Part 6

Fourteen Years Prior

Anna had fallen asleep the minute Gwendolyn had laid her down. The poor girl was completely worn out. She had been given the best birthday gift that any child could get. Gwendolyn had given her a bunch of books to read and her own personal diary she could write in. Anna didn't even think that Gwendolyn knew she liked making up stories.

Gwendolyn gave Anna everything she wanted, everything she had asked for. She even got Lindsey a few things so that the other girl didn't feel that left out. The party was like a fairy tale. There was a pony ride and a magician and ice cream and games and everything that an outlandish party should include.

They even set up a small merry-go-round in the backyard and Anna got the first ride. Anna got the first ride on everything. It was her birthday.

Gwendolyn stood over her bed and watched Anna sleep. She looked happy. Maybe tonight, Anna wouldn't have any nightmares. Today was too good of a day to end with a nightmare.

The older girl stood there watching her sister for a moment more then left the room. She couldn't watch Anna forever, no matter how much she wanted to. There were things in her life that needed to be taken care of.

"I need to go out and take care of a few things." Gwendolyn told Kacia as she passed her in the hallway. "If Anna wakes up, tell her I'll be back as soon as I can."

Kacia grabbed Gwendolyn's arm as she walked past. "Do you really need to go out? Can't you take Anna's birthday off?"

Gwendolyn thought about it. She seriously thought about never leaving Anna alone at night again and it wasn't just because it was Anna's birthday. A part of her believed that maybe staying in would be the best thing she could do in her life at that exact moment. Was taking care of her business so important she couldn't leave it for one night?

But maybe if she stopped she wouldn't be able to start up again. "I'll only be gone for a couple of hours." She couldn't stop. Someone had to provide for the girls. Someone had to make sure they got their chance in life and Kacia wasn't strong enough to do it.

Both of them knew that and understood it. So, Kacia let her go wishing she was strong enough to hold onto Gwendolyn and never let go.

Present Day

There was no point in trying to salvage a civil dinner after my conversation with my sister. Anna and I can't last in the same space that long. We haven't been able to master that in a long time now. I thought maybe tonight we'd pull it off for Melody, but we can't even do that.

When I walked in the house, I collected my daughter and drove her somewhere else to eat. I explained to her that Anna wasn't feeling well and we would see her when she got back from her treatment center. It's extremely sad that the girl knows anything about those kinds of clinics.

No child should know what they are. She shouldn't even know they exist, but Anna didn't give her that luxury. Anna hasn't given her daughter a whole lot of good memories. Anna was never a good parent and a part of me sincerely believes that she does take after her father.

Of all the things I've said to hurt her, I've never told her that. I've never bothered to share with her that I think she is like her father. That thought would never hurt her as much as it does me. It doesn't mean that she failed, it means that I failed. I failed Anna.

No one needs to fill me in on that. It's not lost on me at all. I failed her. I tried to save her and I failed her. It's nothing I'm proud of.

I even feel a little guilty about it. I've not been able to shake that feeling so maybe that's why I'm breaking into Cam Mendoza's house. She and I never really got a chance to talk. It's time I rectified that.

I push on her window, the one I know is an entrance to her bedroom, and am surprised when a fist comes flying at my head. I dodge the punch and slide past the body that threw it. It's a lot easier to defend myself when I'm not crouched in front of a window.

It's dark in the room, but I don't mistake the body that is in front of me for anyone else except Ms. Mendoza. She throws another punch at me, which I dodge and respond with a kick to her gut. She takes the kick like a pro and before I know it we're in a full out fight.

Maybe it was a mistake to think she would actually let this be easy for me. She can't think that I'm really out to kill her or anything. I just want to talk to her about Anna.

One of her kicks is too quick for me and makes contact with my knee. I fall to the ground but roll away from her before she can hit me again. "Will you fucking stop this?" I shout as I dodge another one of her kicks. "You can't possibly hate me this much yet."

Then again, maybe she can because she ignores me and throws another punch at my face.

I jump up and my knee almost gives out but I make it hold my weight. I get a good kick in and force her to the ground then don't waste any time in jumping on her torso to keep her down. She struggles beneath me and I know I won't be able to hold her down long. She's too strong. So this is one of those rare occasions when I have to use my words to get what I want.

"You're angry," I spit out. "I think I get that and I'm pretty sure that you may have busted my kneecap so take solace in that and stop fighting me."

"You're the one that broke into my house."

She has a point there, but I choose to ignore it. She couldn't have expected me to announce my presence. "Next time I'll use the front door."

She stops struggling against me. "Get off me." She orders and I have a feeling that if I don't comply we'll start fighting again.

I roll off of her and find a wall to sit against. She sits up and finds her bed to lean on. We're facing each other breathing heavily staring at each other. Her face is bruised and I think she's going to have a very black eye come morning. That makes me smile.

She wipes some blood from her cut lip and asks, "Is there a reason you came?"

After the trouble I went through I don't think my reason is good enough anymore. I should have stayed home and slept. "Anna."

Cameron chuckles. "She said you'd stay away."

I cross my arms in front of me, but soon realize that there's a bruise forming on my left bicep that is making it really hard to bend my arm. "I thought I was going to."

"Your sister is a better person than you. I never thought she would be."

"She's a better person than both of us."

Cameron lowers her head conceding my point.

"I'm guessing you know who I am." She wouldn't have attacked me at her bedroom window if she hadn't.

She nods.

"Did Anna tell you?" Maybe Anna would warn her about me and tell her my secrets. Anna has a heart like that. She thinks people have a right to know who they're dealing with. She has such a creative mind and she might just hate me enough to tell a person like Cameron all about me in hopes for a little revenge. But then again, in order for her to want revenge on me she'd have to know who Cameron is and she doesn't know. I haven't told her and Cameron probably doesn't have the guts to confess all her deadly sins to Babygirl.

"Anna didn't have to. I figured it out after you left the hospital."

"And you weren't smart enough to figure it out before? I mean before you came to hire me?" To her credit I didn't recognize her either until I got a refresher course from a colleague that night.

"You're a photographer." She slides further down the end bed post.

I give a short laugh. "I'm as much a photographer as you are a musician."

"You should know I quit all that."

"Yeah," I grin. "But has it quit you?"

"I walked away."

"But your 'people' don't let you walk away." The way I hear it, there are people still out there that want her blood but are too afraid to come looking for it. But sitting here across from the great Cam Mendoza, I'm not afraid.

Mendoza leans her head back and looks up at the ceiling. It doesn't look all that exciting to me. "They owed me." So it's bribery that enabled her to gain her freedom, go figure.

"Aaron was always a softie." I never liked the man. He's scum and one of the deadliest people I've not had the privilege of meeting face to face. He's one of the reasons I never got involved in the drug business. I deal solely with flesh.

"So what is it you want from me?" She doesn't sound like she's enjoying our small talk, but I figure it's a good reprieve from beating each other up. But if she wants to get down to business then by all means lets do so.

"Take care of Anna," I put my hand on my knee and check to see if my kneecap is actually pushed out of place. To my amazement it isn't. Maybe Mendoza managed to fuck up a ligament or something. "And don't get involved with her."

Cam starts laughing. "Involved? You don't have to worry about that."

"Maybe not," I shrug. "But you use people to get what you want, Mendoza. You're a sucker for a pretty face and we both know what happens to those pretty faces."

She stops laughing. Apparently I'm not as funny as she thought I was. "So I guess then you're just talking to me because you want to make sure Anna's free to be all used up by you?"

Mendoza gets my full attention. "I've never used Babygirl. I'll put a bullet through your head if you imply otherwise ever again."

This woman knows to take me very seriously. She's not stupid enough not to. "Why leave her to me?"

I slide over to Cameron and sit against the bed post with her. "I think you're a better person than me."

She starts laughing again. "How do you figure?"

In my jacket pocket I have a flask full of liquor and now seems like a good time to pull it out. I take a swig then hand it over to Cameron. She takes it. "You stopped."

It's simple when it gets down to the basics. I fell in and haven't found a way out and more importantly I'm not looking for one. Not even losing my sister gave me motivation. I'm one of those lost causes more so than that sister of mine.

"So what makes you think I wasn't one of the people involved in getting her hooked?" Cameron asks as she plays with the cap to the flask. "How do you know I wasn't part of that payback?"

I use the bedpost as an anchor and pull myself up. My knee is throbbing now and I'll have to pretend like I was never injured. That'll be really hard come morning. "I killed all of them." And I haven't thought twice about it. They touched Babygirl and they deserved to pay for that transgression.

"Aaron is still really upset about that," Cam rises as well but doesn't look like she has nearly as much problem with the task as I did.

"He and I never got along. He doesn't like people he can't control." That's why he's still out for my blood. He's never liked that he couldn't control me and unlike Cam, here, who got away with disagreeing with him, I never could. He always thought of me as a threat while Cameron was a challenge.

"If he finds out who you are he'll kill you and Melody."

"It's a risk." That's what my life has been for far too long now. I'm not stupid, I know my days are numbered.

"You should be here tomorrow to take Anna to the clinic," Cameron's statement seems out of place. It doesn't fit in. Doesn't she know that I don't care for Anna anymore? I'm leaving. When I crawl back out that window I'm going to disappear. They'll both forget my name. "I don't know why, but she still loves you, Gwendolyn. She still wants your approval."

"And when did you learn that?" They've talked too much. They are way too close to have only known each other for less than forty-eight hours.

"It's written all over her."

I suppose I could have been completely blind or maybe Cameron has no idea what she's talking about. Anna and I hate each other. We've settled that. It's easier that way. "I'll be back tomorrow morning." Maybe one last goodbye for the road will do me some good. I can redefine all the reasons why I hate Anna.

"I'll see you then."

For some reason I feel like I've lost here. I don't feel like I came out on top and I hate losing. "I've decided to do your tour." That throws the bitch off. She wasn't expecting me to say that now was she? "I feel the need to keep you close."

What's that they say about enemies?

Fourteen Years Prior

Her business grew a lot faster than she thought it would. It was just some idea she came up with while she was shooting another one of her many videos. Sure, she made good money at making the films but Gwendolyn was positive there was a lot more to be made. She didn't think she was getting greedy, she saw it as securing her and her sister's future. That's all that she ever wanted.

That's why she came up with the idea she did. Plus, she thought she could make this whole industry better for the girls involved in it. There were real psychos out there and one too many bright eyed innocent girls had fallen for their traps. Gwendolyn knew she could change that.

She could get to the girls first and offer them some protection. They would have to work for her, sure, but she could offer them something that no one else would. She could offer them a way out. It didn't offend her in the least that people called her evil and saw what she asked of the girls as indentured servitude.

The girls didn't mind it either, at least not that Gwendolyn could tell. She gave them all a place to live, food to eat, hope for a better tomorrow and promised them protection. Gwendolyn told every girl that she would make sure they weren't harmed and if they were then she'd take care of it. That was more than what any other jerk on the street was offering them.

That's what separated Gwendolyn from the rest. It wasn't the fact that she was sixteen years old, although no one knew how old she was, it was the fact that she stood by her word.

So that's why she walked out of her comfortable home on Anna's birthday. Someone had messed with one of the girls and she had to take care of it. Some jerk thought that he could rape one of hers and get away with it. He said it was to show Eris she couldn't always have what she wanted. Eris being the name Gwendolyn was known by in that world. She wasn't stupid enough to use her real name.

Gwendolyn couldn't let him get away with that. It offended her reputation. It let other people like him think they could get away with it. She wouldn't kill him. She never killed anyone. Killing stepped over a line for her. She would go talk to him.

Those were her intentions, to just talk. She found him in some sleazy nightclub he owned. He was expecting her.

"You could be a dancer, Eris." He told her as he put a beer on the table she had chosen to sit at. "I bet no one knows how beautiful you are."

Gwendolyn picked up the beer and took a long sip. Her lips caressed the top of the bottle and Brandon was sure she was playing with him. He figured she was like any other bitch. She liked compliments. He took a seat across from her and leaned his elbows on the table getting as close to Gwendolyn as he could with the table between them.

"For you, Brandon?" Gwendolyn put the bottle back on the table. "Do you want me to dance for you?"

Brandon didn't like the sound of her voice. It was too deadly for his liking. "I want you to get the fuck out of my club."

Gwendolyn reached into her jacket and slowly pulled out a small blade. "Are you afraid of a little pain, Brandon?"

He looked around, but Brandon couldn't see any of his security personnel. It was like they all went on break at the same time. Maybe it was a bribery induced break given by Eris.

The club was dark and loud and Gwendolyn had chosen the darkest corner. If Brandon screamed no one would hear him. "You took my property without asking, Brandon." Gwendolyn ran the blade across the palm of her hand. "I don't like that."

One man, was loyal to Brandon. He couldn't be bribed by Gwendolyn and Gwendolyn didn't know he was even in the club. That's how she ended up with a bullet in her shoulder and that's also how she ended up using her blade.

She saw the glitter of the gun and felt the pain in her shoulder then threw her blade into the shooter's chest. She didn't even think twice about it. Brandon was too slow to know when to move, so when she was sure the shooter was down she reached out for Brandon and killed him too.

The people on the dance floor still danced. They hadn't heard the gunshot and hadn't seen the man in the corner fall from a knife wound to his chest.

Gwendolyn got her knife before she left and then decided to walk home. She wasn't sure how she could explain her wounded shoulder to Kacia or to Babygirl. It had all happened so fast, but Gwendolyn was convinced that she did it all in self defense. She had been shot first. She had been attacked and she only responded.

Although, she couldn't quite understand how she was defending herself when she killed Brandon. He didn't have a weapon.


Continued...