Saving The Gangsta

t w e n t y - e i g h t

a l e x i

------------------

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

------------------ 

Judging by the voicemail Becca left me and the cars pulling out of my driveway, I realize it took 27 minutes for my gang to be brought down.

The discarded bodies of my brothers and sisters lay abandoned in the middle of a warzone. Their blood signifying nothing, their deaths just being another tally on the Governments list.

For some bizarre reason, everyone always viewed us as the bad guys. But you see, me and my family. We were the ones who stopped the bad guys. We were the ones who scared them.

27 minutes for 15 lives to be forgotten.

And I wasn't there to die with them.

One soul was left to suffer, with a hole in her stomach and a plague in her mind.

No matter how hard I try, I know that I cannot possibly apologise to my family who are dead, but I can beg relentlessly for their forgiveness- just like I have with Asher- wholeheartedly aware that I will never receive an answer.

Astrid Cleveland may have been born a Princess.

But she'll die a Viper.

***

Preparing the tattoo gun was the most nerve wracking experience of my life. Astrid's muffled voice flew away with the night sky,

One line. One line on her arm before her heart gives up.

I stroke her hair back from her face, smiling gently at her.

One line. Come on, Lex

There's so much blood.

Blood. I used to crave the bittersweet taste of death blossoming in the depths of my soul. Yet now all I feel is disgust.

And all I can hear is my brothers pained screams as he was carved open.

Astrid's steel blue eyes flutter shut, and I place the tattoo gun down after finishing it completely.

"Arry? Please, please, please." I mumble, over and over again. Tears sting my eyes and leave fatal burns in my cheeks. My hands laced together naturally and put pressure on her bleeding stomach, "No, Astrid. Please. Not yet, no."

"I'm okay..... Lexi." She panted softly, her lips pulling up slightly. Her eyes clenched shut with an undeniable amount of agony, and my hands just pushed deeply in a selfish attempt to keep her alive. "Stop it. It's...I'm...okay."

"Please, Astrid. Just hold on, for a while longer." I beg, refusing to move my hands away from her wound despite her gentle pushes.

"No." She muttered, faintly shaking her head. "Listen to me."

I swallow my tears, biting my lip in a pathetic attempt to stop anymore tears escaping.

"Thank you." She rasped out, "Lexi, thank you. Knowing you... knowing all of you...It's been the best part of my life. You guys made me so happy. You're my family, okay? I love you. My sister."

"Don't, please."

'Lex, help me. It hurts.'

"Please, I can't lose you too. I can't. I'm not strong enough."

' I will take everything from you, dear sister. Starting with our brother. '

"He can't take you as well. He can't." My voice broke as a sudden realisation hit me like a drug, rendering me completely helpless to the demons invading my mind.

"Asher would be so proud of you, Lexi. So damned proud." She utters, tears sparks in her petrifying blue eyes. I rested my head upon her chest gently, closing my eyes as her powerful words hit me brutally. What would Asher think if he saw me now? She breathed out heavily, "I'm so scared. I don't want to die."

Her words made my heart shatter more, "I know. I'm so sorry, Astrid. I'm so sorry."

Her lips turned upwards, despite the undeniable pain etched into her soft features. "Call me....Call me Ingrid."

"Ingrid." I tested the name out on my tongue, smiling slightly as a breathtaking grin tattooed itself onto her face.

"It hurts." She admits quietly, her voice nearly inaudible. "It hurts so much. I....I spent my entire life wishing for this moment, but now it's here and I don't want to leave."

"I'm so sorry I failed you, Ingrid. I'm so sorry." I repeat once again, my voice shattering into scattered, broken remains all around us. My hand unhesitatingly presses her stomach wound further, making her wince.

"You didn't fail me, silly." Despite not being able to see her face, I could already see the lazy, teasing grin. "I'm going to be with Taylor, and Eric, and my Dad. Lexi, I'm going to see my Mom again."

The happiness in her voice was undeniably, yet all I could think was it's too early, she's too young.

I'm not ready.

Her breathing slowed, her pants becoming less heavy. Pulling myself up from her chest, I study her silently.

"I love you, Astrid. Thank you for being my sister."

Her eyes were closed; All her natural warmth disappeared. But at my final words, a slight flutter of her lashes told me all I needed to know.

She was listening.

"We really did raise hell, huh?" Hearing the humor in her weak tone, I chuckle demurely. "We were fucking untouchable, Lexi, and in the end, I'd do it all again."

No more words left Ingrid Kensley's, more commonly known as Astrid Cleveland's mouth, that night.

Her last sentence was uttered in a mere whisper, dancing off elegantly into the night sky.

The black rose had finally managed to find the gates of hell.

And after those futile words left her lips, the last petal fell.

And the Lost Princess finally found her way back home.

----

"The Earth Is Littered With The Ruins Of Empires That Believed They Were Eternal."