Chapter 1

Lily's POV

I stood in the dim living room, the early morning sunlight casting its light through the closed curtains. The room was filled with the scent of alcohol, mixed with the scent of the breakfast I had just prepared.

Dad lay sprawled on the armchair, his head slumped against the armrest, mouth slightly ajar.

I sighed heavily, setting the breakfast tray on the center table. It was well covered as I doubted my dad would wake up anytime soon.

He came in late yesterday, cursing at the top of his voice about how I ruined his life and how I caused my mom to leave him. She’d tried to take me with her, back when dad wasn’t like this. I thought it was just a phase that he would get over it soon, but I was wrong. It had been spiraling down ever since then.

I arranged the cutlery on the tray, trying not to wake him up with the sound. I was already late for work and my boss was a sucker for punctuality. The last thing I wanted was another argument with him.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, a hand on the door knob. I paused to look around hoping I wasn’t forgetting anything.

“Where do you think you're going?” Dad's voice was raspy, the after-effect of a long night drinking.

I turned, attempting to keep my face neutral. “Work. I'm going to work, Dad.”

His bloodshot eyes narrowed, struggling to sit himself up.

“Liar.”

“What?”

“Don't lie to me!” He slurred. “You think I don't know what you're up to? Running around, thinking you're better than me. You're probably going around whoring yourself out.”

I felt my chest tighten. This wasn’t the first time he’d said things like this. But each time the wounds cut deeper. I let out a shaky breath, blinking repeatedly.

Not today. Not this morning.

“I made breakfast.” I said.

His eyes glanced at the food on the table in a swift motion, he pushed the tray off the table. The collision of the ceramic and the floor made me jump.

“You want to poison me.” He barked. “That has been your plan all along, hasn’t it? So you'll leave me and join your whore of a mother.”

My eyes darted from the spilt food to his face. My eyes burned. With a swallow I yanked the door open. I breathed deeply keeping my back turned to him.

“I–I'll be back by evening.” I choked out.

Without waiting for his reply I slammed the door shut, mounting my bicycle. The creak of its old gears providing a momentary distraction from the emotions swirling inside me.

“Breathe, Lily.” I muttered, trying to calm myself.

I gripped the handlebars tightly as I pedaled down the street, trying not to think about what had happened. Every day, I thought maybe it would get better, but it only seemed to get worse each day.

Lost in thought, I turned a corner, and the screech of tires brought me back to the present. My eyes widened. I spotted a car coming straight at me out of nowhere. I slammed hard on the brakes and veered out of the way, missing the car by a hair's breath.

“Are you blind?” A voice barked after a few beats.

I shook my head, trying to calm my racing heart. I’d almost booked a one way ticket to the afterlife just now.

I gingerly dismounted my bike and came face to face with the owner of the voice. A lean wiry man, he looked to be in his mid thirties. He swept a hand through his short cropped brown hair, his blue eyes glaring daggers at me.

“I'm sorry.” I stammered, trying to collect myself. This morning from Dad was already enough stress as it is. And not to mention that I was bloody late.

“Sorry?” He scoffed. Narrowing his eyes at me he scratched the side of his neck with his index. “Do you know how expensive this car is? Could you even pay for it if you scratched it?”

I blinked at the man. The stress of the morning finally getting to me. I returned a glare.

“But did I scratch it?” I lashed out. “Look, you jerk. Your fancy car is still in one piece. I’m in one piece, thank God. But I’m late for work so I don’t need your petty argument this morning. Take a hike and get a life for heaven’s sake.”

I huffed getting on my bike. I didn’t look at him, I didn’t care. What I did care about was not getting fired. I was late. My boss had been at my neck for a while now and I wasn’t keen on pushing my luck.

I barged through the restaurant doors unable to feel my legs beneath me from all the pedalling. Unfortunately for me my boss was on the otherside, his moustache scrunched up to emphasis the frown on his face.

“You're late.” he snapped, arms crossed. “Again.”

“I'm sorry.” I breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath. “I had a bit of an issue on the way—”

“I don't want to hear it.” he cut me off. “All your excuses. I've had enough of it.”

“Sir, it's not—”

He raised his finger to my lips, I backed up on instinct.

“I don't want to hear it. You're lucky I'm not firing you on the spot, but I'll be docking your pay for today. Now get to work.” he ordered.

“Yes, sir.” I nodded, my head low.

Heading to the backroom, I grabbed my apron. I slipped behind the counter, getting ready to start the day's work.

“Rough morning?” Ben, one of the cooks, asked from the kitchen, his head visible through the serving hatch.

“Something like that.” I muttered.

“Cheer up. It gets better.” he encouraged.

“Thanks.”

As work got busy, I found myself taking food orders, serving them, and clearing up after them. I got lost in the rhythm, temporarily forgetting my personal problems.

Just as I was clearing the table of some customers who had just left, I overheard some loud-mouthed customer talking at the top of his voice behind me.

“Did you hear those gunshots yesterday?” The man asked his partner.

“Yes. I had to hide under my bed. It was absolutely terrifying.” his partner replied.

I was interested, so I leaned in enough to act like I was working but still hearing all they were saying.

“I heard it was the Serpents gang and some other smaller gang.” the man said.

The Serpents? I had never heard of that gang before. There were a lot of gangs in the city. The police have been doing their best to catch them, but they were still as elusive as ever.

“Yeah, the cops came quickly, thankfully. I heard they found bodies. When I came out of my home, I still saw traces of blood on the road.” his partner said, which sent shivers down my spine.

“The cops should really do something about this. It's getting too common.” the man concluded, reaching for the glass of wine in front of him.

“Lily!” My boss called out.

I quickly cleared up and walked back to the kitchen.