Seven Rogues

Chapter One

Ella

Ella Martinez is a complicated teenager with a hundred too many problems in her life. She is pure ADD, has a sister who hogs all of the attention, parents who completely neglect her and force her to do so many chores without getting thanked, a complete team of guys who try to get her to sleep with them, and she lives in a hood. Not you're average neighborhood; this place is a hood. Beggars living in barrels in the alleyways, cops who get drunk and are easily seduced by teens, and many more commas along.

She threw her school bag on her green sheeted bed and jumped on the end of it. She ran her fingers through her hair, reminding herself of all the lessons she had to sit and twitch through. Even thinking about it made her want to punch a troll she could meet on the internet today. Trolls. Pfft.

Ella looked around her cluttered room. She needed to get Nudge in here fast. It needed a makeover. Ella was actually about to reach her phone before she heard a moan come from downstairs. She read too many fan fictions to guess what was going on down there so she just waved the thought away and ran out of her room, down in to the mostly wooden kitchen.

Maximum was sitting on a stool and moaning as she bit in to cookies. Ella was disgusted.

"You know people were gonna think you brought Fang over or something." Ella sighed.

"What?! Did- you just say?" Max demanded, finishing off her cookie with a death chomp. Fatality.

"I said did you eat cookies? What did you think I said?" Ella wondered, looking away and smiling. She leaned on the marble counter top and smelled the fresh cookies.

"Oh. Must have been my imagination." Max said, looking down at the cookie crumbs she created.

Ella murmured and walked away, sliding open the screen door that lead to the lovely outdoors. She imagined it was a beautiful scene. Tree branches swaying over head, lush green grass holding on to the ground in the breeze, maybe a dog rolling in the field in front of her eyes. But in all reality there was a crappy sidewalk that lead to the road.

Looking around she didn't see any strangers. Ella approached the road, looking left and right for any cars. One she was hit by a motorcycle. And that is why she received the nick name; oh, who is she kidding? Nobody would give her a nick name.

Ella continued down the road, reaching the next sidewalk. In front of her was a pizza parlor with only a few guests inside. She walked in through the front doors and reached for the money in her jeans pocket. She took it out and stood in front of a waiting chair. A lady in a thin white long sleeved shirt and black jeans came to her with a menu and silently lead her to her 'special' table where she would always sit. But at that table sat a guy slightly older looking than herself.

Ella frowned, not knowing what to say.

"Hello, ma'am. Could you have a seat please?" Ella looked around, noticing the waitress was gone. Just like in the movies. She sat on the other side of the table, watching the guy carefully. He was a bit pale and had long strawberry red hair, his eyes a blue that made her stomach churn.

"What the hell are you here for?" Ella asked.

"Ah, ma'am, I am a cop." He stated. "I'm investigating the past murder of- ah, Joseph Burks."

"Did you just make up that name?" Ella questioned, raising one eyebrow. "What is your name, anyways?"

"Iggy." He quickly replied. "It's a bit hard to explain. You're the only one that can help us."

"What?" She asked.

Then Ella heard a gunshot from outside.

"Ella, come on and follow me!" Iggy yelled, grabbing Ella's hand and pulling her towards the back entrance. How did he know her name?

Ella had no clue what was going on and wondered what was to happen next.

So... This story really came from nowhere but I currently have a plot mapped out in my mind. "Twisted," my other story, can go die in a hole for all I care. But I'm getting ready to publish "The Star Chaser," a more serious and sad story that will be on Fiction Press; completely original. Don't get young Ella and my personal character Elly mixed up; they are completely different and have no bonds.

~Vital