eighteen ◌ disposable

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In hindsight, I should've known better. For twelve years, I've been training to be cautious and spot peculiarities from a mile away. But the fact is, preparing to fight for your life is different than actually embarking on it. In the middle of a specialized facility, if I mess up, I get another chance. Out here my one chance can very well be my only chance, and in the line of fire, there was no general scope dedicated to error.

"Tash, wait!"

When my fingers grasped the metal bars, my entire body felt a shockwave that brutally electrocuted me like a bolt of lightening to the chest. I let out a shrill of pain before collapsing onto the ground.

"It's electrically charged," Harry finished his statement with a cringe. He approached my throbbing body and placed his hands beneath my arms to drag me off to the side.

"Why didn't you fucking warn me?" I gasped for air, clutching onto my burning hand and wincing from the pain.

"I tried," Harry shrugged. "Next time don't go touching metal poles unless you're dancing around them."

I kicked his shin, a groan falling from his mouth, "you're such an ass hat Harry! If you were on fire, I'd use the flames to make s'mores."

"Focus!" Liam shouted, shooting a bullet off to the side. The clamorous bang startled me and I snapped my attention from the pretentious asswipe, to Liam who gawked at us with great irritation.

"Stop wasting bullets and compromising this task!" Harry fumed, snatching his own gun and pointing it at Liam.

"Yo! Quit being immature cuntholes!" Niall materialized from an opposite entryway. He glared at us with absolute displeasure as he trudged towards us. "Four fucking minutes! Commence phase two!"

"This is an electric cage," Harry gestured for the barrier of death. "I didn't prepare for this."

"Well I did," Niall muttered pushing his way past Harry. He stood before the cage, his fingers rapidly tapping away on the iPad in his hand. Within a few seconds, the sizzling echo of surging electricity completely died down and Niall reached for the metal handle.

"Niall," I shrieked, cringing as I watched him touch the same bar that sent me to the floor. However, Niall's story was different.

"I disabled it since it's part of the building power source," he explained simply, opening the cage.

The four of us filtered in, gazing at the intimidating steel vault. It was a gargantuan thing with large bolts, gears, and a futuristic keypad that emitted a neon green glow.

"Can you disable this?" I looked at Niall with worry.

"He won't be able to," Harry interjected and we all looked at him to explain. "This vault is made of promethium metal. As for this keypad, it's some of the best tech in the world— Obama couldn't get his hands on this even if he tried. It has its own power source, so it's not—"

"—siphoning energy from the bank." Niall nodded his head in comprehension.

"Explanation please?" Liam commanded with frustration.

"Exactly what I meant by lacking brains," Harry scoffed.

Liam cocked his gun and aimed it at the green-eyed boy, "shut the fuck up. I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Dude, quit it!" My leg whipped itself into a roundhouse kick right into Liam's hand, causing him to drop the weapon. "It means Niall is in the position to deactivate machinery that is powered from this building's electricity. The silent alarm is programmed and ran by a third party power source, as is this safe... we have to break in old school."

"Well we have three fucking minutes," Liam informed harshly, his eyes glossed with ire. "You brainiacs can figure it out."

Using an extra piece of equipment, Niall attached his iPad onto the keypad. The screen looked to be on the fritz, as it rapidly generated combinations of both letters and numbers. Whatever program Niall was using, conducted codes for about thirty seconds, beeping sporadically.

"What's it doing?" I asked, gazing at the piece of technology.

"An algorithm is computing all the possible combinations and—" Niall's words ceased the moment his device began to whistle. "It's found a match."

Niall lifted the apparatus off the of key pad and punched in the string of numbers and letters displayed on the iPad. Examining the password, I squinted my eyes in curiosity.

"You okay?" Liam questioned. He paced off to the side, tossing a blade into the air and catching it. He did this repeatedly, as some mechanism to entertain his boredom.

"The password is a combo of my mother's initials, and their wedding anniversary," I pulled open the top hem of my shirt and dug my hand inside. Grabbing the dainty chain and ring, I brandished the piece of jewelry towards Liam. "The date is inscribed on the inside of my mom's wedding band."

"Well it worked," Niall confirmed, head nodding towards the keypad's rectangular screen, depicting the vault's access.

I grabbed the handle and proceeded to twist it, however the safe's door did not budge. In puzzlement, I darted my eyes from the vault, to Niall in hopes he had an explanation. The deep voice that answered my question however, did not belong to the blue-eyed boy, instead it was Harry's.

"It's a fucking biometric security system," Harry rubbed his face in frustration, kicking the wall adjacent to him.

"Are you implying that..." My words dwindled into silence as a look of bewilderment washed over my face.

Harry nodded his head, "it needs blood."

Before I even had the chance to let this newfound information sink in, Niall was already lifting the sleeve on his shirt to reveal his arm.

"Liam, your knife," Niall held his hand up, to which Liam complied by tossing the dagger over to him. Niall caught the weapon with ease and slowly brought the sharp edge to the side of his arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I grabbed Niall's hand, halting his movements. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Tasha, this is why I'm here. Why your dad hired me," Niall justified. His eyes pierced through me, and behind it I saw no ounce of fear in him. Without hesitation, he was willing to once again, donate his blood on my behalf.

"I'm not going to let you do this," I argued with him. "You're more than just another bleeding human to me. I'm sorry, but my dad is wrong if all he thought you were good for is what's inside your veins; a little selfish to think that your blood is more disposable than mine."

"It's not selfish, he's only being a good father. He's protective," Niall defended my dad so effortlessly; supported a man he barely knew.

"Exactly, protective. He's good at that," I hinted, and snatched the blade away from Niall's hands. Without a surplus of time left on our ticking clock, I sliced my palm open with one, swift movement. "Fucking shit."

I winced from the shooting pain, dropping the knife onto the ground. All three boys gawked at me with both concern and shock dripping from their faces.

"What the fuck Tash?!" Harry grabbed my wrist and pulled it towards him with an analyzing eye. He stuffed a hand into his pant pocket, and pulled out a napkin. Before he could wipe the dribbling blood off of my palm, I snatched the crinkled rag away from him.

"Don't," I shook my head.

"You're not supposed to get hurt," Harry stated firmly.

"If my dad took extreme measures to make sure his money stayed safe, then why the hell would he let anyone sacrifice their blood," I expressed, gazing up at Harry with determination. "It has to be his, or someone from the family. Don't you get it? Maybe that's why ANTI needs me? Because none of them can successfully open these vaults unless they have Aquino family blood... You know I'm right."

Harry furrowed his brows together, staring at me with contemplation. He let my words mull over in his mind, while the green eyes that honed in on me, attempted to read my motivated expression like a picture book. Reluctantly, he let out an exhale, releasing my wrist from his hand. Without uttering another word, I turned back to the electronic keypad where its screen displayed a circular target. I hovered my bleeding palm above the small monitor and let a few droplets of blood to fall on its target.

While I waited for the system to study and interpret the cells, my wounded hand was tugged on again. Next to me was Harry, who was no longer wearing a bandana around his head. Instead, he was meticulously wrapping the fabric around my palm to cease the flow of blood. I watched Harry, who had a loose piece of curly hair fall near his eyes. Instantly, I reached up to swipe the locks away from his concentrated face. My touch cued him to lock eyes with mine, and his scowl faded away. Silently, he nodded in response to my gesture just as he finished creating a knot.

"It worked," Liam blurted.

We all darted our attention to the vault, and the sound of escaping pressure filled our ears. The gears within the safe clicked and when Niall toggled the handle, the steel door creaked open. Blinding, white lights blinked on in a crescendo till all bulbs were shining brightly like a spotlight. Their beams cascaded towards the center of the safe, where stacks of organized cash all sat.

"Holy shit," I breathed, walking into the opening with my mouth wide open. There must have been at least a million dollars in this safe alone. "My dad is rich as fuck."

"Well, he did pay his employees very well," Niall commented.

I guessed I never put too much thought about it, but remembering the short time in which I spent at both Liam and Niall's home, only trigged the pieces of the puzzle to form. Living in Los Angeles was not cheap— with $1000 a month, you could get a tiny zero-bedroom bachelor pad in a shady area of the city. While in places like Colorado, you could rent a large, two bedroom apartment in a decent neighborhood with the same amount of money. The boys not only lived by themselves in LA, but could afford nice furniture, cupboards filled with artisan food, and not drown in the stress of bills. My father wanted their loyalty, and in exchange, they were granted with exceptional living conditions.

"We have a little less than two minutes," Niall announced. "Harry, Tash, you guys do what you need to do here. Liam and I will be on the lookout. That silent alarm will be activated very soon."

Harry had already sprung into action. He kneeled right outside of the safe and retrieved two different canisters from the plastic case of vials. The glass flasks were filled half-way with liquid as they sloshed around inside. While he did his thing, I did mine: steal some cash.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked. I was bent over with my backpack wide open, as I hurriedly stuffed a few clusters of cash into the large compartment.

"I'm taking some of dad's money," I turned over my shoulder and shot him a smug look. "We might need some this cash for later."

"I wonder what it's like being a rich daddy's girl," Harry grumbled with annoyance in his tone as he moved past me and carefully dumped the light blue liquid into the vial with the clear chemical.

Taken aback by Harry's statement, I shot him a disturbed expression, "you say that like I'm some kind of self-centered snob."

"Come on Tash, you can't deny facts," Harry snorted. "You live in a fucking luxury penthouse in downtown Los Angeles. You go to a top-notch private school, and for your eighteenth birthday, your dad not only threw you a glamorous rooftop party overlooking the ocean with a private performance from Shawn Mendes, but he bought you a brand new Mercedes Benz. Which I know you never drive because you free run everywhere. What a waste of daddy's money! Do you even know what it's like to work for things?"

"Not that I owe you any kind of explanation, but I'll have you know that I do understand what it's like to work hard," I defended. I waltzed straight over to Harry with knitted brows and a snarl etched on my face. "I don't get things handed to me, I earn them. That car you speak of was an unexpected present. My birthday party was the first time I had seen my dad in six months."

Harry was completely silent.

"During that time, I kept myself busy to distract myself from the fact that my dad wouldn't be home for dinner. I completed over 150 hours of community service," I continued, the ire in my heart pounding with great strength. "And to top it off, I helped raise several thousand dollars for the DACA Defense Team so I can help Dreamers who are at risk of losing everything."

"One minute, guys!" Niall bellowed from the other side of the gate. This prompted Harry to round the safe and expel the contents of the container onto the stacks of cash before us.

"You see Harry, my parents are immigrants. They came here with nothing," I spoke with vigor and passion, because when it came to the notion that I was nothing but some rich bitch, I knew I had to serve some information. "While facing discrimination, they both worked their asses off to be where they are today. They both hold dual citizenships, and they both run their own businesses. I work hard because it's in my blood, so fuck you Harry, for believing otherwise."

Harry didn't verbally acknowledge my monologue brimming with fervor. Instead, he eyed me with an unreadable expression and struck a match against a pad of sandpaper. It was hypnotizing the way the single flame danced atop the wooden tip. Harry threw the match onto the pile of money and immediately, the paper began to shrivel within the growing flames.

"You guys done? Thirty seconds!" Niall announced.

"Done!" Harry yelled back and jumped out of the vault. I followed suit, watching as my father's hard-earned money succumb to the fire that oddly did not emit any strong odor.

"Oh fuck," Liam's eyes were wide as he caught glimpse of the burning cash. Harry shut the vault with an echoing bang and coerced us all to leave the Prime Corp basement.

"Why don't I smell anything?" Niall asked, following Harry out the steel door and into the passageway.

"I concocted a chemical that when met with fire, bursts into untraceable flames," Harry quickly explained as he closed the door behind us. "It leaves no smell, and no residue."

I was impressed, but I was also in no mood to praise the boy who insinuated the worse from me. I was more than my father's money, and screw Harry for assuming that I had no clue what it was like to work hard just because my dad liked to gift me with expensive things every once in a while.

"Time," Liam voiced, looking down at his beeping watch. "Let's get out this bitch before we're surrounded by officers. I do not want to go to jail. I might be gay, but I'm not dropping soap for anybody. Phase three, let's go!"

"Great fucking idea," Niall agreed. "Down this way."

Niall pointed to the tunnel on the right side with a flashlight, as he held onto his iPad. This new pathway took longer to get out of, but put us two blocks away from Prime Corp. Using the same point of entrance would risk jumping straight into the arms of authorities— no, thank you.

The four of us bolted through the underground tunnels as fast as we could. With the extra illumination from Niall and Liam's flashlights, we had more beams to guide us through the pitch black abyss. Niall guided us, Harry kept a look out for more mutant rats, and I kept Liam safe.

"Dude, you keep bumping into me," I shoved Liam slightly as we followed Niall and Harry who ran a few paces ahead of us.

"You don't know what could be hiding against these walls," Liam justified. "New Orleans is haunted as fuck. And now we're underground. We could be beneath a graveyard. Who knows?"

"Liam, you'll be fine," I assured. "The worst that could happen in here is I graze you with a bullet while scaring off a monster rat."

A stream of light filtered from a thin crack several feet away from us. After running through darkness for almost ten minutes, Niall finally lead us to an exit. Standing right at the bottom of the stone steps, Harry slipped his backpack off and rummaged through one of the pockets till he retrieved yet another glass bottle.

"Masks on," Harry advised, tossing his backpack to Niall's feet. As he uncapped the container and replaced it with another spray nozzle, the rest of us delved into the knapsack for face masks.

With protection in place, Harry began to shower the iron barricades with the special chemical. The metal dissolved just like the first time, and when the four of us emerged from the tunnel, we were met with a calm New Orleans alleyway. Sirens could be heard in the distance, and I knew we were further away from the scene of the crime.

"Guys, phase four; assimilate," Niall disclosed, swinging his backpack off and unzipping one of the large compartments.

We each did the same, unzipping our jackets and stuffing them into our bags. Liam threw on a university hat, and Niall did the same. I placed a pair of fake eyeglasses on my face, and Harry slipped his on too. Between the four of us, we looked like a squad of college kids walking home after a grueling study session.

As we calmly walked back to our hotel, I let out a sigh, relieved to have completed yet another task. I was one step closer to saving my sister. I still had a long, grueling journey ahead and who knew what was going to happen in the next few days; few weeks. But for now, I'll just get a good night's rest. I deserved that much— or so I thought.

"Can I have my blade back?" Liam asked. He leaned forward slightly from the end of the row to look at the rest of us.

Niall, Harry, and I all looked at one another, waiting for someone to pull out the knife from their pocket and hand it over to Liam. But after a few moments, nothing happened.

"Guys," Liam gazed at us with suspicion. "Where the fuck is my blade?"

Not a peep left our mouths and I held my breath. The four of us darted our eyes until we realized that we royally fucked up.

"Are you fucking with me right now?" Liam barked. "That kunai was one of a kind. Handmade by an legendary craftsman in Japan."

"Not to mention that my blood is all over that weapon," I added angrily. "There's solid evidence that I was at Prime Corp. Police probably have already found it and are pinpointing the crime to me and they're going to arrest me."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Harry jumped in.

"They're not going to arrest me?" I suggested with misunderstanding.

"Oh no, they are," Harry affirmed and I recoiled. "But it's probably going to take them about a week for DNA results to come back, then another day or two for a warrant. By then we'll be out of the country."

"We'll protect you," Liam promised with a nod. "Even though your blood is on the knife, they'll probably think you were held against your will or something."

"Yea," Niall concurred. "They might think that we," he paused to gesture for himself, Liam and Harry, "threatened you or something."

"Sure, okay. Make us the bad guys," Harry rolled his eyes. I let out a frustrated groan.

"I'm screwed."

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» author's note «

A lot of you seem to enjoy the banter between Tasha and the boys, which is actually some of my favorite dialogue to write, so I'm glad you like it!

By the way, I created my own 5SOS Story awards called WasteTheNightAwards & it's officially up and running! If any of you are part of the 5SOS Fam, check it out. Nominate your book and/or sign up to be a judge! :)

As always, I thank you for your constant support. This story is one of my favorite books I've ever written and my skills as an author have immensely improved since my first book here on Wattpad, so I'm just super proud of this :)