They made their way through the crowd toward me. Once they finally reached me, they attempted to make themself smaller, huddling their frail body together. Their blonde hair seemed to be newly cut by the way they rubbed the buzzed side of it.

"Follow me," I said as I began to walk out of the kitchen and down the hall on the right. The sound of their shoes nervously approached me at a quick pace.

"Who are you?" I asked, continuing toward the red door at the end of the royal blue hall.

"I- I-"

"Take a breath already. God," I scoffed.

They did as they were told and slowly breathed.

"My name is Henry. My pronouns are he/him. I-I'm new here."

"I know that already, that's why you’re with me. What do you do?"

"I was told to help in the kitchen whenever they needed."

"It doesn't look like they need you. The kitchen is already packed. Why were you hired?"

Henry paused as his breath got stuck into his throat. I stopped walking and turned to him. He was fidgeting with his hands and staring at the ground.

"I asked you a question," I said sternly.

"I was told not to say," he whispered.

I brought my face closer to his. "Say what?"

He looked into my eyes for the first time. They were filled with nothing but sadness. "Cavill found me on the street. He said that I could help him with something big when the time came but for now I would work in the kitchen."

I studied his face for a while longer. His face held a few blemishes. It was obvious that his eyebrows were also freshly done by the slight irritation between them. His lips were discolored, probably from biting them. He seemed to be younger than me, maybe around the twin's age.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

Exactly the same age.

"How long have you been working here?"

"Today's my second day."

"How do you know who I am?"

"The staff said to avoid anyone that comes in from the black door. They said that you'll make people disappear if you catch them in a lie."

"It explains why you're so honest. You haven't eaten anything yet? It's already four in the afternoon and your breath doesn't have a smell."

His eyebrows raised as he brought his hand to cover his mouth. "No, not yet. I was scared to be late this morning."

I backed away from him and began walking to the door once again. "If everything goes well, you'll disappear too."

He ran in front of me. "W-what! I was honest about everything! What did I do wrong?" 

"You did nothing wrong." I walked past him. "Disappearing by my hands isn't always a bad thing, trust me. When we enter the room, I want you to stay behind Cavill the whole time no matter what happens. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," he whispered.

Once we reached the red door, I swung it open. The large man behind the black desk jumped up, pushing a small woman in only her undergarments off of him. He scrambled to fix his clothes while she searched for hers. Looking at the lamp that stood next to the door, I found her shirt and held it out to her, waiting for her to notice. When she finally did, she smiled shyly, grabbed it, and squeezed herself between us and the door before running down the hall. 

See you next time, Brenda.

I signaled to Henry to do as he was told and he did with a gloomy state. 

"Hello Cavill," I said cheerfully as I walked toward the desk.

He stood up after fixing himself, walked in front of his desk, and bowed, signaling for me to sit in his large leather chair.

"Oh, I won't be sitting this time. Not after what I just saw." I shivered at the thought as I leaned onto the untouched shelf. "I won't be long either so just sit back down." Once he did, I wasted no time and asked: "Where's my money?"

Cavill fixed himself in his chair. "Well, you see-"

"No, I don't see my money and that's why I'm asking. Where is it? No bullshit."

"I don't have the money, uh…"

"You know, I couldn't help but notice your new employee." I gestured to the boy behind him. "Henry has no set job but is on the payroll. It was really nice of you to save him from the harsh streets of Manhattan, but how's he getting paid exactly? With the money you don't have? Or did someone else bribe you to recruit for them?"

He remained silent.

"Ah, so it's true! You're using my family's money and protection to keep this place running, but you're pocketing and working for someone else. How did you get it past my men posted around here?"

"I'm not pulling anything, Ms. Solis. I paid for the bills and all the workers, I just don't have any extra money to give."

I scoffed, "You make it sound like you're doing my family a favor. Paying me should always be your top priority, that was established when our deal was made."

"I made the deal with your parents, not you! Bring them back and I'll pay up!"

I smirked and stalked to the desk. "How amusing. You heard what happened so you decided to switch sides. Who would ever accept someone who would do that? Oh, I know! The Snakes."

He broke eye contact with me and looked at the ground. I looked at Henry, his eyes watched Cavill closely and widened. I put my hand into my back pocket, quickly went around the desk, and behind his chair. Grabbing the man's neck and pressing my knife from my pocket to it as Henry gasped loudly.

"Who else is working with you?" I seethed into his ear.

Cavill clenched his teeth tightly and muttered, "You won't."

I pressed the sharp knife into his neck, causing a small cut. His eyes filled fear as he tried to turn to me and move away but my grip became tighter.

"No one yet! This just started!"

"Are you sure?" I sang.

"Yes, last week! The boy was supposed to be the first. He was supposed to help me gain more members and turn whoever your rats are."

I looked to Henry to see his eyes well up with tears. 

"Good, good. Where's the money?" I slightly turned the knife.

"Behind Henry! In the painting!" 

I raised my eyebrows at Henry and he quickly moved the painting behind him, revealing a safe. 

"Code," I demanded.

"Twenty-one, three, forty-eight!"

I nodded and Henry pressed the buttons to match the code. He opened the safe to show stacks of money inside.

"Well, will you look at that! All the payments you missed." I took the knife out and pushed him to the ground. I leaned on to the desk, in front of the area he looked at earlier. "You, stay on the ground. Henry, fill the bag in there with money."

Henry did as told with tears falling from his eyes. I pulled out my phone and dialed Kris, who answered instantly.

"Come to Sovereign Nightclub. Cavill switched and tried to pull one over on us. I can't do more because there's a passenger. Get here quickly so I can leave."

"Be there in five." 

I hung up the phone and looked to Cavill who watched me. I swiftly lifted my leg and harshly brought my heel down to his nose. Disgusting. 

He began to bleed and scream as he held his nose and rolled on the floor. Henry silently sobbed on the side and placed the large duffel bag of money onto the floor in front of him. 

"Did you take any?"

He shook his head.

"Open the bag and count five hundred out loud. Put that into your front left pocket."

He looked at me with confusion and began to shake his head rapidly.

"Hey, hey. That's for you to keep. I'll actually take care of you." I kicked Cavill in his back and he groaned. "I do own a gang that you can join if you want, but it's not a requirement for you to be taken care of. No matter what you choose, you'll be a part of the family. We have helped many homeless people in the past, you can trust us. If you don't want our care, wait until Kris gets here so I can take you to wherever you want to be dropped off. Okay?"

His body relaxed and he nodded hesitantly. After a while, he responded with a low voice: "I- I trust you, Ms. Solis. I w-want to stay with you."

I smiled. "Please, call me Ali."

The room fell still as we waited for Kris to finally come through the door. The only sound to be heard was Henry's counting as he sat on the floor. Cavill had already passed out from the pain as soon as Henry began counting. Once he finally reached four hundred, the door opened, startling him.

"Continue counting, Henry. This is Kris. I just need to talk with them and then we can leave," I said calmly. He nodded and continued.

"What happened here?" They asked.

"He has something under the desk, where I'm standing. I thought it was a weapon based on Henry's reaction so I struck. We got everything we needed." 

Kris raised an eyebrow at Henry as I pushed off the desk and he reached five hundred.

"I'll explain later, just handle Cavill." I grabbed the bag next to Henry. "You got it all?" 

"Yup!" He smiled as he folded the money, placed it into the designated pocket, and stood up next to me.

"C'mon, it's time to get you out of here. We're gonna get you something to eat on the way." I began to leave the office, back toward the kitchen.

He silently followed me down the hall. Eventually, he spoke, "I have a question, Ms. Ali."

"Drop the miss," I groaned. 

"Right, sorry!"

"What's your question?"

"Your last name is really familiar to me. I think I've heard it from somewhere. What's the name of your gang?"

I laughed and mumbled, "Of course it is. My parents were amazing." I looked at him and smiled. "We are Diablo."

I accidentally thought of and wrote Henry. What do you think of him?

Make sure to comment and vote if you liked the chapter!

Till next time ✌🏼💕