VICIOUS

Anger.

I walk into my apartment. I'm surprised, angry and confused as fuck.

Tonight. 

They are sending us to Oblivion tonight.

Why aren't they giving us some more time? Why does this need to happen all of the sudden? 

When I asked Hayden these two questions, all he said was: ''When kicking you out for real, you won't have anything prepared either.''

I get that, okay? But this mission is important for the future of Vicious. 

My future.

I slam the door shut and walk into the living room. Rose stares at me with wide eyes, startled by my anger. I ignore her, she's not important now. I want to throw something. No, I need to throw something. I pick up the mug I drank from last night and throw it against the wall. It breaks in small pieces. A knife follows right after that. I kick my foot against the black coffee table and let out a scream. 

I fucking hate this. Obviously I need more time to figure out some stuff, like work. I don't even have a place where Rose can stay the rest of the week.

Rose...

I turn around and see Rose sitting under the dining table. Her eyes are shut and she mumbles something I can't hear. Both of her arms hold her knees. The only thing I can hear right now, is my heavy breathing and Rose's mumbles. 

I approach her slowly. I don't want to scare her. Yes, it is my job to scare, threaten and kill people. But for some reason, I recognize myself too much in her. Was I more mature? Yes. But that doesn't matter. 

When I was her age I wanted somebody to protect me, but I didn't have anyone. The rest of my family was dead or they distanced themselves because of my parents' job. Another thing Rose and I have in common. Our parents do or did the same job. 

Creating a gang.

''Hey,'' I whisper as I crouch down to her level. ''Are you okay?'' I touch her arm, but feel her freeze right under my touch. Rose doesn't say anything, her eyes still shut. 

I know I went crazy a few minutes ago, but it wasn't that bad. I only threw a mug and a knife.  And I kicked the table. And screamed. 

Nevermind.

I sigh. I hate apologizing and I'm not doing it either. 

''Come on,'' I say. ''Get up.'' I grab her arm again and pull Rose away from the table. She finally opens her eyes. 

''Don't do shit like that again, Bubbles,'' I say. All she does is nod, staring at the floor. She doesn't even try to look at me. 

''Did I scare you?'' I ask her. I bring Rose to the couch. And again, she nods. 

''Oh...'' Is all I can say to that. ''I didn't mean to.'' 

I'm a cold person, I don't open up easily and I absolute hate people. I despise them. So trying to make a person feel better or trying to calm someone down, isn't easy for me and it's definitely not something I'm good at.

I hesitate for a bit, but then wrap an arm around Rose. Now I notice the tears. I don't want her to cry, it'll make things more difficult. And she definitely needs to grow the fuck up. This is a place where violent things happen. The moment you start to cry, everyone knows how vulnerable you are. In this place it's almost like a competition in who's best at hiding how broken they are. 

And I'm exceptionally good at doing that.

The only thing you can hear is Rose sobbing into her hands. We just sit there. A clueless me and a crying Rose. 

Great.

''So, uhm,'' I say. ''I need to go on a last minute mission. You will stay at someone else's place for the rest of your time here, okay?'' I look at her. No answer, she just sobs silently in her hands. 

Dear fucking God, let her calm down.

''Í'm going to call Drew,'' I say as I let her go and stand up. ''You will probably stay at his apartment.'' 

The moment I want to grab my phone from the dining table, I hear a soft voice.

''Do I know him?'' Rose asks. ''His name sounds familiar.'' 

She talks again. 

Yay.

''I don't think so,'' I shake my head. ''But he isn't really the type of person that likes to talk about personal things, so I don't know.'' 

I grab my phone and dial Drew's phone number. Luckily, he picks it up immediately. 

''Drew here,'' he says. 

''Rose needs to stay at your place for the rest of the week,'' I say. ''I need to go on a last minute mission and can't leave her alone in my apartment.'' 

My fingers tap against the wood of the table. 

''Can't she stay at Thomas' place?'' Drew asks. 

''Well, that asshole needs to come with me on the mission,'' I explain. ''Not that I like it, but Hayden forced me.'' 

''Whatever,'' He says. ''You can drop her off in 15 minutes.'' Then he hangs up. 

..................................................................................................................................................

I knock on Drew's apartment, while keeping Rose close to me. Several gang members have looked at her like she was their lunch for today and I hate that. When I first came here, they did that to me too. I had to break someone's arm to let them know that I'm not their new meat. 

A smirk appears on my face when I think back to that moment. The man screamed like a little pig. Everybody left me alone after that incident. It took them at least three months before somebody started talking to me out of nowhere. 

The door opens and a fully clothed Drew stands in the hallway. Much better than Thomas, who was half naked. 

''Rose, this is Drew,'' I introduce him. ''Drew, this is Rose. But you've seen her before.''

Drew's eyes widen a bit when he looks at her. 

''Is there a problem?'' I ask him. My hand's already touching the gun in the holster on my belt.

He shakes his head. 

''No, not at all,'' He tries to convince me. ''I just thought I recognized her from something else.'' 

I look him up and down, still not trusting him. He's a man of a very few words, yet he has said a lot to me this morning. For him, then. 

''Anyway,'' I say. ''Take care of her and make sure those nasty men can't get to her.'' 

Drew nods and invites Rose in. I don't even try to say goodbye, they won't care about it anyway. 

''Bye, Taylor,'' Rose says when I turn around to walk away. 

I don't say anything back. Mostly because I'm not used to it. I've learned from a very young age that almost no one will care about you. And you can say that some people will love you and I definitely believe that some do, but you just have to accept the fact that most people don't give a fuck about you.

And I don't give a fuck about them either.