I awoke to the sound of gunfire. I could hear my parents screaming my name, but I knew it was only a dream. My parents were never home. Covering a pillow over my face I roll over in bed and try to think of a different dream. I think back to the time where I won my first beauty pageant, and try to dream about becoming Miss Universe someday. Just as I'm dozing back off to sleep the door to my room slams open. Someone grabs my arm. I scream. "Amelia calm down and listen to me!" My mother yells. There was a crazy look in her eyes. She looked liked she had seen a ghost. "Mom? What are you..." I start. " There's no time for that my love. I need you to listen closely. Your dad and I have made a grave mistake. We've made too many enemies, and they've come back to haunt us. Listen here, you need to run my child" She exclaims while packing a bag. "Okay I've packed you some clothes and food, now go grab your weapons. Hurry!" She continues to ramble. "Mom, what is this about?" I sleepily ask while rubbing my eyes. "Now is not the time for questions! Grab your weapons, you have to leave before he gets here" She pleads. I would have gone back to sleep if I hadn't heard the fear in her voice. My mom is never afraid. She was like an iron maiden, taking out her enemies with no remorse.

I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it must be important for her to be here. Jumping out of my princess bed I took the key from around my neck and opened my box. Inside was a CZ 75, two thigh strap daggers, a retractable bo staff, my bow and arrows, and my combat uniform. I was in full combat mode now, all thoughts of my normal life flew out the window, just like my trainers had taught me. I changed into the combat uniform that my parents gave me for my seventh birthday. It consisted of a plain white shirt, camouflage pants, combat boots, and a black leather jacket to top it off. After getting dressed I put the gun in the back of my waistband, the knives in their straps on my thighs, and the bow and arrows over my back. I grabbed the bag my mom had packed and slung it over my shoulder. While opening up my bo staff I asked my mom "Okay I'm ready, now what? Where are we going? Is dad here too?". The questions continued to fly out of my mouth when I realized something. There was no more gunfire. My mom must have realized too because she turned to me and said "We're out of time, he's coming". She looked conflicted, as if she was thinking how to word what she was going to say next. "Your dad and I aren't coming with you". "What!?" I exclaimed. "I'm sorry. We should have been there for you, but it was too dangerous. I'm sorry that this is the legacy I leave you, but you must leave now if you want to survive" She said with conviction. "But mooooom! I can't leave without you and dad! Where will I go? How will I survive?" I couldn't believe this. First they make me move to a whole new district, and now she's making me run away? This must be another one of their ploys to get rid of me. I knew they didn't want me anymore, they haven't for a long time. My face hardened as I turned to the window. "Fine" I said dryly. "If this is what you guys want I'll go. I didn't need you anyways". With that I opened up my window and swung my leg through. I climbed down the terrace and ran away from my mom, my home, and my old life.

I could hear the gunshots fade into the distance as I ran away. At one point, I could have sworn that I heard a scream, but that didn't stop me. I continued to run away under the cover of darkness, and I wouldn't stop running until the morning dew had settled.

By the time I stopped running I had no sense of where I was. I was in unfamiliar territory with no money, no form of transportation, and no plan of what to do next. I wandered around for ages. Not going anywhere in particular, but just to get my bearings. I would still be roaming the streets of New York if it wasn't for her. My guardian angel with a camera around her neck. I was meandering down a random alleyway when I first saw her, or should I say, she saw me. A quick flash brought me out of my daze. My mind went into overdrive as I readied my bo staff. Although I was met with someone unexpected. In front of me was a teenage girl with long blond hair and blue eyes. If I hadn't known better I could have said she was my older sister. She looked up from her camera with a big toothy grin. "Woah why you got those weapons, you dressing up as Lara Croft?" She asked me in a soft voice while cocking her head to the side. "Its none of your business, now scram" I told her with a snarl. I was not in the mood to talk with this stupid girl, especially if she was going to keep questioning me. "Name's Iris. I'm gonna call you Croft. Cool? Cool" She energetically said. "Listen girl there are things going on that you don't understand. I don't have time to deal with people like you" I told her. Although, I thought, she could give me a ride out of town. "Actually, sorry bout that" I said as I put on my trademark beauty pageant smile. "My name is Amelia, Amelia Goldheart. Hey listen I'm kinda lost, and I need to get out of town. Think you can help me out?" I said as I raised my voice a few octaves. "Wow Croft sure changed your mood fast. I don't gotta car but I do know someone who does. Lemme take you to him" She replied with a smile on her face.

She took me down a lot of roads. My feet were cramping, and my tummy was growling. Worst of all, Iris was singing the entire time. I didn't recognize any of the songs she was singing, so I asked her about it. "Can you please shut up! I'm tired and just want a nap. What song even is that anyways?" I asked her. "Me? Oh it's a original. I write lotsa songs in my free time." She chirpily replied. "Well can you please keep it down? You're giving me a headache" I asked her with a sigh. "Yea sure Croft, but don't you worry. We're almost at the place" She said.
A few minutes later we were there. At a Starbucks of all places. "Why are we here? I said I was tired, not that I wanted coffee, and where's that friend of yours. I'm on a time crunch Iris" I said annoyed. "Oh my friend? He works here! His name is Nicky" She told me. "What kind of name is Nicky?" I went to ask her, but she was already through the door. It was hard to catch up to her. She made long strides and my legs were too short. "Yo Nicky whaddup" She yelled to a boy across the shop. He was slightly taller than Iris, kinda lanky, and had piercing green eyes. "Iris? What brings you in, and why are you with the girl version of Hawkeye and Black Widow combined?" He asked while looking between the two of us. "This's Croft. Croft, meet Nicky" Iris said. "My name is Amelia, and I need a ride out of town" I told him. "Wait why do you need a ride out of town? Besides my shift doesn't end for another hour so you'd have to wait" He says. "Listen bub we don't have time to wait! Whoever was after my parents could be coming for-" I begin to yell when I'm interrupted.

A large bang goes off. Everyone goes flying. My ears are ringing. Blood is everywhere. "Where is Amelia Goldheart and Iris Woodley" A deep, resonating voice asks. From the corner of my eye I can see the man with the deep voice. He wore a long, tattered black cloak. I couldn't see his face, but I could have almost guessed he was just another homeless man. That was, if he didn't have a scythe. It was taller than the man himself, the blade, caked in a thick red substance that could only be blood. He walks up to me as I'm fading in and out of consciousness, and then, he picks me up by the collar of my jacket. This is the end I thought. I hang my head low, accepting defeat when the strangest of things happen. A glass coffee mug comes soaring through the air, and hits the man straight in the... arm? What kind of aim is that I thought to myself as I fell through the air. With a hard crash I land on the ground, right on top of the shattered glass that remained from the man's explosion.
Groaning, I push myself into a standing position. Standing on shaky feet I try to hobble my way to the back exit. I no longer think about my guardian angel or the boy that prolonged my death. Instead, I put all of my energy into saving my own skin. I almost make it, too, when someone lifts me up. Screaming, I let out a cry as I plunge a dagger into my captives thigh. Its met with another scream, but slightly higher pitched than I was expecting. Lying beside me was none other than Nicky. The boy I had known for less than five minutes. The boy that had tried to save me even though I had planned on abandoning him.
"What is this? You are willing to risk your life for someone you don't even know!" The man bellows. "Pathetic! All of you. You all deserve to die, just like this little one's parents did" The man continues on.

"Who do you think you are. What gives you the right to decide who lives and dies" Another man exclaims. He seemed older, more mature than the others I had met. Although his most notable feature was his thick Irish accent. The man in the cloak let out a deep chuckle, and even though we couldn't see his face, I knew he was smirking. He sounded smug, as if he knew something we didn't. "Who am I? Some may call me the Grim Reaper, but he is not even close to being as sinister as me. He simply comes and collects those that are about to die. Whereas me? I make his job a hell of a lot harder. I am a harbinger of death and destruction. I will cleanse the world of its impurity, and I will start with you, Muhammad Patty Abu Ali" the Harbinger goaded. "Me? What could I have possibly done to deserve your wrath!" The man who I now know is Muhammad fumed. "Well... For starters you waste your money on materialistic things. Is that gigantic, luxurious, expensive house REALLY necessary for only one person to live in? I think not! You are nothing but a greedy piece of scum that deserves everything that is about to come to you." The harbinger snarled. In only two large steps he made his way in front of Muhammad, and plunged his scythe into the poor man's heart. Muhammad, whom I had known nothing about, crumpled to the ground. I brought this upon him. If it weren't for me the Harbinger would have never crossed paths with him. Everything that was happening was my fault, but that didn't stop my mind from racing, desperately trying to think of ways to get out of this situation.

Nearby I see the Harbinger corner another unlucky victim. She seemed to be around the age of my guardian angel, and she had striking purple eyes. "Well well well Scarlet. I'm sure you're wondering what you could have possibly done to deserve this fate" The Harbingers sneers. Meanwhile the girl with the purple contacts is trembling with fear. Even from across the shop I could see the tears streaking down her pale face, leaving a trail of runny mascara in their wake. "What? No response? You're no fun" The Harbinger scoffed. "Fine, I'll tell you anyways. You are envious of everyone around you. I'm certain there's even a small part of you that is envious of me. Although that is a conversation for another time, let's get back to the matter at hand. You change everything about yourself to try and achieve perception. Only to fall just short of it every time. Your hair, your makeup, even your damn eyecolor! If you can't appreciate yourself the way you are, then you don't deserve to be living at all!" The harbinger seethed. In one swoop he took his scythe and brought it down right atop the poor, sobbing girl's head.
During all of this, I merely stood still, almost as if I weren't actually there, and only watching from afar. When in reality I was standing amidst a life or death situation. One in which I would most likely die in. Whipping around in a flash the Harbinger turned to me. His cloak was soaking head to toe in blood. He began to walk towards me, and I knew this was the end. That is, until he walked right past me, and instead picked up the boy who was only trying to help. The one that had tried to save me. The one that I stabbed in the leg. "Ah Nickolas, may I call you Nickolas? Let's get right down to the point, shall we? You strive, desire, even lust for everything one can dream of. You want money for med school, you want a good job, you want a pretty wife. Is there anything you don't want? You may be a noble person and try to do what's right, but even you know that not every thought you have is pure. Listen I have places to be, people to kill, so I'll make this quick, alright? The Harbinger commented. Like a bolt of lightning the he picked up Nicky by the throat, and then, with unhuman strength, twisted it.

A sickening crack resonated throughout the Starbucks shop. The shop that Nicky worked at. He wanted none of this, he asked for none of this. It was all my fault. I actually felt a twinge of guilt when I saw him fall. I was starting to think none of this was worth it. That I should have just stayed with my wench of a mother, and just died beside her so that I would have never brought this havoc upon these innocent people. All that remained was myself and my guardian angel, and I would do whatever it took to get the two of us out.
I was too late. The Harbinger of death had already made his way to my guardian angel. Pulling out my CZ 75 I unload my entire clip into him... only to have my bullets go straight through his tattered cloak. "What are you" I gasped. Thats impossible, its not humanly possible for bullets to go straight through a person. "Well darling, you're right. It isn't humanly possible, so I guess it isn't a good thing I'm not actually human" The Harbinger bragged. In one fluid motion he ripped the cloak over his body. Under it, all that remained was a mangled mesh of skin and bones.

A monster. That's what he was, some sort of angel of death. No, he was some sort of fleshy, rotting humanoid. His skeletal figure was that of a human's, but there was no way he was alive. Unlike us humans, but in the same way... exactly like us. He felt human desires, human emotions, he was like every version of a human magnified tenfold. He may be killing us for our deadly sins, but he was the epitome of all of them combined.

He turned to Iris, and with a mutilated smile he began to walk to her. "Awe Iris darling, how are you feeling? I'm so sorry about Nickolas, but it had to be done. No matter how good he may have seemed he was one of the sins... and you are as well. Miss Woodley you are the Sin of Wrath, the fourth of the seven. You may act like you are in control, like have the world at your fingertips, but you are merely a passenger in your own life's story. Tell me, how's Daddy doing? Make any trips to the liquor shop lately?" The Harbinger spoke softly, maliciously. Iris's face pales at the mere mention of her father. Her knees begin to shake, she wipes her palms on her jeans. She looks like she's going to be sick.

I refuse to allow this to happen to my friend. I may have only known her for a short time, but she has shown me more love than any of my actual family members. I pull out my bow and aim right at the Harbingers skull. Much to my surprise and relief, a few of them get lodged in between the bones. With a deep cry of surprise the Harbinger backs away from Iris, and instead turns hit attention to me. Now is her chance I thought. "Iris run! You can still make it out of here" I call out to her. This may be the end of the line for me, but it doesn't have to be for her. "No Amelia I won't leave you behind" She calls back to me.

This girl was too much. I try to do the noble thing and sacrifice myself but instead she decides to botch it all up. I know the only way for her to make it out alive is it I do the same, so I begin to think of a plan to get us both out of this mess. Then it hits me, literally and figuratively. The Harbinger knocks the bunt of his scythe against my ribs. It sends me flying closer to my guardian angel, but that's no matter. I had thought of a plan to get us out. Is it dumb? Maybe, but it could be the only thing that could work.

I pull out my trusty bo staff and open it up. Turning, I look to Iris and say "Be ready to run at the signal". "What signal?" She replies confused. "Oh trust me, you'll know" I reply back to her. Turning back to face the Harbinger I begin to run at him full force. I hit him with my bo staff like lightning. In the knees, the ribs, his head. I caught him by surprise, he must not have thought I was dumb enough to attack him head on. In one final swing I lodge my bo staff straight through his ribcage. When I hear it get stuck there with one large clunk I turn and run to the door. Iris hot on my heels as we both jump through the remains of the door.

The Harbinger follows after us, only to get stuck in the door frame due to the bo staff in his ribs. He screams out in a rage "Don't worry young ones. I will find you! When I do it won't end pretty!". Running as fast as my legs can take me I weave through the streets of New York with Iris. The Harbinger hot on our tails. We may have not defeated him, but we bought ourselves some time, and in the end, more time is all one can ask for.