Present Time

They trudged in the slick mud behind a screaming house.

"That sounds like our cue. Ready, Em?"

"Of course."

Essie slipped in front of her and peered through the crack in a window.

"All clear."

Her voice was barely over a whisper, but it was loud and clear to Em. They darted past the window and crescendo-ing screams, and finally arrived at the door when the screams stopped.

"Crap."

"It's not too late, Essie. Come on. Let's just try."

Essie signaled a 1, 2, and 3 with her fingers and pried open the door. The door creaked slightly as it swung open, its base scraping the rotten floorboards.

The girls halted when two guns were pointed at each of their heads.

A man stood with his two hands pointed at them, one hand on each gun. Contrary to the most of what Em had seen of gun masters, his right hand was shaking ever so slightly, indicating he was left-handed. Em moved her head slightly and caught a glimpse of a girl not much younger than her crunched unconscious in a fetal position on the floor. Essie shuttered next to Em, and she figured that her friend saw the view as well.

"Do you work with him?" His right hand quivered as Em's confidence overpowered his.

"With who?" His eyes darted back and forth between the girls, his grip tightening around the triggers.

"Good answer."

The large man turned around just slow enough for Jay to take advantage of him. Em and Essie kicked his ankles and he fell to the floor, with Jay looming over him.

"There we go. Who's gonna call?"

"I'll do it, Essie. Why don't you check her..." Em nodded to the young girl coiled on the floor.

"Got it." Essie took her longer paces to the girl and dropped to her knees delicately. Her fingers moved to tap on the girl's shoulder as Em's voice began spelling out the address on the phone.

Her voice stopped just as Essie was checking the girl's head wound.

"What is it, Em?" Jay's voice filled the unwanted silence.

"Did you hear something?"

"No, why?" Jay's voice echoed the slightest bit as he looked at all the windows and doors, all of which were vantage points. For their enemies.

"Did you?" Essie asked.

Em brought her left finger to her lips as she reached for her pistol with the other ones. Her fingers curled around the grips as she headed towards the stairs, carefully stepping near the wall to avoid unnecessary creaking. Essie and Jay shared a look and quieted their responsibilities, Essie whispering to the girl and Jay gagging the man.

Em's feet quietly swept up the stairs, now her hands gripping her gun. Essie walked around the first floor checking for any signs of break-ins or life, while Jay tiptoed up the stairs trailing Em.

Em's heart raced as her right foot reached for the next stair towards whatever was waiting in the darkness. She could feel Jay behind her as she took one more step. One more, and another. It felt like forever when she finally reached the landing. It was then that she noticed the message on the railing.

It was clear to her someone was in the building. And it wasn't any of the Dark Blue crew, nor the man downstairs. Her finger swiped the dash made by someone, signifying the end of their signature. No dust fell and Em deemed that the mark was made recently. It couldn't have been the man, because Essie and I have been watching him for just under half an hour. No, this was freshly carved into the drywall, its dust fluttering like snow. Above it marked:

Dark Blue, there's something for you - Just up the stairs, you'll meet someone NEW.

Jordan. Em gave up her silent composure and trudged up the stairs. If anyone was going to be taken by surprise, it was going to be him, not her. No one could stop that. As Em's feet leaped up past the second landing, Jay's world turned to slow motion. His heartbeat sped faster than Em's paces, and he could sense something there. An aura. He looked over the rail and saw the familiar blue outline in the shape of a man, his arms tilted towards Em, his right hand invisible in the darkness. As Jay stared, he found the sense that he had seen the same block of aura in Em's, and that could only mean...

"Em!"

Jay lunged up the three steps to reach for her arm, flailing as Essie came into view at the bottom of the stairs.

"He has a gun!"

Jay grasped onto Em's shirt and pulled, hearing the tear in the fabric, quiet compared to the sound about to come.

"Em!" Essie and Jay screeched, but their voices didn't help.

Her eyelids fluttered as the gunshots rang in her ears. The two shots made her stomach flip and her mind fuzz until her senses were completely gone.

Revenge was the only thing left on her mind.

And, at the sound of two crisp bangs which in this story signify gunshots, three hearts raced while one stopped completely.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't forget to read the next chapter!

<3