Twilight-Maybe I HAVE turned a few! That'd be great. One of the girls was like "yeah, I think I'm going to rent that" I was like oh hell yeah! Skittery's my second fave. He's a cutie!!
Brunette-Don't you just love Jack lol. Yeah, my computers have been acting up SO badly. My dad has to keep rebuilding them and sometimes I lose documents. I literally have a heart attack every time it happens, but I save everything onto a disk. Most likely I'll be updating a lot; we're snowed in from this damn blizzard and I have nothing else to do but concentrate on this story lol. We all get a little paranoid, it's all right lol. Prince is sooo good, I keep telling you, but I absolutely love it.
Drake crawled into the cold, Manhattan lodging house careful not to make any noise. He tiptoed quietly past the bathroom stalls and sinks into the bunkroom where the uptown boys slept soundly and vulnerably. He gripped the handle of the dagger close to the side of his leg. His malicious eyes searched the bunked beds meticulously with rage and hate until he came upon what he was looking for halfway across the room.
With a steady and unshaken hand, he held the smooth side of the blade to Caden's throat, and his hand put a strong and forceful hold on his arm. Caden opened his eyes immediately and did not move as he looked down at the knife against his flesh. His breaths were short and ragged as he gulped. Drake stared at him coldly and viciously.
"I don't ever want to see your fucking face in Brooklyn again, do you hear me Manhattan?" His voice was low and quiet as Caden flinched and squirmed slightly. "You were at the party and I know you killed on of our boys. Switch, his name was. Do you want to know how he acquired such a name?"
Caden pressed his lips tightly together. Drake released the pressure on his throat and dragged the knife against Caden's cheekbone slowly without penetrating the skin.
"He was an expert in switchblades, you see."
A jump escaped from Caden's body but was soon suppressed by Drake's forceful constraint.
"Taught me everything he knew."
Orlando, the occupant of the top bunk, rolled around and stirred above their heads. Drake did not move or tear his eyes away. Caden looked up hopefully and started to squirm more. Drake gripped his hand over Caden's mouth, sure to leave small bruises. His lips pursed and his eyebrows furrowed.
"Manhattans…" Drake pressed the point of the blade at the top of Caden's cheekbone and sliced downward, drawing a line of blood. "Are villains."
Caden let out a small cry of pain. Orlando sat up quickly as Drake got to his feet and stared at him with a cruel expression of hate.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Orlando asked.
Drake turned back to Caden and yanked him out of bed by his shirt and threw him down to the floor. This had caused a ruckus within the room and the boys woke up to Drake standing over a helpless Caden. His shoulders fell to his haunches as he sat with his knees bent on the floor powerlessly. Orlando jumped down from his bed and stared in disbelief at his friend's actions.
"Get up, you filthy piece of uptown shit," growled Drake.
Caden crouched at the feet of the Brooklynite with is head sunk low shamefully. A circle of boys in their pajamas crowded around the two, prepared to keep Caden's back loyally. Orlando snuck behind Drake and swiftly put him into a headlock position tightly, allowing him little room to breathe and causing him to struggle violently.
"Get the fuck out of here or else," Orlando warned spitefully.
"Leave him be," Caden ordered in a faint voice.
"What?" Orlando looked at him in utter confusion. "Caden, do you know what you're saying?"
Chase pushed his way to the inside of the circle and to the center of commotion. "Jesus! What the fuck?"
"Leave him be," repeated Caden. "All of you. Don't lay a hand on him."
Without further questioning, Orlando released Drake reluctantly. Drake straightened up and adjusted his shirt collar.
"Caden!" Chase protested. "Why are you acting like this? He's from fucking Brooklyn! You know what we do with them." He proceeded to draw his revolver from his pants that he had worn to bed and hoeld it out in front of Drake with an flexed, outstretched arm. He stared at Drake directly and cocked the trigger. "All of them deserve to burn in Hell."
Caden looked up and pushed down the gun to the ground. "Don't harm him, Chase."
Chase hesitated but soon retreated, obeying the command. Drake smirked and stared back to Caden.
"Be a man, you pussy. Get up!" Drake shouted.
"The reason I will not fight you is one of obligatory purpose. I cannot and will not fight you." He looked up at him with sad eyes and fear.
Drake watched him intently and spat at the ground near him. "'The fuck are you saying? You kill one of Brooklyn, you kill all of us. Get your ass off the ground and give me a reason why you shouldn't be punished."
"I protest, I never killed you! You have no idea why I won't fight and you can never understand! And so, Brooklyn," Caden retrieved the dagger that had fallen from Drake's hand when Orlando pounced at him. He held the blade with the handle facing his foe. "Be satisfied."
A needle could have dropped in the room and it would have seemed as though God himself was pounding a clap of thunder into the building. Silence stirred as the Manhattans gawked, eyes wide and agape, at the display of utter defeat in their eyes. All but one person in the room failed to understand why Caden was acting this way; the answer, though, was that Caden's priorities and obligations were now owed to Adriette Conlon, Drake's cousin.
Orlando gradually became infuriated at the sight and leisurely began to reach for the blade that was hidden underneath the pillow beside him on the bed.
"Be satisfied!" Caden shouted, repeating himself. His hand shook as the dagger was placed before him. Drake snatched the knife from him and was unsure of what to do. The sound of Orlando preparing to carry out his duties as a loyal Manhattan to kill Drake reverberated within his ears, though he did not show it. He gripped the handle of his weapon and took small steps backward slowly while staring down Caden.
Hastily, Drake turned and ran the edge of his blade along Orlando's side deeply and speedily. Orlando let out a scream of pain and clutched his stomach, his knees buckling. Drake pushed him out of the way and busted the window open to jump out onto the fire escape, using the nightstand below him as leverage. In a second he was out of sight. The boys gasped and rushed toward the fallen.
"Fuck!" Chase shoved his way to the front. "How bad is it?"
Orlando waved his free hand at them as if nothing was wrong. "It's just a scratch, a scratch. Don't worry. I'll be fine!"
"At least clean it up!"
Orlando got to his feet and stumbled a bit, but refused to let anyone help. "It's fine!" he reassured everyone and shooed people out of his way to the sink.
Caden had gotten to his feet and stood behind the circle of his Manhattan brothers. A look of concern masked his face and a thin line of blood ran down his cheek.
"Might want to clean that!" Orlando pointed to Caden's laceration in short breaths as he staggered past him.
The assumption that everything was fine and that Drake had made "just a scratch" was taking over the boys of the lodging house. Whispering thoughts and comments to each other, they made their way back to their bunks. Chase walked up to Caden with a look of disgust on his face and did not say anything.
"You don't understand," Caden simply said to him. "I can't."
"Can't defend yourself from Drake?" Chase scoffed. "Grow some balls, man."
Harsh coughing and heavy breathing sounded from the bathroom area and Caden and Chase rushed over. They ran quickly to see Orlando lying on the floor on his back. Blood spilled out of his stomach and at the corners of his mouth. He lay still as his life was slowly filched from him. They rushed over to his side and no words were spoken.
"Curse this fucking rivalry…" Orlando got out with strength. "And damn both sides." He coughed sharply once more before his last words were uttered and repeated, "Damn both sides!"
Caden grabbed a towel and placed it upon the wound. "You'll be fine, man, it's all right!" He applied pressure to the deep lesion as Orlando's breaths slowly came to an end.
Chase shook his head and rubbed his tear-filled eyes. "Caden, stop."
"Orlando, it'll be okay, look at me." Caden turned Orlando's head to face him and watched as his eyes closed and his last breath escape from his mouth.
Jack, finally showing up through the window, jumped in and hurried to the three boys on the ground. He had been out late with Elle and was just now trying to sneak back in for the night. "What happened?" he asked loudly. "What the fuck happened?!"
"Where have you been?" Chase demanded. "You call yourself our fucking leader! This is what happens!"
Caden did not move his gaze from his lifeless friend, his brother from childhood. He had died at the hands of Drake who was only after to kill Caden. Orlando was preparing to defend him and Drake had murdered him. Drake had murdered a Manhattan before his eyes and he was going to be punished for it. Caden wanted to make sure of it. A fury surged through his veins as he seized the pistol out of Chase's pocket and bolted out the window where Jack had previously gone through.
The fire escape shook under Caden's speed as he jumped down the steps in nothing but his pants with suspenders bobbling at the sides. The warm, night breeze whipped at his cheeks as he chased down Drake who had sprinted through the streets. He dodged the few people in his way and pushed them to the side. So far, Drake had been running an easy route and wasn't making it difficult to tail him. Block after block, Caden did not slow down. He was going to avenge the death of his friend if his life depended on it.
Minutes passed and Caden finally caught up to him in the middle of the street. He grasped the collar of Drake's shirt and threw him into the side of a building.
"Fucking bastard!" Caden yelled as he held Drake's throat with one hand. With the other, Caden pointed his gun at point-blank range in front of Drake's face. "Orlando just died, and you, or I, or both are going to join him!"
Drake fought to break free of Caden's hold with his back to the red brick. The barrel of the long black revolver stared into his face.
"You won't get back to Brooklyn tonight!" Caden gave him a final push at his throat, stepped back two feet, and aimed the gun to Drake's stomach.
A few Manhattans jogged down the street to meet up with them, waving their arms and yelling. The noise did not daunt Caden's vengeful intention and he cocked the gun and pulled the trigger.
Movement stopped completely as Drake fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his upper abdomen. The boys after them halted and caught their breath. Caden stayed still, staring at the cadaver at his feet in shock and disbelief. He let the gun fall to the ground with a loud thud. Two police officers galloped over to the scene in the distance.
"Caden!" Blink yelled as he was the only to dart over to him. "Leave!"
Caden turned his head toward him, close to sobbing. A roll of thunder and flash of lightning sparked the sky and sounded through the quiet streets. Cold rain started to trickle down from the clouds and soon escalated into a heavy downpour. Caden fell to his knees next to Drake and looked up to the sky, the rain drenching him as he said to himself, "I am fortune's fool!"
"Caden!" Blink repeated. "Get out of here! Get up and leave!" He yanked him up to his feet and pushed him in the opposite direction of the police.
A small crowd of passersby gathered and the Manhattan boys rushed to the corpse of their hated enemy. Caden ran away to no particular destination. He ran and ran without stopping.