by Ivy Knight
"What the fuck?" she hisses.
"Watch your language," he warns. Alice looks at me for an answer and I bob head letting her know to not fight him.
"Fine, but I can hold myself back," she peels his hand off of her and stands a few feet away from our table. I turn around and face Kai.
No emotion displays on his face as he speaks, "What you did this morning, was a mistake, but then arguing with Cole, calling him names, and then kneeing him, was not," my eyebrows string together. "I won't let that go unnoticed, so what should your punishment be Summer White?"
"Not making you pay for my car should be good enough," I scoff. "And who do you think you are asking me what my punishment should be? I'm not, by any means, owned by you. You have no right to do anything to me."
"Kai Black," he simply responds.
"I thought we were past that stage."
"Guess not. My name is Kai Black," he introduces himself throwing a collection of newspapers onto the table. I scan through the headlines and most of them relate to him and his vicious acts as the gang leader of 'The Black Knights'.
My brain runs through the various ways this meeting go if I make even the slightest mistake and the moisture in my mouth seems to have disappeared.
"What do you want me to do about it? I'd pity you, but you don't even deserve that," his eyes darken resembling the darkest shade of black. A piercing scream makes goosebumps rise on my skin and I turn around watching Alice whimper with her hair pulled back. A gun held to her throat by Cole.
"What the fuck!" I yell standing up. I try to help her, but Kai's stops me by grabbing my wrist. He yanks me back making me crash into his chest. Before I can back away, he roughly grabs my chin forcing me to look up at him.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll behave like the good girl you are," the deadly tone to his voice makes me wanna die. Anything is better than getting involved with another gang leader.
With no other option left in sight, I nod and he let's go of me. I look down at the ground pathetically clenching my jaw. I can take him on, but no. My hands are tied because I can't let them find out who I really am. I look back up at him, "You wanna kill me? Go ahead. Just remind me not to never park without asking again."
"That attitude will only make things worse."
I'm getting on his nerves and it's clearly visible through his agitated response.
"What's worse than death?" I ask only inches away from his face.
"Living," in that split second, I see his vulnerability. I saw him let his guard down, but as fast as it came down, it comes right back up. "I felt the scarred tissue through the sleeve of your jacket, Summer. Your punishment is life itself."
I ball my hands, "You think I don't already know that? You're not giving me a punishment. You're giving me a chance to live. I've known you for what? Ten minutes, and I already see through your little curtain of bullshit."
The next thing I know is I'm gasping for air as I claw at Kai's hands, but he doesn't loosen his grip around my neck, "You know nothing about me and talking to you now, makes me think there's something more to you."
My lungs burning, begging for air, but he continues, "I'm gonna figure you out Summer, and I'm gonna do it within seven days."
I feel my eyes about to roll back, he lets go of my throat. I fall to the ground coughing hysterically. If I wanted to, I could've gotten his hold off of me, but I didn't. I knew he wasn't going to kill me and I can't let him find out who I am.
I stand up onto my feet feeling light headed. I look up at Kai through my blurry vision, "Seven days, Kai Black. That's all you've got, figure me out. If you don't, or if you do, I don't care, but you stay away from Alice, my friends, family, and everyone else I'm connected to."
"And if I figure you out," his voice sends chills down my back. "-then you belong to me."
The words make my heart throb, "What's wrong, Summer? Are you scared I'll figure you out?"
"Deal," I reply. "Seven days, that's it."
He looks at me and then at Cole. I turn around, just in time to watch Cole push Alice to the ground. He lines the gun to her forehead.
"It's time for Alice's punishment, she is the one who kneed him," Kai whispers into my ear taunting me. I know she was the one who kneed Cole, but I wanted to take the blame.
I turn around and look at the table we were sitting at. A tray put on the side holds a butter knife giving me an idea. I pick it up and within seconds, throw it towards Cole's leg. He screams in agony.
Not wasting a second, Alice picks up the gun that Cole dropped, just as Kai takes a hand full of my long hair pulling my head back, "Told you not to mess with us."
I hiss in pain.
"And you said seven days, I thought gang leaders were loyal to their words," he clenches his jaw, but releases me from the grip on my hair.
"Seven days, Summer. Seven days of your freedom. Spend them wisely, because you won't be seeing anyone for a while when you come with me," he threatens. His whole body rigid with anger, I bite down on my tongue preventing myself from making the situation worse.
"Summer, let's go," Alice says. I turn around as I watch her standing with the gun still pointed at Cole. I take one look back at Kai before heading out with Alice beside me.
We pass Alec who this whole time did nothing but eat an apple while guarding the door.
Confident much?
Just before exiting, Alice drops the gun on the floor. Alice and I enter an empty classroom. She locks the door as I stand by the window looking outside at the bare field.
"He's gonna find out," are the first words that escape her mouth.
"I know."
"Why would you make that deal then?" she turns me around. Her hair full of tangles and the wetness in her eyes makes me feel guilty. None of this would have happened if I didn't park in that stupid spot.
"Because what he finds out, doesn't have to be the truth. We can plant our own clues which lead opposite of my real life."
"Why can't they lead back to this life, so you can win this deal?"
"Because he's probably running a search on me right now, my record only goes back to until I was adopted. The only thing before that are my fake dead parents. By the way he acts, he probably already has people talking to those people's neighbours figuring out if I ever even existed or not."
"And you didn't."
"Exactly."
"What are you gonna do?" she questions.
"Call Brody," I reply.
"He's gonna be pissed."
"I know," my second life is coming to an end before I even got a chance to live it.
Chapter 3
"Are you fucking stupid?" Brody yells at me as I grab another chip from the bag Alice is holding.
"No, I only have seven more days," I stuff the chip into my mouth and repeat myself again.
"No, you have your whole fucking life. I can't let you just give up. You've worked so hard to stay away from your old life."
"My old life is my original life. Yes, I hated it and anything else to do with gangs, but I can't risk them finding out my real identity. I need your help Brody."
"No, this is a suicide mission."
"If you don't help me, then Kai is gonna find out everything about me - about the real Summer White. If he finds out, then so will everyone else. Brody, I'm begging you. Please help me," his tall frame stands there contemplating his choices. He will help me no matter what. He always does. He's helped me before and I know he'll do it again.
"Okay, I'll do it," he states as if the words are forcefully being drawn out of his mouth.
"What?" Alice gasps. "Come on Brody! I thought you would talk some sense into her."
"Alice," my voice underlying with warning.
"How can you be so fucking calm?" Alice yells, frustrated. "You're giving yourself up for who? Huh? Me? I don't want it. I want you to live."
"Shut up, Alice. I'm doing this for my family. You are my family and we both know I can handle Kai."
"Y
ou don't know anything about him except that he practically runs all of Chicago."
"That's why we're in the middle of nowhere and we had to drive over the limit to lose the men on our trail," I mention. School was not what I would call normal. After everything happened, all the students in the school practically run away from us.
And ironically, Kai was in every one of my classes.
What if he already knows who I am? No, he can't.
"Summer?" Brody looks at me with worry in his brown eyes.
"My background story. It should have something to do with gangs because I wasn't scared of him like a normal high school girl would be."
"Okay," Brody takes down a mental note.
"I also need two burner cells so we can all communicate. Other than that, Alice and I will live normally. Speaking about normal, if I was anywhere close to that, I would go to the library and search up anything I can about him," I add.
"What are you gonna tell mom and dad?" Alice asks. The sadness in her voice doesn't go past me, but I ignore it for her sake.
"That I applied to live on my own," I reply holding back any sign of sorrow from my voice. The last year and a half was the best time of my life. I was actually normal and being pulled away like this, is devastating.
"Brody, dig up everything you can about Kai and his gang. History back to as old as his ancestors are," he bobs his head in response.
"Both of you take care of yourselves. I'll mail you your phones by tonight," he informs.
"Okay," Alice and I get into her car. I called a tow truck after school and sent my car to the mechanics. Alice called mom and got one of her employees to drop off Alice's car at school for us.
The whole ride to the library, Alice doesn't utter a word. I know by the way I'm acting, it looks like I'm calm when in reality, I'm a fucking a mess. My heart hasn't regained its normal rhythm since lunch. The three boys in the cafeteria have me hung up and until I truly know what I'm up against, my heart rate will never go back to its normal pace.
I've been brought up in an all-boys household with my dad and my three older brothers. We weren't like normal families, no. My father is the leader of the White Dragons, the gang that controlled all of Los Angeles on its fingertips.
Two years ago, everything changed.
And, White Dragons no longer controls Los Angeles.
...♛...
We spent three hours at the library searching up everything about Kai Black. Everything about the suspected murders his gang has been involved in along with other criminal records that came up.
The only thing about his personal life that showed was that he came to Chicago at the age of fifteen and within twelve months, he started his own gang. That's when his reign started.
It's around two am. Alice, mom and dad are all in their beds while I'm on the roof of our new house smoking to calm my nerves.
A gang leader's daughter or son isn't supposed to take drugs, but I started smoking back in Tennessee where Alice is from. After what happened, I couldn't get the thoughts out of my mind and smoking a cigarette is the only thing that helps me remain calm and hinged.
I promised myself I would stop smoking. Up until now, I was sober for two weeks. The nervousness and the fear returned like a gush of wind today. All day long, my fingers fidgeted around wanting to hold the stick that was my key to forgetting. Alice knows about my addiction, but she also knows that I need it.
I've been training my body physically through combat training, but I don't know if I'm ready to join the world of gangs again. The bloodshed, lying, deceiving, using; I'm just not ready for all of it. Especially, if entering Kai's world, means making the real Summer White visible again.
I never thought that one parking spot would be the end of my second life. Never in a million years would I ever think that my life was going to be destroyed by an unmarked school parking lot. It's cynical, how the slightest things can impact life so greatly.
I inhale the poison and exhale my own cloud of smoke. With my back laid against the cold, rigid rooftop, I trace the stars with my eyes looking for my birth mom.
I've never met her. My dad told me she died giving birth to me.
'Women in this business aren't supposed to live as long as she did, and the way she died was also how she would want to die,' he once told me. My mom's been a role model for me from then on. She's the only thing that's ever kept me going during my chaotic, old life.
People were turning against my family and I was my family's weakness. That is the reason why Summer White, the daughter of the most powerful gang, died in a house fire along with fifty other girls two years ago.
I take another smoke and as I lift my head up to exhale, I spot a silhouette of a man, standing a few feet away from my house, cowardly hiding behind the trees. I smirk having an idea of who it can be.
I rub the butt of the cigarette against the roof before settling it in the drain pipe. Steadily, I lower my foot onto the window seal and climb down from the support of the two windows. Nights here are cooler than in Tennessee and Los Angeles combined, but I like the cold. It gives me a feeling of numbness I constantly crave.
I walk over to the man, standing only a few inches away, before I'm close enough to recognize him.
"The gang leader stalking the girl himself. I must be important, huh?"
Kai's sculpted figure towers over me once again. His midsection hidden behind a black winter jacket, I'm kind of disappointed. He does have some admirable abs from what I can recall.
His eyes trace me before answering, "I want to see, for myself, exactly what you're hiding."
"And what have you gotten so far?"
"Depressed, lonely, secretive, suicidal and dark," he whispers, the last word dangerously low.
I gulp, "That's what every teenage girl is. I was adopted, you shouldn't expect anything more."
"Good thing you mentioned that because I went through your papers and there's no witnesses claiming you ever existing in New York, where you were supposedly born and lived with your parents until they died when you were fifteen," he states confidently. I shrug in response keeping a poker face. He did exactly what I expected him to do. "How long do you think that poker face can save you, Summer?"
"I don't need to be saved because I'm not hiding anything that should concern you. This sudden interest you've taken upon the new girl can get the new girl killed because of who you are. And being that new girl, I'm not really ecstatic about the possibilities," I complain truthfully. My anger seeps through even though I try my best to not let it.
Summer, calm down. Don't do something stupid.
"You seem to know a lot about gangs. How is that, White?"
I smirk, "Guess you'll just have to find out."
"And here I thought you weren't hiding anything," he retorts.
"Hiding is for cowards like you and your men."
"Watch how you talk to me and about my gang," his jaw clenches as he roughly takes a step forward. "I still haven't decided how well we should treat you once you're ours."
"Send me to one of your camps like most leaders would."
"No," he leans in closer to my ear. "I wanna make you suffer. I wanna make you regret ever talking back to me. Camps are too relieving and I have a feeling selling you won't really have an effect on you. You're strong, Summer. Not just physically, but mentally as well. You were holding back this morning, I could tell by the way you were clenching your fists so hard that they drew blood. I wanna break you both ways. I wanna see you cry, begging for me to stop."
His voice heavy with dominance, I see right through the facade.
He's scared.
I close the distance between us. Chest to chest, our breaths mingle.
"And I want you to try, because you're not going to be the first."
Sending him a last glare, I turn around on my heel and climb back up into my room.
Once I'm in, I close the curtains ignoring the silhouette glued in the same spot I left it. After today, only six mo
re days left.
Chapter 4
"Hey."
"I found out that Kai is —" Brody takes a pause, "he's Nicholas' younger brother."
And with that, my heart skips a beat.
"Summer? Summer!" he harshly speaks through the phone, regaining my attention.
"Huh? Uh... yeah, I'm here."
"I know this is a hard subject, but Kai can be useful to us now. We've finally hit Nicholas' weak spot."
Nicholas is the gang leader of the Black Knights. He was our number one rival when I lived in LA. On the day of my fifteenth birthday, he kidnapped me and used me against my own family.
Even after doing what he told my father and brothers to do, he never released me. He made me work for his gang during the day and at nights, he made me his own personal slut.
I knew how everything worked in gangs, so I cooperated until one day he had enough of me and decided to throw me into one of his camps. Before I, or any other girl there could be sold, I set the house on fire.
Everything burned down into ashes. It took me six months to escape, but I finally did. After escaping, I went to Brody. He helped me move to a new state where we started our new lives.
He's been helping me ever since like my own brothers would. I've been born in hell and when I finally thought that I climbed my way up from it, I'm being dragged right back into it. "After their father died, Nick took control of things making Kai do most of the dirty work. Kai left LA and started his own gang shortly after. The two brothers haven't made contact since, but we can still use Kai somehow. The papers don't tell the whole truth, but Kai will."
"Well that's just a bonus," I let out a dry laugh.
"Look Summer, I know this is too much for you and now that he's somehow connected to your past, I think it's just more of a reason to not go through with this deal. We can escape by sundown and no matter how many links Kai has, he'll never be able to find us."
"No, Brody. It's time that I stop running and crush the demons I've been trying to bury. They'll come out sooner or later and I'd like them to come out on Kai and Nick rather than anyone else."
