INVISIBLE | P. PARKER

PROLOGUE

QUEENS;

FIVE MONTHS BEFORE

Cassie shoved her hands inside the pockets of her sweatshirt. The weather had decreased, causing the city to become highly cold during that time of the year. The adrenaline made her quick her pace and look behind her shoulder in hope her brother wasn't following her, again.

It had been one of those nights where she lied about having too much homework and locking herself inside her room, when in reality she was only getting ready to meet her unusual old friends she liked to play cards with.

Playing poker was a great way of getting easy money, and the teenager always ignored her brother every time he asked her where she got the money whenever she returned from the meetings. She saw it as a way of thanking him for putting up with her for so long.

She exhaled deeply and stared at the fog ahead of her, shakily, she raised her chin up to have a better look of the small building. Her trembling hand reached the door, but a pair of strong hands pulled her away from the metal of the handle, making her scream very loud.

"Hey!" She shrieked, turning around. A relieved sigh left her lips at the sight of her tall brother in front of her, scowling. "Idiota!"

"Where do you think you're going, Cass?" He grunted, bowing his head to have a better look of the girl who seemed very agitated. "Don't look at me like that. I've been looking for you like crazy."

"You mean following me." The brunette grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Let's go." He threw his arm around her shoulders in a protective manner, but she didn't move. "Cass, this place is dangerous. Let's go home."

"I—I can't." Her eyes traveled to the building, her heart pounding.

"Well, I see you're not glued to the floor." Charile shrugged, pointing at her feet anxiously shrifting, an old habit she had whenever she was nervous. "Wait, what's wrong?"

What's wrong?

For her, everything seemed to be awfully wrong. She feared for her brother to discover what she was up to forthe past months, and she also feared he could explode. Also, she was hungry and hunger stopped her from thinking straight.

"Nothing." She lied, but Charile wasn't too convinced. In fact, he never was. "I'm serious!"

"Tell me the truth." He demanded, looking straight at her brown eyes identical to his.

"There's nothing to tell." Sending the building one last glance, Cassie rounded her brother and jumped on his back with a grin. "I was just taking a walk."

"Everything alright inside that little head of yours?" Her older brother questioned, walking to the opposite way and towards their home. "You've been distant."

"School. That's all." She muttered, resting her chin on his broad shoulder.

Cassie hated a lot of things, but she absolutely loathed to hide things from her brother. After losing their parents at a young age, the two siblings became closer than before and promised to tell each other everything, and she felt like she was not only breaking that promise, but also Charlie's trust.

Her heart sank at the sound of footsteps behind their traces of laugher, her head snapped to look back and check everything was normal and no one was following them. But when her chestnut eyes caught the sight of several men behind them, she knew they were in deep sh—trouble.

"Charile..." She trailed off, jumping down her brother's back.

Frowning, he turned around to face the men. Like an instinct, his hand wrapped around hers and tugged her close to him, Cassie's head collided with his strong chest but she couldn't breathe properly as her first clenched in the fabric of his maroon shirt. Panic had started to take over her body when she felt a strong hand dragging her away from the only person who truly loved her.

"Charlie!" She yelled, watching as he threw punches to the mysterious group of men.

She tried to fight, but the fear slowly took over her emotions as she cried for her brother, who was being terribly beaten up. Cassie tried everything to run from the stranger's hold, but whoever they were, they had a strong grip around her stomach.

"Leave him alone, please!" By that moment, she felt vulnerable and stupid for not being able to help her brother. "Stop!"

Cassie watched as her brother fell to the floor unconscious, the tears had taken over her face and the sobs felt uncontrollable as they left her mouth without a warning. She elbowed the man with all the strength she could and jumped out of his arms, only to run to the young man and kneel in front of him with shaking hands.

"C—Charile." Her finger pressed the side of his neck, checking his pulse and sighing relieved when she felt the beating of his veins against his bruised skin. "Wake up."

"Your turn, little princess." Her head snapped up to meet a pair of dark, numb eyes.

She tried to fight back when a hand held her neck with strength, then a small, grungy cloth was placed on her lips and everything turned black.