Five

For a while, I forgot where I was. That was until Sunny barged into my room jumping up and down on my bed.

"Get up, get up, get up!" She shrieked.

"Seriously!?" I snarled.

"It's morning...so get up. Let's get breakfast."

I rolled over and looked at the clock. Six A.M. I groaned. "You've got to be kidding." I yawned.

"Long night?" She asked.

"I only got two hours of shut-eye. Do you mind?" I tried to shoo her away, but she wouldn't budge.

"Look, we have rules in this house. You rise at six and fall at nine." She giggled. "Or in your case, fall at four in the morning. So get up."

I pulled the covers over my face trying to sleep a bit longer. Sunny pulled them off my head and completely off my body. A cold chill ran up my spine.

"Fine!" I jumped up and threw on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt and a pair of boots. She pulled me down into the kitchen where surely enough, fifteen people sat and chatted amongst themselves. They stopped their conversation when they noticed me walking in. Frowns were placed on their faces.

"Don't worry about it." Sunny nudged me in the shoulder with her finger. "Their worried, that's all."

Bran was sitting in the far corner with Mark and the girl that was asleep on Marks' shoulder. Bran and I's eyes met for a brief moment then he turned his head to avoid me. I must've really made him angry. I got some food from the woman I met two hours earlier. She smiled at me lightly and told me morning again. When we sat at a table, there was a boy and another girl sitting there talking. They stopped to look at me curiously.

"I'm Nicole!" The girl held out her hand.

"Laura." I took her hand and shook it.

"This is Mike." She pointed to the blonde boy sitting beside her.

"Nice to meet you, Laura." Mike shook my hand firmly.

I got acquainted with Nicole and Mike. They were both nineteen. But Sunny kept drawing my attention back to her. I don't think she knew how to be quiet. But she reminded me a lot of Chelsea. Oh, how I miss Chelsea. Sunny and Chelsea would've gotten along nicely. Maybe I should call her and talk to her. But that'd cause panic in my best friend. Maybe it's best not to say anything for a while and just grieve. I got too stressed and got up and walked out. Sunny's face was expressionless and confused. But she didn't follow me. I felt eyes on my back as I left. I didn't go upstairs, I simply walked out the front door and sat on the steps. I needed air.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I turned I seen Bran frowning at the ground.

"I'm sorry." He sat down next to me. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or whatever yesterday."

"It's fine. I kind of deserved it." A tear slid down my cheek. But I wiped it away before he could see.

"I need you to do something for me." His eyes held mine.

"What?"

"I need you to meet everyone. I'm calling a meeting and I'll explain who we are. And what this place is." He said pointing to the house and everyone inside of it.

"I thought I had to figure that out?" I asked raising my eyebrow in confusion.

He shrugged. "Things change."

"Can't agree more." More tears fell.

We sat in a long silence. He had his hand on my shoulder. He looked unsure of how to comfort a broken girl.  But something was telling me, he knew what I was feeling.

We finally made our way back into the house. Mark and the girl was sitting on the couch, their finger entwined together. That must be his girlfriend or wife. He glanced up to see my red swollen eyes and Bran's frown.

"You good?" He was directing at both of us. We both nodded.

"Meeting tonight at eight. Spread the word." Bran nodded.

"You got it, boss." Mark held up his thumb.

Mark took out his phone and sent a message to everyone. That was easy. My phone chimed and the message was sent to me too.

"How'd you know my number?" I asked confusingly.

"We know everything." Mark chuckled.

"That's right." The girl chimed. "I'm Lisa by the way. Marks fiance." She got up with her arms extended. She wrapped them around my neck and squeezed. I didn't know what to do with an unexpected hug. But I curled my arms under hers and patted her shoulder awkwardly. Mark and Bran giggled like little school girls. Lisa let me go and she returned to her spot beside Mark.

"Hey, maybe you two should make out." Mark was joking but I glared at him and he dropped his eyes. Lisa started chuckling.

"I like her." She said pointing to me.

Around seven thirty Sunny barged into my room, her again.

"You got twenty minutes to get your butt dressed."

"Meeting isn't until eight." I rolled my eyes. "And I am dressed."

"Well, either way." She giggled. She climbed onto my bed, and we started talking about random things that popped up.

She tugged me off my bed at seven thirty-five and dragged me downstairs into a room that looked like a meeting area. It had a round table and at least twenty or thirty chairs. Sitting at the head was Bran. Mark was on his right. Though not everyone was here yet. Bran waved me over to sit on his left side. I did just that. I felt safe and comfortable around him for some reason.

Beside me, Sunny claimed that seat and whispered in my ear.

"You got the 'special' seat." She made air quotations.

"What do you mean?"

"He never lets anyone sit there. Ever!"

Everyone started piling in, filling the empty chairs. When the last person entered and shut the door Bran stood up.

"Thank you all for being here. To my left is Laura. I'm sure she's heard some stories of two gangs here." He looked at me for confirmation.

"Yeah. I have."

"Then you should know who we are."

I shook my head. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"Well." He shrugged. "Do you know the names of the gangs?"

"No. I never learned them."

He smacked his palm to his forehead and sighed. "Sunny?"

"Yes, boss?" She sat up straight.

"Wanna tell her the names?"

"Sure." She nodded. "Snakes and Lions."

"Thank you. Now Laura, can you guess which one we are?"

"Wait you're all in a gang?" I blurted.

All eyes fell on me. Then everyone started giggling, except Bran whose eyes were dead serious and pleading for me to get this right.

"I'll guess...lions?" They didn't look like the kind of people who liked to be called snakes. And looking around the room there was a portrait of a lion. So I rolled with it.

"Good. I'm their leader." He nodded.

"Ok. So..why am I here?"

He looked at me raised eyebrows. "We all have a story. We all have a past. And we are all chasing monsters." He frowned. "Some people would like to share their stories with you."

Nicole stood up. "You already know my name and age. I was once a normal girl. I cheered and danced, even did gymnastics. But that changed when my parents got divorced. She met a guy she really liked, brought him home. He moved in a month later. He was a heavy drinker and drug user. When my mom was at work, he snuck into my room and forced himself on me. I told my mom, but she didn't believe me, so I ran. And Bran and Mark found me." She sat back down tears feeling her eyes.

This felt more of a counseling class then a gang meeting. Everyone's families were torn apart in some shape or form, I get that.

"You see, we don't kill people like they do." He meant the snakes. "We help them. But don't get me wrong, we still do very bad shit. We kill when we have to and sell drugs and weapons. It's how we scrape by."

"We aren't bad." Sunny nudged me in the arm.

"So where does that leave me?" I asked in confusion.

"Well, we would be happy if you joined us." Bran shrugged. "It's your decision. No one's forcing you. But if you don't you have to leave here and never come back." He frowned. "It's nothing personal, but this house is off limits to the outside world."

"How long do I have to think about this? I mean I barely had time to mourn my murdered grandmother. Now you're shoving all this at me and I don't know." I had to stop and catch my breath. I mean I didn't really know what to do. Join or leave. I didn't want to join a gang and I didn't want to leave either. My head was already hurting. These people were normal once. They turned into something else after dramatic events happened to them. But, what if I turned into a monster? I'm already falling apart inside. I tried my best to hide what I was feeling, but I just wanted it to end. The last thing I told my grams was nothing but a lie. I wish that I'd have gotten the chance to talk to her, or at least say goodbye. My eyes started sweeping with tears when Sunny nudged me.

"You have two days to think." He said dismissing everyone. When everyone left he sat back down placing a hand on my shoulder. "You stay for a minute." He didn't sound mad. Just very concerned. "Wanna talk?"

"Not really. I'm fine, really." I forced a smile.

"You know. I never told you this..." he shut his eyes to catch his breath. "But my father once told me a story about an old man. He heard shouting in an alley and seen an old man on his knees with a gun to his head. He was being mugged. The old man didn't comply at first, then he eventually gave in. When the thug ran, my father chased him and shot him dead. Took me with him to the old man's house to deliver his wallet."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because that old man was your grandfather. I peeked into his house and seen you covered in bruises. I was mad for the rest of the day. My father never knew why." He chuckled.

"So you knew me before I knew you?" I asked confused.

"I've been watching you. Well, my father was watching your grandfather, in turn, I was watching you." He shrugged.

"Why?"

"You were hurt. A wreck like me. I'm fucked, Laura. We all are." He got up and left me there alone. I was so confused and I grew frustrated.

I had two days! Two days to join or leave. I managed to crawl upstairs and into my bed. Tossing and turning for a few hours, I finally managed to close my eyes.