"I'm off!" I told Casey as I opened the bedroom door to tell her that I was leaving.

When Casey didn't react, I sighed and tried again.

"Case, I'm leaving?" I didn't want her to come back to reality only to find me gone and start searching for me out on the streets.

This time, I got a better response as Casey hummed, her nose buried in her book.

"Have fun!" She said off mindedly, eyes glued to the pages of her book.

"Okay."

I had used the boys as my alibi, telling her that I was going to be out until late tonight to do some catching up with them.

Lucky for me, she was too immersed in the latest book she was reading to pay me any attention. The sun had set long ago but Casey hadn't moved an inch from her spot on the bed to turn on the light in the room. The only light that was helping her read was from her phone's flashlight that faced the ceiling. The light bounced off the room's ceiling and provided little light but I guess it was sufficient enough to help Casey read.

It was a bad habit that she had kept since she got into reading. She'd start reading when the sun was still in the sky and wouldn't even notice that it was setting until she couldn't read the words on the page anymore. Then, she'd find it too much of a hassle to get up from her spot just to turn on the light in the room so she'll turn to whatever source of light that was within arm's reach; which would be her phone's flashlight.

I sighed at her laziness and reached out to the wall adjacent to the door for the switch. With one click, the room brightened up and caused Casey to squint, her face scrunching up slightly at the sudden assault to her vision.

I've given up at nagging her not to read in the dark long ago. When she's deep in fiction-land, it was like her ears were blocked. It would usually take several verbal attempts of trying to get her attention or physical contact to actually bring her back to reality. Sometimes she can get difficult when that happens too, especially if she was starting to get to the good parts of the book. That was why I tried to steer clear whenever she has a book in her hand unless it was important. She turns into a little monster when someone disrupts her reading time for no reason.

She waved at me goodbye without raising her head and continued to read. As my gaze lingered on my unaware sister, I prayed that I'll be able to make it home safely tonight. I hoped what I feared was going to happen wouldn't happen. I didn't want Casey to look back at this moment and regret it for the rest of her life if I didn't make it home in one piece tonight. I didn't want this single moment to become a memory that would constantly haunt her.

With that, I walked out of our room and the door closed with a click.

I walked down the stairs and hoped that I'll make it home alive tonight.

Perhaps I was overthinking and overreacting towards the mission that was being given to me tonight. But as I rode to the address that Jax had given me, I failed to suppress my fear and trepidation.

All I could think about was the worst case scenarios that my brain could conjure up.

I finally arrived at another empty warehouse, in the outskirts of town, not too different from the first warehouse Jax had sent me to. The warehouse looked abandoned too, just like the first one did but this warehouse was bigger. The gate to the warehouse was hanging by its hinges and it looked like no one had visited the area in ages but tire tracks were imprinted on the ground near it.

I followed the tracks around the tall fence guarding the perimeter and came to a gaping hole on the side of the warehouse. I traced the tracks and found jeeps parked behind the warehouse. Light spilled into the dark night through the small holes and gaps in the warehouse halls and I could hear faint voices from inside the warehouse.

I parked my bike by the jeeps and searched for the entrance into the warehouse. I was grateful for the soft ground that bore the footprints of the people that were here before me. I treaded my footsteps carefully as I rounded the warehouse once again. As I turned the corner, I heard someone talking a few feet away.

I stopped in my tracks as I caught the silhouette of a tall man with broad shoulders and biceps the size of my head. It was too dark to make out any of his features so it was understandable for anyone to overreact at the situation.

As the man turned around and saw me, he immediately reached behind him with the hand that wasn't holding the phone and took out a gun. Before I could even blink, the gun in his hand was already aimed at my head.

I didn't understand why he'd think I was a threat. I was half his size and unarmed. But I guess he wouldn't know the latter unless he patted me down for any weapons.

The gravity of the situation hit me like a bucket of ice water. I had dropped myself in a world where people carry guns around like phones and I'm sure they had a legitimate reason to do so too. There were only 2 reasons that I could think of on why people would carry guns. It was either a) they needed to kill someone or b) they've done something that angered people they'd need a gun to defend themselves from.

Judging from why we were both here and this man's appearance, I was betting on both reasons.

I raised my hands reflexively and my lungs suddenly forgot how to operate.

"Who are you?" His voice was gruff and deep.

My throat had gone dry a while ago, probably around the time that his gun came into view.

I gulped and cleared my throat to make sure my response doesn't come out as a croak.

"I'm new. Jax gave me the address to this place."

The gun was lowered slowly as the man angled the lit screen on his phone at me to get a better look.

I squinted against the light but didn't move. He just got rid of the gun a second ago but there was nothing preventing him from taking it out again.

After a second, the man took a step back. "Follow me," he ordered as he turned around and led us to a door.

The door had a latch on it but it wasn't locked. Mr. Gun-whipper slid the door open and let me in.

The building didn't look like much from the outside but standing inside it made it feel much more spacious than it looked. It had a high ceiling and it was practically empty.

The warehouse floor was covered in dust and dirt. The ceiling was too high for me to actually see anything but I was sure that years worth of cobwebs probably blanketed its corners.

The only furniture that wasn't missing a leg or in pieces inside the warehouse was a table filled with handguns and knives. There was a single lamp hanging from the ceiling right above the table that shone brightly, illuminating the weapons on the wooden tabletop.

People were loitering around the empty warehouse, testing out a few of the weapons. A few seemed to be goofing around while others huddled around the table, their body hunched over to look at a piece of paper on the table.

Have you ever felt that feeling you get when you're somewhere you've never been to before alone, with no one having your back? It felt like someone was going to jump me and stab me from behind. It felt lonely and the fear that consumed me seemed to triple itself.

As I walked closer to the table, Jax caught sight of me and waved me over. The paper on the table became clearer and I was able to decipher what it was as the distance between the table and I decreased.

It was a map.

The whole setting seemed like everyone was preparing for war.

And maybe they were.

I looked around at the faces analyzing the map.

Quentin was among them, talking to the men beside him about the plan. I couldn't really wrap my head around what they were talking about because my eyes had eventually drifted to the weapons on the top of the table beside the map.

A sinking feeling grew in the pit of my stomach and I've watched enough movies to know that you were supposed to restrict the amount of emotions you express in front of your foes but my fear-stricken state didn't allow me such control.

The first to notice was Jax. I felt his eyes bore a hole on the side of my face but my eyes couldn't seem to move from the weapons laid out before me ever since I was able to see them closely.

Fortunately, Jax had the decency to hold his comments in front of the other Mafia members. He walked to my side and nudged my side subtly with his elbow to bring me out of my daze.

I turned to look at him, successfully tearing my eyes away from the tools of terror.

I didn't want to think about what they were providing guns for.

Quentin finally noticed my presence after his discussion with his men ended.

"Oh, you're here. Jax, brief him." Quentin pointed to the map and told everyone else to wrap things up. "We're leaving in 15! Everyone, get ready!"

The second Quentin and his men moved away from the table, Jax and I were left alone and Jax immediately turned to me with a sharp glare.

"If you don't want to get swallowed alive by these people, get your shit together and wipe that look on your face." He warned under his breath.

I looked at him, my mind was still hazy and it took a moment for me to register his words.

"Do you want me to slap you?" He offered in a hushed voice. "We only have 15 minutes to make sure you don't fuck this up for all of us."

I shook my head as I shut my eyes tightly and breathed.

When I opened them again, I was finally able to focus my vision on Jax.

"I'm good." I told him, my voice barely above a whisper, but Jax caught it and turned to the map on the table.

"You're the driver tonight. Your job is simple and it shouldn't be hard to not fuck it up as long as you keep your shit together so make sure you do so." Jax smoothened the paper on the table and started to point at an area that was circled in red.

"This is our drop off and pick up point. You need to be back in exactly 15 minutes to pick us up otherwise we're all fucked."

Jax took out a pen and drew a line on the paper. "Circling this route thrice would take 15 minutes as long as you drive in a constant speed of 40km/h. There shouldn't be traffic because it isn't the main road. All you have to do is basically follow the other drivers. Easy."

He then handed me a watch. "It's been set to match everyone's."

"And this," Jax took a gun off the table. I took a step back without really meaning to as my body acted on reflex to the feeling of triggered fear.

"I don't think I'll need that." I told him as I looked at the object in question.

"Don't be stupid." Jax's hand shot out and grabbed my own, forcing the gun on me. "This isn't one of your petty football games where your opponent rams his body into yours. The people on the other side have guns on them too. It doesn't matter what role you're playing in this mission. You've chosen your side. If you don't want to die, you better keep that close to you."

My throat was getting dryer and dryer as I listened to Jax's words.

"Do you know how to use these?" Jax asked, picking up a gun for himself.

I shook my head mutely.

Jax simply showed me where the safety click was and how to aim. "Make sure you hold them with two hands, don't end up shooting one of our people. Oh and not that it would do any good but just a heads up, your ears would probably ring at the sound the gunshot makes. It's normal so don't freak out and start manic shooting."

I looked at the gun in my hand. The hair on the back of my neck stood and a chill spread throughout my body.

This was actually happening.

"We leave in 5, boys! Get into the jeeps!" Quentin bellowed as he walked towards the exit of the warehouse.

I turned to Jax who was checking the bullets in his gun.

"What did you mean when you said the other side?" I asked him.

Jax slipped the gun into the back of his pants' waistband and started walking towards the exit, following the crowd of 20 or so people.

I caught his smirk but he didn't provide any answer or explanation to my question.

My legs already felt weak and I felt like I could trip on my foot anytime now.

I've never felt this feeling before. At school, I've always felt secure in my own skin, always confident. How could I not be with the status of the star player of every sport I played? I always felt like I was manly enough, I wasn't blind or oblivious to the attention I get from the female population.

But being in this scene, standing among this crowd, for the first time in my life I felt small. I felt insignificant.

As people filed into the jeeps lined up behind the warehouse, Jax pointed at a jeep that I presumed was going to be the ride I was driving tonight.

"Try to keep up, Johnson." He grinned before he walked away to another vehicle. There was nothing positive in the grin that he gave me.

The feeling of the gun pressing against my back as it hangs by my waistband was a constant reminder of what was in my possession.

I climbed onto the driver seat of my jeep and tried to calm my nerves as everyone got in. The jeep swayed silently under the weight of the men getting on the vehicle and the motion threatened to make me sick.

"Let's go, boys!" Quentin yelled as his jeep led the chain.

I drove behind the other jeeps, my hands clenching the steering wheel tightly to prevent them from trembling.

The sound of the barrel of a gun clicking into place was the only thing that filled the silence in the car. I didn't bother making small talk with them and simply focused on getting through tonight.

This is just a nightmare.

I'll wake up from it soon.

Everything's going to be okay because this is just a nightmare.

I chanted those three sentences over and over again in my head as I kept my eyes stayed glued to the jeeps before me.

It's a dream that you can wake up from so everything's okay.