"Holly please don't go!" Lily, her sister, pleaded with wide eyes. 

"You know I have to," Holly responded softly, "And please don't tell Mother or Father. Or both."

"But you could die out there! And for what? People, who don't know you, who don't appreciate what you do? For the news headline to say that you're a threat to our city when you're helping more than they are," Lily said, softer now, but still unconvinced and worried. She looked away to hide the tears welling in her eyes.

"I risk my neck for those people because they have a life too. A life worth living. And it will be ripped from them if I don't help. They all have hopes, dreams, and goals. They will never be able to live their dreams, or have their hopes fulfilled, or achieve their goals if I don't save them," Holly responded gently. 

Lily looked at her with worry etched in her features. Holly hugged her fiercely and whispered, "I'll come back. Promise." 

She let go and said with a cheerful voice, "And you worry too much. Most nine-year-olds would be thrilled to have a vigilante as a big sister!" She hoped that it would help, but wasn't holding out much hope.

Lily looked unimpressed, "Most nine-year-olds don't have to sit on the side helplessly as their sister puts herself back together. They don't have to see their sister nearly bleed out every Wednesday. They don't have to see her take out pieces of shrapnel from her body as she nearly passes out. All while being helpless to help!"

Holly sighed, "I know, and I'm sorry. But I have to do this. I have to help! I know that I'm qualified, I've been training since I was your age. Seven years! I learn from my mistakes, and make sure that they don't happen again."

Lily frowned but said in the end, "Fine. But please take something with you for me."

Holly nodded, "Anything. As long as it's not too bulky and fits in my utility belt pockets."

Lily took out two necklaces. Together they formed a yin and yang. Lily gave her the yang half and put the yin half on. Holly blinked once in surprise, before deftly putting hers on.

"Thank you so much," Holly whispered as she crushed her younger sister in a bear hug. She gave her a bright smile and said confidently, "I'll be back. That's a promise."

Lily finally looked semi-satisfied. She hugged her older sister once more and said, "Good luck. Please come back, I need you." Holly nodded and grabbed her duffel bag with her uniform.

She crawled out of her window and looked around to make sure she wasn't seen by her neighbors. Once she was sure no one had an eye on her, she made her way to a dark ally, only looking back at her house once to whisper to the wind, "I promise I'll be back. I'll never leave you."

She made it to the alley and changed as quickly as she could. She left her clothes in the deep shadows of a massive dumpster. She sprang onto a rooftop and surveyed the area. No activity there. She landed on the ground and proceeded to prowl the streets, clinging to the shadows, using them as a cover, a shield. 

She stopped when she heard a series of gunshots, screams, and roars to stay back. She got onto a rooftop and started running. She leaped and flipped gracefully from rooftop to rooftop to get to her destination. 

When she got there, she saw a gang, they called themselves the Jaguars because they were all surprisingly graceful and agile. They wore matching costumes, clingy and tawny with black spots. They each wore a cloak, also tawny with black spots. It probably wasn't worth her attention, but she wasn't going to abandon the people they held hostage against the cops. 

She sat perched on the very edge of a building and looked down at the scene before her from underneath her hood. Her wrathful eye taking note of every person the Jaguars hurt. And vowing that they would regret it soon enough. 

 She wore a midnight black hooded cloak with golden edges and a domino mask underneath her hood, also edged in gold. She had comfortable boots with a good grip and black gloves with a golden band on the wrists. 

She wore a belt around her hips and it gave her access to her favorite weapons. Knives, ninja stars, smoke bombs, etc. Her long hair was worn in a low bun, but with her hood, it was barely noticeable. 

While she wore this outfit, she was no longer Holly Decker, bookworm, no-friend, and socially awkward. While she wore her uniform, she was Goldfinch. Goldfinch, despite the name, was a ruthless vigilante, Goldfinch helped those in need, turned in criminals to the police. 

And Goldfinch was a boy. 

Not an ideal way to spend her nights but she didn't mind only getting two hours of sleep. And it wasn't as if her parents would notice, so she didn't worry about going out at night without their permission. 

When the time was right, she sprang down, graceful and deadly. On her way down she threw four knives in succession. The first clipped one man's costume, ripping it along his forearm and drawing some blood, a warning. The second and third pinned the cloak of two. The fourth flew past inches from one's head. The fifth and last gang member whirled around and let loose an animalistic growl. 

She dropped down and heard several gasps from people standing on the sidelines, already having called the police. She heard murmurs, "It's him!" "He'll save us!" and, "Don't worry, Goldfinch is here. We'll be fine." She swelled with pride. This was why she did what she did. Why she risked her life for others. 

So that they could live to see another day in Songbird City, home of the most famous singers. They looked at her with hope, hope that they would make it, and hope that they could one day do well too. 

Holly took out her staff and swept in for the kill. Metaphorically. She slammed her staff on the head of the two she had pinned and swept her staff underneath the third's feet. She made sure to only knock them out, not kill. She had only killed someone once, and it had haunted her ever since. 

Once she made sure that the three were successfully knocked out, she turned to face the last two. They stood frozen and, without saying a word, she charged. They put up a good fight and even got in some good blows but she eventually took them down. 

She turned her back to the cops and said in a deep voice, "Here you go. Have a good night." She started walking until she heard a laugh. She turned around to see one of the Jaguars holding a peculiar item. She wasn't sure if she should call it a weapon, but he was pointing it at her, so she went with that.

It was shaped like an hourglass, but the sand was black and white. One end of the hourglass had white sand and the other black. Not a single grain of black sand was in the white sand, and vise versa. Each of the wooden parts had a button. One was red, another blue, and the last was violet.

The man laughed and said with a sick grin, "Goodbye. Until we meet again." He pushed the button and a violet light shot out of one end. Holly dodged but the light clipped her shoulder. Instantly, a blinding and burning pain raced in her. It felt as though something was in her blood, burning it. She screamed but had enough sense to make it sound male. She fell to her knees and coughed up blood. 

She fell to her side and lay there gasping. Before the man's weapon was taken by the police, he aimed it one last time at her and pushed the violet button again. 

The light hit her squarely on her side, and her vision tunneled. The ground fell away underneath her, giving way to a terrifying abyss. 

She reached out and screamed as loud as she could, "HELP!" 

No one answered. 

A/N: I hope this is a good enough start! I plan to make these two or three chapters. I think this one is a bit short, but I guarantee that the next one or two will be much longer. Well, until then! I might choose to continue, but for now, it will be a short story for the contest. It's by Stardipped_Ink and you should totally check it out. It has cool prompts and awesome prizes.