothing. It's like I've become hollow. There's nothing inside of me that is going to stop me from finishing what I started. And I'm not going to let anyone get in my way, I don't care what I have to do. The rain lightens up as I lift myself off my knees and pull my phone out, dialing the first number I find. The line rings and soon I hear his voice, "Nikki?". "Listen up Nelson, there's a couple things I need you to do", I state coldly. "What is it?", he asks. "I need you to gather Alex, Kallie, Jeremy, and Ivan and I need you guys to get out of town", I inform. "Why?", he asks, "What's going on Nikki?". "Look, I'm not going to get into it right now", I reply coldly, "But I need you guys out of town. A storm is coming and you guys will be safer if you're not here when it comes". Nelson goes silent. "I'll pay for your tickets for wherever you go, but you have to promise me that you will indeed go", I push. "What am I going to tell them?", he asks, confused. "I don't fucking care", I reply, "Tell them it's a vacation or something, just get out of town. If I find out you're not out of town by tomorrow night then you will answer to me, got it?". I hang the phone up and sigh. It's time.

~~~

               I sit in anticipation as I wait for Alex. A few moments pass before I see him rush into the diner and sit himself across the table from me. "What's wrong?", I ask worriedly. "We're leaving town", he replies. "Who's leaving?", I ask. "Nelson, Kallie, Jeremy, Ivan, and myself", he says, "We're leaving tonight". "Why?" I ask curiously. "Not sure on all of the details, but Nelson said he got a call from Nikki. He said she sounded off but demanded that he gather all of us and get us out of town", he explains, "She said a storm was coming and that it would be safer for us if we weren't here when it does". "I'm worried, Cain", he continues, "What's my sister planning?". I shake my head, "I don't know and that worries me", I pause, "She killed a gate guard and Marcelo after she left your father's office. She's heading further down a dark path and she refuses to listen to me. In the coming days I feel a lot of people are going to get hurt". "I'm not going to offer you money like my mother, but please keep an eye on her, Cain. Don't let her go too far", he pleads, "Please keep her safe". "I will try", I reassure. "I have to go and finish packing, but please keep me updated", he says. I nod and he quickly gets up and makes his way out of the diner. What are you planning Nikki?

~~~

               "Nikki, I'm not sure this is going to be enough to take on an entire gang", Justice states as we take inventory of all of our weapons. "We're not fully prepared to take these guys head on", Carter states. "Then get prepared", I snap, "We don't have a lot of time. The Crimson Reapers have left me alone so far, but I killed Aurelio's son, my own brother, sooner or later he's going to come for me and we have to be ready". I run my hands through my hair and sigh, "We have to go after them first. We'll most likely need to rob a few more Deckerz shipments before we're ready. Justice, I need you to find out when their next shipments are. Carter, I'm going to need you to find some manpower. We're going to need all the help we can get". Both men nod and make their way out of my office. As soon as they are out of my office I start pacing, thinking of a perfect strategy for us to take down the Crimson Reapers. My concentration is cut off by my phone alerting me to an incoming text message. I pull my phone out of my pocket and read it,