Lyric sits on the couch, shaking as she sipped the soda in her hands and Ayanna laid on her shoulder.

"You've been attacked?" Kage asks her.

Lyric nods. "My friend tried to hold them off, I have to go back for her."

"Fuck..." Kage mutters, facepalming.

"What?" Lyric asks.

"You're in serious danger."

"Oh, I didn't know that already." Lyric says sarcastically.

"Seriously Lyric, don't act like this isn't a big deal."

"Did you take a good look?"

"Yeah, they had black bandannas around their mouths, one had a tattoo of a red dog."

"Oh shit..."

"What? Who are they?"

"The Bloodhounds are back."

Kage takes a moment to think. He crosses his arms.

"My question is...why did they attack you."

"Do you know who I am?" Lyric says.

"Lyric."

"Lyric Reid." She says confidently.

"You're that gang leader's daughter."

"Well...Lyric, the Copperheads have been rivals with the Bloodhounds for quite a while." Kage says.

Lyric's face is now covered in fear.

"And the little girl, is she your daughter?"

"She's my half sister." Lyric says.

"She's his daughter too huh?" Kage asks.

"Yeah."

"What, are you gonna kick us out of something?" Lyric asks.

"No, I'd be a total dick." Kage says.

"Besides, I've been plotting my revenge with the Bloodhounds for quite some time now."

"You're a gang member?"

"Guess you can say that, I belong to neither gang."

"And you're still a member of the Copperheads."

"Which is going to make you a huge target."

"I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about this girl here." Lyric says.

"Hey, this place is hard to track." Kage reassures her.

"The question is...do you want to become an ally?"

Lyric froze. The whole point of her dancing on a pole was to get away from the gang violence. But she knows deep down that there's no escaping thanks to her father.

"I won't lie to you Lyric, your life is on the line either way, if you become our ally, you can be throwing yourself in a huge risk-"

"I'll think about it." Lyric says.

"I get it, you want to get away from all this bullshit."

"What would I have to do?"

"Basically nothing right now, the cops have been trying to nail us."

"That's fine." Lyric sighs, Kage grabs her by her shoulders.

"How can you be so relaxed?" Kage asks.

"My life is already a living hell, I'm not even worried about that anymore...I just want to help that little girl find her mother."

"With respect, why?" Kage asks.

"She's a kid, growing up I didn't get to have a good relationship with my mother, I've been molested, beaten and burned...if becoming an ally means putting her out of danger, I'll do it."

"Pretty ballsy." Gabe says as he enters the room.

"Want a brownie-"

"I hope the fuck not." Kage interrupts him.

Lyric snickers. "Is it a pot brownie?"

"She sniffed us out." Gabe says.

"I've ate one by an accident once, my friend thought it was a regular party."

Kage chuckles. "You must be a really tolerant person then."

"Why?"

"I really do wonder why you're so relaxed all the time while knowing you're living a life like this, you still seem to take things lightly."

"I just worry about being happy." Lyric says.

Not too long ago Lyric was serious about everything...until Ace had changed that.

Up till now Lyric still looks up to Ace.

"Still, we'll have to save my friend."

"I think I know where they took her."

--

Ember laid on the ground, her hair strewn over her face, she wakes up to see men looking at her.

A man smirks at her. "Don't stop until she tells us who that woman was."

Ember chuckles. "Boy bye, with yo crusty ass face."

"On second thought, don't stop until she cries."

"Good luck with that." Ember says.

I haven't cried since I was twelve.

Ember stands up, preparing to fight. Her mind goes back to when she was a victim of sex trafficking.

Ember doesn't flinch as she gets slapped.

"Why did you bite him?"

"He was hurting me!" She shouts.

"For a little girl you got a lot of mouth."

"I'm going to have to tweak that little habit then."

The man takes off his belt, then he looks down at her.

"Take off your shirt."

"No!" Ember shouts.

"You're only making this harder on yourself, take the shirt off."

Ember does as she was told.

"Face the wall."

Ember glares at him, embracing for the intense pain she was about to feel.

--

Lyric's eyes widen. She knew she had to do something. She dusts herself off.

"Well I'm going to save her."

"That's dangerous."

"Stepping out of bed is dangerous but I still do it."

"Lyric....these guys are fucking tough."

"Look Kage, my friend took a bullet for me when she didn't have to, what's more important is that she's safe too."

"You're pretty smart."

"You just realized?" Lyric asks while laughing.

"Too smart to be a stripper that's for sure." Gabe says with a smirk.

"Trust me, I hate my job."

"I can tell." Kage says.

"How so?" Lyric asks.

"You're a reserved person, you don't like it when you're looked at like a peice of meat, I know these things."

"And I can see you're pretty observant." Lyric says.

"Its a gift."

"Just like seeing you is." Kage says.

Lyric blushes. "Well then."

"Didn't know you were the blushing type." Gabe laughs.

"Don't get used to it."

The door slowly opens, Lyric looks to see Ace walking out, his hair in a low ponytail.

"Why is she here?"

"Damn, she's got a name."

"Lyric Reid."

"Long time no see Ace." Lyric says with a gentle smile.

"How do you know me?" Ace asks.

"Wait, you know each other?"

"Never met her in my life."

Lyric smiles to herself when deep down she wanted to slap Ace.

The door swung open, a girl with long black hair enters in shorts with a jacket on.

"Babe, why didn't you-"

"Who the hell is this bitch?" She asks.

Kage and Gabe glare at her.

Lyric just stood there with an emotionless stare on her face. Ace walks past Lyric and towards the girl, kissing her.

Lyric felt her heart wrench. Even though love falls apart, she really did love Ace.

"She's no one."