Gangs Aren't My Style (A Black Death Novel)

Chapter 81 - It's Too Late

Gangs Aren't My Style

Book I of the Black Death Trilogy

PART FOUR :: Leave The Front Line Behind

Chapter 81 - It's Too Late

The small bag felt heavy on her shoulder as Ally crossed over the threshold of the small hotel room, her eyes red and puffy from crying. A sob rose in her throat even as she slid the bag down her arm, tossing it carelessly onto the bed placed directly in the middle of the small room. She squared her shoulders, keeping her back to the door as new tears ran down her cheeks, covering the streaks that outlined the paths of their predecessors. Even upon freedom, she felt more trapped than ever.

"You did the right thing, Ally."

Ally spun on her heel, narrowing her eyes at the man behind her, even though somewhere in her conscious she knew that everything happening was not his fault. "Don't you dare tell me this was the right thing to do when my brother is now rotting in a cell because of me, waiting on the prosecution to use my predicament against him."

He sighed, a sad, forced smile spreading across his lips. "I know, I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry."

"If you really think that then you obviously do not know me at all."

She couldn't stand this, this prickling of guilt that was cutting through her. The emotions she'd kept bottled up for so many years were breaking free, leaving her life in utter destruction as they wrecked through.

"Just go, Trenton." The words were soft this time, her shoulders slumping as she turned away from him.

He hesitated, obviously reluctant to leave Ally alone in her present state, but finally sighed. "Okay, if you need me, a new cell phone is in your bag and my number is already programmed into it."

Ally nodded, closing her eyes tightly against the pain as she listened to his retreating footsteps, followed by the click of a closing door. The resounding ring of the door locking automatically behind him made everything seem so much more real. There were two guards stationed outside of her door to make sure that their link to convicting the leader of Black Death didn't vanish. While she had nowhere else to go, surely the streets would have comforted her more than this hotel room of false hopes.

She pulled down the black zipper of the small bag that held her only remaining possessions, the two sets of protruding teeth unlinking from each other as the slider slid down the column. Rummaging through the various items housed within its expanse, Ally quickly pulled out a large t-shirt and sweatpants to change into for bed. She knew that she wouldn't be getting much sleep that night, but she also knew that there was nothing else for her to do except wait for herself to collapse of exhaustion.

Walking into the attached bathroom, Ally scowled at the pathetic reflection shining back at her, the truth displayed in it untainted by anyone; the truth in it unquestionable. Her eyes were glassy, surrounded by the deep red tint of irritated skin, and her chest was heaving up and down with shaky breaths. Even now, tears still rolled down her cheeks as if she'd only discovered the deceit a few moments before.

It was then that she realized just how much her brother meant to her, for his absence ran through her like a thread through a needle and every beat of her heart was now stitched in its hue, the reminder of him the only thing keeping her hanging on.

Ally hastily wiped a sleeve across her face, taking in a deep breath as she fought to compose herself. There was nothing she could do to change the past but the future was still within her grasp, the freedom now only a hair's breadth away but still untouchable. After everything she'd went through to get to this point, she knew there would be nothing that could keep her from finally escaping. She refused to be this close and let it slip through her fingers while the people she loved paid the price for her chance at freedom, regardless if she would or wouldn't grab it. Whether she kept going or not, they would still pay for her actions.