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Chapter sixteen
Lexie's POV
I poured myself another drink staring at my book of names, I nearly had all the names I needed and the moment I had them all this would be over but until I had those names I was still considered the bad guy.
"I thought you said you don't drink anymore" Riley said walking into my room, I ignored her throwing back the drink and making it burn the back of my throat. "You might want to see this" she said throwing a newspaper on the desk in front of me.
I huffed putting the empty glass down.
The alliance had been signed, the other night was just a small hiccup in the process of getting it done. Im sure Roy had his part in it, smooth talking everyone letting them know that whoever had tried to assassinate Ling was being dealt with. No doubt the bodies I left behind helped him out, using them to his advantage.
"Victor won't be happy" I muttered pouring myself another drink, "and I'm going to be the one he's going to take it out on-"
Riley grabbed my glass of whiskey before I had a chance to have any.
"I think you've had enough already" she said taking the bottle away from me, I didn't bother protesting, she was right. Alcohol only made me do stupid things and if I had anymore I was going to get drunk. "Im glad you didn't do it" she said pouring it down the sink in the bathroom, "even though you said they all saw you, they saw you save the Emperor of Xing…"
I slumped further in my chair.
"Doesn't matter" I muttered, "I let them all think I was gone all that time and they're not happy with me" this was the wrong time for them to find out, I still had stuff that needed to be done.
"Maybe you should go for a walk" Riley urged me, "you've been cooped up in here for a few days and sulking isn't going to help" I stared out the window. It was a nice day and everyone would be buzzing about the new treaty between both countries to even recognise me.
I staggered to my feet.
"Yeah all right" I muttered.
I grabbed my jacket pulling it on and putting my hood on.
"Ill be back later I guess" Riley was right, sulking wasn't going to help me at all. I had to focus on what I was originally set out to do even if it meant everyone thinking I was the bad guy and even after I tell them the truth they might still believe I am the bad guy but if so, then there was nothing I could do. I knew this might be the outcome and I was willing to live with it.
I stumbled down the stairs slightly intoxicated and before I had a chance to react Victor had me up against the wall, he was angry and I was his target to take that anger out.
"You had one fucking job" he growled through gritted teeth, I let him pin me up the wall staying silent. "Any competition from that country that comes our way will be your job to deal with" he held me by the throat and ran his free hand up my face, "you'll become The Hell Hound again, ill make you into that person I know you fear so much" he pinned his body against mine.
I gulped against his grip letting the fear show on my face.
"You'll be my little girl forever" I caught the scent of liquor on his breath, I wasn't the only one who had been drinking and it seems Victor had been drinking a bit too much.
"Your drunk" I muttered at him.
A grin spread across Victor's face.
"So what if I am?" he whispered tighten his grip around me neck, "theres nothing you can do about it, I own you" his face got closer to mine. A little too close for comfort.
Victor let go of my face and gripped my hip pushing my body against his.
"God how you've grown up" he whispered admiring me. He put his lips against my ear, "you're so beautiful now" I felt his hot breath touch my neck.
I cringed at the feeling and tried to push away but he held on to me.
"I have a special love for you" his lips touched my neck and I tried to push away again.
"Stop it Victor" I spoke up but he was getting rougher, "you're drunk and you're going to regret this when you're sober-"
Victor grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head pushing me up against the wall with his body.
"Shut up" he spat down at me, his free hand ran along my body "if I want to admire my property then I will" he leaned down and kissed me. My hands slipped from his grip and I shoved him away breaking the kiss, I saw the anger flash across his face.
"This stops now!" I snapped at him.
Victor pinned me again.
"Oh are you too fucking good for me?!" He snarled at me, "you're a street kid no matter who you're related to! I take you off the streets and give you a bed to sleep in and yet you won't repay me by satisfying my needs" I couldn't lash out or id be worse off.
"Stop it Victor" I pleaded while he ran his hands along my body, "you know you're going to regret this later" but he ignored me leaning down and running his lips along my neck.
A shiver ran through my body making me feel dirty from his touch.
"Now why would I regret this?" he chuckled against me, "I'm going to love every minute of this-"
A hand landed on his shoulder pulling him off me.
"Come on man" Callum spoke up stepping between us, "she works for you, she's not married to you so don't harass her" Callum said standing his ground.
Victor gritted his teeth standing up straight and standing over Callum.
"How dare you" he snarled but Callum didn't move.
"Go Lexie" Callum said to me over his shoulder, "come back when he's not drunk, you know what he's like when he's drunk and angry."
I stepped away retreating.
"Don't you fucking leave!" Victor snapped at me from over Callum, he lashed out smacking Callum across the face knocking him to the ground.
Duke rushed past me holding Victor back.
"You come here girl!" Victor shouted.
"Get out of Alexis for fuck sakes!" Duke snapped at me, "come on Victor you're being fucking stupid!"
I spun around on my heels and got out of there quickly before anything else happened.
I put my hood over my head and kept my head down getting as far from Victor as I could while he was like this, the last thing I needed was him all over me while he was drunk. He would have never touched me like that as a kid but now was different, to him I was an adult and him being drunk turned him into a dirty old man and if I rejected him that could leave me with a bullet in my head.
I had Callum to thank for stepping in for me, he hadn't spoken to me after finding out about me killing Rachel but he had the decency to save me from that situation. Duke would have gladly watched if it wasn't Victor, it was up to Duke to control him when he was drunk and if Victor did something he regretted then Duke would be to blame.
I stuck my hands in my pockets not watching what I was doing and ran straight into someone.
I stumbled back looking up.
"Ah fuck" I muttered staring up at Havoc, he wasn't wearing his uniform so that meant he was either under cover or off duty.
Either way this wasn't good for me.
Havoc stood there still for a second looking at me like I had actually come back from the dead.
"You know I've been getting that look a lot lately" I said retreating slowly. My back hit someone behind me and I looked up to see Ed, "great" I growled up at him. I was not off to a good start today. "I don't want to fight you guys" I said looking between them, "but I seriously need you to leave me alone" if Victor found out they were hunting me down then he'd order me or one of his men to do something drastic.
"Then come with us and you won't have to" Havoc said taking a step towards me, if they thought I was going with them without really putting up a fight than they were fools.
"You must seriously be having an off day today Lexie" Danny spoke up.
I glanced over at him and Al stood behind him.
"Im actually surprised we found you so easily only a few days after your recent charade"
I gritted my teeth, this situation was pissing me off. I wasn't in the mood to deal with this right now.
"You're right there brother dearest" I spat at him.
Danny flinched back slightly. I was already in a bad mood and I was slowly moving in to my dangerous mood. I couldn't get any peace and quiet any where. I was either being bothered by Victor or being stalked by all these guys.
"And she's been drinking" Ed added, "I can smell it from here."
I let out a laugh.
"Well I'm glad we've all caught up but if you don't mind ill be on my way-"
Ed grabbed me the moment I moved holding me by the back of the arms.
Havoc stepped forward and I lift my feet off the ground while Ed still held me and slammed them against Havoc's chest. He stumbled backwards and stumbled to the ground, I slammed my elbows into Ed's gut and he gasped dropping me.
I took a step away from all of them.
"Why can't you all just fucking leave me alone?!" I shouted losing my temper with them. "If I wanted any of you to help me I would have come to you years ago but I didn't!" I couldn't fight all four of them but I might just be able to out run them, "I made a choice to leave all you behind for a damn reason!"
I spotted the fire escape.
"Alexis-"
"No!" I snapped at Danny, "stop it!"
Havoc got back to his feet and Ed recovered, they were all cornering me and my only escape route was the fire escape. I was going to have to take a new approach to this, they weren't going to listen to me so I was going to have to make myself be the bad guy.
"I left you all for reason!" Havoc was the only one who wasn't bothered by my words, "don't you guys get that?" I asked, "I want nothing to do with any of you!"
Danny took a step forward.
"Why?" Danny asked, "why are you doing this again?" It hurt me to hurt my brother but I needed him to stop looking for me. It was going to get him in a lot of trouble. "You promised you weren't going to do this anymore, you promised you weren't going to abandon me anymore…"
I raised my eyebrows.
"Then where were you when I was sitting in that prison cell?" I asked him, "you didn't want to see me but the moment I got out you were interested in me again" I laughed shaking my head. "You're as bad as Roy, wanting to know what I'm doing every second of the day."
Danny stood there staring at me with big eyes.
"Alexis" Ed warned me.
I pointed at him.
"No don't think you can say anything about this as well, you're as bad as him" I said pointing at Danny.
Havoc stepped in front of everyone cutting the conversation off.
"And I see you're still Roy's bitch, not that I'm surprised, always loyal to the end like every other dog" I sneered.
Havoc smiled slightly.
"Im hurt by your words Alexis" he said walking towards me still grinning slightly at my pathetic insult.
I took another step back and they all got ready for my next move.
"But the Brigadier General wants to talk to you" Havoc said, they all took another step towards me and I took one back. "Just come with us" that wasn't going to happen.
"You want me to come with you?" I asked, "then fucking catch me."
I spun on me heels and ran at the fire escape, I leaped up grabbing onto it and pulling myself up. All four ran at me at once and practically ran into each other, they clearly hadn't thought this out.
I ran up the fire escape and a fist burst out of the wall beside me.
I pushed off the wall dodging the fist and ran into the railing nearly falling over the railing.
I stared down wide eyed pushing back regaining my balance, that was close. I had to remember that Al could still use alchemy and he was my biggest threat.
"Missed!" I shouted down to them.
"Two up there following her and two on the ground!" Havoc snapped at everyone else, "we need to be smart about this!"
I reached the roof and was followed by Ed and Al. If Havoc wasn't shooting at me then they weren't allowed to hurt me, Roy wanted me conscious so he could question me but I wasn't going to let that happen. It couldn't.
I leaped onto the next roof and Ed followed very quickly.
"Alexis stop running-"
The roof beneath us collapsed inwards and we both fell inwards quickly.
"Brother! Lexie!" Al called out.
I hit some wooden crates and rolled off them hitting the floor grunting in pain. We were in a dark warehouse, just what I needed for cover.
Ed landed on the ground behind me and I spun around keeping distance between us.
I squinted at the rising dust in the air.
"You might as well give up on me" I said backing away from him holding my ribs, "I'm not telling you anything and I'm certainly not letting you guys take me back to Roy" the look on Ed's face told me he was going to be as stubborn as me.
"Im not giving up on you" he growled, "I didn't spend a damn year with you for you to turn out like this" Ed leaped at me and I leaped out the way but I gasped when my back slammed into the wall. I couldn't let him get ahold of me, my advantage was speed and I had that as long as I kept this distance between us.
"Oh come on" I taunted him, "you honestly think you changed me?" I asked. I was making him hate me even more but I had no other way to get him to give up on me, I had managed it once I'm sure I could do it again. "Well you didn't, I'm the same old Lexie and ill never change, not for you, not for anyone."
Ed gritted his teeth.
"Don't lie to me, I might be angry and confused but I'm not stupid" we were circling each other, "I know you're scared, I can see it in your face and all we want to do is help" Ed hadn't changed, I still couldn't fool him and I had told him too much the other night.
"You can't help me so just give up, I don't want your help and I certainly don't need it" I spat at him.
Ed shook his head.
"I know what you're trying to do and saying what you did to your brother was harsh"
I raised my eyebrows.
"Oh and now you suddenly know what I should and shouldn't be saying to my brother?" I asked defensively, "I want him to live his life not worrying about me and if I have to make him hate me to do it then so be it!"
Ed sighed at me.
"You really are an idiot sometimes, he's your brother Alexis, he's never going to hate you but you doing this is only going to hurt him and is that what you want?" he asked. I didn't respond to his question because he knew the answer. Of course I didn't want to hurt my brother but I didn't see any other way to stop him from coming after me, I didn't want him to get involved in this.
"Edward!" Havoc shouted banging against the door, this place was completely closed off. The windows and doors were boarded up, "you still in there with Lexie?"
Ed opened his mouth to reply but I leaped at him knocking him to the ground and clamping my hand over his mouth. He struggled against me but I sat on top of him keeping one of my hands over his mouth and the other digging into his right shoulder making him squint in pain, I needed to keep Ed quiet just until they didn't think we were in here anymore.
"Anything?" I heard Al ask.
Ed struggled against me again but I dug my hand in further into his shoulder.
He grunted in pain.
"No, no reply" Danny added.
"Hey you three looking for that pair fighting each other?" another voice asked, I knew that voice. "Golden boy and his little girly friend with the black hair?"
It was Riley.
"Yeah" Havoc spoke up.
"Riley?" Danny asked.
"Oh hey cute boy from Cora's bar" she chimed, "those other two ran down that way, shouting at each other or something" she was covering for me. She must have followed me and realised I could use some back up, I so owed her.
I smiled down at Ed.
"Looks like its just us" I whispered down at him, "ill have to thank Riley later."
Ed shoved me off him gripping his arm.
"For fuck sakes Alexis!" he snapped at me, "don't do that it bloody hurts" he rubbed his shoulder.
"I had to do something to shut you up, don't you think four against one is a bit unfair" I said sitting up.
Ed stared at me.
"Not when all we want to do is talk to you!" he snapped at me, "look none of us want to fight you, we just want to understand why you're doing all this."
I clenched my fists.
"Don't you think if I could tell you I would have!" I snapped back, "there are reasons why I can't tell you and you guys constantly looking for me isn't just putting yourselves in danger but me as well, if certain people find out I'm even talking to you they would consider that betrayal and then id be dead for real!"
Ed stopped for a second and stared at me. He connected the dots.
"You're working for the drug lord again, aren't you?" I didn't say anything, "of course thats who you're scared of but why?" he asked. "Why have you gone back to that life? It destroyed you the first time round and it will do it again, you progressed so much in that year you were with us and now you're destroying that progress" I was still that person, I hadn't gone backwards I was only making myself appear I had.
"You wouldn't understand" I muttered.
Ed held his hands out.
"Then make me understand!" He exclaimed, "I want you to tell me what was going though your head when you broke out of Central prison three years ago and decided to go back to the one person you're most afraid of!"
I shook my head at him.
"Is this because no one came to see you?" Ed asked, "because I'm sorry I didn't. I wish I had and I made a poor decision but I want to understand why you're doing all of this" he thought that he was apart of the reason that I broke out.
"Don't say sorry" I whispered looking down, "I honestly don't blame you after finding out what I had done, you must hate me and I get that but I wish you'd just let me go" I wanted him to let me go, I was ashamed of myself and watching them all come after me again and try to pull me back when I didn't want them to hurt even more. It showed they cared when I didn't want them to, it made me feel guilty which was an emotion I was still trying to understand.
"Why do you keep saying that?" Ed growled grabbing my wrist, "I don't hate you, I honestly don't understand why you keep thinking I hate you because I don't and I never will."
I looked up at him.
"But I'm a bad person, I do bad things and I don't understand why you can't see that" I tried to pull away but he held onto my wrist tightly.
"You're not a bad person, you're afraid and thats why you do bad things Lexie, I don't know what this man has done to you or has over you but we can help, I want to help you"
I shook my head at him.
"You in there Lexie?" I heard Riley call out.
"Yeah" I called back not breaking eye contact with Ed, "I can't" I said to him, "I can't tell you and I won't, I don't care what it makes you think of me" I said to him.
I heard Riley breaking the window open behind me.
"If you think I'm a monster, an idiot or just plain messed in the head so be it" I jerked from his gripped and we both shot to our feet, "but what I'm doing has nothing to do with you and I want it to stay that way" if Ed tried to get involved he was going to make enemies he didn't need.
I glanced over my shoulder and Riley managed to break through one of the boarded up windows, I had to get out of here before the other three realised Riley sent them on a wild goose chase.
"Don't Lexie" Ed said holding his a hand out for me, "I don't think you're a monster and I don't think you're messed up in the head" I looked at his hand and smiled slightly.
"What about the idiot part?" I asked.
Ed smirked slightly.
"That you are but you always have been" he tried to grab me but I stepped back keeping the distance between us, "and I don't care what you have got yourself into I just want to help you get out of it, I can see you're scared."
I shook my head at him.
"No only I can do this so stay out of it" I told him.
Ed jumped at me and I jumped out the way and out of the window straight into Riley.
"Come on we have to ditch them now" I said pulling Riley with me. We ran out onto the busy main street and disappeared into the crowd, that was far too close. Now I had to be carful on the streets, Roy had people out looking for me again and now Ed and Al. It was like starting all over again.