All That Lives Is Born to Die

When Hayden fought, it always mattered what kind of mood she was in, how many people were challenging her, and how many people were on her side.

The two Mayan prospects chasing her down the beach weren’t really the kind of people she wanted to fight at the moment. Not that she couldn’t take them, she probably could. But her current schedule was running late and if she was late for dinner one more time, her father wasn’t just going to think it was another form of rebellion against their step-mother, he promised he would lock her out of the house.

Hayden managed to gain some distance while she ran on the sand. She grew up on the beach and she had a knack for running through sand quickly but as soon as she jumped the railing of the pier with ease and started running on the wood, they managed to catch up. She dodged people and went through an alley, jumping some trash cans, she emerged safely she fused with the few people who were in front of her, she heard them talking about a restaurant that was up close and assumed they were going their for dinner. Her plans for her getaway instantly changed. She was going to follow these people to the restaurant and when she was in the safe view of the public she would use the restaurants phone to call her father.

Hayden turned to see that only one Mayan came out of the alley, and his eyes immediately found hers in the crowd. She swore loudly and pushed herself through the group, her converse clothed feet immediately picking up the speed that was formerly used.

Hayden had only been running for what seemed like a minute before realized she had in fact been on this street before; it led back to the pier. Her body was thrown into a hard surface, and Hayden let out an ‘ompf’.

“Whoa! Slow down there,” a familiar voice sounded and Hayden looked up to meet hazel eyes. Again.

Hayden had a cigarette placed between her plump lips, when she first noticed the two Mayans walking down the street, they had noticed her too. Her eyes went back to her left hand which held her lighter and she brought it up to her face and that’s when her brain made the connection. Her eyes widened and she turned to her left with a snap of her neck, the Mayans had smiles on their faces, and their paces had quickened.

The cigarette fell out of Hayden’s mouth when she started the run, but her hands tightly held onto the pack of cigarettes and her lighter. She had of been running for all of three seconds when her body collided with another. Hayden looked up into the hazel eyes of a good looking man. He was in a two piece grey suit with a black button up shirt adorning his chest, the top three buttons undone to reveal a chest tattoos, and Hayden was suddenly very interested.

Matt’s hands had gripped both of her arms, holding her still in front of him and he managed to get a good look at the gorgeous young girl in front of him. Deep icy blue eyes paired with pale skin and dark brown hair all connected to a drop dead sexy body.

“Hey, are you alright?” Matt released a small laugh but it was gone once he realized her face was full of worry and annoyance, almost anger.

“Sorry,” and with that Hayden flew back down the street. Matt watched as she turned a corner and then she was gone.

“Who the fuck was that?” Brian asked his friend as he hopped out of the back door of the escalade that was parked on the side of the street. Zacky too looked interested as he walked around the back of the car from the driver’s seat. Matt had come to have a meeting with the owner of the restaurant about property investments, he had brought Zacky and Brian along with him because he never did business alone. It was a sign of strength, and it helped that they were all built and tattooed.

“I don’t know,” Matt’s reply was distant, he was swimming in his own thoughts of the mystery girl. Who was she? Where was she going? What was she running from? If she was running from someone. And more importantly – how could Matt find her?

Two men ran through Matt, Brian and Zacky’s half ass attempt at a triangle, and left the tattooed muscled men swearing. Brian and Zacky watched the men run around the corner after the girl. But Matt’s were focused somewhere else.

A sparkle caught his eye from the concrete walk way beneath him, and he bent down. Grabbing the silver zippo and packet of Marlboro cigarettes from the ground, his six foot and three inches frame straightened back up. The lighter was worn and had the initials V.Q in scripted on the bottom, and the cigarette packet was crumpled, Matt guessed from her rushing.

“Bro, she was hot,” Brian snorted, looking at his boss. Zacky almost looked disappointed that he didn’t get a good look at her.

Matt pocketed the evidence of the mystery girl, “C’mon, we’re late.” And with that he walked into the restaurant, Zacky and Brian behind him.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Matt laughed as his hands gripped her arms in the almost exact same place. Hayden was lost in his white teeth and dimples. His big hands were released from her arms and it was like the connection was lost, and she could suddenly form coherent full sentences.

“I need to ring my brothers-” she whispered, she knew they would believe her, and they would come help her fight at the least.

“What?” Matt asked, and he heard Zacky and Brian swear from behind him. Matt’s head turned towards his friends and saw them looking behind Hayden, they both pulled their guns from their holsters and kept them at their side, making sure to keep them hidden. “Shit, Matt. Mayans.”

Matt looked over Hayden’s head to see a brown man coming to a stop in front of them. Visibly pissed and sweating from chasing her.

“Hand her over, man,” He looked worried, but he still wanted Hayden. He had now pulled a switch blade from the back of his pants and had it pointed it down towards the ground. At least he was smart enough to keep it hidden.

Hayden was worried, she didn’t know this man who she was standing awfully close to, and he could have given her away in a second. Her blue eyes looked up towards his hazel ones, and she pleaded. Screeching tires broke their gaze as a Cadillac convertible pulled up to the curb next to the lone Mayan, making him not so alone anymore. Hayden recognized the new Mayan as the one that had stopped chasing her after she went through the alleyway; he held a gun as well as he went to stand next to his friend.

Matt’s hand found its way back to Hayden’s arm and she was pulled behind his large, muscular frame as his other hand pulled a weapon from his suit jacket. “What the fuck are you doing in Huntington? You shouldn’t be here.” Matt’s tone was deep and defensive and Hayden suddenly realized what was going on around her. Her mystery man had weapons and men. He was from her world. The world of fighting and codes and weapons; the criminal underworld. Hayden felt safe that it wasn’t some rich punk trying to save her. This guy knew what he was doing and she felt totally safe being protected by what she picked as the leader of whatever gang he had. He had two men protecting him before he had to draw his weapon and as he pulled her behind him, Hayden saw the six sided star tattoo on the palm of his hand. Hayden recognized it as her father had one. The star represented that whatever gang you are apart of, you own that gang, you’re the leader. Men follow your orders. Everyone gang had this six sided star, but for every different gang or mafia the star was personalized, and then if you own more than one gang, you have your main men as the large star and then tiny other six sided stars surround the large one. And the fact that this guy was against the Mayans, he had to be on the same side as her father, right?

“We just want the girl, man,” He shrugged his shoulders and he couldn’t seem to keep his feet still, taking tiny steps forward and then as many backwards. “Hand her over, man, and there won’t be any trouble.”

“No,” Matt shook his head once, “You leave and there won’t be any trouble.”

Hayden’s fingers gripped the back of his grey suit like it was going to give her more protection than she was already given. She wanted to tell the Mayans that she was a child of Vincent Quinn, and hope that it would help scare them off, but then she realized, that was the reason they were chasing her. Because she was a Quinn.

“All right, man. Calm down,” and with that the two Mayan men were in their car, and had gone down the street. Hayden watched as the man whose shirt she was gripping turned around to meet her face, and his two men put his weapons back into their jackets.

“Are you okay?” Matt asked, his arm around her shoulders as his fingers slowly rubbed her back.

“Yeah, I’m fine – holy shit!” Hayden looked at the watch on Matt’s wrist, her hand came to her forehead and she looked him in the eyes, “I am so fucking late! My dad is going to kill me!”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Matt tried to shush her and calm her down, but Hayden was too fucking scared to care. She didn’t want to get locked out of the house, let alone her dad to be pissed at her. “We’ll take you wherever you need to go. Get in the car.”

Matt’s hand motioned towards the black escalade that was parked at the edge of the sidewalk, only feet away from them, and it’s central locking system beeped for emphasis. Hayden trusted these guys, they just saved her life, what were they going to do? Rape her? She would rather be raped by these guys than have her dad anymore angry at her. She nodded her head, and Matt nodded his head too, a smile on his face.

Hayden was still awfully close to him as he escorted them over to the car, opening the back doors, his arm motioned for her to get in first. Zacky and Brian shared a glance before hopping in the front, Matt had just shut the door when Zack started the engine, and they pulled from the curb and into the moving traffic.

“Where are we going?” Zack asked as they stopped at a red light, his fingers ready to enter the address into the satellite navigation system.

“Uhm, 12 New Windsor drive,” the silence was awkward and she didn’t want to start small talk with her saviors.

“Fancy,” She thought she heard the brown haired one say from the front but she just brushed it off.

“Oh,” Matt pulled his gaze from the window to the pocket inside of his suit jacket, he pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes and a Zippo lighter from the grey fabric. But they weren’t just anyone’s belongings, they were her crumpled cigarettes and her father’s lighter that she had taken when he was looking a couple of years ago. “Here.”

Hayden wondered how long it would have taken her to realize that they were missing. “Thanks, I’m Hayden.”

“Matt,” he flashed his dimples, “Why were those Mayans chasing you?”

Hayden smiled at his curiosity, although anyone who was in his position would have wanted to know, “I don’t really know where the whole Mayan slash Vincent Quinn hating thing spawns from but-”

“Wait,” Matt interrupted her and Brian turned around in his seat, his eyes wide, “Your Hayden Quinn?”

“Yeah…? Why?” Hayden was worried. Had people been spreading rumors about her? Were they bad or good? Knowing the men in this town, they were most likely bad. Most boys her age who were in the mafia talked shit about her. If they couldn't get her, they'd trash talk her.

“I’ve heard a lot about your family, that’s all. From what I heard you aren’t to be messed with. What happened?”

Hayden squinted her eyes, what was this guy trying to say? “I’m having a bad day.”

Matt had been with enough women to sense her tone, and know to drop it. But he wasn't going to take lip from a young girl, not without at least teasing her about it or flirting with her a little bit. Matt had never been with a woman inside in the criminal underworld before, he was welcome to the change. He thought it would be nice to tell his every secret too, no matter how big or small because he didn't have to worry about a mafia woman. There were rules, believe it or not. Woman in the mafia are always to stick by their men and they never nark.

"Sorry," Hayden closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm late for dinner and my dad is going to kill me."

Brian scoffed from the front seat, "What? Have a curfew? Got school tomorrow?"

"It's Saturday tomorrow, dumb ass," Hayden made sure to stick up for herself before Matt had the chance, "And I graduated two years ago."

"Listen," Hayden turned towards Matt, "Usually I'm all up for fist fights, it's just a part of growing up you know? But that's the thing, I'm not sixteen anymore, and I'm just getting too old for shit."

The car had pulled to a stop outside some closed, wrought iron gates painted black, and Hayden had jumped out of the car before anyone could reply. She was about to slam the door of the escalade shut when she stopped, and jumped back in and quickly flashed Matt a thousand watt smile and gave him a peck on the side of his mouth. "Thanks!"