Hit

We all took showers, cleaning our bodies of the blood and rage. I barely made it down the steps on steady feet. I sat on the back porch and called the boys.

“We need to think this shit through. Then form a plan.” I rest my head on my left hand and sigh. Zack sits next to me and throws an arm over my shoulder. I have a feeling he will never be more than ten feet away from me. They sat around the table, the confusion on their faces was completely evident…I feel the same.

“Okay.” Matt starts. “First I want to understand…why did Val do what she did?”

“Well…she is Pauly’s daughter. I honestly think Pauly wanted nothing to do with combining the Italian gang and his gang. But Val and Joey did. If these two gangs combined, they would be much more powerful than they are now, they would have more followers and more respect.”

“So she was just dragging us along? Sending us on hits that she and Joey wanted done…”Johnny questions as his voice lingers.

“Why would she want us to take Kate in? We already knew it was something we wanted to do…but she really made a point to make sure she was with us…Val’s the one that told us to go to that alley where we found you, Kate!” Brian screamed. Of course.

“That’s because she knew Mark was going to attack me, she also knew where he was going to leave me. She had you guys bring me under your protection.”

“And under her watch…”Zack grinds. “She was watching you, so she could report back to Joey.”

“Why would she need to watch Katie?” Jimmy questions. I honestly have no idea. Val worked at proving that Matt and I are siblings. Siblings.

“Who is the next heir to the Italian mob?” I ask, my eyes landing on Matt.

“Me, and I want that fucking spot. Things need to change.” The anger in his voice made me wish he was the boss…maybe our lives would be a bit different.

“Matt…you and I are siblings. When you become the Italian mob boss, I would get a department of the mob. I’m also the heir to the German group. I would then own the Germans and I would have a hand in Italian doings.”

“That’s a shitload of power.” Johnny muses.

“Exactly…” I sigh. “Also, she stayed with you guys because Matt is the heir. The Italian heir and the daughter of The Scarlet Hand’s boss together? That would cause the gangs to combine.”

“Fuck.” Matt rubs the back of his neck. There was still some confusion floating around the room.

“So she kept an eye on Katie to…” Brian starts.

“To kill Kate.” Zack turns to me and tugs on my hand. “Since you are the sister of Matt, you would be getting a share of the Italian gang, that would kick Val out of power. Fuck me.” Zack shakes his head. “We were fucking played since the moment we met Val.”

“But what does Joey have to do with this?” Jimmy throws in.

“I think he over-ruled Pauly. Pauly broke away from the Italians for a reason, why would he want to get back with them? Joey is now in control. Joey and Val want complete control of the gangs, which would turn into one eventually if they have their way.” I look to Matt. Did Val ever really love him?

“What would they do with us?” Brian questions, his voice already wavering. I’m sure he has an idea.

“Kill you guys. Once the gangs are united, Joey would step up and kill Matt and you guys. I’m guessing, the job of Mark was to kill me first, but you guys kept intercepting. He failed at the warehouse. We killed him. So it then became ‘Brick’s’ job. She failed too. Their entire plan is demolished. The only person left is Joey.” I pause and let things runs through my head.

“Someone please put this in ‘Brian’ language…” Brian pleads. I send him a smile; he will always be the slower one in the room. I rub a hand over my eyes and start.

“They must have been planning this for years. Val and Joey want to unite two gangs. Joey stays under Pauly, the handyman. Val gets with the heir. When the time came, Joey mentions combining the two. Pauly disagrees. Joey over-rules Pauly and now controls the Scarlet Hand. Val makes sure I am under her eye and protection, Mark helped with that. Mark’s job was to kill me first, to make sure there was no one around who would have a share of the Italian group. When Mark failed, it was then ‘Brick’s’ job. That means, when Matt became boss, he and Val would own everything.
Then Joey would challenge Matt, kill him and you guys. He and Val would own all. All six of us would be gone and Joey and Val would control the Italians and the Scarlet Hand.” I finish…I think.

“What did the Germans have to do with this?” Johnny guesses. “We all knew they wanted you dead. Val and Joey probably guaranteed the Germans your death if they joined.”

“They didn’t want Kate being an heir, because just like Matt, she would change things.” Zack mumbles. “We need to find Joey and finish all of this. He is the last piece. We also need to make sure Pauly has nothing to do with this.”

As soon as he finishes his sentence I stand and walk to the stairs. Climbing the stairs, I feel an epic battle brewing in my system. I grab my cell phone from my room and dial Pauly’s number. It rings and rings, he doesn’t answer. I go back down the stairs and sit with the boys.

“He didn’t answ-“ My phone rang. I answer quickly.

Me- Pauly?

Voice- No.

Me- Then who the hell is this?

Voice- Pauly has been dead for months, sweetheart.

Joey! I scream at myself.

Me- You killed him when he told you he didn’t want to join with the Italians…

Joey- Correct. The plan is still reachable. All we have to do is dispose of you and your friends. I will remain the leader of the Scarlet Hand, and I will kill the leader of the Italians. Matt will never have a chance to become boss.

Me- When I find you, I am going to annihilate you and your fucking plan.

Joey- I find that thought laughable. You will never see me, until I am slamming my knife through you heart.

Me- You won’t have that chance. I’ll be seeing you soon….

I hung up.

“Tell me.” Matt demands.

“Joey killed Pauly when he disagreed to joining forces. The person that has been impersonating Pauly is Joey. He had me do jobs for him, he had me kill men. I’m guessing they were other members that opposed to joining with the Italians.” I let my head drop. “All we need to do is kill Joey. Once that happens, there will be no such thing as the Scarlet Hand, at least not a powerful one. You will lead the Italians and I will fight my way up to become German boss.”

“Is that what you really want to do?” Zack pushed.

“Honestly, no. But if I become boss, I will change things. And I would have an alliance with you guys.”

“What’s the plan for tomorrow? Do you know where he is?” Jimmy asks. The excitement in his voice made me smile.

“He won’t be at the same warehouse we found Mark…or maybe he will. He must assume that we think he’s moving positions. It would be honestly stupid to stay in the same place, but also smart. I think he’s at that warehouse.” I try to think of another place he would be, I think of nothing.

“We leave tomorrow morning.” With that Matt stood and left the room. We all climbed the stairs and went straight to our rooms. We need sleep.

Zack and I lay down, silent. Johnny was already passed out.

“I’m sorry.” Zack broke the silence as he traced my bottom lip. I looked up with a questioning look. “I promised to protect you, and I couldn’t.” I pressed my lips together and placed my hand over his.

“Don’t do that. Things turned out alright.”

“He almost… raped you, you were shot and stabbed.” His voice breaks. I turn into him even more. I place my hands on his cheeks.

“Zack. Stop. I can handle it. We need to start thinking about tomorrow.” I try and shush him. If I let him continue. I will break, I really can’t take this anymore, I can’t keep ignoring the screaming pain my body is in. I think he understood because he silenced himself. He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around me. He brushed his full lips across my cheek then kissed my temple.

I woke when I heard the loading of a shot gun. I felt a hand softly rubbing my back and another running through my hair. Both of those hands better belong to Zack. If Brian is in here, I’m going to throw him through the bedroom window. I slowly opened my eyes and smiled. Shocking green eyes and raven black hair greeted me. He smiled back and pressed his lips to mine.

“Ready?” I asked. I’m sure he heard the excitement/anxiety in my voice…mostly anxiety. He sends a comforting smile.

“Today is going to go perfectly.”

I send another look.

“Guys?” Matt stands in the door way. “Let’s go.” The seriousness in his voice made me shiver, I suppose this is it. I untangled myself from Zack and slowly got dressed. Black jeans and a black t-shirt. All the weapons that were previously in my car was scattered around the house. I loaded up with three knives and one gun. Brian, however. Had seven knives, three pistols, a shotgun slung around his shoulder and a rifle gripped in his hands. I walked over to him and patted his shoulder.

“You can always make me laugh Brian…” I smiled thankfully. He sent me a confused look, he obviously wasn’t trying to be funny. The moron was serious. “Bri, you do know that we have a seven hour drive, and then we are going to Joey?”

“Of course, there’s no such thing as being too prepared.” I shook my head and walked away.

Quicker than I wanted, the boys were piling into the SUV while Zack and I got in my car.

“Wait…” I mumbled as I looked to Zack.

“Huh?” I turned in my seat and looked at my house. My beautiful, sweet, lake house. The beautiful house that now stands for something else. I dug in the glove compartment and pulled out a box of matches. “Are you sure?” He questioned. I just nodded. I exited the car and stood in front of the door. To keep myself from changing my mind, I opened the door, lit a few matches and threw them in. I slammed the door shut and took off to the car. As we drove away from the house, I refused to look back at it.

Before we left we decided to go straight to the warehouse. We stopped a few blocks away from the building and meet at the back of the SUV.

“Same as before. Fire the fuck away. There are no windows. We don’t know how many will be there with him. He may be expecting us, he may not. Either way, kill everything. Kate, I don’t know how you feel about this, but if you ask, Joey is yours…”Matt looked at me awaiting an answer. Honestly, my body can take no more, but I want to kill him.

“He’s mine.” I reached out and grabbed Zack’s hand. “I want no interference from anyone…”
Matt hesitated then nodded, the boys followed.

We climbed back into the SUV, leaving my car behind. The drive was incredibly silent. I almost started screaming so my thoughts would be drowned out.

Matt pulled the SUV behind another building. We piled out and circled at the back of the car…just like old times.

“Ready?” Matt questions, his eyes scanning every face and pausing at mine. I nodded. “Wipe that frown off your face. Smile, today you kill the fucker.” A small sincere smile formed on Matt’s face, which made me smile.

“All right, all right.” I laughed and took Zack’s hand. “Joey seems to be pretty predictable. Just like every other time, there should be others.” The boys nodded as I spoke, gripping their guns and rifles (ughh Brian) in strong, steady hands. Their excitement started to pour off of them into me. It all ends today.

I turned on my heel and we marched to the door. I pressed my ear to the flimsy metal and heard nothing, last time voice could easily be heard. Last time, Matt also kicked this flimsy piece of shit down…

This time…nothing.

“I don’t hear anything.” I whispered. “Guys, back up.” I wave my hand at them and send them a few feet away from the door. I press my ear to the door, still nothing. I prepare myself to step back and kick the door down. Before I could take a step, the door shot open and sent me flying to the cold, wet cement. I landed with a thud and looked up. Nothing was there. I scampered to my feet and ran to the boys.

“Did you see anything?” Brian whispered, almost scared. I smiled.

“I saw nothing. What the fuck is this shit?” Jimmy questions, taking a hesitant step forward.

“Wait…” Johnny shot out a hand across Jimmy’s chest. “You hear that?” Everyone froze. Slight ticking was heard, I had to strain to hear it.

“Bomb!” Zack screams clutching my arm and pulling me away. We all ran as far as we could manage before we fell to the ground for cover. The explosion never came. Instead I was met with a boot planted harshly on the back of my neck. Whoever it was pushed harder and shoved my face into the cement. I immediately heard groaning, cursing and struggling from the other guys.

“For Fuck’s Sake!” I screamed into the ground. Can one thing go the way we want? I felt a shiver run down my spine and an insane smile captured my face. I started to thrash side to side without any control. Instead of shaking the boot off, the boot’s owner laughed. It reached down, snaked it’s hand in my loose hair and pulled me up. I was pulled into his chest. I’m not doing this anymore. I reached back and unhitched the knife that stays at the small of my back. I turned the blade away and pushed it into the man’s stomach. He grunted and released me, pushing me to the ground. As I fell, I pulled out my gun and fired two shots into his skull, blowing a massive piece off and causing it to sail momentarily through the air. I jumped to my feet and looked around. The boys stood, with men dead at their feet. Fuck they are fast. However, I don’t have a compliment in me. I pushed towards the door and entered the warehouse with the boys right behind me. It was empty and silent, but I knew they were in there.

“You’ve woken up a fucking monster!” I screamed. My voice echoed and bounced off naked metal. My response was a soft chuckle. Joey emerged from the dark. Tall, handsome, actually, completely adorable. The smirk on his face honestly made him look sexier, but the only thing I care about at this moment is scalping him. Hmmm…. That’s not a bad idea. I smiled to myself.

“So, I suppose you have figured everything out? Huh? It’s seems pretty complicated, but in truth, it isn’t.” He stopped ten feet in front of me and stared me down. I gripped my knife tightly in my right hand, separated my feet and grinned.

“Look, I don’t give a fuck about that right now. I am here to kill you, actually, to massacre you. It’s hard to admit, but your partners have broken me down, beaten me, shot me, stabbed me…but I’m not crying. I’m not going to let you live. I am going to smile as I separate your scalp from you skull.
And then? My boys and I are going to get a beer and laugh about… How. You. Screamed…” My smile quickly fell, I felt my eyes grow heavy with blood lust.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but today isn’t the end…” He trailed.

“It absolutely is the end. And if Katie doesn’t take care of you in a few minutes, I am going to fucking rip your head off.” I looked back and saw the fire in Zack’s eyes, I never expected that to come from his mouth. I couldn’t help but smile, he is so sexy when he gets like this.

“Well, if that’s what you want. It isn’t going to be easy.” He let his hands fall to his side. From the back, five men, and I mean monsters, surfaced towards us.

“How original…” Jimmy snickered. The boys joined him, but I couldn’t smile. I am so tired of this, of fighting for our lives, of being attacked, played, betrayed. My head fell and I shook it.

“Are you sure Kate? Maybe you and I can trade?” Johnny laughed. “I would like to tear a limb from this fucker.”

“No, no Johnny.” Matt starts, even though my back is towards them, I can hear the smile in their voices. “We’ve already discussed this. Katie gets Joey. We boys get to shove knives down those ugly ass dudes’ throats over there. And hey, if you want, maybe break their jaw, cut their throat one tendon at a time, even rip their veins from their bodies.” The boys hooted in laughter. I shook my head again at them, trying to bite back the smile. I soon felt a hand softly take my arm.

“This is the end...” Zack whispered in my ear, he sounded deadly. Swoon! His warm breath caused me to shiver and blush. I slowly licked my lips…I think he’s right. “Go get him baby.” He released my arm and stood with the boys.

“Bring it fuckas!” Brian screamed with his knife raised in the air. The monster-like men started to trek across the cement to their designated targets. They completely ignored me as they passed.

Soon it was Joey and myself staring each other down. I allowed my eyes to take him in. Dress pants, a dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and leather shoes.

“You expect me to believe you can fight in that? Looks nice. I suggest you take the shirt off though, don’t want to get your blood, possibly guts, all over it.” I raised my knifed hand and pointed at him.

“I’ll pass.” He smiled. I gave myself a minute. I need to put this all together. Everything that has happened to me, has been planned by this man. He made me cry, something I haven’t done in years. He made me want to end my life, to erase myself. He made me shake down to the bones. I laughed. I righted myself and stood tall. Completely ready.

We began to circle each other. I am going to literally rip him apart. I continued to let my thoughts run around. I may be a female, but I can be a monster, a predator. And I have found my prey…

He reached into his pockets and pulled out one shiny knife. Honestly, I don’t know how well Joey can fight, I never paid attention to him. He was always the adorable helper or Pauly.

He lazily reached out with his knife, I slapped it away. He tested me again, I reacted quicker. A playful smile started to form on his lips. He reached out with his knife again. With my empty hand I grabbed the blade, feeling the metal break into my skin. I spun in his arms and planted my knife right through his sternum. His eyes widened, I pulled my knife out with a ravaged force and felt the bone shatter. He doubled over and I slightly back up. I ran at him and sent him flying upwards when I threw my knee into his jaw. He spun and landed on his stomach. I sat on his lower back and pulled his right hand behind his back. I dug my knife into his hand and pinned it into the flesh of his shoulder. He screamed. I smiled and stood up. I kicked him onto his back and looked down at him. I stepped and swung my foot, sweeping a massive blow over his right cheek. He turned with the momentum. I followed him and stepped on his bent arm, feeling a jolt when his arm snapped. He screamed again, it came out gargled and horrid.

“Mmmm…Joey, the boy who was scalped alive…” I whispered as I fell to my knees near his head. I reached under him and retrieved my knife, I push him onto his stomach.

“Wait, Kate…I had no choice…” He tries to plead.

“No. Do not talk. This is my turn. Right now, I don’t care what you had done to me…I am going to make sure you live, for just a few minutes, and feel the pain of my knife sliding through you skin, cutting and slicing as I pull you scalp off…” I whisper in his ear. I let my hand run through his black, thick hair and take hold. I yank his head up. I straddle his back and pull his head back even more, showing off the pale delicate skin of his throat. I reach down with my knife and gently trail the tip over his jugular, enough to cause the blood to drip but not enough to cause anything devastating, just pain.

“Katie…” He tries. I pull harder on his hair and place my knife at his widow’s peak. I make a small incision. That silences him.

“Do. Not.” I grind. I slice again, allowing my blade to cut down the right side of his hair line to his ear. He begins to scream and thrash under me. I felt a pang in my chest. Is this really what I want?
Yes. Will I be happy about this decision tomorrow? …No.

I sighed and released his hair, letting his face connect with the pavement. I placed my hand on the back of his head and pushed slightly, just giving myself some time to look for the boys. All five of them stood by the door, their backs to me, I suppose giving me time to do what I pleased.

“Joey…” I began, I felt his ears perk under my hand at the sound of his name. I slightly lifted myself and spun him onto his back so he could see me. I re-straddled him and pressed my knife to the un-cut side of his scalp. “I really, really want to make you feel this. But for some reason, I don’t think I can.” I trail. I press the blade into him more and close my eyes. I see a flash, then me. Squirming, thrashing and crying under the weight of ‘Six’. Cringing at the feel of his hands on my bare skin, ripping my clothes off, digging his fingers into my hips. Pushing himself against me. I inhale sharply and open my eyes. My eyes opened further when I saw a grin playing on Joey’s lips. The half of second of sympathy I felt for him has just been set ablaze. I harshly exhale and dig my knife into his scalp again. I don’t hesitate. I grab onto his hair and rip my knife back, completely pulling his flesh off. He screams again and starts to kick his legs, trying to push me off. I push two fingers under his already splintered jaw and push his head back. I wait a few seconds and let the burning of his scalp being removed set it. He continued to yell, his screams turning into a tortuous wail that echoed around the building. I simply got tired of the sound. I plunged my knife into his throat and yanked it across. He stilled. Silent. Blood gushed out of his neck and dripped from his skull. His body convulsed under me once, then remained still. I looked to my right to see a massive piece of flesh and hair lying on the cement, blood splattered around it. I pushed myself to my feet and walked to the boys. I threw my knife to the ground and kept walking. They turned at the sound of the metal hitting the floor. Their faces were serious because of the situation, but sympathetic for me. I shook their stares off and walked past them and outside. They followed me and walked for the car. I stepped to the side and let them pass, Zack stopped next to me. He softly took my uninjured hand.

I stared into the distance.

“Do you…do you know what I did to him?” I question, my voiced wavered a bit. He stared ahead as well.

“I’m sure it was justified Kate.” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into him.

“It wasn’t…” I trailed.

“Katie. We have all done things that we want to forget, but we live, forget and keep going. It will take some time, but it will come. Now, this is over. It’s done. Don’t beat yourself up about this.” I turned to face him. His green eyes shined like emeralds. His black raven hair feathered against his round cheeks. His full lips were waiting for mine. I leaned forward and softly, softly kissed him. I let my head fall to his chest. “Would you like to go home with me?” He mumbled into my hair. I raised my head and smiled.

“I would love to go home with you.” He reached up and wiped a single tear that was cascading down my cheek away. I wrapped my arm around his waist and we walked to the car. Where my boys were waiting, ready to take me home.

“So, did you guys know that in order to fire a rifle…you have to load it?” Brian’s voice rang.

“Are you fucking kidding me!”