8_JADA

"I thought I was going to die. They had a knife to my neck..." Her voice was trembling as she shook in my arms.

After I got the senator's daughter out and the police came thirty minute later, there was an intense shoot out that left a lot of casualties. I would have loved to help but I was at the risk of being exposed, so I sat quietly inside the safe house while shit went down behind me. When the heat died down, I had to drive the senator's daughter, Vivian, home. We were currently sitting on her queen-sized bed, in her large all white aesthetics bedroom, with a floor to ceiling window that overlooked the ocean.

The Senator just left a few minutes ago and she started balling her eyes out, it seemed the reality of everything going on just hit her.

"I didn't know he was that evil. I only wanted to threaten him to stop stealing from Daddy. I didn't know it was..." she stopped talking to blow her nose.

Her pretty face was already red and her blonde hair was somehow still in place in the high ponytail she wore, with not a strand out of place. It was then I noticed how young she was. She always exuded this confidence that made her appear older than her age. At eighteen, she already had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulder, after loosing her mother to caner the year before, she just had to put on her grown up pants and look after her daddy.

"Come here" She laid her head on my shoulder while I rubbed her back slowly. "you know bad things always happen to the best people?"

"Life is a bitch like that" she muttered

I smiled "yeah, life is a bitch"

There was silence after that. Then after a while she spoke again

"Thank you so much Jada for saving my life" she lifted her head from my shoulder to smile weakly at me.

"you need to get some rest"

She climbed into the bed pulling the covers to her chin and then she closed her eyes. I gave her one last look and turned to leave. I was so exhausted, I needed sleep too and it was almost one in the morning.

"your secret is safe with me"

I turned and saw her smiling at me with her eyes slightly opened, I smiled back at her and quietly left the room.

She had asked how I was able to sneak past the guards and effortlessly break the chains they had used to tie her up, I told her I was born with a rare genetic disorder that allows me to have the strength and speed of ten men. I told her it was a very rare disorder that if anyone found out, they could kill me.

A little lie won't hurt anyone, right?

******

I came back home so tired. I had to go get my car where I left it. It was still drizzling.

As soon as I stepped into the house, Ash was already waiting for me with a cup of tea. I smiled at her, I felt tears gather in my eyes as I gave her a hug.

"Why are you still up?" I asked as I collected the steaming mug from her hand.

"I was waiting for you. You left in quite a hurry and it looked urgent" She brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and came to seat beside me on the couch.

I turned on the television where the news was already trending. A few censored clips of the dead bodies of both cops and criminals were displayed.

I heard Ash gasp beside me "You were there?" she quietly asked looking at me.

I nodded quietly. "those fuckers kidnapped her. I'm going to find out who is behind all this and I'm going to make them pay" I took a sip of the tea and closed my eyes as I felt the tears threaten to pour.

"Jay, you might have superpowers, but being invincible isn't part of it. You can fucking get killed!" she was almost screaming. She stood up and started pacing.

I took another sip of the tea and placed it on the center table and slowly stood up, my tired limbs were protesting.

"Ash, calm down" I held her shoulders

"I'll be very careful. I'm the only one who can take this people down and I'm sure they will be back. Today I left it for the police alone and people died"

I ended the last part with a whisper, my guilt eating away at my heart.

"It's not your job to save everybody"

"I have to do this. This might be bigger than I thought"

She shook her head and went to seat on the couch she previously occupied.

"Once you have that look in your eyes, there's no stopping you" she stood up again and tightly held onto my hands

"Please don't die"

******

The backroom of a dingy bar

The woman removed the shawl she had wrapped loosely around her head with her dark sunglasses, and sat down opposite the huge scary looking man with a large nose ring and long hair, which he left braided down his back. His face was void of any facial hair. He had this mean and dangerous aura around him. The woman trembled slightly when he lifted up his head and stared straight into her eyes his black orbs devoid of any emotion. He lifted up his cigar, took a long drag and blew in her direction. She coughed slightly as the smoke threatened to chock her.

He lifted up an eyebrow and she knew what it meant so she opened her mouth and let the words flow untethered.

"You promised not to hurt him. Your men almost killed him"

He was more invested in his cigar; he didn't even spare her a glance after that.

"I asked you to threaten him, not kill him. If you have him killed where will you get your money from?"

He put down his cigar in an ash tray on the scrawny table in front of him and turned his full attention towards me.

"That was me threatening him" His voice came out rough and hard.

"You owe me a lot of money woman and you finally found someone to pay on your behalf, so what I choose to do with him is none of your fucking business"

"But he doesn't know what he is in for, we..."

He slammed a hand on the table his eyes brimming with fire

"Don't fucking come in here playing the holy card. You are the one who came up with the plan to draft those documents and have him sign them. You said it would be easier to get the money from him that way"

The woman clamped her mouth shut her entire body visible shaking.

The man stood up from his seat

"The next time you demand an audience, it better be important. Don't forget you're not off the hook yet. Find a way to get him back on board with the scheme or better still tell him the truth that you were a junkie who accumulated a lot of debts. Because if by the end of the month I don't have all my money, I wouldn't hesitate to slice your gorgeous throat open and watch you bleed out"

With those words, he stormed out of the tiny room and banged the door shut a little too loudly.

The woman waited for about five minutes then she put on her disguise and walked out of the room.