Chains That Bind Us

Prolouge

A blood curdling scream awoke me from my sleep. I jerked awake and sat upright on the small futon I called a bed. I slowly began thinking it was only a dream, when I heard it again. I turned my head and saw my mom wasn't lying beside me. Dread filled my heart as I ran to the front door of the studio apartment and my fears were confirmed.

Down the stairs, I saw a woman covered in blood. She turned her head and made eye contact with me, a solid stare that made tears sting the back of my eyes. It was a stare that replaced the loving look that usually inhabited those kind eyes. The eyes that raised me. And now, the eyes were telling me to run.

My sister always taught me what to do if this situation ever happened. "They'll know me, they won't know you." She'd always say. "Don't let them know you."

I turned and I ran. Tears fell violently from my eyes and I bit my cheeks to keep from crying out. I risked a glance back and saw him. A suit, a briefcase, a pair of glasses, and vibrant, navy blue hair.

"Next stop, 4th Ward, Main Street."

The automated female voice rang through the train from the speakers hidden somewhere. It pulled me out of my thoughts. Why was I remembering the events of seven years ago? I shook my head and got ready to get off the train.

Stepping onto the 4th Ward platform, I felt the brisk September air sting my face. I walked to the steps that would get me out of the subway, well, I tried to at least. Once I turned the corner, the stone steps were inhabited by four people all in various outfits of black. The only girl had bright peach hair and dark lips.

"Oooh!" She said hopping off the step and walking towards me. "U-chan is going to love you."

"Boss was right again," one of the men on the steps said, a strange tattoo on the side of his bald head, "I guess his nose is never wrong."

The woman started to circle around me, tracing a finger around my shoulders as she walked. "Waddaya say? Will you come to meet U-chan with us?"

"I'm sorry," I said turning to go up the stair the other way, "I have previous arrangements."

I heard a giggle from the woman behind me. "That's okay! Another time then, U-chan is very kept on meeting you. You have a very big reputation in the underworld."

I shook my head and finally reached the surface, cars honking and people hurrying to wherever they needed to be. I looked to the address and started walking in a direction I thought would lead me to my new apartment.

This place was definitely going to be interesting.