Chapter 1
"You see them over there, right?"
I rolled my eyes, snapping back with more bite than necessary. "You're a voice in my head. If you can see them, why wouldn't I be able to?" I immediately regretted the sharpness of it. Nieria didn't deserve that. But lately, everything rubbed me the wrong way. My nerves felt stretched thin, like one wrong touch would snap them.
"What was that girl thinking, coming to a place like this dressed like that?" She wore a dress meant for someone else. Someone more confident, more filled out. Someone twice her age. On her, it looked borrowed, like she'd been playing dress-up in a stranger's closet and hadn't realized how exposed that made her.
"Ollie," Nieria snapped inside my head. Pain sparked behind my eyes, sharp and sudden, forcing a hiss from my lips. "A woman should be able to dress however she pleases," she said.
I exhaled slowly, the sting fading but the disappointment lingering. "I know that," I muttered. "That's not what I meant. I just..." My words faltered, trying to curb the sharpness I couldn't fully control. "...this isn't a good place." Nieria wouldn't understand. She couldn't. Not really. She didn't live in the real world. Didn't see how people really were.
Cazmont chewed people up. It always had. Crime bled into every street, every shadowed doorway. Even the police had stopped pretending they could fix it. Here, innocence wasn't protected, it was hunted. And that girl didn't look like she knew that yet. Three thugs stood around her, each eyeing her like she was a prize they were determined to win. One inched closer, shattered glass crunching under his thick biker boots. His hand reached out to touch a strand of her soft auburn curls.
I wrinkled my nose at the stench of cigarette clinging to him. I could smell it from where I stood. She instinctively drew back, but her back was pressed against the wall. Nowhere to escape.
He leaned in like the creep he was and took a deep inhale of her hair. "Why don't you party with us tonight?" He said, smiling, though she couldn't see it. Fear had frozen her head down.
"Yeah," another added. "You're all dressed up for us. No reason to let it go to waste. We're heading over to King's. Join us." My body shuddered at the name. King. The man who had crowned himself the king of Cazmont.
"Actually..." the girl stuttered, eyes still downcast. "I think I just got turned around. I need to head out now."
One of the men stepped into her path. "Now, now. No hurry. We're good guys. We'll take good care of you." The emphasis on good made my hand clench instinctively.
Tears glistened on her cheeks as the neon signs buzzed and flickered, illuminating them.
"Are you going to help her, Ollie?" Nieria's voice trembled inside my head.
"You know I don't like getting involved," I said, adjusting the duffle bag on my shoulder and turning to leave. Nieria whimpered, and something inside me twisted. I hated hurting her. "You know King hates when we're late."
"I know," she said softly. "But she needs someone to help her."
"Why should it be me, huh? No one was there for me when I needed help," I snapped, sharper than I meant.
"I was," she whispered. My hand tightened on the duffle bag strap. She had been there for me. The only person or voice I guess, that had ever been there for me was Nieria.
I glanced down at my watch. "Are you willing to accept the punishment you know King is just waiting to 'gift' me?"
She whimpered again.
"Nieria... you're putting me in a really difficult position right now."
So reader? What do you do?
A. Risk King’s punishment and help her?
B. Worry about yourself
