The night was a dark, not a single star in the sky. This was due to the rain earlier in the day. The moon faded in and out from behind the deep midnight purple clouds only giving off five second periods of light. The sound of angry feet pounded the wet coble stone streets following the sound of desperate feet seeking help. They bounced off the sleeping buildings seeming louder then they really were. The streets were dimly lit by the flickering light of the candle in the street lamps, casting eerie shadows upon the walls near by. It was hard to tell what lurked around each corner of the New York allies. A friend or foe could be any where ready to spring in a moment either to help- or just to kill.
A small girl ran down the street. Her heart pounded in her chest and her lung ached for air. She had been running from these guys for the last hour. Her legs were beginning to grow weak and it would be a matter of moments before they caught her. The girl brushed some of the jet black wild curls that had fallen into her face back quickly out of her pale blue eyes. Mentally the girl kept telling herself to keep going she would find safety any minute now, but her body was telling her differently. She couldn't let these guys catch her. If they did it was all over for her. They wouldn't waste a moment in getting rid of her for- good this time. The guys' first attempt at killing her had failed miserably. They had tried to come into the apartment that she had broken into and was staying at with out any one knowing while she was asleep and murder her during the night, but some one had tipped her off and she hadn't been there.
The sound of the angry feet grew closer as the four ran down the street. The girl glanced quickly behind her losing a little ground and saw that they weren't too far behind her. In fact they were less then four feet behind her. She looked back towards where she was running and saw that there was a place down at the end of the street. The lights were still on inside and almost twinkled with the hope of safety. The girl pushed herself to run faster she was almost there, but it seemed though that she wasn't going to be able to make it. For some reason the building ahead called to her saying that if she could just make it inside nothing could harm her.
The three guys behind her continued to chase her down the street. None of them showed any sign of tiredness or giving in. It was like they had done this for a living. With them they carried each a switchblade. One carried a gun, but he was instructed no to use it on this girl unless it was necessary. Their leader had commanded them to bring her back to him unless there was a great struggle. Their group didn't need any more trouble then it already had. The group that the three guys belonged to was called The Rippers. They were one of the nastiest gangs in all of the five boroughs. They had been around for about six years now and gone through three leaders. Each of the guys wore dark green bandannas some where on them and there mark was a serpent tattoo either on their arm or back. The Rippers had been formed by one particular angry young boy. He had come over from Ireland with his family: Father, Mother, and Sister. They lived together for a while in a small apartment everything had seemed to go fine until the boy's father started to drink and became abusive.
On Christmas Eve his father had come home in a drunken rage. He had some how acquired a gun. No one knew where he had gotten it from or how he had gotten it either. All they knew was that he came into the apartment- and the gun was fired twice. One of the bullets hit his mother killing her instantly. The second bullet was fired killing his father; the gun hadn't been shot off by the father, but by the son. The boy could feel the anger that had grown inside of him finally reach to the boiling point. That night he left the house and over the next several weeks he had found kids in a similar situation where they came from abusive homes or they had no parents. The little boy took on the alias of Chaos. Chaos found a new friend who had connection, Rage named for his bad temper. Rage could get the guns, the alcohol, and the weapons that were needed and became second in charge. Together the two of them together ran The Rippers building up there status and reputation. The small group of boys took refuge in a warehouse in the Bronx and slowly began to grow reaching twenty members. The Rippers ranged from as young as six all the way to nineteen years of age. They started small taking over selling areas of the Newsies and then working there way to larger territories like The Bronx where they now have set up permanent residency. Chaos had dragged his sister along for the ride and soon Rage became infatuated with her and claimed her as his. At first The Rippers had nothing against the Newsies until Chaos' sister decided that she didn't want to have anything to do with The Rippers and became a Newsie; ever since that day The Rippers have hated the Newsies even though it was six years ago when the grudge started. From then on the girls who were brought back to The Rippers were there for pleasure not to join, until one day that changed.
The guys seemed to gain on the small girl who was in front of them. She was just out of their grasp. This girl knew too much and was sure to let the right people know which would bring down The Rippers' plans of taking over Manhattan and Brooklyn next from those street rats who called themselves Newsies.
The Newsboys Lodging House was only a few more yards away from her and the three guys were less then inches away. If only she could push herself the extra few inches she would be safe. The girl tripped up the five concrete stairs scrapping her knee. Just as she reached the door the small girl felt a hand grab her arm and yank her to her feet.
