Act III, Chapter One

"Confidence is like a dragon where, for every head cut off, two more heads grow back." - Criss Jami, Venus in Arms

. . .

My hands were bloodied, eyes lost in the little hope I had left fuelling my adrenaline. Everything moved quickly, from Noel's first pounce to a rabbit chase, to now, playing a game of hide-and-seek knowing he'll find me soon enough. When he did, I wouldn't be able to be a seeker. I'd be found dead like my Father was, strangled with a sheet found in my own closet.

Noel taunted me as I ran from him. He enjoyed the long chase at first, but now as he whistled and sang my name I could hear an urgency. He was running out of time, we both knew it. If only I could hide long enough until he gave up or Taehyung miraculously texted stating they had saved Jungkook. I needed to call the police, now.

Palms dirty of his blood, I smiled shakily to myself. When he first attacked me in my room I slashed both his hands with the kitchen knife I held in my hands. As he groaned in pain and held his bleeding hands, there was a surprise in both of us that I attacked him back. It was then I noticed how adrenaline played a role in defense.

I ran. First I hid in my Dad's room, locking myself in and hoping to jump out of the window somehow. Testing the height with my eyes, I looked out into the street to see any cars that may be driving around. None. There was one speck, a black one, a van? I couldn't get a clear sight of it, a gut instinct questioning whether it belonged to Noel himself.

He banged into the door, calling my name in anger. Heart in a haste speed drowning out the hollers of his voice, and the thought process of my own head, I hastily opened the window and yelled outside. "Help! Help!" I could've sworn I made the back of my throat bleed. To finish my damage, I said, "Fire!"

Knowing I couldn't create focus on my house directly, maybe the sounds of my screams lying about a fire could send police over. "Fire," I yelled again, knowing the screech wouldn't damage Jungkook's chances.

The wooden door cracked at its lock. Head whipping away from the window or at door's on the street that opened. Many started to poke their heads out from their houses and I screamed once more, smiling to myself with a hopeful recognition as I pulled the sheets off my Dad's bed and threw them off the side.

"Shut up!" Noel said. His voice was haste, panicked even. I grinned larger at the notion of getting the leader on his toes.

Tying one end to the window's frame, I chucked the sheet out and placed my bloody palms on the frame, making it seem like I jumped out. The door was cracking in, bangs and hollers evident in Noel's anger. Leaving the window open with a dirtied sheet dangling out the window, I made sure to not have any blood drip behind me as I hid in my Dad's closet.

Returning into the warmth and scent of the man's clothes, I clasped my hand over my mouth. Silent. Harsh breathing was held back as Noel's efforts yanked him in and his eyes scanned the insides. Or, so I figured, noting the way silence and dimmer laughter came out of him. Muffled. I remained in my spot as he cursed and his feet charged out of the room.

In awe of the trap working, I looked down with pride at the phone, noting no text or call. Wiping the blood off the fingers of my hands to write clearly on the screen. I opened the text to Taehyung. "Noel's here," I wrote, knowing I didn't have to elaborate any further.

They'd know why Noel was here without me adding the obvious.

My clenched gut didn't allow me to ease as I sat crouched in the clothes of my dead parent. Please be gone, please. I thought about Noel and wondered if he was on the streets again, looking for me to drag back inside.

Then I remembered the faces of neighbours out on the streets questioning where the shouts were coming from. Someone must have called the fire fighters by now. Although fire fighters weren't police, the chaotic street could evolve to a possible rescue. Right? This had to work, please work.

As I built courage to leave the closet in one piece, every inch of my body shook in shivers which rattled my nails against the phone's screen. Searching to see if Taehyung responded. It took a while for him to see it, and I sat in my space waiting for him to do so. The phone buzzed and my heart leapt down to my stomach. "Make it to the backyard. Now."

So many questions. Were they close? Jungkook, was he okay and with them? Was it safe to call the police? I swore I heard fire truck sirens blaring in the distance but wondered if it was my own hopeful brain taunting me, not able to keep up with the time that passed inside the closet.

Then I heard a voice. One that was back to being cocky, hellish, and ready to slaughter my entire being. "Are you going to come out soon?"

Noel, close and on the other side of the closet door. The fear that subsided in the smallest form was back, circled with a thousand more questions. How long was he here? Did he even leave the room? Or did he search for me and come back? How did he know I was in the closet?

Millions of questions, and yet, all silenced the moment his rough hands whipped open the closet door and the cunning grin he held so proudly earlier laced with an impatience which became a mockery of my attempts of trapping him earlier. "You play a fair game," he said. "Better than your Daddy."

I screamed, flailing my knife only for him to knock it aside. The look in Noel's eyes was angry, defeated, and lost. It was then, when he pinned me underneath him that he knew he was done for.

His blood was everywhere in the room, on the knife, window, sheets, Dad's clothes in the closet. Noel's hands still bled and rained on me. He knew there was no chance for his escape, DNA everywhere. This new wave of revelation only made me grin.

Eyes showcasing no return to his original plan, as the new one shaped itself into reality as Noel's hands curled around my neck and squeezed.

More motivated to kill me now, Noel's angry mouth shouted things down at me. I heard a little of it, struggling to get him off as the desperation in my lungs pierced painfully.

"My brother. Your Dad ruined my family and now I ruin his-" Blackness before my eyes and the crying at my throat diminished the rest of Noel's words.

Until I came back to lightness, another wave of fight in me and heard Noel say, "The Creds and Deities were on the verge to end their truce, it was only a matter of time. The Creds started it, allowing Jungkook to play whistleblower. There wouldn't have been any other way to win the case if that little brat didn't find your Dad and snitch."

His voice faded away again. My head felt light, yet heavy as it dangled in Noel's arms. His hands lifted my neck, squeezing the life out of me harder in attempts to silence the last squeak that left me. Banging my head into the ground underneath, my last whimper escaped.

"After I kill you, the war begins and I'll be able to kill Jungkook, fuck, I'll kill his whole section. Especially your little boy-toy, he'll be first after the snitch." Noel's shouts became distant. "I won't forget your Mom, don't you worry!"

Liquid hit my face, yet I couldn't function strongly enough to notice if it was spit from his barking mouth, or tears from my defeated eyes. Any fight I had left in my hands lessened and I loosened under his grasp. Closing my eyes which rolled back, my limp body focused less on the lack of air that burned my lungs and weighed down my head. Instead, I submerged myself in happy memories of my family, Mom and her cooking, Dad and Bucky, and then Jimin and his scent. Jimin and his smell. Jimin.

Blackness overtook my aura, fading me into consciousness just before the opened window of my home blared voices and alarms outside my house.

. . .

Let's see, where to begin...

Noel and the Deities seemed to be not one, but three steps ahead of the Creds. When Namjoon led the section and many others into the Deities turf, although the traps set were untouched and successful, the Deities knew they were coming for Jungkook. The War began right then and there, the first battle surfacing many to fall. Many were injured, Yoongi fell first, unable to be taken care of by the healers from different sections as he was rushed to the hospital outside of Helloway Street.

Apparently, Jimin and Hoseok were the ones to get Jungkook out successfully. Jungkook, beaten and blue had the cutest smile on his tired face. Hoseok couldn't stop smiling at the sight, scolding the young to rest once secluded in the van away to transport him. The tortured boy kept talking everyone's ears off and Jimin cried while laughter overcame the van.

Then, Taehyung got a text and the whole van became silent.

They were aware of the attack, knowing Noel would find a way to branch off and try to kill me. Taehyung wasn't surprised by the text, if anything panicked as he hastily texted back. The man's reaction confused Jimin when he asked what happened.

As the van started and the section left with guns blazing behind them, their next stop was the gated community.

Namjoon knew of the potential attack, he thought it would be later considering daylight in a gated community was too much risk. Jimin lashed out, chaos erupted into the car. Fights, yelling and curse words were thrown between Jimin and the rest of the section who seemed to know about Noel's attack, and yet, Jungkook's safety was classified as top priority. Section's blood over anything else.

"How'd you know he'd have a way into the house?"

Namjoon grit his teeth. "The tulips in the kitchen. In a vase, they're meant to last only 12 days, maybe two weeks if cared for properly. Yet, those tulips were fresh for a whole month. My suspicion started there."

Jimin faltered. "Why didn't you tell me? I would've forced her to come with us, I-"

"If the Deities became aware of us knowing their plans, we wouldn't have been able to get Jungk-"

Taehyung's voice interrupted. Once contained, now he started to sound alarmed and worried. "She's no longer responding to my texts."

Jimin's anger culvused an action out of him. He grabbed Taehyung's phone from his hands and did the impossible for any gang member at huge stakes. He betrayed the Creds plan, and didn't care one bit for Deities retaliation. All he thought about was me, worried about my protection as he dialed the numbers foreign to his fingers fast.

Jimin called the police.

. . .

If it weren't for Jimin's final call the night of my strangulation, I would've died. I could've sworn I got close, the sight of my Dad's shoulders shaking from laughter in a hue of bright light shifted before my eyes. Only to be dragged away from the light with a pulse to my chest. Red eyes, blood vessels popped in them and blackened neck from the previous tight hold alerted back to life. A dull, boring, and somber life.

The life after my attack.

Headlines, stories, prints and pictures.

I sat in a hospital bed now, glancing down at a couple of newspapers and online articles Mom collected for me. I couldn't look at my phone screen, only print outs for now, unable to focus my eyes on anything without getting sick. Now, Mom, walking with a healthiness took care of my sick state and I wondered every day if I was bothersome to her schedule slowly going back to normal.

She told me about the investigation when I was ready to hear it, flashes of Noel's face and his anger making me shake and sweat in my bed out of a new trauma formulated in my subconscious. When I shook less and sweat in healing rather than sickness, Mom's gentle hand grazed my thumbs and awoke me one night by accident.

"Sorry dear."

I smiled at her, saying 'hi' with my cracking voice. Sitting up to my seat, I asked about the time and was told to sleep. It was 2 a.m. I shook my head, hugging Mom and being too afraid to let go. She was working again, slowly transitioning her life after Dad and my attack. Her soft hand was on my cheek, pulling me away from the attention of officer's who guarded my hospital room.

"Hey, I made you dinner! I realize I've come back late, but couldn't bear going another night away from you." She kissed my cheek. "How're you feeling baby?"

"Better." My voice was a lot better than how it was the first time I woke up in an ambulance.

Mom rambled about the mix-match of the dinner she made, how her indecisiveness never changed fully. I smiled at the sight of the Chinese and Japanese food shoved into one container. Taking the container from her and allowing her to rant about her day, she froze her tongue when Noel's name came up.

I held her hand, urging her to go on. "I'm ready to know now, tell me please."

Mom told me about Noel's chase with the police. As I blacked out, I was ambushed by paramedics reviving me, while firefighters helped secure a perimeter around the house. Mom said how my breathing was faint when I came back, the CPR worked when I was quickly wheeled out into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital for further assessment and care.

Our house was investigated and cameras were placed in various rooms and monitors in the Lees house, where Mr. and Mrs. Lee was held hostage for months, giving the neighbours the wrong notion that they were on a trip away. This is why my trap didn't work! Noel was able to talk to his members who informed him where I was in Dad's closet. The woman said how the house is being investigated further to see if more bugs and traps were set behind their backs.

My guess is they'll find one in the padlock on Dad's office. It had to be put in for Noel to know of Bucky's birthday!

Mom said she didn't know about the attack until I reached the hospital and some Creds members came back to the house.

"Some?" Panic edged into me.

Mom squeezed my hand. She reassured me that the boy we knew were alive, while others passed in the fight. The police were now involved after called to our house, making the tensions in Helloway Street even more enhanced and complicated. Maybe I'm selfish, but as Mom went on and on about the War between each side I zoned out without a care. I didn't want to know anymore. Jungkook was safe and that was all that mattered to me. I fulfilled my promise and now wished to move on.

"Who called the police? You?"

My Mom shook her head with a smile. "Jimin did."

My brows arched at that. Jimin. The same man who joked in distaste at the idea of my Dad being friends with a police officer, to now, being the one to call against the orders and principles of the Creds. To what, protect me? "He did?"

"Yes. They're all safe. Yoongi has to spend another week here. I made sure to keep an eye out for him in this hospital, I want him to get the best care." Mom nudged towards the door. "Maybe when you're okay we can both go visit him, yeah?"

I perked up, glancing out into the hallway. "Do the others visit?"

Mom chuckled. "If you're wondering if Jimin has come by to visit, yes. He's asked about you too."

"He has?" I tried to hide the softness in my voice, not wanting Mom's teasing eyes to see more in me than she already had.

"What a man, huh? Put his life on the line for me once, and now for my daughter. If you don't find a way to marry that man, I'll be disappointed."

I pursed my lips, a sad smile grazing my face. Although shivers and tingles graced my skin and heart at the very thought of Jimin, in the way we ended things, a sadness overpowered. Jimin still remained the biggest hesitant aspect in my life. He always had this effect on me.

"What happened to Noel?"

Mom told me about the chase and how it lasted a few days, only for the Deities turf to be infiltrated. Many were jailed, even a few Creds who stayed behind on the premises after the fight. Noel was taken in and will be presented with a court case soon. "It's no doubt he'll be behind bars soon," Mom said.

I felt bad hearing that fact, even more so for feeling relief. Why I felt bad for such a dangerous man, I had no idea.

"Would I have to testify?"

Mom took a second to nod. "I've agreed to as well, knowing the system would try to mix the Creds in our attacks if I didn't. Your Dad was a harsh man when it came to the rules, and the system. But he was also honourable and forgiving and I'm embracing that understanding when facing my decisions about our City from here on out."

"Are the Creds okay? Namjoon's knife?"

"All cleared." Mom smiled. "Only because they had me on their side, and well, you. That is if you testify and give in your statements."

I nodded. "After I get out, will we be secluded elsewhere for protection?"

Mom answered yes and it took me a while to ask her for my wish. A request surfacing within me the moment his name was mentioned. "Can you arrange for Jimin to join us? To keep him protected. If he's the one who made the call, both the Creds and Deities will have him on their radar...his life became more than just difficult."

Mom looked a little taken aback at my suggestion. Looking me over once more, she nodded slowly. "I'll talk to Officer Morten and see what we can do."

I allowed the woman to lay me down, shush to me sleep and tell me happier stories. As my eyes got heavy and the dimmed light in my room strained my eyes less and less, I managed a whisper to my Mom.

"I'd like to see him," I said. "I wanna speak to Jimin."

Whether my Mom nodded or not, I found blackness to take over in a way which wasn't demanding, or fearful. If anything, the most at peace it had ever been with a glimmer of hope returning to the surface for better days ahead.

Waking up the next day, I expected a lot, wished for a lot.

It was a surprise when I got what I wanted, seeing Jimin walk awkwardly between the officer's who guarded my door. His face was blank, full of stories and explanations. I patted on the bed beside me, waiting for him to take a seat, so I could listen.

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