I walked down the street, glancing from side to side, looking at all the bright, lit up signs. It was almost dark out. I'd been stupid to help that kid a couple minutes back find his cat. And all I'd gotten in return was a bunch of scratches and a thank you. Not to mention the fact it was almost night out in downtown L.A.. It wasn't safe.

When I had rented an apartment here for cheap, I had thought it'd be cool. Live in L.A., brag to my friends, get a good paying job... But then came the warnings. The few people living near me and some others I'd met on my first two days had warned me of four things. One, the casinos scam you. They try to pull every penny out of you. Two, the alcohol, though common, is very expensive. I didn't mind this. I was underage for both. Three, don't be outside at night for 'just a stroll' or coming home. Not unless you have a gun. And four... There's a local gang in town, and it's very dangerous. And they have guns.

I continued down the semi crowded street, pace faster after remembering those last two warnings. My high heels clicked in a rhythm... Click, click, click, click. I was almost home. Just another half a block...

My attention was brought to a loose crowd of people over to the side of the street. I unconsciously started shifting over, then joined the crowd, looking in. A man, around 18 maybe, was standing there, anger apparent on his face. He was staring down at someone on the ground. I scanned the boy on the ground, wearing black tennis shoes, torn jeans, and... Wait... Wasn't that the boy I'd helped get his cat back for him? A little, orange fluff ball in his arms answered its mew in reply. Yep. It was the kid. Now what had he done?

I looked up at the sky. It was already dark out, and I was in a very dangerous position here in the mob. But my heart told me to stay and help him if he needed any help. I looked back at the boy and the silver haired teen standing over him.

"Look, punk, I saw you steal that fucking apple. Stealing from anyone here is stealing from me. If you don't pay up you'll be missing a hand." The silver haired teen paused for a second. "And a little something furry."

"I-I'm sorry! I- my family doesn't have enough to pay for treats like this... A-and I was so hungry..."

"Well then. Maybe you should hand over that little shit. It seems like all its doing is fucking starving you. If your family can't even buy one measly apple, how do you expect them to fucking feed that?!"

"I-I give my food to her."

"Aww... Her. How fucking adorable. Not! Now give it to me!" The teen held his hand out, demandingly. The boy seemed to hold the cat even tighter.

"No!"

"No? Well then, I'll just have to take it by force!" The teen started forward. I pushed out of the crowd and stood between the two males.

"Get out of my way, Bitch." I stood there, silent, unmoving. I could hear whispers through the crowd saying stuff like 'she's stupid' or 'she's gonna get herself killed.' I took a deep breath. "Get. Out. Of. My. Fucking Way." He repeated, gritting his teeth. I still didn't move, cept for looking back at the kid for a slight second.

"Run. Get out of here." I said turning back to look at the teen advancing. The boy nodded, then ran.

"You bitch, you don't know who you're fucking dealing with, do you?" I decided to finally reply.

"No. I've only been here a few days. But frankly, I don't care. You're just a big jerk. You heard the kid. He loves that cat. I was even forced to help him find it a couple minutes ago. So why don't you just back off for once and let it be?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't just do that." A man walked out of the crowd. His face was almost covered and he had stitches on his arms. He stood next to the teen.

"Who're you? His daddy?" I asked, knowing fully well how much deep shit I was in already. I was just adding fuel to the fire. Not a smart move on my part. Some people snickered, but froze and silenced after a glare from the two. They both glared at me. The teen spat on the ground.

"Bitch. We're part of the Bleeding Roses, Company 3. You really shouldn't had done that." I paled. Wasn't that the gang I was warned about? I guess I dug my grave a little deeper. No. A lot deeper.

The teen threw a punch at me. Thank goodness for my taiquando training. I dodged, just barely. I grabbed his arm and twisted his body around. He flipped backwards, jabbing his heel into my hip. I gritted my teeth. I swung my leg at him, only to get it caught and me being flipped over onto the ground. My body hurt all over. I turned onto my back and pulled up onto my elbows.

Click.

Aw, shit.

I looked straight into the barrel of a small hand gun. This wasn't good. I grit my teeth.