Heroine Hearts: Darkness Made These Heroine Hearts

by Kirsty-Anne Still

  “I don’t know,” she says, her tone worrisome. “Joaquín made sure there weren’t very many places to hide,” she looks around and jumps as a loud resounding bang rings through the corridor. “This way,” she tells me and twists her hand so she can wrap her hand around mine. She pulls me forward, running in the direction of the girls. “Laura, take them right at the top of this corridor!”

  I don’t ask, just run with them.

  “I see Joaquín’s prize girl!” One voice calls out and I grab Isla and drag her down the corridor more. “You can’t hide her away.”

  I only release Isla to reach for the gun in my back pocket. Hector had given it to me so quickly in the height of the commotion I nearly forgot about it. I turn back to Isla, but only for a moment so my attention isn’t stolen from the assholes catching us up.

  “Run!” I bellow at Isla and the girls. “I’ll follow.”

  “Javier...” she tries, begging for me not to leave her.

  “Go!”

  I ignore my own safety, or the silent plea that takes over in Isla’s eyes, and turn away unable to speak to her. I raise the gun and start to fire. I’m not familiar with guns, it’s not something I ever wanted to play with it, but now I have to for the sake of the girls. I watch one of the assholes fall, and when the other raises his gun, I fire blindly and run.

  I turn the corner and see the girls going around one more. When I follow, Isla has them going into a room and run up behind them, ushering them as quickly as possible. I don’t know how far behind these bastards are, but I’m not taking any chances. We make it into a room and Isla shuts the door and locks it behind us.

  “We can go into the stairwell and up onto the roof, they’ll never know we’re there. It’s going to be hot up there, but it’s the only place I can think we can go.”

  “Okay,” I start, agreeing to her plan. “If we unlock the door too, they won’t even guess we’re there. We keep it locked and they’ll know something’s behind it.”

  “Good point,” she says, not looking at me, but at the girls and goes to speak again, but quickly closes her mouth. “Wait.”

  “What is it?” I ask, hating we’re stalling this moment.

  “Where are Zoe and Mollie?” Isla asks, looking around at the girls before us. “Fuck, where the fuck is Abbey?” Her tone heightens, as she starts to make her way through them. “I have to find them!”

  “No, you don’t,” I say, grabbing her. “You can’t go back out there! Are you crazy?”

  “Javier, they’re out there, I have to find them! They were here, with us!” she exclaims, her breathing beginning to race. “They’ve got to be hurt out there!”

  “I’ll go,” I quickly say, unsure of what I’m actually going to do. “Girls, up there now!”

  I watch for all of them to disappear, Isla going with them. I allow my eyes to look up at the ceiling, and I mutter a prayer before I head to the door. I don’t know what’s on the other side of the door, but I intend to find the three missing girls.

  “Don’t,” Isla’s voice stops me before I can even reach for the door handle. “Don’t go out there.”

  “I have to,” I say, turning to face her. “Isla, those girls need us.”

  “It’s too late for them,” she says, her tone solemn yet accepting. “I could hear they’re in the room two doors down, they’ve killed them. The windows are all open, they executed them as we were getting up onto the roof,” a tear falls as she accepts the fate of her friends. “So come up-stairs,” she says, gesturing behind her. “Santiago saw us, he knows we’re trapped.”

  I start to advance toward her, but gunfire sounds out, cutting through the wood of the door.

  “Down there!” I order her, and I’m not careful when I push her between a dresser and the wall in the corner. “I’ll protect you,” I promise, vowing my life to her at that moment. “Just stand down.”

  She nods her head, all emotion gone as she struggles to remain calmer than she is. I watch her slide down and pivot on the spot, my body shielding hers as I prepare my gun. I watch as the door forcefully flies open, revealing some fucker in a mask. I don’t hesitate with my actions. The moment he’s completely unprepared, I fire my weapon, unloading two bullets square into his stomach. He falls to reveal two more bastards and I unleash a hail of bullets until my gun fails, showing I’m out of bullets.

  I discard the ammunition cartridge and quickly reload the gun, thankful for the spare Hector gave me as a fourth assailant comes in his gun angled at me. He pulls the trigger and I dodge, running to the side to miss the rain of bullets he unleashes. As I go down behind the couch in the room, I feel a bullet graze my neck, but it’s not enough to make me immobile. In any case, it causes me to react.

  I’ve left Isla completely exposed and unarmed. I look beneath the couch, watching as silence descends around us. I notice he walks toward her, and I look at Isla, seeing her eyes cast up, utmost horror mars her face as she watches him. Each step he takes, causing my anger to boil my blood.

  “You’re one of the ones we want,” the fourth guy says, clearly tricked by my silence. “You’re coming with me.”

  I lean over, aiming the gun at his leg and fire. He howls out, falling immediately, his pointed gun falls to the floor as he grabs his knee with both hands. I stand up, placing a hand on my neck to inspect my minor wound. When I see blood paint my hand, I walk over to him. He’s grappling for his gun already, his hand wrapping around the handle and pointing at Isla as she sits, frozen in the corner.

  “I’d think again, cunt,” I swear, aiming my gun at his forehead. His hand immediately loosens around the weapon, and he turns his head to look at me. “You came after the wrong girl.”

  “It was my orders.”

  “And this is mine,” I say, firing one bullet straight into his head, killing him instantly.

  Although there is still gunfire filling the halls, I think we’re safer in here than we were.

  “I think we need to leave,” I say picking up the guy’s gun and turning my attention Isla.

  She doesn’t move, even after Santiago starts to scream that it’s now over.

  I stand over the fucker at my feet and watch over her as she stays between the wall and dresser. She’s curled up so tightly and for the first time, I see her breaking. It took all of two days for me to find her breaking point – or one of them. In any other place, I’d have seen her bend and break the moment she was grabbed and groped.

  I drop both of my guns, uncaring for violence, but only worried about her.

  “Hey,” I say, rushing over to her. She doesn’t even react to me when I’m by her. “Isla,” I speak lightly, but the moment I touch her, she seems to break furthermore. “Isla.”

  “I promised them I’d keep them safe,” she whispers to me, her eyes well with tears instantly. “I didn’t keep them safe. I’m meant to do that! I promise them one thing and I can’t do it.”

  “This wasn’t your fault,” I tell her, but she seems so distracted to notice me wholly.

  “If you hadn’t come and found us...” she trails off, her eyes widening. “Javier, you saved us.”

  I remain silent, I focus on her, not myself. Gently, I bring her to her feet, pulling her away from the spot in the corner. There’s a moment of transcendent awe as I notice the house becoming quieter and her face becoming somewhat more serene. Although her eyes tell a million different stories, there’s one I can’t ignore the most. It’s what has me reacting.

  I don’t know what possesses me, but I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight as if doing so will keep her from falling apart on me. I feel as if I’m holding every broken part of this woman together and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I serve a purpose.

  And that’s what scares me most – for the first time in years, I finally feel like I have a reason.

  In a girl I barely know, no less.

  “They can’t see you like this,” I tell her, my voice a soft murmur. “They need you to be st
rong, right now. They see you like this, they’ll all fall too. You need to keep your promise to them.”

  “You’re right,” she says, and as soon as she’s spoken, she’s removing herself from my arms, her guard reinforced. She brings her hands up to wipe her face free of wayward tears. “Thank you,” she says, honestly. “Thank you for giving a damn about us girls.”

  “It was my pleasure,” I tell her, offering her a smile. “You’re important cargo.”

  “Glad you think we are,” she replies, stepping in, placing her hands on my shoulders to draw me down so she can plant a kiss on my cheek. “You’re the only hero I see in this place, Javier,” she reaches up to my jaw, gentling turning my face to the side. “One that bleeds.”

  “It’s nothing. I’m no hero,” I mutter, ignoring her for a moment. “We need to get upstairs.”

  She takes my hand, ignorant of the blood on it and we walk out onto the small balcony and head up the stone steps to the roof of the El Salvador mansion. I see all the girls take a step back before the realize it’s Isla and me. There’s a moment of heavy exhales and sighs of relief.

  “Isla!” One of the younger girls runs at Isla, launching herself into her arms. “You’re okay!”

  “I am,” she tells her, holding her tightly. “Javier saved my life.”

  While all the girls rush over, apart from the new girls who are still unsure of their place, Isla puts her hands up trying to get their attention as pandemonium breaks out.

  “Girls!” Isla calls out, quietening them all. “We need to go back downstairs. Santiago said it’s over, so we need to go downstairs.”

  “Let me lead the way,” I state, stopping them all. “Just in case...”

  There’s a moment where they don’t seem to want to agree to allow me to look after them, and I’ll give them that, but when Isla steps in at my side, they all relent, not putting up a protest.

  As we head back down, I realize my anger hasn’t relented, if anything it’s changed who it’s directed at.

  I’m about to unleash hell.

  “What the fuck was that about?” I ask, going to Santiago. “What the fuck had them hunting down the girls?” I question, pushing my palms against his chest. “They could’ve killed them all!”

  “Don’t fucking touch me!” Santiago roars, coming at me. “They had you! You stopped them all being killed!”

  “Doesn’t matter!” I bellow, finding that I’m unable to calm my anger. “Three of the girls just died for no reason! Isla could’ve died. Fuck, they could’ve all died because not one of you thought about going for them!” I throw my hands up into my hair, staring at him with unadulterated rage. “What the fuck caused a group of fuckers like them to target the girls, specifically Isla... because let me let you all in a little secret, they came for her! They named her!”

  “Why do you care so much? You couldn’t even get a piece of that ass,” Santiago derides, sniggering at his own comment.

  “Because they’re the reason you get your fucking money!” I yell, my teeth gritting together. “You go on about how you need these girls and how they’re precious to you, but here you are allowing them to be killed when shit goes down! Your logic make no sense!”

  There’s a moment of silence, the only noise is the sobs from the girls behind us. I don’t take my eyes away from Santiago, proving that I’m not frightened to go against him. Slowly, though, Santiago falters, shaking his head and I don’t know if it’s in dismay or worry.

  “We took their girls,” Santiago says, nursing a bottle of tequila. “They were getting revenge. We thought it was best to meet them out in the courtyard, I didn’t think any would take away a chance to get to me or my father. We initiated kidnapping the girls from them.”

  I look to Joaquín, hoping for some sort of reaction, some payment of acknowledgment but he remains silent in his throne, his head propped in his hand as he looks off defeated.

  “So you caused this?” I ask, my expression dropping as my anger loses some momentum.

  “Basically,” Santiago admits and takes a swig of the tequila.

  “It’s been decided that Javier will be there as Eighteen’s guard,” Joaquín announces, finally speaking but is yet to stand up. “I’ve taken my girl for granted and those from other cartels have taken notice of that.”

  My head spins with Joaquín’s inability to be of stable mind. I don’t even care if I’m causing a stir in the group, I’m not prepared to be like any other member here. I’m here to stand out and be loyal and show my fierce dedication in my own right, not like the many men before.

  “You had her beaten no more than twelve hours ago...” I muse, wondering how the fuck they came to care for her now. “Now you want me to protect her?”

  Joaquín laughs, rubbing his jaw as he finally stands to approach me. He reaches for Isla’s hand, forcing her up from the spot by his side.

  “You see, Eighteen is like precious goods,” he says, putting his arm around her waist. “She’s lasted the longest out of the girls, gives as good as she gets, and still holds onto some form of fight. She’s a rarity in this life, and that makes her one of the precious ones.”

  “It’s true,” Santiago agrees from his seat. “She’s been with every guy here once or twice.”

  “And the rest,” Hector adds in.

  Santiago snickers, sitting up. “And the rest,” he adds in, smirking. “But she’s also done right by the girls, by the men, by my father and me. She looks after the girls, teaches them to step into line while pleasing the boss. She does drug runs without a hitch herself and if something goes wrong, she knows to get out and run. Her misdemeanors weaken in light of all she does,” he points the bottle of tequila at Isla. “If we could’ve asked for the perfect girl to have in our ranks, it would be Eighteen every fucking time.”

  “We’re honored to have her here,” Joaquín pipes up, pulling her tighter against his side. “She took a beating twelve hours ago. Yet, she was up and protecting the girls before you stepped in. Doesn’t that say more about Eighteen and how things are ran here than anything?” He asks me, rhetorically speaking. “You’re new, I don’t expect you to know everything just yet, Javier, but you’d do good to get learning things quickly.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m picking up on things quickly enough,” I remark, dryly.

  “What do you say, Javier?” he asks, addressing me personally while bringing Isla with him. “Can you protect our most prized possession?”

  One look at Isla and her bright blue eyes, I know this is the easiest pledge I’ve made while here.

  “With my life.”

  “You strap it any tighter and I won’t be able to breathe.”

  “Shut up,” Santiago is quick to respond, pulling tighter. “We need it to look authentic.”

  I wince as it bites at the bruises on my ribs. Closing my eyes, I beg myself not to show the pain, but I can’t help it. Biting my lip, I tell myself to endure it. I have to make a four-hour journey with this thing on anyway, might as well get used to it now.

  “Let me,” Javier breaks in, stepping behind me.

  I hear Santiago grumble some, but he relinquishes the hold he has on the strapping around me and I feel Javier loosen it enough to allow me to take a comfortable breath. My entire body sags in relief, taking a few easy breaths. Slowly he starts to fix the straps, pulling tighter, but only until he feels it clinch around my body.

  “That okay?” he asks, leaning closer to my back as if to look over my shoulder. I feel his body heat radiate against my skin, the warmth comforting against my bare back. “We won’t get far if you’re in pain.”

  “Yes,” I say, breathing evenly. “That’s a lot better. Thanks.”

  “This is all sweet, but don’t start being gentle with the girls. They like it rougher,” Santiago speaks, sneering his words as he interjects. “You babying her makes you such a fickle man,” he scoffs, insulting Javier with a mocking tone.

  “I’m only rough with those who deserve it,”
Javier murmurs, his tone darkening as his eyes become hooded. “Just because I know not to blur the lines doesn’t make me a weaker man.”

  “Whatever,” Santiago mutters, ignoring Javier’s comment.

  However, I can sense before he acts that Javier won’t allow Santiago to be so flippant with me. Since the attack – and consequential murders – he’s taken a higher ground, shown us girls we deserve a little better treatment. He’s not overtly on our side, but his politeness is enough to make any of the girls smile during a hellish day.

  Of course, in doing so, Santiago’s dislike of Javier has only manifested.

  “Now, you need to start thinking logically here,” Javier’s brow clenches, causing furrows as he tilts his head to educate Santiago. “If I drive us over the border and she’s wincing in pain while we wait to go through that’s an immediate red flag. They’ll pull us over and we’ll be dragged straight into customs for identification. Do you want to run that risk? Do you want them to see me as a controlling woman beater?” He doesn’t budge as he stares down at Santiago over the matter. It’s amusing when Santiago doesn’t say anything, just gives the gentlest of head shakes. “Didn’t think so.”

  “Alright,” Santiago agrees, throwing his arms up. “Alright, I get it.”

  “But do you?” Javier asks right back, cocking a brow. “The last thing you want is them trying to identify a girl who’s been missing for two years and no longer has formal I.D.”

  “I said I get it!” Santiago roars, his temper flaring. “Let’s get on with what’s important. I’ll be well aware that you’ll run the show, seeing as you’ve already started to take over.”

  Sensing his anger only just starting to boil, I know the tension in the room could quite possibly implode with any given moment, so I take in a cathartic breath and get myself ready for this. There are a few seconds of silence that descends and I place my hands onto my stomach and prepare to break the heated conflict between them.