Amelia Hale d9 -FIN-

Life in district nine was grit and blood and fear. The city was a patchwork of violent acts and petty people each trying to carve out something to call their own by any means necessary. The people too were a patchwork as time went on.

They were young, but the gangs of nine were always looking for fresh talent.

It was a hard life, but it was the easier path. Usually.

Son of a bitch, Amelia thought as her sister half carried, half dragged her down the street. Her knees were weak and the threatened to buckle. Of all the times for a shopkeeper to grow a spine. It was supposed to be an easy job. The man was behind on his protection payments, he needed to be reminded who he owed his dues to. Put some fear in him. Maybe knock over a couple displays. Break a window or two.

Simple.

Except that a different gang had apparently made him a better offer. And they’d been lying in wait to put whoever was messing with their new man in the ground. It wasn’t a possibility she had calculated. Peacekeeper’s sure. That the shopkeeper had a pistol under the counter, sure. That they’d get jumped by three gangbangers less than a minute after they’d left the store? She saw the cement coming to meet her face.

And then nothing.

***

The world came back with a roar. The ground was cold, and she wasn’t sure where she was at first, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness.

The bar was empty, and thankfully in a bad enough part of town that the owner clearly couldn’t spring for a security system. That or the security was provided by some gang’s enforcers. She groaned, dully watching her sister search for something to clean the wound with. All of the ingredients were readily available, and she felt some small measure of pride that Audrey was using her head for once, pulling them into a bar.

She tried to say something but her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. She was the smart one, the one that patched Audrey up after a fight. She couldn’t remember a time when they’d been apart.

Shit, Amelia this is going to really fuckin hurt.

If she hadn’t been in agony, she would have responded with a quip about stating the obvious. Or asked for the bottle of vodka before her sister started trying to get the bullet out. Pain exploded in her head and she screamed, blacking out. When consciousness returned, her sister was looking at her warily but in relief. The wound was stitched, not a professional job, but enough to keep her from bleeding out.

“Mother’s going to be pissed we missed dinner.”

Amelia grinned tiredly, wryly at her sister, prodded Audrey’s chest with a finger. As always, she wasn’t thinking far enough ahead. Missing dinner was now the least of their problems. The question was how were they going to explain the state of their clothes? The bloodstains? The gaping wound that Audrey had done her best to bind. For the one that was always flying off half-cocked, Audrey’s hands were surprisingly gentle.

They had the same face, but Audrey always wore her emotions on it. Amelia could keep it guarded. Hidden.

She’d already decided to say their current state involved a stray dog, a fence, broken window and a stick of peppermint chewing gum. She closed her eyes. Well, that would have been the story when they were younger at any rate. She’d learned that the best lies were the ones sprinkled with half-truths. The stories you could tell with a straight face because you were only omitting information or making it sound better.

“We tell them we wandered too far into Seraphim territory.” It was sort of true. They hadn’t wandered in there; they were there by choice. But they had gotten in over their heads. “That there was a shootout and I got hit by a ricochet; a shopkeeper patched me up.” She gritted her teeth and pushed herself up along the wall to a standing position, leaning on Audrey for support. Some more color drained from her face, but she fought back the dizziness. Her eyes swam.

The last thing they needed now was for their parents to get wind up their extracurricular activities.

“We’ll be okay.”

The best lies—

They headed back outside, Amelia keeping one hand on her side and the other around her sister’s neck. The two of them, partners in crime, inseparable. She watched the streets for any sign of their pursuers, but they were empty. Time to get moving then.

A swarm of moths flitted around the nearest streetlight, and she raised a crimson covered hand towards them as they vanished from view.

One day perhaps, they too would find their wings before they were irreparably burned by the flames they were drawn to.