Chapter seven

Lexie's POV

I bumped into Riley when she came bounding through the door, I was about to go down and see Victor, him and James wanted to talk to me, whatever they wanted probably wasn't good.

"Whoa Riley!" I exclaimed when she staggered back, "chill girl."

Riley smiled up at me.

"Guess who I saw today" she said wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I crossed my arms.

"Cora I hope" thats where I had sent her and she wasn't high so she hadn't been back to Harvey's.

"Well yes but thats not who I'm talking about"

I stared down at her.

"Your brother" she whispered.

My eyes widened and she waved her arms around.

"don't freak out though!" she added quickly, "I didn't tell him anything, I hardly spoke to him-"

"You spoke to him!" I snapped.

Riley held her arms up.

"Its fine Lexie!" She insisted, "he didn't suspect a thing, I actually didn't know he was your brother until after, Cora had stepped in before I had a chance to actually talk to him" oh thank god Cora had stepped in, I did not need Danny to meet Riley. Not yet anyway.

"He's kinda cute" Riley added with a smile up at me, that made me smile.

"Of course he is, he's my brother" I laughed, "but no more contact with him okay, I can't have you slipping up at all" my disappearance could be ruined just by her slipping up to my brother. I had been working on it for three years and the moment my brother got wind I was actually alive and Riley was his way of getting to me there was no doubt he'd smooth talk her. My brother was great at reading people and I knew Riley had loose lips around cute boys, it wouldn't be the first time she'd got her self in trouble because of a boy.

"I won't tell him anything" she insisted.

I pointed at her.

"If you see him on the street you'll dodge him, right?" I asked.

Riley crossed her arms and sighed.

"Yes, fine" she muttered. Danny was getting closer to me and it scared me. I didn't want him in danger or anywhere near Victor, Victor had no clue who my brother was and I wanted to keep it that way. "You never told me your brother was good looking though" Riley added, "you made him out to sound like a total drama queen."

I put my hand on her head.

"Trust me he is, did Cora get the information out of him?" I asked.

Riley nodded.

"A month, we've got a month until the Xingese Emperor arrives here" perfect, now I had good news to give to Victor, this would make him happy and get him off my back about it.

"Good, now stay here until I get back" I said walking out.

Riley moaned.

"Oh come on Lexie, you can't expect me to just sit in this room and do nothing"

I turned back around and pointed at her.

"so I got really high last night, it won't happen again, ill tone it down at bit"

I shook my head.

"No you're not smoking any of that stuff anymore" I told her.

Riley's mouth dropped open.

"I get that you look after me but you can't tell me what to do!" She snapped, "you're not my mother!" I didn't have time to have this fight.

"We will talk about this later, stay here until then" I closed the door behind my and I heard her kick it.

"You're not my damn mother!" I heard her shout.

I suddenly felt so sorry for Roy having to put up with me, I must have been terrible to put up with. I could get worse than Riley and she was already a handful for me. Roy would have been just a little older than me now when I was Riley's age, I had to admit he didn't do such a bad job looking after both me and Danny while dealing with his own issues after the Civil war. But I knew if I treated Riley the way he had treated me she would act out like I had, I have to think carefully on how to deal with her.

Downstairs James and Victor were waiting for me in his office with Duke standing outside guard to make sure no one was listening, that meant this was important.

James sat off to the side of me watching me with blue eyes, Victor was staring at me with his deep blue eyes and grey hair slicked back.

"Im going to ask you some questions that you are going to answer truthfully" Victor said leaning forward on his desk, "you have some idea of alchemy, yes?" he asked.

My eyes drifted over to James.

Victor slammed his hand on the desk making me jump.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you Alexis" he growled at me, "now answer my question" whatever this was going to be about wasn't good.

"Some idea, yes" I said looking at him, "but not a lot" I told him.

Victor leaned back into his chair.

"You must have learnt a few things while following that state alchemist around and being home with your uncle who is also a state alchemist"

I leaned back into my chair and crossed my arms.

"Get to the point" I didn't want play games, he wanted to know something.

"I know you had told Charles something three years ago about the stone that was in your leg which convinced him to turn on me" I stayed composed and didn't falter when he mentioned Chuck's name, "what did you tell him?" he asked, there was no point lying.

"That it could give him immortality" I admitted.

James moved in his chair.

"And how did you know that was true?" James asked speaking up.

I looked over at him.

"I didn't, I said what he wanted to hear, I had heard rumours that it would not only amplify your alchemy but if you were to ingest it it would amplify the human body, so regenerating and other things"

James leaned back into his chair.

"But" he said knowing I had a but.

"But I don't think that is true" I lied, "the stone that was inside me for years was making me sick thats how the military were able to find it when I was arrested" I had to make up a lie about how the stone was taken from me, I was not going to explain the whole Pride situation. "Thats why I no longer have it" that made Victor grit his teeth, he wasn't impressed when he found out I didn't have it anymore. He even opened my leg up again just to make sure I wasn't lying.

"Do you know how they're made?" Victor asked.

I shrugged.

"If I honestly knew how to make them do you think id be here working for you?" I asked, "I would be destroying the military for betraying me after I helped them" so that was a lie as well but the last thing we needed was Victor getting his hands on the one thing that could make him invincible, if he found out what he could do with it, we'd end up with something like another Father on our hands and we all know how much of a pain that was.

"Why are you asking me this anyway?" I asked, "why don't you ask the guy who was implanting them in me and selling them to you?"

"We can't find him" Victor muttered.

"He went missing the moment King Bradley was announced dead" James added, "the military either killed our accomplice because they found out what he was doing or they decided he was too important to get rid of and changed his identity" that saved me the hassle of having to worrying about that information getting into Victor's hands.

"But I want you to find out if he is dead and if he isn't then find him" okay I take that back.

I looked up at Victor.

"How am I supposed to find him?" I asked.

Victor gritted his teeth at me.

"Thats your problem not mine" Victor growled at him, "I want you to find the doctor and question him about the creation of the stones and the syndicate."

I frowned.

"The syndicate?" I asked, I had never heard about that before.

"Did I say you could question me?" he asked.

I shut up.

"Good, now you will locate this Doctor and question him with Duke" okay I would do that but I was not doing it with Duke.

"Don't make me do it with Duke" I growled, "you know id do anything for you but with Duke, the guys a fucking maniac-"

Victor's hand hit the table.

"You will do as I fucking say and you will do it with Duke, got it Alexis?!"

I nodded.

"Good, now when you've located him then you and Duke will go question him" this wasn't good but I didn't have a choice, I had to do it. The last thing I needed was to lose Victor's trust.

Victor pushed a piece of paper my way, it had a name on it.

"This is who you need to question to find the doctors whereabouts if he's still alive"

I stood up and picked up the piece of paper.

"Oh and by the way the Emperor of Xing will be here in a month" I added.

Victor smiled.

"Good, I knew you could get the information" Victor glanced at James, "I told you she was good" he said to James.

"Indeed, I didn't think you could do it but you have defiantly won me over stone mule" he chuckled.

I looked at Victor asking if I could go yet.

"Before you go I just want to remind you that you will be doing the assassination of Xingese Emperor for me, you used to do such clean jobs and I want to see if you've lost your touch or not" he smiled at me. I honestly had no choice in this.

I nodded.

"I'll do it but I get to do it my way" I said.

Victor's smile increased.

"As long as he's dead I don't care how you do it" this was getting harder and harder for me, killing nobody's were easy but killing the Emperor of Xing, killing Ling. I don't know how I was going to do that.

I left the room shoving past Duke.

Duke chuckled at me.

"I look forward to working with you Alexis" he sneered at me.

I ignored him and ran up the stairs praying Riley was still there and not trying to get into Harvey's to get high. Thankfully she was and was sitting on the bed using one of my daggers to sharpen her next weapon of death, it was a rib bone, she liked using them better than knives and I never understood why but I didn't ask because it was her method of getting the job done.

"Well I'm glad you listened to me" I spoke up.

Riley looked up at me, glared at me and got back to what she was doing.

I sat down on the bed sighing.

"I know you hate it when I tell you what to do but opium doesn't solve every problem"

She glared up at me again.

"Why do you care anyway?" she asked, "it's not like it's your money I'm spending" she growled at me, "I'm doing it in my free time."

I put my hand on her head.

"Because I know what its like going through the withdrawals of it after being addicted to the stuff for over three years" I said running my fingers through her blonde hair, "you've been on the stuff for a couple of weeks and will only take you a day or so without it to get it out of your system, I had to sweat it out for a week and I can tell you it wasn't easy…"

Riley stared up at me and huffed at me.

"Then what else am I supposed to do when I'm bored?" she asked.

I smiled.

"If you go through the next three days without it ill show you what I used to do for fun besides from getting high"

Riley smiled slightly.

"It will also help you keep yourself fit" I was going to introduce her to Victor's warehouses and the fun of running from the military.

six years ago

So I had been craving to get high and Roy had caught me trying to get into one of the opium dens, the guy at the door was being a jerk and wouldn't let me in because I was underage. It was easier getting into the Central opium dens than here out in the East, they were all for following the rules.

The pain in my sternum was still there and the doctors had taken me off morphine when they discovered I was getting addict to it, so they explained to Roy what he had to do to get me off any drugs. I had to sweat it out for several days but I had to be watched 24/7, they offered him a mental institution he could send me to but we both knew that wasn't going to work out so he had locked both me and him in his room until I was clean.

"This is so damn fucking stupid Roy!" I snapped at him pacing the room, I was getting agitated.

Roy sat on a chair blocking the door, he said nothing but watched me.

"Im not addicted to the shit!" I protested, "I'm just bored and need something to do!"

He crossed his arms.

"Then these few days should be easy for you" he could already see me sweating, I didn't know if I was hot or cold.

I turned around looking for another way out since Roy was blocking the door.

"You're being so damn stupid" I growled turning around, "I'm not staying in this damn room with you" I walked over to the window.

"If you have the strength to open the window you can leave, if not then you're stuck in here with me" I ignored him trying to open the window but my muscles screamed at me when I tried to use them, they were stiff and craving any type of drug.

"Ahh just fucking open!" I shouted ramming my shoulder into it, not even the glass broke, instead I stumbled backwards to the ground. I didn't bother getting up, I laid down and rolled onto my stomach pressing my face against the wooden floor. It felt cold making me shiver but I still didn't know if I was cold or hot as I sweated more.

"Damn bastard thinks he can control me" I muttered writhing on the ground, my body start spasming and I couldn't stop swallowing like if I didn't stop I was going to drown in my own saliva.

I rolled onto my back staring up at the dark ceiling while my breathing increased.

While I laid there I couldn't think but crave for the one thing that took my pain away, it wasn't just physical it was mental pain and took away the voices that were screaming at me. And thats when it started, I felt an electric current start in my back that would shock through my arms and clench up in violent spasms.

I moaned in pain rolling onto my side curling into a ball, my mind was spinning a million thoughts at once, like it had become a random image and music blender. I would see personal experiences, songs and a lot of disturbing images.

I squeezed my eyes shut to get rid of it all but it only got worse. My stomach felt like it was on fire and I think I was going to throw up.

"Please" I moaned crawling to my knees, "just let me have a little bit" I cried in defeat. My hair stuck to my face and neck and my nose wouldn't stop running, I felt tired but trying to sleep only made my body go into spasms.

I crawled towards Roy.

"Please" I whispered, he didn't say anything only watched me.

"Please Roy!" I cried in desperation.

I grabbed his arm trying to pull him off the chair but I could hardly lift his arm. He wasn't going to move.

I gritted my teeth in pain and glared up at him through my hair.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" I screamed at him, I tried to get to my feet but my knees buckled under me. "Fuck you" I sobbed collapsing on top of him, he sat me on the ground still staying silent.

"It hurts" I whimpered, I could no longer control my body and it hurt like I was drowning, like I was being deprived of oxygen.

My stomach heaved once but nothing came out, I heaved again and threw up all over myself making myself cry. I was only sixteen and I was going through withdrawals usually a grown man couldn't handle.

"Come on" Roy muttered pulling me to my feet, he had to hold me because the moment I stood my legs collapsed under me. The room kept spinning and I stumbled into the shower throwing up again.

I curled up on the floor of the shower as Roy turned it on. He left me in there for god knows how long, I wasn't sure if I had slept at all but finally I felt sane again. By this time my hands didn't look human anymore, I must had been lying in there for hours but I managed to turn the shower off and crawled out of the shower soaking wet. My clothes stuck to my body.

Roy had fallen asleep in the chair, I saw this as my opportunity to get past him, I was still crawling across the ground soaking wet but that meant nothing if I could get high again. I reached him and reached up for the door handle but I stumbled straight onto him.

Roy jumped awake and pushed me from the door.

"No Alexis" he whispered.

I was still sobbing in pain.

I stumbled against him, a shiver ran through my body and I clutched Roy thinking I could steal the heat radiating from his body.

"It hurts" I cried not letting go of him, he tried to get me to let go of him but I ended up pulling both of us to the ground. "It hurts Roy, make it stop…"

Roy scooped me up in his arms and put me on the bed.

"I know" he muttered, "but a few more days and you'll never have to go through it again" I didn't let go of him until I finally fell asleep, I tossed and turned but I managed to sleep through the pain. I still had at least 72 more hours of it until the pain would finally cease.