Chapter 4
Cobra had wandered into the kitchen long before anyone else had arisen in the house. It wasn't often that he had managed to make such a feat. Well, the part where he was one of the people who was out the latest most of the time could was likely a benefactor in why he was always the last one to rise.
Well, at least out of the people who stayed at their hideout. Some of them actually had places to return to even if they considered those places dumps. It was still a place to go.
He had no place, it burned down years ago when the attack-the school supposedly caught fire. That's how the attack was reported to the news: a surprise fire startling students and a lack of proper plans.
Afterwards he had wandered home and burnt his own house down the next day. He sat in the grass for an hour or two watching his memories burn then returned to the gang which was shocked to see his return but let him in with welcoming arms.
Cobra stood there cracking the eggs over the bowl, "Cobra, she's ain't no snake! She isn't going to eat raw eggs!" Leader laughed. He felt his heels lift causing Leader to giggle, and heat rose to Cobra's face. Leader had noticed he flinched, Leader was going to tease him for days, "Did you not learn how to cook?" Leader scoffed.
Cobra glared, "when were you going to teach me?"
Leader let out a small cough, he was trying to blow off his own poor cooking skills, "you're going to catch the whole place on fire with your temper." Cobra stirred the eggs. He didn't even know if she liked eggs, but that's all they had in the house. Cobra let a noise of annoyance escape from between his teeth. "So are you going to stop by her house and get her stuff?"
Cobra stirred the eggs, there was no point of going to her house, she had been missing for years. The likeness of something that even remotely fit her being there anymore was slim to nothing and the food must've all gone bad by now. He wouldn't be surprised if real estate agents attempted to sell the house almost immediately after that which ended in dramatic failure. "There's nothing there now." Cobra sighed. If the real estate agents couldn't sell the home they would've taken the stuff or the house was ransacked by now. He stirred the eggs again. If she didn't like them maybe he could continue to cook saying he was making french toast with them.
"I'm not talking about clothes or food. Have you considered she might've left something important to her behind?" Leader pestered.
"Fine, I'll look around when i'm feeling up to it." Cobra snapped at him.
"Hey don't hiss at me, anyway you can't stare at the stove all day the eggs will burn, even if you're waiting for her to wake up there's no guarantee she'll come out of her room today. She might even be regretting the decision to come here." Leader paused, went to say something, but instead remained quiet. It was probably something that could be considered an insult. Cobra raised his eyebrows, he was the leader of the organization there was no reason that Leader should bite his tongue for anyone.
Cobra scooped the eggs onto the plate alongside the french toast, either way he was good. Well, unless she was allergic to eggs. He stared down at the plate, "Just take the place to her room already dammit." Cobra scooped up the plate again there was no reason for him to hesitate, it was just breakfast for heck's sake.
"And the badass of my gang becomes an adorable love-struck teenager!" Leader laughed causing heat to rush to his neck.
Cobra glared at Leader. If it was anyone else he would've rushed back into the room and gave them that killer smile that let them know they were in deep shit.
Cobra scaled the stairs until he managed to get to her room, knocking a couple times, before opening the door. "Are you asleep? I'm opening the door." Cobra said knocking once again to see if he would get a reply. He opened the door feeling the heat from his neck rush to his face.
Leader was terrible. "Sorry. I brought breakfast." He said setting the plate down on the desk near the door and immediately shutting the door hoping that she wouldn't notice his embarrassment. He wanted to look cool in front of her, but now she would probably remember him barging in on her. The handle felt hot underneath the flesh of his hand. It began to jiggle as she attempted to open the door, he let go of it attempting to regain his composure.
"Erik?" She whispered as he turned around.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean."
"It's okay."
"I know you're mad."
"Erik, it's okay."
He paused realizing for the first time which name she called him by. Cobra knew he should stop her, it was a proud name he had earned for himself that the gang could also be proud of. But he couldn't bring himself to ask her to. The last remnants of what there was.
"I brought breakfast." He whispered as she nodded.
"Thank you." She nodded, "would you like to eat breakfast together?"
"It's okay, I didn't bring anything up for me." Cobra shook his head.
"It's okay, come in." Kinana smiled opening the door slightly. He nodded bringing himself into her room wondering if he should be less willing about entering her room after rudely opening the door as he just did.
She picked up the breakfast he made beginning to eat as she moved into the room. The only thing that had been touched was the bed. "How long have you been living here?" She asked.
"It's been sometime. Since the attack on the scho-" He glanced up. There was the high possibility she didn't know anything about the school as he watched her eyebrows knit together. She didn't. He had already said too much for her to not figure out what happened. But how was he supposed to tell her that everyone she had previously known was dead? He didn't want to deliver that news. "It's been nice here. The gang has been taking care of me since my house burned down." She turned towards him with slightly widened eyes, "I did it. As more of a symbolic thing." He shrugged. It wasn't that easy to explain. Sometimes he wanted to return to that place where he had once felt safe, but there was no point in mourning a place that had burned for days until nothing was left.
She forced a smile onto her face, it was thin and uncomfortable seeming, "This place has become your home now, huh?" Her words seemed thin and incomplete causing him to glance at her.
It was as though she was trying to tell him something, or he was reading into it. He couldn't expect anyone who had been kidnapped into a gang to be happy the day they were rescued. Especially by another gang.
She set her fork down onto the plate, "I should go." She whispered, "I've already stayed too long."
"Don't worry about it. Leader is good, we may be in a gang but we're still people." Cobra sat on the floor leaning on her bed.
Sure, he had a crush on her in high school, and sure those feelings were still lingering, but he had to make sure that she felt safe here, and what she needed was going to come before what he wanted.
Maybe that's why he couldn't bring himself to get close. Maybe that's why he was sitting on the floor. Or maybe he was just comfortable there. But no one had ever told him how to take care of a person. So that's what he would do, he would stay near until she decided that she needed him.
Cobra opened his eyes the feeling of a hand shaking his shoulder, "Cobra. Cobra, wake up dammit." He blinked his eyes opening looking at the leader. "There's our little knight. Quite a gentlemen aren't we?" Leader laughed at him. "Did you know you sleep talk?" Leader puffed their cheeks at him. "I came in to ask you some questions. I asked you if you think the other gangs will come for her again. You said damn right, she's just too damn precious. Now aren't you cute?"
Cobra smacked Leader's hand away, "I'm a grown man, stop calling me cute."
Leader let out a chuckle, "You may all be just a little over teenagers, but remember to me you're all babies. I've seen twice the amount of stuff in my life that I'll ever let you see in yours, it makes you feel twenty years older then you are. It makes everyone else look so young and naive."
"It's still weird, you're not much older then us Leader." Cobra sighed shaking his head.
"Anyway, you guys have been passed out for hours. You're not on duty tonight." Leader dug in his pocket shoving something into Cobra's hand. "Go see if anything important to her is left. Your home burning was your choice not hers." Cobra turned to wake her. "Just leave her asleep."
"How will I ever know what's important then?" He asked, how was he supposed to know which things that may or may not remain and their values in her heart.
"Do you want to make her cry? I'm sure her house in shambles." Leader shook his head slapping the map into Cobra's hand. "Be back before eleven."
"What am I a child?" Cobra scoffed.
"To me you're all children." Leader smiled before walking out of the room.
Cobra stood up, taking a glance at her wondering when they had fallen asleep, she must've been exhausted to sleep through the whole day like they just did. It was probably best that he left her asleep. He smiled almost going to run his hand through her hair, he pulled himself away from her. Her trust was something he wanted, he didn't want to destroy it before he even had it. After leaving a roughly written note he locked her door on the way out and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen.
"Leader do you even do anything around here?" He asked glancing at Leader sitting there at the kitchen table patiently staring at the door.
Leader turned back towards Cobra, a hand going up to their chest, "And I had thought of you as one of my own." Leader let out the fakest gasp noise that he had ever heard as Cobra walked out the door, a smile on his face.
Cobra walked around to the back of the building where they kept his bike, he strapped on his helmet, and began to drive. It took a total of thirty minutes to get to her old house, considering the area that wasn't far. He glanced towards the house was barely touched, other than a few broken windows, it barely looked ransacked from the outskirts. Maybe that's why he had believe that her family left quietly. He walked through the rubble of the house, some various remnants of things he rather not name, and the dust that had covered the house from lack of use. There hadn't even been a murder here, but it was probably hard to sell the place with a family just up and disappearing out of the blue.
It had been at least hours, why was he even digging around in this rubble in the first place? There was no way he would know what was important to her and what wasn't. He shuffled through the rooms trying to figure out which one was hers. He wandered up the stairs feeling like he was invading her personal privacy even though she hadn't been here in years. She had missing even before the attack on their high school. Although he was sad she didn't say goodbye, he was happy she made it out of this dump. He finally found her room, the clothes she used to wear still laid out on the bed likely from right before school that day and shuffling around to get ready. He scoffed imagining her getting up and rushing out the door as recklessly as he did, he always assumed that females got up making sure they all had time for themselves. He walked towards the dresser looking at the remnants, empty jewelry boxes and sorted through clothing. That gang must've had no morals whatsoever. They must've decided since they wouldn't be here anymore it would be okay to take the things that were important to them. Cobra turned to see if anything struck his eye as a jingle moved under his foot.
He picked up his foot glancing at a silver chain that hung around it. A heart necklace? He gently unhooked it from around his foot knowing that the chain was likely fragile. It had to be made of a good material to be as silver as it still was. He blinked at it watching the heart shape spin at the end of the chain. Was it a locket? He popped the locket open wondering what was inside it. How rare and unusual: a double-sided locket. Inside the locket rested a family picture. He flipped over to the other side startled by what he saw.
It was a picture of them. They had both participated in the band back in his early years of high school. A heat ran its way a crossed his neck as the thought crossed him, that she might've reciprocated his feelings. He shook his head. The only reason she would keep this picture was probably to remember how much fun those days were. Not because of him.
He quickly clipped the locket around his neck tucking it underneath his shirt.
There was nothing else in the house that hadn't shown some remnant of damage or seemed salvageable. He got on his bike heading back to the hideout his usual group laughing as they cheerily made their way back inside to the hideout. He sniffed, checking to see if they were drinking. Only one of them, their drunkenness must've been contagious. "What did I tell you about drinking while you were on the job?" Cobra lectured, one of them openly rolled their eyes at him. It was easier than he thought to find the drunk one.
"You idiot." One of them muttering hitting the one that had rolled his eyes at him in the back of the head.
Cobra rolled his bike back to behind the hideout followed by hushed whispers asking if he was okay or if they were going to be screwed later. He wasn't in the mood to deal with them. He had just done something that was emotionally exhausting. Damn Leader for leaving those kind of jobs for him.
He walked towards the house opening the door. Kinana blinked at him. He hadn't been expecting her to be standing there waiting for him, "Are you okay?" She whispered.
His hand reached for his chest instinctively going to retrieve the necklace. "Do you want to make her cry?" Leader's voice echoed in his mind.
"Yeah, I'm just a little busy." He smiled as she nodded. The metal chain burned against his chest.
