'DALIA'
I don't feel bad for people, even if I wanted to, I couldn't 'cause yours truly, Dalia Sinclair, is a walking black hole of bad luck. Seriously, if I so much as step off the curb, the neighborhood black cat hits pause just to avoid catching my bad luck. (And don't get it twisted, I'm all about that black feline love, but to Queen Kitty, I'm just another crazy cat lady on the block.)
And as for my bad luck, if you don't believe me, wait until you've read this book and have cried buckets of tears for this pitiful character of mine. I swear You'll be crossing your fingers that my curse doesn't jump ship to you.
So, yeah, I'm not the sympathy type—unless, of course, you're stuck in line for hours, dreaming of sinking your teeth into your favorite donut, only for some doughnut-devouring Karen to swoop in and snag the whole batch. I feel your pain, buddy.
And, Right now, I'm kinda feeling bad for our boy Altair here. After the loud bang, everything went silent for a few moments. I didn't even realize I had closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the room was filled with red smoke. Once the smoke subsided, we found david on the floor, not-so-injured, but certainly overacting his heart out on the floor.
"JOJO!!! You useless bitch," Altair's voice pierced through the chaos, reaching a pitch that only dogs could appreciate.
"What? What did I do now?" Jojo retorted, clearly offended by the accusation.
"What the hell did you do to my precious gun?" Altair demanded, burning with fury.
"Ah, that old thing? Well, it was gathering dust, so I figured it could use a scrub. Then you started yapping about some ridiculous revenge plot, demanding a gun. So, I grabbed one from the movie stash and brought it over. Voilà," Jojo explained, laying out the whole saga not just for Altair, but also for me and David.
"Are you freaking kidding me? You washed my freaking gun? Ha! Why don't I kill you first? It would have made my life soo much easier." Altair's face was turning redder by the second. "Ha! Why don't I kill you first? It would have made my life so much easier," he added, half-joking but with a glint of frustration in his eyes.
Now I get why our resident prince charming looks like he's aged a decade. Ah, the trials and tribulations of being a Disney prince with an innocent brain in a world full of villains.
"Stop being dramatic, as if you even knew how to fire that thing," Jojo scoffed.
"Were you expecting me to shoot everyone on the street to show you how good of a shooter I am?" Altair tried to reason with Jojo. In fact, I couldn't help but nod my head in agreement, and our jerk David… well… he laughed. Yep, that asshole laughed like a hyena on drugs, which was clearly his big mistake.
Altair, now burning with rage, threw away the gun and picked up an ancient Chinese red flower pot.
"Just because I don't have a gun doesn't mean I can't kill you, idiot. Now stand there, don't move. In fact, you better stop breathing," Altair threatened as he prepared to throw the pot at David's head. But that son of a monkey once again ducked behind me, using me as his shield.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" And just like that, the last thread of my sanity snapped. All those months I spent trying to find inner peace with Yogi Lulu chen, just so I wouldn't have to go back to my loony bin prison mates – went up in smoke, in a single minute.
I twisted my wrist enough to get a hold of David's collar, then giving a quick turn to my body, I landed my knee on his family jewels. With an earth-shattering scream, he fell to the floor, even Jojo and Altair moved a little away from us, their hands subconsciously reaching for their crotches.
"Don't freaking touch me without my consent," I barked, punctuating my words with a well-placed kick to his chest. With David squirming beneath me, I grabbed a nearby statue - a tacky rendition of a naked lady getting up to who knows what with a hapless dude. I didn't want to dirty my hands on him, but letting him off easy just wasn't in the cards.
"What… what are you doing, pretty lady? I… I…" David stammered in panic.
"Zip it! Another word and you'll be starring in 'Journey to the Center of Hell'," I threatened, pressing the statue against his neck for emphasis.
"Stop enjoying the show, Jojo, and hold that lady back. That idiot's my prey," Altair ordered Jojo.
"Boss, are you blind? Did you see what this woman just did? I'm not about to risk my future over your family drama," a horrified Jojo tried to explain to Altair.
"Note to self: Fire you later," Altair muttered, threw the Chinese pot on the floor and wrapped his arms around my waist. Once again, my heart rate skyrocketed, my body trembling under his touch, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe.
"L… let me go," I pleaded, my voice barely above a whisper as I turned to face him, eyes pleading for release. The fear in my gaze seemed to jolt him to his senses, and he released me with an abruptness that left me gasping for air. Tossing the statue aside with a mixture of relief and frustration, I rose to my feet, ready to put this madness behind me.
"Oh my god! What the hell did you guys do to my sweet baby?" The moment Julia's voice echoed in the hall, all of our attention went to the door, where a very furious Julia was standing with my very scared best friend.
"We're screwed," Altair groaned, his tone dripping with defeat.
"If Julia's house was a person, it'd be her soulmate. Seriously, she goes full-on Godzilla if so much as a mouse sneezes in there. And guess what? We just played the role of King Kong," Jojo whispered, his voice laced with a tinge of panic as he filled me in on the situation.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE," Julia bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger at us, her expression a mix of fury and disbelief.
"It's all because of your boneheaded brother that this mission—" I began, but Julia cut me off with a scathing remark.
"Ha! Save your words for your next client, if you ever get it after the bad review I'm gonna leave for your company." Julia fumed at me. "And just so you know, that statue you broke is worth million dollars. So if you don't want me to charge you for that you better leave.
That was all I needed to hear to high-tail it out of there. I wasn't about to stick around and foot the bill for some overpriced statue. And after the disaster that unfolded tonight, I had zero interest in trying to reason with these entitled rich loonies.
***************
Just as I stepped out of the house with Maeve on my tail, someone yelled my name from behind.
"Miss, gold digger. Stop..." When I turned around, it was Mr. Hotshot Altair in all his glory.
"What? What do you want now? Haven't you screwed me over enough tonight? What else do you want?" I was done being polite; I had lost the sweet money and was so done with these damn men now.
"You seriously don't know me?" He asked that stupid question again. Seriously, what's wrong with this man and his confidence?
Taking a deep breath, I turned back, now closer to the self-obsessed man in front of me. Once I was face to face with him, I spelled out my words loud and clear.
"I DO NOT KNOW YOU." I quipped, narrowing my eyes at him. "And trust me, I'm not exactly scrambling to join your fan club. So why don't you hop back on your high horse, Prince Not-So-Charming, and gallop off into the sunset? Oh, and do us all a favor and book a group therapy session for your family while you're at it." With those final words, I grabbed Maeve's wrist and stormed off, leaving Mr. Ego to bask in his delusions.
*******************************
I could only breathe a sigh of relief once Maeve and I had made it back safely to the last bus home. We both took seats at the back of the almost empty bus.
Now that I could think straight, I couldn't help but feel guilty for missing out on the boatload of money we lost because of those jokers tonight.
"I'm sorry. I know every penny counts right now, and because of me..."
"Dali, seriously? Do you think I care about the money right now? All I want is to knock some sense into those crazies for troubling you tonight," Maeve whispered, wrapping an arm around me. It was the first time that night I felt calm. Without even realizing it, I rested my head on her shoulder. We rode in silence after that. Maeve must've been exhausted because she soon fell asleep, leaving me to dwell on the events of the night.
I wasn't ready to lose her... my only family left in this damned world. After making me lose everything I held dear in my life, my destiny was still not satisfied. Maeve was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder and has only six months left. She needs an operation as soon as possible, but sadly, I don't have a penny to my name. People are not exactly thrilled to give a job to an ex-convict, so I had no choice but to work as a loyalty tester on weekdays and a stripper on weekends. Every single penny is important to me right now, and unfortunately, I missed out on making some cash tonight all thanks to that self-absorbed nutcase. If he dares to show his mug again, I'll happily rearrange his pretty boy Greek god face for him.
************************
When the night comes, so do my fears; the demons of my past keep lurking around me, and in the darkness, I can see them so clearly. Just like right now...
As I lay in my bed, drenched in cold sweat, stiff and unable to move, I could see her right above me. Her blood dripped on my face, her lifeless eyes bore into mine. The face I loved with all my heart was right in front of me, and in that moment, all I could feel was fear.
"Run! Hide! Don't let him catch you," her cold voice boomed in my ears, making me gulp nervously. It happened eight years ago; she died eight years ago, so why can't I still get rid of her? She wanted me to be at peace, she wanted me to find my place, she wanted me to survive in this damned world, so why can't she just let me live?
"I... I don't want to. I'm not going to hide anymore. I've been caged, I've been hidden, I've been on the run my whole life. I'm not hiding anymore." I didn't even realize when those words escaped my lips. But now that they have, I realize how much I want to live. After all that happened to me, I shouldn't be holding onto this stupid hope, but I... I can't die. I can't lose myself or the things I love anymore. I want to survive; I want to keep Maeve safe.
"Run! Hide! Escape! Once he finds you, it's game over for us." Her words sent a chill up my spine. Her cold, bony fingers traced my face as she whispered those words again and again, warning me about the doom that was yet to come. And I wish I could have heeded my demons that night; I could have run far, far away before that monster that was about to come to find me again.