Hit

I fumbled with my jacket again making sure my blood covered shirt was out of sight…I mentally warned myself again. Katie, whatever is said, do not let them know you just murdered someone.

“Hey how did it go?” Zack asked, he opened his mouth to continue talking, but I sent him a glare to silence him. Everyone looked up.

“Where did you go?” Matt asked.

“I, uh, I had Zack drop me off at my apartment so I could get my car. Then I stopped at a store.” I said fidgeting with my jacket again, obviously irritated and unsure.

“What store?” He challenged. Why is he doing this to me?

“Uh, Wal-Mart?” I say looking around. Matt was about to speak but was interrupted when Brian stood up and raised his hand. We all looked at him with a semi-confused look on our face; he was just standing there silently with his hand raised!

“Uh…Brian, you don’t need to raise your hand to speak. Actually, maybe you should.” Matt corrects himself with a serious look. Brian finally puts his hand down but remains standing.

“Well, it’s true. I saw Kate in Wal-Mart this morning.” He says as he folds his hands in front of him. I hope to god this doesn’t back fire, the idiot probably didn’t even leave the house today. But, I sent Brian a thankful look; I think he might have an idea about what I just did. “Why are you looking at me like that?” He questions me. I roll my eyes. Like usual, he has no idea what he’s doing. With a shake of my head and not answering Matt’s questions, I climbed the stairs entered my room and stood with my back to the closed door with my head in my hands. I can still see the picture of the little baby boy, knowing I just made him fatherless. Soon, my door creaked open. I turned and watched Zack walk towards me with a hopeful smile. He took the zipper of my leather jacket in his hand, and slowly pulled it down, revealing my blood soaked white shirt. I refused to look at him or my shirt; he reaches up and softly tilts my chin so I have to look at him.

“You were doing your job.” He whispered with sympathy in his eyes. I looked down and shook my head, biting my lip at tears sting my eyes. He wrapped me in his arms and tightly held me as I cried. Damn tears, this is the second day in a row I’ve cried and it caused attention when Matt entered the room.

“Zackary what did you do?” He charged into the room.

“Matt…he didn’t do anything.” I hiccup. I can’t have him see my shirt. It’s a bad enough that Zack knows that I’m working again, and if Matt or Zack asks who I’m working for, I can answer, but I can’t tell them why.

“What happened Kate?” Matt questions again, softness in his face and eyes. With hesitation, I pulled away from Zack, which showed my sinned shirt. He walked over and lifted it. “Who did you do it for?”

“Pauly.”

“Was this the last?”

“Today was the first.” I mumbled, I have much more to do.

“Why?” His brows furrowed as he asked the only question I didn’t want to hear. He sat on the edge of my bed and stared at me. I sighed and looked at the floor, I can’t tell him I’m working so they will be protected…the boys would kill me. I reached down and pried my shirt off, then replaced it with a clean, innocent white shirt. Instead of making something up, I said nothing. I kept eye contact with the floor and walked out, down the stairs and straight to the backyard. I sat on the grass by the garden and let my thoughts wander. I can’t tell if Matt is mad or upset, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure they are protected from ‘Brick’ and the Germans…I got them into this, so it’s much job to keep them safe. And I want them safe now. I felt a spark of anger and energy rise in my chest; I pulled my cell phone out and called Pauly.

Me- Give me another name, I want to get my work done as quickly as possible. By tomorrow night I
want ‘Brick’s’ men dead.

Pauly- Well, Katie. You sound a little upset.

Me- Don’t fuck with my Pauly, I want it done.

Pauly- Alright, alright. A file is being delivered now.

I snapped the phone shut and ventured back into the house, straight to my room. With the door closed, I placed my weapons on my bed, then left my room to wait outside. As soon as I closed the front door, Joey meets me with a smile, which I didn’t return, as he handed me a file. I mumbled a ‘thanks’ and went back inside, straight to my room. I sat on the middle of the bed and laid the file out. Christopher Imperillio, 34, it didn’t say what he did or owes, so knowing Pauly, he just doesn’t like the guy. It gave me an address, but also mentioned that on Friday nights, he was at The Flamingo, a club run by the mob. Of course, today is Friday. I can’t just walk in and shoot Christopher, I’d be shot to death, so I need to make a plan, I need to isolate him. With ideas already forming in my head. I settled on a pair of tight black hip hugger jeans and a black shirt that showed a massive amount of cleavage. I sprayed my chest with feminine perfume and threw my long hair up in a sexy clip. I applied some make up then threw on my leather jacket that when zipped up; make my chest looked even bigger. I packed my weapons then left the room, hoping my plan would be successful. I walked down the stairs and through the living room, the boys watching TV.

“I’ll be back.” I nearly whisper. They all turn their heads. Besides Matt, their eyes grew.

“Damn! Are those real?!” Brian laughs, then receives a slap on the back of the head from Jimmy. I feel a tug at my lips, but I leave without a response.

I burnt rubber as I left the drive way, making my way towards the club which is just south of Atlantic City. As I raced down the highway, I could already feel the regret, whatever happens, I don’t want my relationship with the boys and Val to change, and I know keeping secrets from them will do that, but I have to keep them safe, and this is the only way I know how.

I arrive at the club and checked my weapons while still safe in the car. Swaying my hips, I entered the club and stood by the bar. I finally found him sitting at a table by himself with a few empty shot glasses littering the table. It took me a few seconds to catch his eye, I lifted my chin and slowly bit my lip and unzipped my jacket, he smiled and nodded. I turned and walked to the bathroom, pausing only once to send him a sexy smile. I slowly walked to the bathroom and waited by the door for him. In seconds he stumbled over to me and grinned down at me. Not surprisingly, he made the first move, and I did not like it at all. He placed both of his hands on the wall so I was almost trapped by him, his lips trailed over my neck. I let my hands run through his hair and brushed my lips over his ear.

“Come on.” I whispered as I started to drag him towards the bathroom. We stumbled in and I jumped up on the sink and pulled him to me. He stood between my legs and continued to kiss my neck; he let his hands roam my body, and got a little fancy when he reached for my bra. He released one clasp and gasped when I plunged my knife into his chest. Disgusted, I pushed him off me and reached back to fix my bra. I looked down at him, withering on the floor, his hands clenched into little fists. I yanked the knife from his chest, reached up and slit is throat. I wiped the blood from my knife on his shirt, stashed the knife back on my hip then returned to the bar. I grabbed my jacket off the stool and left the club, receiving seductive, or trying to be seductive glares from random drunks.

Still disgusted but slightly entertained, I flopped into my car and sped home, knowing I’ll have to face the boys, especially Matt when I got there.

I silently entered the house, to see the living room completely empty. Since I was met with silence, I felt the regret slam into my chest. I quickly unzipped my leather jacket, tore it off and slammed it on the couch, followed by myself. I rocked forward and cradled my head in my hands.

“Babe?” Zack whispered, emerging from the dark, he walked over and sat next to me with a hand on my hunched shoulders. “How did it go?”

“Fine…I just slit his fucking throat.” I laughed with a shake of my head.

“Why do you do it if you hate it?”

“It’s what I’m good at.”

“Well…maybe you need something else to do.” He smiles as he slowly takes my hands and makes me sit up. I send him a look and shake my head.

“Like what Zachary?”

“I don’t know….what do you wanna do?” When I was younger, I wanted to go to law school…I think that’s out of the question right now.

“Well, I always wanted to kill Tony York, he has a horrible taste in sports teams.” I said as I looked over at him seriously.

“You’re okay when you talk about the kill, but when you come back from it you are a mess. Why is that?” Zack almost challenged. I froze, sighed and leaned into him as we both inclined back against the couch.

“I doesn’t happen all the time. When I was younger, I liked it…” I whispered as I looked down at our clasped hands. “Sometimes, just looking into their eyes kills me, and then I think about their family. But, I also feel a sense of power, a sense of control. The business of killing is…mysterious, dark, secretive…almost sexy, and that appeals to me. But the emotional knife that stabs into my chest every time I kill someone is what I hate about the business. I hate the fact that I beat myself to a pulp every time. But, I am good at it, I am smart with it, I’m very good at the game of killing…it’s my job.” With the last word, I looked up at him and saw complete understanding in his eyes. He reached up and softly pushed my hair out of my face and let his hand linger on my cheek. He slowly stood up and helped me up; together we climbed the stairs and entered my room. We both lay on my bed and cuddled under the blanket and watched Robot Chicken. How could he even want to touch me after all the things I just said to him? His chest bounced with a laughed, then he froze, his body entirely stiff.

“Did you hear that?” He whispered. I stopped breathing and listened. It sounded like footsteps downstairs, but they sounded like sneaky footsteps. I sprung out of bed and silently raced down the stairs, Zack quickly and quietly behind me. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened as I tip-toed through the living room looking for the source of the footsteps. I entered the kitchen and stood with my back against the wall so I could scan the room. With narrowed eyes, my eyes skimmed over the entire room, then froze when I saw the shine of the moon gleam on the silver of a blade that was sailing through the air straight for my neck. I took a half step to the side and stared at the wall, where the knife now was wedged. I yanked the knife from the wall and looked into my enemy’s eyes.

Brown eyes with a speck of yellow. With a quick flick of my wrist, I held the knife by the handle and threw it into the stomach of the man. He doubled over and clutched his stomach. I stomped over, grabbed him by the collar and held him against the wall.

“Who are you working for?” I harshly whispered. In the corner of my eyes I saw Zack place his shot gun on his shoulder, I had to shake my head from drooling over Zack with a firearm, his tattooed, muscled arms clenched as the shotgun lay on his shoulder.…wow. I looked back at that the man I had pushed against the wall, he was a kid, maybe a little older to me.

“’Brick.’” The kid whispered. I smiled at him, than frowned. Whoa, whoa, whoa. This may just be me, but doesn’t this seem like an awfully convenient time for ‘Brick’ to strike? I just told Pauly I wanted her demolished... I shook my head and pushed that obscene thought away.

“See, that’s all I needed to know.” My hands slid up to the side of his face where I squeezed his cheek. I pulled the knife from his stomach and slammed it into the wall right by his head. “Anything else you’d like to tell me?” I smile with both hands on his shoulders.

“N-“ He was immediately cut off by ‘click-click’ of Zack cocking the shotgun.

“I think that’s the wrong answer.” Zack said with his eyebrows raised. I had to bit my lip to keep myself from smiling, I’m sure I was blushing.

“Tell me what’s going on and you can leave.” I tell the kid. He throws his head back and laughs.

“You already know what’s going on. Come on! Stop playing bullshit and let me kill you already.” The kids smiled. I looked at the floor and shook my head with a sigh. With a jerk of my hand, the kid was sliding down the wall with a snapped neck.

“That was definitely the wrong answer.” Zack mused. Without a word, I walked past him, straight to the front door. I yanked the door open and stood on the front porch. My eyes traveled the long driveway and I settled on a woman. There she was, ‘Bricktop’, bright red, crazy hair with a sick, sly smile resting on her lips. She sent a wave then rested her hands on her big hips. She smiled again and motioned to the pistol wresting on her hip. I sent a smirk and a wave and nodded to Zack and his shotgun. He gave a cheerful smile and a massive wave.

“Go get the body.” Zack immediately nodded, handed me the shot gun and disappeared for a few seconds. Soon he appeared with the limp body of the kid in his arms. He dragged him out to the front yard, almost exactly half between ‘Brick’ and myself.

“Retrieve your scum.” I demanded of her. She rolled her green eyes, turned and walked down the dimly lighted street. I turned to Zack, wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him inside.

“Let’s go to bed.” I smiled.

“Why didn’t she come in?” He asks confused. “Why didn’t she attack?” We climbed the stairs. “Who will get the body?”

“She’s trying to apply pressure, trying to scare me. One of her goons will get him in a matter of minutes.” I laughed. We entered my room and saw Brian sleeping on my bed. I walked over and slightly shook him.

“Bri, what are you doing here?” He slowly opens his eyes and looks around.

“I came in here to check on you and you weren’t here.” He sits up and wipes his eyes.

“You couldn’t find her so you fell asleep?” Zack asks as he fights a smile.

“Yea, I thought when I opened my eyes I’d see her.”

“Okay Bri, everything is fine. Go to bed.” I help him up and send him on his way.

“He makes no sense, I do believe that your idea that he is possessed by a retarded ghost is correct.” He smiled as he pulled me into his arms. I laughed and buried myself into his chest. “You think she’s done for the night?”

“Yea, we are okay.” I mumbled. It hurts not to tell him everything. I want to tell him why I’m working for Pauly. “I’m getting sleepy.” I whined.

“I can wake you up.” I could hear the grin in his voice. He tightened his grip around me and pulled me closer, his lips softly brushing mine. I wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him back pulling the blanket over our heads. He deepened the kiss then started to move down my neck. I immediately stiffened and giggled, I pulled away and replaced his lips with my hand.

“What?” he smiles.

“Ticklish.” I try to hide the blush that is assaulting my cheeks, but I give up and wrap my arms around him. He leans down again and presses his soft, warm and welcoming lips to mine. Soon, we heard a knock at my door. Zack groaned and pulled away.

“I hope that isn’t Brian.” He mumbles.

“It’s not, Zack we need to go.” Matt’s husky voice rang. Zack sprang out of my bed, took my hand and pulled me to his room with him. He got dressed in all black and together we walked down the stairs. I saw Val standing by the door with her hands clasped in front of her, looking rather nervous. I walked over and stood next to her and offered a hopeful smile. The rest of the guys came down, all in black and ready to go. This is the first time I’ve seen them go on a hit. Matt first, he came to me and wrapped me up in a bear hug, then he went to Val. Zack walked up to me, wrapped his arms carefully around me and softly placed his lips to mine, soon he was pushed to the side by Brian.

“Come here baby.” He smiled as he opened his arms. I laughed and quickly hugged Brian and the rest of the guys. I don’t know how they usually act before and after a kill, but Brian seems to be enjoying himself. Finally, they walk out the door and towards the awaiting car. Val and I stand together and watch them file into the Yukon, as Zack steps up, he looks back at me with a concerned face. I smile at him. He steps down from the car and jogs over to me. With his hands on both sides of my head, he bends down and presses his beautiful lips to mine.

“Okay, just wanted to make that clear.” He smiles, give me another quick peck then runs to the car.

“Hmmmmm.” Val smiles.

“I don’t want to hear is Val.” I smile.

“Oh you’re gonna hear about it. He’ll ask you out. He’s been on Matt’s ass about it.” She smiles as she closes the door and we both walk to the living room. “But Matt also voiced his concern to me, about protecting you…he wants you to stop doing what you’re doing.” She slows. “Why are you working again Kate?” I looked up and sent her a look, she slowly nodded. “You can tell me.” She whispered.

“To protect the boys from the Germans and ‘Brick’s men.”

“If any of them knew that, they would flip.”

“I know…”

We settled down and watched a horrible old movie, but it didn’t fail to make us laugh. Soon, the boys come home, they walked in laughing and pushing each other around.

“Sweetheart! I’m home!” Brian screamed at me. I rolled my eyes and continued to watch the movie. Zack flopped down on the couch next to me and kissed my forehead. I smiled and took his hand.

Everyone sat on the couch and continued to joke around, besides Matt.

“Yo, shut up for a minute. I need to talk to you guys.” The seriousness in his voice made everyone put their attention on him immediately. I felt my pulse increase, terrified of what he had to say.

I glanced at Val and she appeared to look extremely concerned, I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the news.

“Before we went out, we got a call…we aren’t safe, we need to leave.” Matt said as he placed his hands on his hips. He tried to play it off like it was no big deal but by the way he continued to bite his lips, I could tell he was very nervous about the situation.

“And we are just going to run?” Brian answered seriously.

“Bri, we don’t even know what the condition is, how can we defend ourselves if we don’t know anything, plus, there is only five of us.”

“Six.” I interject.

“No, no, this is our battle, not yours.” Matt says with his protective mode in full swing. I roll my eyes and mentally crack my knuckles.

“You’re my brother, your battle is mine.”

“Kate, you wouldn’t let us help you.” Johnny adds. My head snaps towards him and I send him a glare, I do not need him supporting Matt.

“I didn’t want you guys to help me but you did, I didn’t have a choice and now, I’m not giving you a choice, I am helping you guys. Whatever the situation is, it is probably my fault that you guys are in it.”

“Wait…so it’s okay for you to help us, but you’re pissed when we want to help you?” Matt almost challenges me.

“Yes!” I scream on the brink of standing up but Zack’s firm grip on my hand kept me centered on the couch.

“Why?”

“Because I am a selfish bitch and I don’t want anyone hurting you guys!”

That silenced him for a few seconds, his face softened as he ran his hand over his face and through his short black hair.

“Kate…” He didn’t know what to say, he knows he could use my help, but he wants to protect me.
He shook his head and tried to get slightly off topic. “We need to find a place to stay, somewhere out of Jersey.” The boys looked around at each other, obviously not knowing of a place. I sighed.

“I have a house up in New Hampshire. Nice and quiet. There shouldn’t be any problems.” I lean into Zack and continue. “About a seven hour drive.” I locked eyes with Matt.

“Perfect. We leave tomorrow morning. Pack and load up tonight.” With that said everyone disbanded and climbed the stairs to their separate rooms to pack their items.
Zack and I went into my room, and instead of packing, we lay on the bed and cuddled. I stayed in my head and started to argue with myself. I never should have let them help me, but they would have done it any way, I can never win with them. I don’t know what kind of trouble they are in right now, or with whom, but I bet it’s because they helped me…someone had to see them help me kill Mark…something had to go wrong. Whatever happened, someone knows about their assistance…Brian’s plan failed. I audibly sighed and buried myself deeper into Zack’s chest, where no one could hurt me.

“He’s just trying to protect you.” He mumbled as his hand reached down and cradled my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked at his beautiful face.

“And I’m trying to protect you guys.”

“I know…but it’s all going to be okay, we’re gonna go to NH, and everything will be okay.” He tried to assure me with every bone in his body. A smile broke out onto my face and I reached up and softly kissed him.

“We need to pack.”

He left me with a few kisses then went to his room to pack his own bag. I pulled my suitcase from under my bed and began to pack my clothes. I walked to everyone’s room and told them to pack bathing suits; this is going to be a vacation, we are going to have a good time. I packed my favorite clothes and everything else I needed. Without effort, I carried my suitcase down the stairs and placed it by the door. As soon as my foot hit the first step I looked up and saw Brian standing at the top with his suitcase next to him.

“You might want to move Kate.” He warns with a grin, I automatically know he is going to do something stupid. With a roll of my eyes, I get off the stairs and step to the side. With a kick, the moron sends his suitcase flying down the stairs. It lands with a thud...I look up the stairs and silently glare at him. He shrugs his shoulders with a smile.

“You lazy son of a bitch.” I mumble. I walk up the stairs right past him and go straight to Zack’s room. Without a word, I lie on his bed and watch him pack, occasionally smacking him on the butt when he walks past me. As soon as he was done packing, he jumped on top of me, pinning both of my hands above my head. He slowly, almost teasingly, leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine. He released my hands and allowed me to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer.

“Betrayal.” We broke apart and looked at the door. Brian… He stood in the door way with his arms crossed. Zack rolled his eyes and rested his head in the crook of my neck.

“Brian…what do you want?” I roll my eyes.

“Oh nothing…just wanted to inform you that I have finished packing…without the help of you!”

“Oh my God! How many rooms are in this house? I cannot share a room with this kid!” Zack groans.

“Kid! I’m 24 thank you very much!” Brian boasts, turns on his heel and walks away. I ignore Brian’s comment and answer Zack.

“There are three rooms. Two rooms have two beds, and the other one. So Val and Matt can have the one bed. You and I can share a bed and someone else can have the other one…someone that isn’t Brian.”

“Oh…we get to share a bed?” Zack smiles as his hands begins to wonder. I mockingly slap his hands away and giggle.

We continued to lie around for a few more minutes, until we were interrupted by Brian’s scream from downstairs, informing us that we were packing the car. We decided to take the Yukon, and my car. After loading up the cars, we retired to our beds.

I woke to a soft finger softly touching my cheek. My eyes fluttered open and I was greeted with the sight of Zack’s stunning smiling face.

“Time to get up sweets.” He smiled wider. I smiled in return and slowly sat up, but not before softly pressing my lips to his. Soon, Johnny stood in the doorway.

“We are leaving you guys.” He said as he threw on a shirt. We nodded and slowly stood up. I looked at the doorway again to watch Brian stop to pick a wedgie. He then turned around.

“Wow, that was in there.” He winked. I rolled my eyes and walked to my room, making a mental note to do whatever I can to stay as far away from Brian as possible.

I went down the stairs to see everyone waiting and ready to hit the road. Zack and I climbed into my car as everyone else piled into the Yukon. We meet at a local diner and by 7:00 am, we were on the parkway heading towards New Hampshire and peace. But as I continued to drive, I couldn’t push a creeping feeling out of my stomach, my eyes continued to look into the rear view mirror, constantly looking for the Yukon. But every time I looked back and saw the Yukon, I saw a black car also…that was also at the diner. My knuckles tightened on the steering wheel as the fear of being followed shot through my veins.

“You see him too?” Zack questioned as he turned in his seat and looked back.

“Yea…” I mumble. I take an exit and get onto a desolate road. The Yukon and the black car followed, even as fear rolled down my spine, I grin played on my lips. “Call them.” I said in a cold voice. Zack pulled his cell phone out and waited patiently for someone to answer.

“Matt? Yea, we know….he wants to know what you want to do, Kate.” He asks as he looks at me. I tighten my grip.

“Pull over.”

“Wh-what!” He goes to the phone. “Matt she said pull over!” He then pulled the phone away from his ear and I heard Matt’s voice strongly disagreeing.

“Matt said don’t pull over.” Zack says with wide eyes and a nod of his head. I rolled my eyes but smiled at Zack. I pull the car to the side of the road.

“Oh my god! What are you doing!” Zack screams as he locks his door. I shove my door open and walk to the back of my car with my hands on my hips. Matt pulls over, but the black car pulls over between Matt and myself. Everyone piles out of the Yukon and stands beside me, even Zack who finally got out of the car.

“Val, go back in the car.” I mumble, we watch as she jogs past the black car and back into the Yukon. “Do you guys have your guns?” I asked, all they did was laugh, which was a ‘yes’. The driver opened his door, but didn’t come out. There weren’t any cars, silent. We held our breath, afraid we would hear something we didn’t want to miss. Then, the sound of a gun being cocked echoed. I started to run towards the car, hoping I could fire my gun before the driver got out of the car. Before I got there, bullets started to fly from both the boys and the man from the black car. I fell to the cement and looked back at the boys, who were taking cover behind my car, occasionally shooting back. The engine of the black car revved, my eyes shot open when I realized my nose was inches from the grill of the car. I pushed myself to my feet and ran back to the boys. “Okay, guys. I want you all to get back in the Yukon, I will cover you. Don’t slow down, I will be right behind you.”

They sent me worried glances but nodded their head. “Go.” I harshly whispered. They took off running as I stood up and started to fire multiple rounds at the windshield. The windshield was tinted, like all the windows, so I had a problem seeing if my bullets pierced any flesh. When the boys got the Yukon, they started her up and burnt rubber as they left the shoulder and sped down the highway. I looked back at the black car, stopped shooting and waited. I leaned forward and stared into the car, trying to see any signs of life. Nothing. Soon, a limp body rolled out of the open driver door and landed on the cement with a thud. I started to walk to the car, but stopped in my tracks when the passenger and the two back doors slowly opened in unison. Expensive leather shoes peaked from under the door. They stood up and turned to face me. Two with baseball bats and one with a crow bar. I laughed and shook my head.

“Do you think you are going to get close enough to use those?!” I laughed again as I placed my gun near the small of my back. The passenger smiled as he lit a German cigar. “Keine chance.” I smirk widely. The three Germans smiled again and shared a laugh.

“Sie mochten eine Wette?” (Want to make a bet?)They smiled. Without a word, I walked to my car, got in and sped off. I looked in the rear view mirror and laughed out loud when all three of the men had a dumb-founded look on their faces. In about five minutes, I caught up the Yukon which had almost slowed to a crawl. I slammed my window down.

“You liar! You were not right behind us!” Jimmy yelled with an accusing finger. I waved him off and tried to speak.

“Hey, we need to regroup, let’s pull over.” Matt suggests.

“No!” I scream. “They are behind us, we need to keep going.”

“What do you mean ‘they’?” Johnny questions. We are still talking to each other through the windows as we slowly drive…we don’t have time, they will catch up.

“There are three.” I answer. Matt swerves.

“Three? Are you sure?”

“No Matthew! I’m lying, they were just pointing bats and crowbars at me!”

“They are here.” Brian said in a calm, creepy voice. “But! I have this!” He smiles as he holds up a grenade.

“Is it real?” I seriously ask as an idea sparks in my head.

“I don’t know, let me try.” He says as he reached for the peg.

“No! No! Brian no!” Both cars swerve as we yell and fear for our lives again…at Brian’s stupid-ness.

“How did he get the grenade this time?” Jimmy ponders.

“I found it in a room.” Brian smiles.

“Brian, shut up and toss it over.” I yell at him as I look back at the black car.

“The peg?”

“No! The whole thing, Matt slow down.” As soon as Matt slowed, I sped up and got in front of him, then pulled back so I was on the right side of the Yukon. I opened my window and threw my arm out. I got as close as possible to the truck and grabbed the grenade from Brian’s hand. “Now, Matt….speed up, go.” He did as I said. I sighed and slammed on the breaks. I waited for the black car to get next to me, I pulled out my gun and shot out the passenger window. The car immediately slowed, worried that they would pull their guns out, I slowed with them. I pulled the peg out of the grenade with my teeth, waited two seconds then threw it through the open window of the passenger window. I slammed on the gas and watched as the black car swerved to the left into the woods, followed by a loud explosion that sent flames of orange and red straight into the sky. I continued to drive till I saw the Yukon parked on the shoulder. I slowed and pulled over with them.

We fell out of our cars and met behind the Yukon.

“I’m hungry.” Brian speaks first.

“Bri, we just ate!” I scold as I smack him in the head. “Now, this was just the first attack, I’m starting to wonder if there will be more while we are in New Hampshire.”

“We just need to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious.” Matt said as he looked over his shoulder and watched the cloud of smoke melt across the sky.

“Hey did you know that if you rearrange the letters in brain, you get Brian?” The idiot questions with a smirk. Everyone ignores him and begins to walk back to the cars. As I continued to drive, I kept looking in the rear view mirror, hoping I wouldn’t see another suspicious car.

By two o’clock in the afternoon, we got to Stone Lake. A dirt road that circles the lake led us to my house. Our cars kicked up dirt as we made our way closer to the house, when we looked to the left the lake was feet away, beautiful soft waves lapped at the sand. I smiled when I saw the house. White with yellow shutters, a big screened in front porch that has an awesome view of the lake and the island. It looked like home. We drove up the hilly driveway and parked behind the house. I quickly shuffled through my keys and settled on the key to the house. With soft fingers I inserted the key into the locked door and smiled wider when the door opened with a click. I opened the door all the way and entered the little hallway that led to the kitchen. Next to the kitchen was a small dining room, then the amazing porch, which is where I spend all my time. Taking a left from the dining room, you pass a bathroom, the stairs and then enter the living room.

“There’s no food!” Brian whines as he sticks his head in the fridge. I come out of my daze and mumble a response.

“We will go out…jackass.”

Once we settled in, Val and I went into town and got groceries.
After all the groceries were put away, everyone silently stumbled up the stairs where there was a full bathroom and three good sized bedrooms. Zack and I shared a bed and a room with Johnny, while Jimmy and Brian shared the room next door and Val and Matt had the room with one bed.

As soon as Johnny’s head hit the pillow he was out, soft snores spun around the room. I opened the window by the bed and fell into bed next to Zack. It’s September, here in New Hampshire, the days are beautiful, but the nights are a little chilly, giving a perfect opportunity to cuddle. I snuggled into Zack’s chest and giggled slightly.

“You were such a chicken shit today!” I whispered.

“What? When?”

“ ‘Oh my god! What are you doing!’ “ I quoted him with a laugh. “You were shaking in your pants.” I snorted again, I thought since his profession is killing, which is pretty sexy, he would be a little tougher than that.

“I was worried about you.” He shrugs.

“How was this any different than when we went to kill Mark?”

“Because I didn’t love you than like I do now.” He whispers as he tilts my chin up. I smile as he slowly leans down and kisses me.

“I heard that!” Matt screams from the other room, followed by his pounding footsteps.