Ashlyn Ross is a normal teenage girl -to the outside world that is. she has a secret identity and only her parents and trusted trainer knows.
she's a gang boss that even her gang members don't know who she is. she goes by Rose and that's that. her...
"i think i'll take that peace offer, Ash." Roscoe said quietly.
"do you know why they call me Ash?" i asked, getting all up in his face.
"n-no." he said.
"because I'm fire. i burn people to ashes when they fuck with me the wrong way." i said, looking up at his taller frame. he looked down at me and gulped. he knew that size didn't matter. when we had first met, he had thought that he could beat me because i was smaller than him. but he was proved wrong and he now knows to not underestimate people by their size. to look at their body language to see if they were confident enough to beat you or not.
"c-c-can we go now, Ash?" Flora asked from behind me. i was snapped out of my rage glare and looked back at Flora, my gaze softening. i nodded, glaring at Roscoe one more time before swinging on my bike and taking off with Flora clinging to my back like a monkey.
i zoomed through the streets as Flora clung to my back tighter than before. maybe i was going faster than i normally did, or maybe she was simply scared from Roscoe and Harvey talking about using her. maybe it was because she was nervous about facing her parents after skipping the rest of school. whatever it was, i could feel the tension in her body. it practically vibrated off of her and into me.
i changed my mind at the second and kept going on the road, passing by the street we had to take to go back to the school. i zipped down the road and stopped at a stop light, pulling up in between two cars. one of the cars was a little BMW bug and the other was a bright yellow mustang. the mustang had music blaring out of it's speakers and i looked in to find a guy not much older than me bobbing his head to the music, grinning at his bleach blonde girlfriend. she had her hand over her ears and looked uncomfortable. i chuckled and looked away. the song stopped.
"hey!" i heard the guy call. "hey, you! the girl on the bike!" i turned my head to look at him.
"what?" i asked him, wary.
"you're hot." he winked. "want to go out some time?" i growled. i hopped off the bike, leaving Flora balancing it and walked over to the window.
"you have your girlfriend sitting in the car with you and yet you still have the balls to ask me out? a strange girl on the street?" i growl. the girl looked shocked.
"we're not dating." she said, blushing. she likes him though. i study her.
"date him." i whisper. "the guy doesn't have to make the first move all the time."
"what did you say, sweet thing?" he asked, looking at me.
"look in front of your god damned, stupid ass face and find someone who actually likes you." i snarl. he looked shocked but i stepped away, getting on my bike and riding away from the blaring honks from the cars behind him. the light must have turned green. right before the mustang could move, the light turned red again and i could here a lot of swearing and pissed off voices coming from the cars behind him. he was going to have a bad day.
i pull into the parking lot and park my bike. Flora looks at me confused, but then saw the dairy queen sign and brightened up. we went inside and ordered ice cream. we went out and sat in the sun, eating our ice cream.
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i dropped Flora off at her house and then rode off, heading home. i was going to see Luke tonight. i was going to talk to him. bargain. maybe i could let him go? maybe he could keep his mouth shut. but what if he doesn't? what would i do then? kill him and every single person he talked to? and every person they had talked to?
i sighed. this shouldn't be this hard. normal teenage lives were full of stress over homework. I'm seventeen and I'm stressed over death. and torture.
why couldn't i be normal?
i went in the house and changed. i put on a black leather zip up shirt and black jeans. I paired them with black biker boots and a spiked bracelet.
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i grabbed my blood red cloak and black lace mask and went to find Noah. i wandered through the upstairs, checking his bedroom and bathroom. then i went downstairs to look in the kitchen and living room. frowning, i walked to a door under the stairs that opened to another set of stairs. these stairs led to the basement, where we stored boxes for Christmas and stuff. we also had lots of gym equipment. there was a large blue foam mat in the corner, that Noah and i would wrestle on, practicing our fighting skills. we would punch and kick, going all out, but we would always hold back so we only had a few bruises. maybe a cut or two.
and sure enough, Noah was there, doing pull ups, breathing in long, deep breaths. he had taught me to control my breathing, the same way he did now. it made your stamina last longer. it saved your energy. if you push to your limit immediately in a fight, your energy would be gone and you would die. but if you saved your energy, using only a limited amount, you would slowly tire and you would last longer.
i walked over to him, stopping in front of him. he set his feet on the ground, keeping his hands wrapped around the bar over his head. sweat dripped off his forehead and neck as he looked at me, catching his breath.
"what's up, Ash?" he asked.
"can you drop me off at the warehouse?" i ask. his eyebrows shot up and his mouth pulled down into a frown.
"drop you off? why?"
"i need to talk to Luke. I'm considering letting him go, but I'm not for certain yet." i say. he blinked and released the bar with one hand, wiping his face and neck with it, making the sweat droplets fly off, landing on the cement beneath us. i could see the wheels turning in his head, processing what i had just said.
"how about this." he said, moving his hand from his mouth and back to the bar. "i'll take you to the warehouse. you'll talk to him, and make threats or bribes or whatever you feel necessary to let him go. if he doesn't cooperate, you kill him. and if you can't kill him because you know him, i'll do it or have one of the soldiers do it."
i considered this. if he went free would he tell anyone? do i want to take that risk? fuck it. I've already told Noah about my plan. to late now.
"ok, deal." i said. Noah nodded and headed into the bathroom in the basement to shower off the sweat and stink.
i can't back down now. there is no turning back.
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Hey y'all! the romance is starting to blossom! like a sunflower that is reaching for the sun.
i hope you're enjoying the book so far!! don't forget to vote and share it with your friends if you like it! and don't be shy to comment your ideas or thoughts on the book, if you like!
