Anarchy's Mystery

Chapter 11

Natalie brushed the tear from her face subtly and smiled, but it was forced. "Nothing." Adrian's eyes narrowed but he shrugged.

"Natalie, right?" He held out his hand and returned her smile, his not quite as forced as hers. She nodded and accepted the hand. "It's nice to finally meet you in person. I've heard a lot about you."

Natalie's eyes narrowed fractionally. "Hopefully all good things."

"So... do you want to come on patrol with us now?" Red Assassin asked, a friendly smile on her face.

"Um, sorry, I would, but something's come up at home. I'll be here tomorrow though?" She replied quickly, the others nodding as she spun on her heel and ran off towards her home, her hair falling out of her bun as she sprinted through the streets, her bag slipping off her shoulder. She burst through her front door and threw her bag on the couch.

"Samantha!" She yelled, not caring if anyone noticed. "Samantha! Where are you?" The room echoed silently back at her. "Mom?!" An uneasy feeling settled in Natalie's stomach and she grabbed a kitchen knife and pulled her hair back again before heading down the corridor towards the bedroom. "Sam?" She whispered, trying to keep herself from shaking. She tightened her grip on her knife and crept into the bedroom.

"Mom?" She called quietly, her voice shaking. No reply. A shadow jumped at her from behind the bed and Natalie caught their knife on hers. They wore a creepy mask that distinctly marked them as a member of the Jackals. Natalie steeled herself before spinning around and hitting another man in the room behind her in the gut with her elbow. She kicked the feet out from the original man and crouched next to him, her knife pressed hard against his throat, almost drawing blood. She swung around with the knife and used the hilt to knock the other man out cold, before returning the knife to the man's throat. She quickly called into her wristband for backup before returning her attention to the man.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" Natalie asked threateningly, her eyes squinted in a glare. She could see the glint of a smile beneath the man's mask and in retaliation, she tore of the mask and slapped him - hard - in the face. "Who sent you here?"

"It's none of your business." He gruffly replied, only when the pressure of the knife on his throat increased.

"Actually, it's very much my business, seeing as you and your unconscious partner here are in my house." She told him, no longer in fear of shaking, as her eyes glinted of murder. She had feared a day like this would some day come because of who her father was, and her mother had constantly warned her of it. Whilst she no longer feared it so to say, she was still worried. Samantha was nowhere to be found and she couldn't hear - or see - her mother, but if she was still in her bed, Natalie wouldn't be able to see her anyways. "So... who sent you? Why are you here?" A bead of blood slid down the side of his neck and he stiffened.

"I'm forbidden... to say..." He wheezed. Natalie heard footsteps behind her and she stiffened as he slumped in relief.

"Don't think I won't kill you just because someone else is here." Natalie whispered, quickly maneuvering herself so she was facing the door whilst still keeping a firm grip on the knife. The unconscious man began to stir and she cursed before leaning over and slamming the hilt into his skull again. He didn't move again as another shadow made its way into the doorway. Natalie's eyes steeled as she recognised the face and figure of her old friend from the alley.

"Jake. I didn't think you'd have the courage to come back to me after before." She coolly greeted. "Especially seeing how you became a coward when the Renegades appeared - and only three of them at that. You and I used to hold off more than that when we were younger, the two of us." The reference to their past made him flinch. "When did you become an actual member of the Jackals, Jake? I thought you were better than that. I would have thought you would have left them when you realised what trouble they would bring you. But, let me guess." She cut him off when he opened his mouth, and gave a wry smile.

"You wanted to be a rebel. You wanted to prove your sister that you were better than she was, that you could make your own decisions, without the influence of your mother or sisters. You didn't need a woman - a puny, weak, insignificant woman - to tell you who you had to be. You wanted to be a man. By the time you realised what you'd done, you were too far in." By the awkward silence between them, Natalie could only guess that she was right. "Just go away Jake. Leave me and my family alone. You chose to leave my life, and it's my choice to not allow you to re enter it."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that." Jake replied, an almost regretful look on his face.

"What do you mean?" Natalie's blood froze in her veins. She took a deep breath and tried to push down the panic that was rising in her throat. "Jake? What the hell did you do?" A flicker of his eyes towards the bed made Natalie suck in a quick breath of air. "No. Jake... you wouldn't have! You couldn't have..." Her breaths came faster and her eyes flickered around her room. After a split second decision, Natalie slammed her knife hilt into the man's skull and stood up to face her old friend, dropping her knife. "I would say that I hope you would have kept your fighting skills up to scratch, but to be honest, I actually couldn't care less right now." Natalie pulled her hair tighter and raised her eyes to meet Jake's, who, for his part, looked a bit worried.

*Flashback* - 10 years ago

"Come on, Jake!" 8 year old Natalie laughed. She ran ahead of the boy, his long, dirty blonde hair falling in his eyes as he stumbled along behind her. Her dad laughed as he followed behind them, one of the few times he would actually accompany them on one of their trips to the park. Natalie arrived at the top of the hill, standing under the great oak tree, branches splayed in every direction. She bounced on the balls of her feet, side to side, as she waited for the boy to catch up. "Hurry up Jake!" She pulled her ponytail tighter and faced the boy with playful determination. He caught up with her and matched her pose.

"Ready... go!" He yelled, and they set to fighting each other. Never intending to hurt each other, they play fought to better their fighting skills. Natalie was always quicker, whilst Jake was stronger. This particular day, however, was different. Jake had been bullied at school and was angry, and without meaning to, began to take his anger out on his sparring with Natalie.

"Jake..." She cried, blocking and jumping away from his violent attack. She jumped up onto the lowest treebranch to avoid him and began to climb higher when he followed her. Her dad watched them from the bottom of the hill, thinking it was a game, when in reality, Natalie was terrified. Her foot slipped on a branch and landed on Jake's arm, forcing him to lose his balance and fall out of the tree. With a loud crack, he landed on his arm and screamed, sobbing as he cradled his injured arm. Natalie froze in the tree as her dad rushed over to Jake and took him to the doctors to heal his arm. She stayed in the tree for a long time, and after that it became a place of comfort and refuge, but that fight with Jake always remained in her memories.

*End flashback*

"Remember the tree, Jake? Remember how we would always hold back in our fights. Well, except you in our last one, I guess." Natalie teased, kicking the unconscious man to the side of the room to make space for her. Jake glared back at her. "Well, this time I'm not holding back. I'm gonna kill you if that's necessary Jake. You should have left my mother alone."

"What, you don't care about your dear little sister?" Jake teased in reply, moving closer to Natalie.

"What did you do to Samantha." Natalie froze, her eyes icy.

"Nothing you need to stress about... She's in a better place now." He grinned like a maniac, his eyes glowing.

"You bastard. You should have left our family alone. Being a girl, and being a keeper of the peace I guess you could call me, as a member of the Renegades, I probably shouldn't do what I'm about to. But then I remember," Natalie's eyes glowed with hatred, and she took a step closer to Jake so that her body was almost pressed against his, "I remember that I'm your sister, and you would never hold back." Natalie then proceeded to pull her knee up hard into his weak spot and punch him in the face. "Family never turns on family Jake, unless they become traitors." His eyes glowed with murder as he faced her, and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Like you." He stepped forward to take his first swing. 

Hey guys, I'm back again with another chapter! I hope you enjoy - and I hope to post again soon!