| VEXED |

chapter | seven

Andrews

"Go find her." Larce tried to say calmly through gritted teeth. Apparently Alex left after he told her not to.  

"I put a GPS tracker on her phone, use this and follow it." He handed me a small screen and I nodded. "Anyone could be after her. Don't let anything happen to her Theo, I mean it." he said sternly and I nodded once more grabbing my bow and headed out the door. 

I followed the dot on the screen and it led me near an alley. I saw her jeep and I heard a scream. I ran quietly and looked around the corner. There was a man holding her against the wall with a knife pressed to her throat. I saw a lot of blood on her side.

I quietly pulled my bow in front of me and placed an arrow on it. I drew back aiming for the side of his back. I let out a breath and thought of that day she made fun of me for missing the bullseye. If I miss right now, I could hit her instead of him. 

I breathed in again, and when I saw her close her eyes as he pressed the blade closer to her neck I released the arrow and it struck exactly where I intended. I let out a sigh of relief, I didn't hit her. 

She opened her eyes slowly and her eyes widened when she saw the man on the ground. I ran towards her and grabbed her arm holding her up. 

"Is that the only place he got you?" I asked in a calm manner hoping it would calm her as well. She nodded slowly and I saw her slipping out of consciousness. Probably from all the blood loss. 

"Alex, hey, stay with me," I spoke nervously as I grabbed her face. I saw her eyes close again and I had no choice but to carry her. "Damn it Alex." I groaned as I picked her up and quickly walked towards her jeep. 

-

Alex

I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. it was a dimly lit room and I had an iv in my arm. I sat up quickly not knowing where I was, but then soon regretting it as I felt a sharp pain in my side. 

"Careful or you'll rip your stitches." I heard someone from beside me. Andrews, great. "Where am I?" I asked trying to sit up more. "You're in the infirmary." he sat up in the chair he was sitting in. 

"You killed that man." I remembered the events from before I blacked out. "What? No 'thank you for saving me'?" he mocked me and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Why are you even in here?" I asked looking down at the iv in my arm and immediately being grossed out. "I didn't want you to wake up alone and try to run away again." he shrugged sitting back. "I didn't run away." I argued.

Before I could say anything back, Larce walked in and closed the door behind me. "You're awake, good." he spoke walking over to me. I prepared myself for a lecture I'm sure I was going to get.

"Now do you see why I told you not to leave?" he spoke beside me. "You're lucky Theo got there when he did or you wouldn't be here." he added and I scrunched my eyebrows. Who's Theo? I wondered. I looked over at Andrews and he rolled his eyes. That must be his first name. 

"I'm not a child Larce." I retorted looking away from him. "Prove it then, you're sure acting like one." he let out a breath looking directly at me and I saw Theo crack a smile from the corner of my eye. 

"What me not wanting to be locked up 24/7 is me acting like a child? Then so be it." I raised my voice at him and he looked down. 

"Look, Alexandra. You literally have a target on your back. Anyone that has a grudge against me will come for you." he responded walking closer to me and I moved away. 

He let out a breath when I didn't respond and walked towards the door. He walked out and I laid my head back closing my eyes. I wish things were back to being simple. When Ethan was in my life. 

I felt a tear fall down my cheek at the near thought of his name. I quickly wiped it and he looked at me weird. "Why are you crying?" Theo asked moving closer to me. 

"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to run away, you can leave now." I turned away from him. I heard him mumble "Whatever." Before he closed the door harshly. 

1 month later

I went on my first mission yesterday with hazel and a few others. We busted another gang trying to smuggle stolen contraband. I was the one to fire the arrow that took the main guy down. Everyone congratulated me and told me how good of a job I did. 

None of it fazed me, and that's what I was worried about. When I fired the arrow and injured that man I didn't feel anything. I know we weren't taking down innocent people, but still.

I walked around the corner and bumped into a large figure. I looked up and it was Theo. he looked down at me and rolled his eyes. 

"Are you all healed up?" he asked when I tried to walk away. We haven't talked since he stormed out of the room I was in when I got hurt. 

I just nodded in his direction. "Congrats on completing your mission yesterday, by the way." he added and I stopped walking. "Why do people think it's a good thing to hurt and kill people?" I asked seriously turning around.

"They're bad people Alex. We're doing the world a favor by taking them out." he responded crossing his arms.

"Isn't that the police department's job?" I asked letting my arms fall to the side. "The gangs we take down outsmart the police all the time. We know things that even the FBI doesn't." he explained and I just nodded. 

"You seem tense. Want to do a one on one training session?" he asked. I thought about it for a second and I nodded. We walked into the training room and he grabbed a stick and thew it my way. 

"Not these again." I groaned holding it. "What? Scared you're going to lose?" he asked, fake pouting. 

"Bring it on Andrews." I responded confidently. "Your funeral Parker." he smirked walking towards me.