Chapter Two

About two weeks ago, Alex got us apartments in Seattle. Audrey and I got one somewhere downtown. The rent wasn't much and Maurie had already enrolled Audrey at a new school. So he'd start tomorrow.

A couple years had passed since that incident. 9 and a half years precisely so little Audrey is exactly 9years old now, with a brain and too much self esteem you'd think he were the president's son or something.

We or I , made a couple friends. The gang called 'Black Diamond'. It has it's reputation for it's clean jobs and incognito. Simply, we are term as Ghosts...this I know because I saw it in the police files...a pity since I work so hard to stay alive and some guy in a uniform calls me a ghost...oh well.

I met Alex Schneider three days after I ran. Audrey was sick as I couldn't give him anything but water. I myself wasn't trained for that. He found me dirty and wet behind an Alley then took us in.

Told us he was a doctor in practice but still qualified anyway.

We stayed with him, then he offered us a place if only we could manage the terms and conditions.

**********************

"Do what you want, but you kill when I say so. I'll teach you how so you never have to work for a living till you feel like it, but you'll train everyday, I'll weponize you, make you an arsenal at my disposal. Only if you trust me of course and want me to help you. Otherwise, I can only assist till you find a job for yourself and that baby is older, either way, if you leave now, child care services will take you both to orphanages and sell you off separately. I don't want to pressure you Donna, think about it okay?"

"You'll show me how to use a gun?"younger me asked excitedly.

Alex stared at me for a while, probably thinking I was still in some kind of shock he hadn't noticed. "Guns...guns and more"he said and lowered himself to meet my eyes.

"And you'll take care of Audrey and me?"I asked breaking into a wide grin.

He looked startled, then broke into his own grin "With my life sweetheart, so do we have a deal?"he asked and stretched his hand to me. "Yes boss"I said and shook his hand, both of us smiling silly.

*******************

Funny how I never had a crush on the guy. He was quite young, in his twenties then, but he made it as though he were an older brother to us, held us when we cried, treated us when we got hurt, laughed and played with us any chance he got.

Alex Schneider was perfection, he always got what he wanted, even what we wanted, an amazing doctor, teacher, instructor and a lethal person in whole, he was everything we all needed.

Yes, all of us. Before me were others, his cousin and other homeless kids he helped like me who were willing and ready for action. Honestly, we could have been the freaking Mafia.

Willow - a good journalist and black diamonds informant and third gunner.

Chris -, handyman, crazy good at fixing and planting stuff, so black diamonds tech support.

Jill -, skilled inventor, like me, she doesn't bother with an actual daytime job, so, she's in charge of ammunition. Second gunner.

Matteo- he's basically from a rich home, with no real reason as to why he's here. Though he join us about 4years ago he doesn't stay long like the rest of us... easily he's our correspondence, should in case our victims have dirt only rich people get to know about, plus, he's our fourth gunner.

Maurie- she's a model, beauty and brain. She's the tech girl, never ever has to show up on the field, a single scar on her pretty body and her career's over... I say she's just over dramatic.

Kimberly- Alex's Cousin, she does wardrobe. Everyone needs a Kim, she knows how to pick an outfit to suit the event, of course that includes fixing easy ammunition and comms into everyday wears, she's a fashionista and our sniper.

Malik- Suave is an understatement, he solely deals with our general gears...from cars to guns parts. He owns clubs around, he's been here for two weeks and he's already back in business with a new club called "Beerborn" . First gunner.

My position?, I'm called the 'Ace'.

Yup, usually, when I think of an Ace, I think of best at everything... but I'm not that smart ,honestly. Sure I'm good at taking important life-changing things I shouldn't without permission or even espionage, really, I'm pretty much the typical nice neighborhood girl you see everyday, the one that everyone wants to be nice to seeing as she's living all by herself with a kid to take care of. Sweet little sob story, an Independent act and everybody loves you. Yet, I'm everyone's favorite killer with a trade mark. A star shaped hole between the eyes.

It's so happened that Alex thought it would be good for us to create names for ourselves when I turned 16, any name we wanted, anyway we wanted.

He gave us three rules

1. Be known but unnoticed.

2. Be lethal but unseen.

3. Be remembered.

Following up this rules was how;

*Kim became the temptress

*Malik became the mad rider

*Maurie became Polka

And finally, I became Banks!

The worst one.

Surely there was alot of interesting stuff, but I'll have to fast forward as to why we left Los Angeles.

Alex got a transferred!, Yes, he got this amazing in job at some high paying hospital or whatever, and... clearly that's not the number one reason.

I wrecked some people, I wrecked them hard. So hard they couldn't restart from their ashes. Honestly, it was one of my heroic deeds really, the one time I try to be the good guy and eradicate a multi-national syndicate of smugglers, without even a known name,so you know the cops can't even help?, What happens? It comes back to bite my ass.

Those harpies ran out of the city and sent all kinds of assassins on the market to find me!...well, Banks. $7,000,000,000 bounty for his head. That wasn't an error, HIS body, dead or alive is worth $7,000,000,000 in cash.

Apparently the mother organization had just finished establishing it's new HQ here in Seattle. So of course we came to get to know this bastards and what their game is. Maybe even blow up this HQ to cinders and ashes like the last one...who knows, but I guess it couldn't be helped.

They know I'm here.

Scratch that, they know he's here, with the gang? Probably not. Still, the most intriguing way to kill is by strangling, the andrenaline pumping and fueling you till your victims eyes pop... metaphorically of course, the rush of excitement and rage.

That's why we are here, to strangle this nameless syndicate, not because of heroic deeds, nope, since apparently,that put a bounty on my head but rather...

Well...for me, it's so Audrey stays safe and happy like he always is. Having a bounty on my head doesn't really help with that, and he's been quite worried about me too, everyone has really.

So, easy, to take off the bounty, you take out the one who holds the cash. No payer, no bounty, no worries.

Well, of course I didn't expect Him.

*****"****"****

"Listen here Lady, I demand you learn to cook from now on, I have no intention of getting poisoned at a restaurant for your sake. Thanks to your nosy self, you are a living corpse already, I don't intend to have you completely dead so get your lazy behind to the kitchen now Missy!"Audrey said as he stormed into the living room where I was sprawled on the floor with books all around. You'd think I'm a nerd.

I raised my head to look at him. He stood by the door, arms crossed and a scowl plastered on his charming face. "Don't you just look sexy"I teased and laid my head down again, closing my eyes slowly.

"Can't say I didn't try"I heard him mumble and stomp in to the living room. Before I could react, he yanked my feet hard and proceeded to drag me across the room. "Why the fuck are you so heavy!"he whined, "language!"I scolded.... what? He's not old enough to use it yet.

"Ugh, what are you, a whale?"he whined, not even reaching half way across the room.

"If I were, then you must be super strong to have made it this far"

"This is impossible!"

"Just like the idea of me cooking, I mean there's a higher chance I'd kill us both"

"I'd take that chance"he mumbled under his breath,

"What was that?"

"I said fat chance, I don't care. You better work a miracle there Missy, I don't give two figs how" he said still pulling.

"Let's make deal, you drag my fat ass to the door, then I'll cook till I can make something edible for us, deal?"

"Deal"

He just loves his big sister doesn't he?.

Unfortunately he managed to do it, and I sadly, was stuck in the kitchen with Audrey the vengeful tyrant till I was able to produce a lovely dish of chinese stir fry rice served with a nice cold glass of fruit juice for the little tyrant.

"Not bad, do better"he said and sauntered off to his room with his meal. I just stared at him as he went.

He really is worried, he'd never willingly eat my hasty creation, I looked out the window at the gentle scene of people passing, laughing and roaming around the place, beautiful really. Yet all I could think about was how I'm gonna drown those sons of bitches when I find them.