Paris

I rested into the couch, my feet resting on the coffee table as I watched a random romantic comedy- bored out of my mind. My day had been uneventful, to say the least, and against my better judgment, I missed the happy couple.

I took a sip of the bitter scalding hot coffee, letting it burn down my throat as I closed my eyes and released a deep breath. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, a picture of my mother flashed across the screen and a sinking feeling settled in my stomach. I rarely answered her calls these days— I didn't answer any of my family's calls. It was better that way.

But today something in me made me press answer. When her voice filled my ears, I closed my eyes. "Paris," she said with a sniffle. "You answered."

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to hear your voice," she answered. "When are you going to come to see us?"

"What do you want?" I repeated slowly.

She sighed, dropping the act. "Your sister is getting married. You should at least contribute financially to the wedding."

I scoffed. She was always ludicrous but to make it sound like I never helped them... pissed me the fuck off. "I should at least— I pay everyone's rent along with a hefty allowance and I should at least contribute to a wedding I wasn't even invited to?"

"Oh, you're so fickle, Paris," she muttered. I could just imagine her rolling her eyes as she spoke, the narcissism dripping in her voice and I rubbed my head. "We're your family."

"You all abandoned me," I reminded her. "If I hadn't come back for you guys you still would've been in that run down one bedroom in Tulsa. You'd do well to remember that it's my money that spoils you now."

The line went silent and I reined it in. I couldn't let my emotions get the better of me when I was dealing with my family. They practically thrived on it- their toxicity was draining, to say the least. It almost made me wish I never went back for them.

I wasn't like Syn or Cain or any other Underworlder that was born into this world. I was a poor kid from Oklahoma that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. All I wanted to do was help my family.

After my father died and landed us into some debt with some dangerous people, my mother offered my life in exchange for her and my sister's freedom. I would've given myself up had I known it would save them but her doing it without so much as a second thought cut deep.

I was stuck in that Hell for years, having to sell drugs, endure abuse for my father's mistakes and eat scraps just to stay alive. After a few years, I had lost hope for any sort of different life for myself. I gathered up all the money I had stolen and saved over the past years and left it at my mother's doorstep one morning.

And that night, I took my life in an abandoned trailer in the woods.

I could see the faint jagged scars on my wrist from the piece of glass I used, serving as a reminder of my old life.

Someone that night decided that I was worth saving. And gave me a second chance, thrusting me into an entire world of possibilities I had never known about. My mind went back to that moment and my chest warmed in loyalty at the man I found myself indebted to forever.

I felt cold. My head ached as I opened my eyes. My blood felt like it was on fire and my tongue was dry. My hand moved to my throat and my eyes widened as I felt something wet. I looked down, immediately sitting up and seeing my blood-soaked fingers.

"Woah, calm down kiddo." A man dressed in black a few feet away from me said as he dragged from a cigarette, a bloody hand wrapped around his gun. He crouched beside me, kneeling as he studied me. I followed his eyes to my wrists and a coldness rushed down my body. I cut them. I felt myself slip into the sweet arms of death...but I was here still. The wounds were closed and replaced with healed scars, the blood being the only remnants of what I did.

"Give him something to clean himself off." He snapped his fingers and my eyes fell on the man standing behind him, his mouth was covered in blood...the red liquid staining his jaw and neck.

I took him in, looking up at him in shock as my fingers flew back to my neck. "What the fuck!" I screamed, backing up against the cabinet wall of the trailer. The strange man crouching beside me held out a handkerchief and I shook my head, not wanting to accept anything from him.

Whoever these people were, they were sick.

He smiled when I didn't take it, glancing at the man behind him who chuckled. When he looked back at me, he tucked it into the pocket and clapped his hands together. "What's your name, kid?"

I didn't answer and he raised a brow, the threat in his eyes palpable and I swallowed a breath, speaking up. "Paris."

"Paris." He nodded. "Nice to meet you."

"W-who are you?"

"I'm simply a man who saw you dying and decided to be selfish." He sighed. "Life is shitty. And it's hard, but only the deserving can escape it as easily as you just attempted." His eyes fell on my wrist. "How old are you? Thirteen?"

"Seventeen."

He shook his head. "You're way too fucking thin. Stand up. Let's go get something to eat."

"I'm not going anywhere with you people," I hissed.

"Suit yourself and stay alone then." He stood up. "You can try to kill yourself again, but it won't work. You're already dead, kid."

I froze, only then noticing my pulse- or lack thereof. "Holy fucking shit!" I screamed. "What did you do?!"

"We gave you a second chance," he said as he walked toward the door. "Either you can stay here and bitch about it or come with me...and tell me how you ended up like this."

I stayed on the floor, shock freezing me in my spot and he shrugged before walking out, his bloody henchmen giving me a sly smile before leaving. I took heavy breaths, my chest heaving as I tried to find my pulse. It didn't take long for it to finally set in that he wasn't lying and I weighed my options. I could either stay here, having nowhere to go...or go with them, knowing they were possibly worse than the monsters I had run from.

Feeling tired and weak, I made my decision and stood on shaky legs. I stumbled toward the door, the harsh winds of the woods feeling like ice on my skin. I let my feet hit the floor as I stepped out of the trailer and the crunch of the leaves under me echoed in my ears and I winced, covering them. Then came the owls in the night, and the sound of traffic that wasn't even close to me. Everything was just...loud.

"It's going to take some getting used to." I whipped around to find both of the men leaning against the trailer and I realized I had been tricked. The bloody man stepped forward, the man in black still leaning against the trailer and eyeing me. "It's better to try to focus on what's in front of you. Don't invite in the sounds you don't want to hear."

"What the hell is happening?" I pleaded.

"A revolution." The man in black leaned off the trailer and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, making me stiffen. "Come on." He walked, forcing my legs in motion as his friend followed behind.

"How'd you know I'd come out?"

"I have world-class intuition." He grinned. "And I hoped you would. I wouldn't leave someone as helpless as you in a situation like this by yourself."

I swallowed, my head pounding as we walked. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm introducing you to your new family," he said, smiling at me before trudging ahead.

"I already have a family..."

"Then why didn't you kill yourself on their property instead of ours?" He raised a brow.

I stayed silent, ignoring his question. We continued walking, a parking lot coming into view- a single black car parked at the very end. He took out his keys, letting me go as he neared the car. "Get in the back," he said, opening the driver's side.

His friend got into the passenger seat and I walked toward the door, my hand hovering over it. If there was any last chance for me to walk away it would be now, he knew that. Which is why instead of getting into the car, he waited patiently and watched me, his fingers tapping against the roof of his car.

"Fuck," I whispered, and he grinned. I opened the car, got inside and he got into the driver's seat, closing the door as the car roared to life.

He pulled out of the parking lot and I stared at my hands in front of me, every single thing leading up to now passing through my mind. "Try not to think too hard, kid. Shit happens." He shrugged. "You'll destroy yourself thinking about things you could've done differently," he said. When I didn't reply, he glanced at me through the mirror. "It may not feel like it right now, but every bad thing that's happened in your life has led you here. It may seem like I ruined your life, but you'll thank me one day."

Yeah, right.

"I don't even know your names," I said.

"I'm Ezekiel," the man in the passenger seat said.

I nodded. "And you?" I asked the driver.

"Cain."

"Cain what?"

"Just Cain."

"Like...the name Cain- from the Bible?"

They both laughed and I frowned, not understanding what was so funny. When they stopped, Cain shook his head and glanced at me. "Exactly...from the Bible."

That was twelve years ago, but it felt like centuries ago as I looked at myself now. They took me in, teaching me everything I needed to know. I got faster, and stronger— with their help I was able to right every wrong that had ever been done to me.

All except for my family.

"Paris," my mother called out. "Are you there?"

"I'll send the money. I need to go." I hung up and sighed, tossing my phone on the space beside me. My family didn't know what I was, besides their constant berating and antagonizing, it was one of the many reasons our contact was restricted to just cell phone calls.

I placed an arm over my head, eyes on the TV when a black shadow began to take shape on the wall. Finally. It darkened like molasses on the wall and I sat up, watching as Syn entered, Queen's hand in his.

"It's about time," I said.

Syn scoffed, rolling his eyes and Queen smiled at me. "I didn't know your job description included giving us a curfew," Syn spoke, walking toward the kitchen and I shook my head. The man was difficult...and even that was an understatement, but he was like Cain in a way...ruder and not as open, but I respected him.

"How was your day?" Queen asked me and I smiled at her, shrugging my shoulder.

"It was okay...it looks like you two had a better day though..." I eyed the dark hickeys on her neck and her disheveled hair and raised a brow, her pulse quickening. She brought her hand to her neck and I noticed a ring that wasn't there when she left and my smile grew. "I supposed a congratulations is in order."

She frowned before noticing the ring and a smile formed on her face. "Oh, yes. Thank you."

"Yes, you should be thanking me." I shrugged nonchalantly. "This would not have happened without me and I want you to remember that."

She laughed before crossing her arms and nodding. "Thank you for that. I owe you one."

"No problem." I winked at her.

"Yes, thank you for helping her reach her senses." Syn side-eyes her. "Fuck knows she wouldn't have talked to me for another week."

"That's not true." They bickered, Syn getting amused by her frustration before I remembered something and spoke up.

"Sorry to interrupt this lover's quarrel you both are having," I said. "But you had a visitor earlier." They looked at each other in confusion, Syn scrunching his brows. "He was looking for Queen. His name was...Aiden...I believe?"

Queen's eyes widened in shock and her heart raced. Syn slammed his bottle to the floor and crossed the room to the front door. "Why didn't you call?" He snapped, opening the door.

"I didn't want to interrupt the two of you."

"Shit," he cursed, slamming the door shut and running a hand through his hair. "That man is fucking dangerous. He's to be avoided at all costs. If you see him, don't bother engaging...call me. I don't know how he even found this place—"

I pursed my lips, a wince sounding as I squinted my eyes at him. "About that..."

"What?"

"I sort of...attacked him."

"Where?" Queen asked.

"In the woods." I shrugged. "He gave me the fucking creeps and I had a feeling I couldn't let him go."

"...Where exactly is he?" Syn asked slowly.

"In the basement."

꧁꧂