she hadn't killed another man on my account. Not that I particularly cared about men who had killed one of my friends and put the other in the ICU, but for what it did to Hailey.
She may be badass, but I could see the weight of the world on her when we had spoken about the prior night. Killing someone isn't something you can take lightly, nor that you can take back. I'm quite sure it wasn't high up on her own to-do list.
She wiped her palms on her tight jeans and Dori glared at her hands, I followed her gaze and winced. Hailey's knuckles were bruised and raw looking.
She ignored our looks and said as she unlocked the alley door. “We have to get you to a more secure place. I don't think the man at the hospital made you, but we know they are watching me now.”
Then she added quietly as she held the door open for us all to step into the club, “And most likely your friends and family.”
I winced then reminded her as we walked into the main club, where there were a couple people setting up and I heard a power saw back by the restrooms, “No family to watch. Stacy and Billie were the closest things I had to it.”
I paused a moment at that, again struck with the surrealistic fact that Stacy had been violently taken from us. Dorian placed a hand on my shoulder and assured me, “Stacy feels the same.” I smiled to the air.
Then Hai broke us out of it by saying in a calm but firm tone, “You can't go back to any place you frequented, there is no telling how long they had been tracking you. So school, job, restaurants, even grocery stores...”
I nodded understanding and mumbled, “My life was over the moment I made that first wish. I can't go back to anyplace where people knew me anyway. There's no way to explain how I suddenly had a deformity on my back. They succeeded in killing Angelina Drake, whether I had actually died or not.”
The club owner nodded at one of the men setting up tables for later that day when they would open their doors. The man nodded back. She was doing a great job keeping her face schooled and acting like everything was normal. We reached the stairs and started climbing as Dori slipped her hand into mine and gave it a little squeeze and said, “I don't think killing you was ever in the equation. I'm pretty sure they are just supposed to harass you, to get you to use up your wishes in panic.”
I felt my bruised wing strain in its binding in an attempt to wrap around her. Hailey said as we reached the second floor to hold the door of the studio open for us. “As much as I hate to agree with the street rat on anything. She's right, gorgeous.”
Dori growled back at her, “Don't make me pull out my middle finger again. I'll do it.”
Hailey smiled at her after she passed, then added, “If all of this is true, which there is undeniable evidence on your back... and in my shower. Then they are trying to get you to exhaust your wishes so they can control you and use your power.”
Then she said in the frosty tone of someone who could leave violence and destruction in her wake, “Then they'll do the same to your daughter when she comes of age, darlin'.”
That, more than anything, made me almost stumble and gasp like someone had struck me in the gut. I knew she was right. Just by having my daughter, I had condemned her to the same fate as myself without even knowing. And now I couldn't even protect her, not knowing where she was.
I had tried to convince myself every day that I had made the right decision for my baby girl. That I couldn't take care of her and give her the life she deserved. The guilt drove me to help others when I got older. That's why I wanted to become a nurse. A part of me knew I'd never make up for the fact that I had given my child up. I didn't even know her name. In my head, I had called her Isabel.
I turned to the girls and said in a hoarse voice, “You have to find her when I'm gone.”
Hailey just
She may be badass, but I could see the weight of the world on her when we had spoken about the prior night. Killing someone isn't something you can take lightly, nor that you can take back. I'm quite sure it wasn't high up on her own to-do list.
She wiped her palms on her tight jeans and Dori glared at her hands, I followed her gaze and winced. Hailey's knuckles were bruised and raw looking.
She ignored our looks and said as she unlocked the alley door. “We have to get you to a more secure place. I don't think the man at the hospital made you, but we know they are watching me now.”
Then she added quietly as she held the door open for us all to step into the club, “And most likely your friends and family.”
I winced then reminded her as we walked into the main club, where there were a couple people setting up and I heard a power saw back by the restrooms, “No family to watch. Stacy and Billie were the closest things I had to it.”
I paused a moment at that, again struck with the surrealistic fact that Stacy had been violently taken from us. Dorian placed a hand on my shoulder and assured me, “Stacy feels the same.” I smiled to the air.
Then Hai broke us out of it by saying in a calm but firm tone, “You can't go back to any place you frequented, there is no telling how long they had been tracking you. So school, job, restaurants, even grocery stores...”
I nodded understanding and mumbled, “My life was over the moment I made that first wish. I can't go back to anyplace where people knew me anyway. There's no way to explain how I suddenly had a deformity on my back. They succeeded in killing Angelina Drake, whether I had actually died or not.”
The club owner nodded at one of the men setting up tables for later that day when they would open their doors. The man nodded back. She was doing a great job keeping her face schooled and acting like everything was normal. We reached the stairs and started climbing as Dori slipped her hand into mine and gave it a little squeeze and said, “I don't think killing you was ever in the equation. I'm pretty sure they are just supposed to harass you, to get you to use up your wishes in panic.”
I felt my bruised wing strain in its binding in an attempt to wrap around her. Hailey said as we reached the second floor to hold the door of the studio open for us. “As much as I hate to agree with the street rat on anything. She's right, gorgeous.”
Dori growled back at her, “Don't make me pull out my middle finger again. I'll do it.”
Hailey smiled at her after she passed, then added, “If all of this is true, which there is undeniable evidence on your back... and in my shower. Then they are trying to get you to exhaust your wishes so they can control you and use your power.”
Then she said in the frosty tone of someone who could leave violence and destruction in her wake, “Then they'll do the same to your daughter when she comes of age, darlin'.”
That, more than anything, made me almost stumble and gasp like someone had struck me in the gut. I knew she was right. Just by having my daughter, I had condemned her to the same fate as myself without even knowing. And now I couldn't even protect her, not knowing where she was.
I had tried to convince myself every day that I had made the right decision for my baby girl. That I couldn't take care of her and give her the life she deserved. The guilt drove me to help others when I got older. That's why I wanted to become a nurse. A part of me knew I'd never make up for the fact that I had given my child up. I didn't even know her name. In my head, I had called her Isabel.
I turned to the girls and said in a hoarse voice, “You have to find her when I'm gone.”
Hailey just
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