Ace cocked a eyebrow down at me quizzically, his grip on my wrist firm. "And who were you going to hit?"

              I immediately look down from his intimidating stare, "I didn't mean to..." I try to apologize but my voice falls out.

              Ace shrugs before letting go of my hand. I quickly retract it, still feeling the pressure around my wrist. I look back up at him. Ace wore a black jacket over his tank top that had 'Punk's Not Dead' written in huge white letters, his ripped jeans revealed several scratches and bruises.

               Ace rolls his eyes at me.
"Relax will you? I may look like I'm on a deployment to Afghanistan but there's no need to look at me like that."

              My eyes shoot back down on the ground. "S-sorry."

              I half expected Ace to hit me because of that stunt I pulled, any regular guy would. Especially since Ace is pretty much the black sheep of the school and infamous for getting into fights last year.

              The hairs on my neck begun to stand up as I feel Ace's eyes on me.

              My stomach cramps slightly, making me slightly grimace in pain. I need to get the hell out of here.

              "I-I have to go!" I try to excuse myself as I spin on my heel, already making a run for it.

              Once I made it outside to the entrance, I drew in a deep breath before hunching over, gasping as the burning sensation filled my head. Ever since I took that blow to the head everything has been incredibly blurry, and my first guess is that I have another concussion.

              But it's no big deal. Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger...

              Who am I kidding? I'm spineless as a slug.

              "Do you always do that?" A low voice crept from behind me. I quickly pull myself together and turn around.

              It was Ace again. "Do what?" I asked, shifting my weight awkwardly.

              "The bruises. The gashes. The cuts along your legs. It's pretty obvious." Ace spoke bluntly with a shrug. His eyes studied me.

              "I fell." I lied. Ace lets a small smirk play across his lips.

              "Your boyfriend hit you." Ace guesses, his pierced lips forming down into a frown.

              "Huh?" I gasped, letting myself get distracted as several people walked past us, completely drunk out of their minds, Ace noncholantly slips his hands in his pockets.

              "Lots of girls use that shitty excuse to avoid getting their boyfriends in trouble." Ace clarifies, relaxing his shoulders.

              "Well. Nothing happened." I lied again, crossing my arms in a attempt to be assertive. Ace rolls his eyes.

              "Spill." Ace spoke lowly, walking closer to me.

              I quickly step away as if he was the plague. "What's it to you?" I ask bitterly.

               Ace freezes as if he's trying to be careful with what he's saying. "Maybe it's the fact that you're Nathan's baby cousin, or...maybe it's the fact of how you reacted to me asking a simple question?" Ace suggested, referring to me attempting to slap him at the bar.

              Not going to lie, part of me wanted to say that his assumption was fraudulent. Instead, I just fumbled with the end of my short pencil skirt.

              Instead of Ace pressing me, he steps away from me, plucking out a single cancer stick from his the pocket of his pants. "Hey, you know what? Don't tell me. I know what they say." Ace remarks.

               But suddenly I remember. Leo was in danger. Mom was in danger. Nathan was in danger. Evelyn was also in danger, Pablo had mentioned Ace...maybe he can help me.
             
              With a small circle of smoke emerging from Ace's lips, he turns around and starts to walk the opposite direction towards the parking lot.

              "Pablo did it." I confess without thinking, sounding vague as possible.

              Ace comes to a stop, he immediately turns around to face me. I froze as I saw the pure shock on his face. Ace was scary but seeing him like this was even scarier.

              "What?" Ace asks me grimly, his voice a pitch lower. He immediately walks over to me, and his hands that were in his pockets were now on both of my shoulders.

              "What did you say?" Ace asks me, my eyes widened. Who was this Pablo guy to Ace?

              "This man named Pablo beat me...he threatened to kill everyone I love..." I quickly confess, a bit thrown off by Ace's reaction.

               "Tell me Reid..." Ace mumbles grumpily, his eyes glaring into mine.

              "Did he have the demon tattooed on his neck?" Ace asks me as he removed his hands off my shoulders, I slowly nod my head.

               I open my mouth to speak. "He was almost as tall as you...had green eyes, shaved head...and wore this red bandanna around his mouth...."

              "And he asked me about you." I added.

              Now this officially caught Ace's attention. With one swift motion he cracked his knuckles.

              He goes silent. Dead silent.

              What if he's friends with Pablo? And I can't go home now...especially when Pablo made it clear that he was coming back for me.

              "You don't have to do anything..." I reassure Ace. Lyra curses at me as I awkwardly rub my neck. Ace immediately shoots his head up at me.

              "B to the fucking S." Ace spat, pure annoyance in his voice.

              "Didn't you just say that he threatened to kill everyone you loved?" Ace asks me, getting a bit close.

              "Y-yes I-" I stammer, trying to find a good excuse.

              Ace gazes down at me, I move a strand of hair away from my face only to feel thick warm liquid running down my forehead again.

              "He hurt you." Ace growls, his fists shaking. I knit my eyebrows in confusion. What does he care? We don't even know each other.

              I finally pop the question. "Ace. Who is he?" I ask. Pablo had to be more than a thug.

              "A cold fucking bastard that toys with human lives." Ace shot back vaguely, not even looking me in the eyes as he spat out those words.

              Ace turns his back to me, unpocketing his phone in the process. "Lyric. You're not safe anymore...you'll need to come with me." Ace spoke grimly.

              Huh?

              I quickly step forward after him. "Now hold on just a minute!" I began to fuss but Ace turns around quickly, cutting me off. His eyes now wide and his grimace thickened.

              "Don't you fucking get it?!" Ace yells out in frustration, grabbing my shoulders once more, giving me a firm shake.

              "You just got threatened by one of the most dangerous gang leaders in Philadelphia!" Ace yells once more, his fingers sinking into my shoulders.

              Then my mind goes blank.