Plain Jane (Preview)

Chapter 2

The hallway leading to their dorm room was empty as Jane pressed the arrow to go down on the elevator panel. Conveniently the elevator was already on their floor as the doors opened right away, and Jane stepped in without a moment of hesitation and sent it back down to the ground floor. It wasn't until the doors were sealed that Jane prayed that the impromptu party being thrown in the foyer had ended in the time that she was upstairs. As the elevator dinged, it was time as Jane stepped out and noticed the voices that once filled the entranceway had all fallen silent, only to find out why when she turned the corner. Students were passed out everywhere, while some were still out and about, causing drunken havoc.

Still, Jane could care less since this wasn't her problem as she continued to step over the unconscious bodies. Taking one final glance, she could see Steve lying in the fetal position in the corner, covered with what Jane could only assume was cheap beer, which brought a smile to her face. Opening the first set of doors, Jane stopped in her tracks to watch as the rain came crashing down and a crack of thunder ripped open the sky. Jane knew that it was now or never. Putting the hood of her hoodie up, she walked out of the dormitory. She made her way to the student parking lot, where her outdated white Toyota Corolla sat. It was the least stand outish car for a student at the school to own, yet the car was also her baby.

Jane had rebuilt it from the ground up with her father to the point that she had become a bit of a grease monkey at fourteen. Jane was well-rounded for the trade she now found herself in. However, aside from everything she knew, she still had never fired a gun. She couldn't. Not after the day her father had been killed by one, while she hid in fear for her own life. Another crack of thunder rang out and threw Jane into a memory of that day at the gym. Her father was demonstrating some fighting moves to her, and when she was in the back getting changed, that was when she heard the commotion coming from the other side of the door. The first bullet fired as the sound of glass smashing against the ground echoed around the building, then came all the yelling.

"Where's our money, man? It's been two weeks. Time to pay up, or the boss won't be happy!" The muffled voice yelled out as Jane quietly snuck into the bathroom stalls in the changing room.

"What money are you talking about?" Jane's father's muffled voice questioned, but the question would never be answered.

The sudden sound of another bullet being fired deafened the walls of the building. It was then followed by the sound of a heavy thud. A thud that Jane would shortly come to learn was the sound of her father's body hitting the ground. Not knowing what to do, she called the police from her cell phone but clearly wasn't the only one to call it in. The gym was located in a strip mall with a fair amount of passersby who also heard the first gunshot. The police didn't take long to respond to the call since their headquarters was just up the road. Meanwhile, Jane listened to the murderers run from the building, allowing her to sneak out, and that's when she saw him.

Laying in a pool of his own blood, Jane ran to his aid and tried to put pressure on the wound like he had taught her. Except she was scared, and it was already too late. She couldn't stop crying, that the next thing she knew, her white gi was stained with the crimson blood of her father. The last thing Jane needed was to lose him, but she did and swore she'd get her vengeance on whoever ordered the hit on him. That was her motivation, at least, before what happened after broke her heart entirely. Pleading with her father's corpse to wake up on the other side of his body, her mother ran in. She was already in tears, likely thinking Jane had been killed alongside him.

Her parents had been together for thirty years and had just paid off the house, and they were all supposed to take a trip to Europe since they finally had the time. Yet when that moment happened, all of that just seemed to end. The police officers circled around them as the mother and daughter cried before the ambulance showed up and took the body away. Leaving behind a crying Jane as her mother held her close. None of it helped, though, as Jane's blood started to feel like fire in her veins and from that day forth, she always had a burning sensation in her to protect those she loved. Her mother included that way she could command her officers while Jane took out the drug dens or whatever other hells may rise up, and there was also Jane's new little brother that her mom had to take care of and had been named after Jane's late father.