The Vendetta (Chapter One)

The Vendetta
by lovethelifeulive

Chapter One
 
 
          He watched the ceiling, his eyes wandering to the edges of the room where the ceiling meets the wall. Then he gazed down the grey wall slowly until his eyes met the window. As he stared into the darkness, he found a face.
 
“Erik!” he cried. He stood from his bed and crossed the room, he opened the square window and another young man crawled in.
 
“Jesse,” he said. “The Novitski’s are here. I notified your Dad. He’s talking with your sister right now.” Jesse ran out and crossed the hall with Erik following him, and opened the door of her room.
 
“Hello, Mr. Brooks.” Erik greeted Jesse’s father.
 
He turned around, revealing a blank faced girl. 
 
“Hello, I’m Erik.” He felt to strange introducing himself to her. He knew her. He knew her and watched for years. She even saw him before. But she didn’t recognize him.
 
She looked at him for a moment, too shocked and confused at the information her father told her. She felt a hint of recognition, but it was too small.
 
“Annie.” She replied reaching her hand out. He shook it with both hands.
 
“Okay,” she breathed in before continuing. “So the Novitski’s are coming. They are the same people that killed my mother. They are to same family of assassins. Correct?” She was getting upset. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was yelling.
 
“Yes.” We nodded.
 
“Now listen, Annie,” Mr. Brooks said. “Erik is going to take care of you. You have to listen to him and trust him.” He wrapped his arms around her. When he let go he quickly took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead.
 
“Annie…” Jesse stepped forward to hold her too. When he pulled away she pulled him back in. He laid his head between her neck and shoulder, and stroked her brown hair.
 
          When she finally let go, she stared at him a few seconds longer, with their arms intertwined, her big brown eyes afraid. He let go when footsteps echoed from the front door and they walked out, before the door closed, Mr. Brooks turned around. First he glanced at Annie, with worry, with regret. Then he looked at Erik and said,
 
“Lock the door.”
 
      He turned back to her. She stood in front of him, shaking and about to collapse. It started like it normally does for her. Her knees start to wobble and then the tic travels all the way up until her hands shake, then her whole arm and then her shoulder.
     She was a nervous shaker. Not something medical, or serious. It’s just something everyone experiences. Like speaking in public or walking up to the stage on the talent show in your magician costume. Except the bunny won’t come out of the hat and you don’t know where it is. Erik came closer to her.
 
“Shake it off, Annie.” He told her. She closed her eyes and did what he said. He had been there so many times when her brother and father weren’t there to see her shake, and to tell her to shake it off. So many times he was there, but couldn’t comfort her.
 
“Annie, I want you to pack everything up. Okay?”
 
“Okay.” She nodded, the tic slowing down. Erik pulled out two suitcases from her closet, he knew where everything was, after years of watching over her.
 
     Outside, was yelling and shattering sounds. Annie winced as well as Erik, but he told her not to pay attention, and to only think about what to pack. What he thought, but didn’t say, was that it was so important to pack just what you need and cover up what you took. If when the cops come, they have to make sure it looks like Annie died too.
 
     He left her toothbrush and toothpaste, and took extra ones from her cupboard that were unused and packaged. He told her to take only half or so of her clothing, so that it doesn’t look like she packed it and left.
     While she closed her laptop and packed it up, Erik realized that Annie was forgetting something. He opened her bedside table and reached into it, getting a photo album and a wooden box, containing precious nick-nacks. He quickly and quietly packed it.
 
“Okay, so we’ll be leaving through the window.” Erik said, zipping up her suitcase.
 
“Wait, what?” Annie stopped. “What do you mean? We can’t leave Dad and Jesse here.”
 
“Annie, you have to trust me, this is the best way…” he stepped on her bed and opened the window. She followed him dragging the suitcases with her. When Erik was getting ready to lift her up, a knock came from her door.
 
     They stopped immediately. Annie glanced at him, wondering if he was going to squeeze them out.
 
“Wait, Annie.” He said, stepping off the bed.
 
“Whuh, what are you doing?” she hissed.
 
     He ignored her. He opened the door and stepped out of the room. She jumped out of the bed too and followed him. She looked to the left and right of her door, and so no one.  She took a left, toward the kitchen and living room, and away from the bedrooms.
     Suddenly, she heard a gunshot. She ran toward the living room, where she found Erik and another man, much older than them, fist fighting.
 
“Where’s the girl, Erik?” he said. She couldn’t understand their argument, that changed to Italian and Russian, which she did understand, mixed with another, she never heard before. But throughout the yelling she heard Erik say, Victor. That was the man’s name.
 
     Coming from behind her in the kitchen, two men, one skinny, one fat, ran toward her, yelling in Russian at Victor and at her. The men ran at her, the fat one tripped on the others feet and slid on the floor, his gun skidding down toward Erik and Victor. The skinny man ran at Annie, and before she could fight back, he pushed her to the ground, his knife at her throat.
     Erik and Victor, both unarmed, watched the gun come toward them and lunged at it. Annie fighting underneath the man. Victor grabbed it first. Erik took Victors neck in his grasp and punched him, causing him to drop his gun on the floor. Erik took it and aimed at the man above her. She cried out to him, afraid that his aim wasn’t too good.
     The skinny man stood up, about to lung his knife at her, when Erik shot him. He collapsed on Annie, his knife wedged into her leg. While she cried in pain and Erik pulled the dead man off her. Victor and his fat accomplice slipped out the door and ran.
     When the man was crumpled up on the wall, Erik looked at Annie, with a knife in her thigh. He reached for the knife and she stopped him.
 
“Wait.” She breathed, she wrapped her fingers slowly around the handle of the knife and sucked in the air, before violently pulling it out. Erik nodded and told her that he needed to get them out, and that he would be right back.
     She watched him leave in confusion. She wondered why he would leave her when Victor and his accomplice could come back for her. Still lying on the floor, she looked around. She saw two large bodies. Not able to stand, she crawled into the living room, where she found her brother and father on the floor, with blood on their clothes.
     She breathed slowly as she put her hand on Jesse’s chest. His eyes were still open and his lips were moving.
 
“Jesse.” She whispered. She saw it now. He was trying so hard to speak to her. “What Jesse?” she shook him. The door opened and she was pulled up by the waist. “Jesse!” she yelled.
 
“Shh. Annie.” Erik murmured.
 
“Stop, Erik! He’s trying to speak!” He ignored her and carried her into a sculpted blackish blue car, its color almost resembled a bruise. Before he put her in there, he looked into her face. She wasn’t looking back at him, but yelling and staring at her house. Her gorgeous full lips were pouted, and her eye brows were furrowed. He put his hand on her forehead, pushing the hair away from her eyes, her brown, brown eyes.