Chapter one - The mark
- Airianna
So today is the 29th of August and I'm sat on this all too familiar roof top wondering where, when, why and how the hell it went so wrong.
Ping
Spot on as always, 7pm. I reach into my back pocket for my Nokia, Its like a brick but you need a sturdy phone on this job. Don't get me wrong, it's a newish modal and all, it's got a lot of great apps, but its still a brick. I'm looking at my screen now and its 7:01pm, one new message, I open it.
Bridget Street,
The Old Museum,
blue Ford Focus,
Registration number: YEAO AQH
Exits the museum From the back doors at 8:30pm, get the chain. I want you back at 9:15.
I click on the picture attached. Its of a man who appears to be around 24 with dark hair just about touching his shoulders and bright blue eyes. He looks about 6ft3 and has a slender athletic build. He wears glasses, Old blue faded jeans and a green Plaid shirt. He looks quite handsome in a geeky kind of way. I see a gold chain around his neck, with some sort of medallion type pendant attached to it, but I can't get a good look at it. That must be the chain I'm suppose to bring back with me. I wonder why they want it, they never ask me to bring anything back with me.
Its 7:05pm. I stand up, put my phone back into my back pocket and brush off the dirt from my tight fitted, black jeans. It's a good thing I brought my motorbike. I can take the back streets, make it to the museum for 7:45, do the job and get something to eat before heading back to the office for 9:15. Sounds easy enough, no problem.
As I'm walking back down the steps from the rooftop, my thoughts wonder back to earlier where did this all go to hell. I knew where, I just couldn't think about it, not right now. This would be my first job in the last two years and I need to keep a clear head. I have responsibilities now, that I can't turn my back on, or rather wont turn my back on. Zack is the closest thing to family I have and I'll be damed if Jaxsen thinks he's going to take him away from me, if any of them think they can take him away from me. No. I'm going to do this properly, just how I was trained. A location, a time and an objective, nothing more. I'm going to ignore the strange feelings i feel when I wake up in the middle of the night. The ones I got after hearing what I had done. I couldn't go back there, I couldn't be the girl on the rooftop. I have to be the girl who doesn't feel, who doesn't remember, who does the right thing and tonight the right thing is a bad thing. I have to be the girl who doesn't have a choice. The girl who's never had a choice, in any of this life she's been given.
As I reach my Ducati I zip up my jacket, it's a little chilly tonight. I'm wearing my favourite black jeans, a black tank top, my favourite black fitted leather jacket with a gold zip and some black boots with gold studs around the top. I tie my hair up in a ponytail and the hairs too short hang down the sides of my face. Ive always loved my rich silky auburn hair, how it hangs down my back in loose waves. It reminds me of my mother, the times when she would let me brush her hair before bed. I don't have many memories of my mother or father but the ones I do, I cherish. I don't even remember the day when...when...No, a clear head, I need to keep a clear head. I slip on my bike helmet, Just because I'm capable of dangerous things, doesn't mean dangerous things can't still happen to me, if I'm not careful. It's good to be in all black on a job, I can blend into the dark night and its shadows if I need to.
I check my phone, it's 7:15pm. I saddled up on my Ducati and kicked off the stand. Im going to get to the museum, do the job, take the necklace and head off. The necklace. Jaxsen wants the necklace. If that's all he wants then maybe, No. No maybes. Zack isn't going to get hurt again because I didn't do the right thing. He doesn't have to know that life, this life, not yet at least. I can protect him as long as I don't mess up, as long as I get Jaxsen what he wants and he wants it by 9:15 tonight.
I turn the key, it clicks and the engine comes to life with a bellowing rawr, that fills the quiet night around me. I love my Ducati, she never fails me, never. Maybe if I had her back then I could of got away, but not now, not since Zack. I can't leave him, I know they would kill him to spite me. They'd hurt him that night, the night I refused, they'd hurt him. Well not tonight, Zack is my priority and as much as I hate to admit it I love him and that's what kills because they know I love him and I'd do anything to keep him safe.
I lean forward, place my hands around the handle bars and rev the engine as I turn out from behind the abandoned warehouse. They don't know I come here, I found the rooftop by chance. It had called out to me that night I was wondering the streets trying to find an escape. I really was going to do it, I was going to end this hell I'm in but then what would be waiting for me on the other side. After my sins I doubt it would be all songs and laughter. I know it sounds strange but my mothers soft voice stopped me, I longed to hear that voice again. She told me I would be okay, that I'm meant for great things, that my strength is like no others and that I could do anything I wanted to as long as I believed in myself. I really wish I could believe her but I feel powerless over the hold Jaxsen has on me.
The nights cold air surrounds me, I can feel it on my face as I dart between the roads and back streets. In this moment I feel free. I don't think about my nightmares, I don't think about Jaxsen and I don't think about what I'm going to do. I block out everything and everyone, I just feel the cold air on my face. I take a sharp right onto a back street. I can do this, I'm going to keep Zack safe if its the last thing I do.
