Hey guys, just a quick update. You may have noticed I've been uploading consistently for once (shocking, I know). I wanna keep that going if I can, but I've recently started pulling fifty hours a week at my job, so I'm gonna start updating once every two weeks instead of every week. Expect new content for my Red Dead Redemption fanfic as well in the near future.
Also, please consider leaving a review if you can, because it really helps me improve. Whether you like the story or you think it's complete dogshit, I always like to read you guys' thoughts, so feel free to let me know.
Okay, on with the fanfic.
An intense light was shining right in her face. Alexia's nose scrunched as she buried her face in her pillow to keep out the intrusive light. The feeling reminded her a lot of her cell in juvie, where they never turned the lights off and guards walked by every five minutes, their constant footfalls keeping her awake the first few nights she was there. She subconsciously listened for this sound and thought she heard it, heavy shoes treading on faded linoleum, a flashlight clicking on and hovering over her bed, making sure she hadn't killed herself in the night.
Alexia's eyes popped open. She raised her head from the pillow, fully expecting to see a holding cell in the county jail, but she instead saw a spacious living area, defined by the couch she was lying on and a huge flat-screen TV. The city was there too, big and beautiful and flooded with sunshine, producing a constant hum of traffic on the street far below.
Alexia held a hand to her heart, her rapid breaths slowing. For a second, she was convinced it had all been a dream - she wasn't really in Los Santos with her uncle, she had been caught on her way to the airport and had blacked out during her arrest. The events of the previous night had seemed too absurd to be anything but a dream. Her talking to all those gangsters, street racing through Vinewood against a psychotic little girl, getting that luxury apartment all to herself…
That last one especially had convinced her that none of it had been real, but she could feel the sunlight on her face, streaming in from the massive windows to her left. The couch was as soft as ever – she'd fallen asleep on it, still wearing her street clothes.
Fumbling around her jacket, Alexia found the zipper and pulled it down, revealing a Metallica T-shirt that was damp with sweat. She slid the jacket off her slippery arms, then pulled out her iFruit phone and checked the time – 8:05 AM. She hadn't received Gerald's text yet, but she figured that when it did come, she should be ready to go.
Alexia brushed her black hair from her face, squinting against the blinding West Coast sun. Her shoes and her backpack were still lying next to the carpet, and her suitcase was where it had fallen next to the entranceway. The suitcase contained what few clothes she had brought with her from South Yankton, along with some other essentials her uncle had told her to buy. The last thing Alexia wanted was to go into her first job all sweaty and greasy, at a time when she was meant to be proving herself as capable. She forced herself off the comfortable couch and over to her suitcase, hoisting it up and dragging it down the flight of steps next to the foyer.
Alexia couldn't help but exhale as she looked at her bedroom for the first time. The queen-sized bed had been fully made for her arrival, making her feel a little bad that she'd slept on the couch instead. Another massive window wall displayed another magnificent view. She couldn't help but look forward to falling asleep to such urban beauty, even if this view wasn't quite as impressive as that from her living room. The entire room smelled like spring thunderstorms, on account of the flowers that had been left in a vase on a small end table.
White tulips. Alexia smiled – after ten years, her uncle still remembered what her favorite flower was. She made a mental note to keep those plants watered.
To her right was a wardrobe that was bigger than her entire bedroom back home, and to her left was an oak door that she assumed led to the bathroom. Desperately craving a shower, she dropped her suitcase at the foot of her bed and popped it open, grabbing a few clothes and toiletries, and pushing her way into the bathroom. Like everything else, it was modern and spacious, a far cry from the peeling wallpaper and fading tile of her old bathroom. Alexia marveled at the fact that she had both a shower and a completely separate bathtub, which looked way too big for one person. Her uncle had even gone to the trouble to give her some towels, a blow dryer, and even a few soaps and lotions for her to use.
Alexia could feel herself choking up as she stood in the spacious bathroom, hugging the clothes tightly to her chest. She didn't know where to begin in thanking her uncle for the small fortune he must have spent, all to make her as comfortable as possible in Los Santos. Knowing this, she was more determined than ever not to let him down.
She looked at herself in the mirror and saw disheveled clothes, a tangled mess of black hair and pale, sweat-sheened skin. Her very presence seemed to spoil the entire room, so she looked away, quickly peeling off her clothes and stepping in the shower.
While the bathroom was impressive, she told herself she would have to enjoy it later. Perhaps another time, she could test out the spacious bathtub, which she couldn't help but focus on as she washed her hair. Not having to share the space with anyone would also be an adjustment. As a kid, Alexia remembered wrestling with her brothers over who got ready for school first in the mornings. As they'd grown into teenagers, her brothers had developed a tendency to stink up the place and clog the toilets, and Alexia had frequently scolded them for never using air freshener.
As much as Alexia loved her brothers and would be sending them money when she could, she took peace in knowing the bathroom was hers alone, and that she could keep it as clean and fresh as she wanted.
Alexia finished her shower and wrapped herself in an incredibly soft towel that felt like lavender against her skin, then headed over to the mirror to try and make herself look presentable. As she worked vigorously at her hair with the blow dryer and a hairbrush, her phone lit up with a notification. She cut the blow dryer off and picked up her phone, scrolling through the text Gerald had left her.
"Hey girl, so about that job I need done. The Ballas and Vagos are exchanging merchandise under the Olympic Freeway, not too far from your apartment. Shake up the deal, get what they're selling, and bring it to my crib (Forum Drive Apartments, Unit 6). I've been told your uncle already sent a couple of his guys to help you, so be expecting them at your place in a minute.
No response necessary. Delete this message. -G"
Alexia nodded, scrubbing the text from her phone after memorizing Gerald's address. After dealing with those angry Black Skulls the previous night, she was thankful Gerald was giving her this chance to prove herself, even if two people would be helping her out. She didn't know what Gerald was going to do with the drugs once she'd stolen them, but he didn't seem like the type to personally indulge. He seemed quiet and business-minded, nothing like that bikini-clad girl at the street race. Alexia couldn't imagine working with someone like that, someone whose brain was probably fried by repeated drug use.
After finally ridding her jet-black hair of tangles, Alexia brushed her teeth and put on her clothes, a black Love Fist tank top under a red-and-black flannel shirt and a pair of faded black jeans, secured with a cheap belt around her hips. She didn't normally wear much makeup, but knowing she had to make an impression, Alexia curled her eyelashes and brushed on a little mascara, then rubbed on some red lip gloss. She also put her hair up in a side ponytail, something she always did before firing a gun to keep her hair out of her eyes.
Alexia stepped back and looked at herself in the huge bathroom mirror. Despite her best efforts, her presence still seemed like an affront to the nice, expensive bathroom behind her. Her clothes were baggy and had been bought at a thrift store, her makeup was the cheapest possible brands, and her hairstyle was many years out of date.
She grimaced, lamenting that she was still Midwestern trailer trash. She could only hope she could shoot well enough to make her unimpressive appearance not matter as much.
Before she could engage in further self-loathing, Alexia left the bathroom and ascended the stairs, coming back to her spacious living room. Finding her backpack next to the sofa, she reached into it and withdrew her gun. Lamar had only given her the one magazine of ammo, twelve rounds in total, but hopefully she could pick up some more mags from any fallen gangsters, as she didn't have the money to buy her own ammo yet.
Alexia shook her head as she looked at the blued steel barrel of her gun. She knew that the choices she had made, along with her uncle's overwhelming generosity, had made it impossible to back out at that moment. She'd spent the past few years regretting almost killing someone back in high school, but to succeed in the Black Skulls, she knew that attempted murder wasn't going to cut it. In the next few hours, she was going to have to take another life. Her uncle was wanting her to be a sniper, a job that relied on the doctrine of one shot, one kill.
She'd forgotten to ask her uncle the previous night about his change in attitude, how he'd gone from wanting her to abstain from crime to encouraging her to kill and rob people with impunity. Alexia told herself she would ask him this when she saw him in person, whenever that would be. She figured such heavy questions were probably best reserved for a face-to-face talk. As a kid at least, her uncle had been one of the few people she'd been comfortable having conversations with.
A series of sharp knocks sounded at Alexia's door. Her shoulders tensed as she put her gun on the glass coffee table and went over to let her guests in. She took a deep breath and swung the door open.
"Hello-OH MY GOD, IT'S YOU!"
The tall girl from the street race shouted so loudly that it echoed down the hallway leading to Alexia's unit, making its occupant jump. Realizing this, the woman put a hand to her mouth.
"Sorry. The boss didn't really tell us who we were gonna be helping, but I'm glad it's you, Alexia! How've you been?"
"I-I've been good." Alexia smiled briefly while avoiding eye contact. "Jessamine, right?"
Jess nodded. "And I brought some backup too. My boyfriend."
Jess reached over to her right and retrieved a much shorter man that had been standing outside the doorframe. The man was incredibly scrawny and reeked of menthols, his Los Santos Panic jersey hanging loosely on his shoulders. His beard was fuzzy and didn't connect to his brown hair, which was hidden under a backwards baseball cap.
Alexia was surprised – Jess was tall, blonde, and insanely beautiful, but the man beside her seemed hopelessly out of her league. Why she'd settled for this guy, Alexia didn't know at first.
But then she remembered the drugs. Considering his glazed eyes and the needle marks polka-dotting his arms, the two of them had probably been united more by their addictions.
"Curtis, this is the girl from the race I was telling you about," Jess continued. "The one that helped that little girl."
"Sup?"
Curtis nodded at her, and Alexia nodded back. He apparently didn't see her as being worth a handshake, but Alexia didn't mind this too much.
She looked down at the floor and cleared her throat. "Well, uhm…thank you two for coming to help me. You wanna come inside for a bit?"
"Awwh, absolutely!" Jess put another hand to her mouth, trying to stifle a grin. "Let's go inside, baby. C'mon."
She led her much shorter boyfriend by the hand, and Alexia couldn't help but marvel at how Jess towered over both herself and Curtis - she had to be at least six feet tall, if not taller. Jess's outfit was more modest than what she'd worn at the street race, but regardless, a tight neon green dress that came down to her mid-thighs seemed inappropriate for a shootout. Then again, Alexia reasoned, her own outfit wasn't very combat-focused either, but maybe that wouldn't matter for a small-scale engagement.
She closed her apartment door once Jess and Curtis were inside. Curtis turned to his smartphone, while Jess leaned over the glass balcony, gazing at the expensive beauty of Alexia's apartment.
"Whoa, nice place!" Jess's voice bounced off the apartment walls and down the staircase. "Your uncle bought it for you?"
"Y-yeah, he signed the lease and paid the security deposit," said Alexia. "But I'm in charge of paying rent and utilities."
"Well, that stuff isn't cheap in L.S., but we make good money doing what we do," Jess said with a nod. "Me and Curtis have a place in Vinewood Hills, one of those big stilt houses with a swimming pool. You ever been up that way?"
Alexia shook her head. "I-I just got here last night."
"What?" Jess's eyes went wide. "Last night? And they made you just get off the plane and drive a whole street race through the city?" She looked at Curtis. "That sounds a little weird to me, baby."
Curtis shrugged. "Eh, the boss is kind of a weird dude."
"Yeah, but you know how dangerous our races are. If that was my niece, I'd make sure she was well prepared." She pointed at Alexia. "Especially if my niece was as cute as her."
Alexia's eyes widened as she looked down at the floor. Out of all the things she had been expected to be called by the criminals in her uncle's crew, the word 'cute' had never crossed her mind. In fact, she couldn't recall anyone calling her that in recent years.
"You have a niece, babe?" Curtis asked his girlfriend. "Man, I didn't even know."
"No, stupid, I was an only child." Jess smirked as she brushed his face with her hand. "I keep telling you that, and you never listen."
"N-nah, I remember," Curtis stuttered. "You told me you were in movies and shit as a kid. I do listen to you, babe. Honest."
He reached around and grabbed Jess's slender waist, pulling her close to him.
"And hey, after this, you can tell me all you want during sexy time, okay? I'll stay sober enough to listen."
"You will?" Jess asked with a smile, and Curtis nodded.
They looked at each other for a moment before Jess stooped down to kiss her much shorter boyfriend. Alexia quickly looked away, her face flushing red as Curtis rubbed his hands down his girlfriend's body and the smack of wet tongues filled her apartment. As he began squeezing Jess's buttocks, she abruptly ended the kiss, cupping Curtis's chin in her hand.
"Okay," she whispered. "Sexy time tonight after the party. Alexia needs our help first though."
"S-sure." Curtis looked like he had forgotten Alexia was there as he clasped his hands to his sides. "Hey, you wanna bring her along tonight?"
"For sexy time?" Jess cocked her head.
"No, the party. Whole crew's gonna be there, remember?"
"Oh yeah, you're right!" Jess smiled. "Hey Alexia, the Skulls are having a big party tonight at Bahama Mamas, this nightclub over by Vespucci Beach. Even if you're not a big partier, you should still come along. You could meet some people, or something."
"Maybe." Alexia brushed her fingers through her ponytail, trying to hide her red face. "I-I just wanna focus on the job right now, if that's okay."
"Yeah, yeah, that's perfectly okay, girl." Jess smiled sympathetically. "First off though, you'll need a gun and a mask. You got those, right?"
Alexia nodded, walking quickly down the steps over to her living area. She picked up the gun from her coffee table, then reached into her backpack and fetched the cheap plastic skull mask she'd bought in South Yankton. She displayed these items to Jess, who clapped her hands in delight.
"Ooh, a Hawk & Little?" she asked. "That was my first gun too. You'll need an automatic weapon eventually, but that's a pretty good starting gun. I also have a bunch of extra magazines in my car if you need them."
A timid smile crossed Alexia's face. Despite her crudeness and her drug use, Jess at least seemed genuine, like she really wanted to help Alexia as a new member. Maybe, she thought, Jess's brain hadn't actually been fried by drugs. Maybe she'd been too quick to judge someone whose lifestyle was different than her own.
Jess looked to her left, catching sight of something in Alexia's living area that made her eyes go wide.
"Whoa! Alexia, I didn't know you smoked pot!"
Alexia's smile disappeared. Her face scrunched as she looked to where Jess was pointing and saw something she hadn't noticed before. In an area next to the sofa that sported a few upholstered easy chairs, an iridescent glass tube with a round base sat on a coffee table, along with a flip lighter and a plastic bag containing what looked like grass clippings. While Alexia didn't use drugs, she knew enough to know what these were.
The word 'pot' got Curtis's attention. He walked quickly over to the coffee table and sat down.
"Don't go smoking her nugs, baby," Jess warned. "You already waked and baked this morning."
"Nah, nah, I was just gonna see…" He opened the bag and took a whiff, which immediately sent him falling backwards in the chair. "Whooaaa…Babe, this is some premium shit right here!"
"Sativa?" Jess's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, or a real potent hybrid." Curtis laughed as he closed the bag. "Oowee, I'm getting high just smelling that shit, man."
"Hey, we could have a little smoke sesh after the job," Jess beamed. "Is that okay with you, Alexia?"
Alexia swallowed, looking down at her feet. She didn't know if she should tell Jess that she'd never smoked before in her life, and that she didn't know whose weed that was. She supposed it could have been from the people who had gotten the apartment ready, probably some of her uncle's men. They had either left it there by accident, or it was some kind of 'Welcome to Los Santos' offering for the new kid. As far as she knew, her uncle preferred whiskey and cigars over marijuana, so it was unlikely he had sanctioned such a gift for her.
She worried most of all that Jess and Curtis would think she was lame, at a time when she was supposed to be making friends in the Skulls. Before she could stutter out a response, Jessamine interrupted her with a sigh.
"Ah shit, my bad. You already told me you wanted to focus on work." She laughed a bit. "I guess I'm the one that's not listening now, huh?"
"Happens to the best of us, babe," Curtis said as he stood up.
"Yeah, well, we should probably head out before my ditzy ass gets distracted again, as it often does."
Jess reached into her purse, an expensive-looking designer bag made of pink leather, from which she withdrew a Shrewsbury Micro SMG. She slapped a fresh magazine into the gun, then pulled the cocking lever back, the sweet click of steel echoing through the apartment.
Alexia gawked at Jess's gun. She'd never fired an automatic weapon before, but she'd always wanted to. Jess had tricked this gun out with a custom pink finish and a scope and was fitting it with aftermarket extended mags. Alexia reckoned a magazine of that size could hold thirty rounds of .45 ACP ammunition.
Jess gave a hard slap to the gun's metal stock and unfolded it, bringing it up to her shoulder like an 80's action movie star.
"Okay, Alexia. Since me and Curtis have machine guns, we'll go in first, and you just cover us, okay? We'll show you how the Skulls handle these things."
"S-sure," Alexia said quietly. "That's a nice gun, by the way."
"Thanks, girl," Jess said with a smile. "I got the gun and the upgrades at Ammu-Nation. All perfectly legal in this state, or so they kept telling me…You wanna check it out?"
Alexia nodded rapidly. She headed over to Jess, who offered her the gun to check out. Taking it in her right hand while holding the pistol in her left, Alexia immediately noticed the select-fire switch, which allowed the user to choose between semi-automatic, fully automatic, and safe modes. Like her own gun, the serial number had been filed off, although Alexia didn't see the need for this: Jess's gun seemed rather unique, and any firearms shop would probably remember selling it.
Making double-sure the safety was on, Alexia brought the gun up to her shoulder, peering through Jess's scope that was mounted on a set of Picatinny rails. The view wasn't as magnified as she'd expected, but this gun was better for short or mid-range combat. The pink tint Jess had chosen was a bit distracting, but if nothing else, it made quite an impression.
"Cool, right?" Jess asked, bending down next to Alexia.
"Very cool…" Alexia trailed off as she put a hand on the metal folding stock. She tried to stop herself, but she happened to know a lot about this gun. "Did you know that Shrewsbury made these stocks out of wood originally? The collapsible stock was added in the 60's so government agents could carry it in their briefcases. It was in really high demand during the Cold War."
"Hmm, so she can talk." Jess grinned. "Well, if you like guns, then you've come to the right place, girlfriend. The Skulls have shit in their arsenal that's way more powerful than this."
Alexia smiled a bit as she handed the gun back.
"Say, you got any more facts like that?" Jess asked.
Alexia nodded readily. She knew a lot about the Micro SMG's history, what conflicts it had been used in, and its pioneering design by Shrewsbury, who had long been one of her favorite arms manufacturers. She found herself talking with renewed vigor about the gun, becoming lost in the many books and articles she'd read about it over the years.
Besides, focusing on the things she knew was a welcome distraction from the things she didn't know, the things which caused her stomach-churning anxiety. Despite her shyness under normal circumstances, Alexia readily talked about the Micro SMG as she, Jess, and Curtis headed for the exit, armed and ready for battle against some of the city's toughest inner-city gangs.