Revenge

"Please?"

I stopped, frozen in place by that one word. Biting my lip I turned and faced my little sister, her upturned eyes looking pleadingly into mine. Almost I changed my mind. Almost I stayed with her.

"Emily, you know I can't. I have to do this. I-I'm sorry."

"But Matt! Matt, wait…" I didn't listen to the rest. I couldn't and still keep my resolve. Grabbing my bag I headed out into the rain-drenched night, intent on my duty. Emily could survive a night alone, even in this city. She had to. She and my hate were all I had left, and after tonight it would only be her. I just prayed she would still have me. Pushing all extra thoughts away, I started walking downtown. That's one good thing about this city; nobody asks questions when a 15-year-old boy passes them on the street in the middle of the night. It's none of their business.

My heart tightened painfully in my chest as I approached my destination. To all appearances it was just a dilapidated old building, sure to be condemned in the very near future. I knew what was going on inside, though. Dad had shown me often enough, wanting his boy to stay away, but unable to escape himself. Ironically enough, that was where he did escape, being escorted to the one place where they could never touch him. I remember. I was just outside and heard everything from the first argument to the gunshot.

I shook my head. 'I can't think about that now,' I thought to myself. 'I've got to stay focused.' I looked around, searching for my way in. There it was, a small vent leading directly above the main floor. Security was light; the boss felt secure in his superiority. Not surprising; nobody even knew his name and he had just killed his only threat so short a time ago.
Slipping easily inside, I eased my way down the vent until I could see the gathering beneath me. The boss was discussing a new crack house location with some underlings, not that he would ever live to see it made. Reaching into my bag I pulled out the gun I had found among Dad's stuff, and took careful aim. Right before I pulled the trigger, there was a clatter to one side, followed by a man's voice.

"Well, well, a little spy has been sneaking in on us. You want to take a look-see, boss?"

The boss nodded and a few minutes later another thug walked into my line of sight, holding a struggling something. My stomach nearly leaped out of my throat when I saw what he was holding.

"Emily!" I yelled, somehow getting the vent open and leaping to the ground.

"Matt!" she called back, tears streaming down her face. "Matt, I tried to follow you and make you come home, but I lost you, but I knew you'd be here, and…"

"So, not only did we find a spy but an assassin, too," the boss said. Too late, I tried to hide the gun behind my back. I knew it was stupid, but by then my mind had almost completely stopped working.

"Well kid, you may have gotten in here, but you're not getting out. Not alive, anyway. And just because you've been so nice in giving yourself away, I'm going to let you die first and then I'll kill your little friend, isn't that nice?"

"What? NO!!" I yelled, trying to bring the gun up. Behind me another thug slammed the handle of his gun against the back of my head. I dropped to my knees, my vision swimming. The gun was kicked out of my hand, and I was grabbed roughly by the hair, my arms pinned from behind. I could see Emily from where I was, still being held by the first thug. Her eyes were wide, too terrified even to cry. The boss put his gun against my head, the cold metal sharply contrasting my own fevered skin.

"Now say good-bye," he said, and pulled the trigger.

end