I pedaled my bike so fast that the tires were are almost hovering above the ground, which was easy to see because of the streetlights. The backpack on my back jumped up and down as I went over the bumpy sidewalk. My legs burned from the extreme exercise, but I ignored them. I knew I was already late for the specific time that I was supposed to meet Vlad, and knew he was going to kill me if the plan failed because of me being late. Also, if he didn’t kill me one of the other guys would and if they didn’t… Oh god! I don’t even want to know what would happen to me if the boss chooses to punish me! My burned arms and my cut legs screamed for me to stop pedaling, but I knew I had to keep on or the whole plan would fall! Finally, as I couldn’t feel my legs, I got to the busy mall parking lot and that meant I was almost to the meeting spot! I pedaled faster as I swerved in between the parked cars and when I reached the end of the parking lot I finally saw Vlad! He was standing on the corner of the street and seemed to be waiting for the green walk light to come so he could cross. He was in a red sports shirt, a pair of jeans, and a backwards baseball cap that was also red. He had a dark black bag in his hands, as planned. He looked younger than his real age, which made it seem weird that he was smoking and reading a newspaper. I quickly pedaled over to him and he looked over the top of his paper angrily. I didn’t smile or say anything to him as we pretended to not know each other. Then the light changed and he gave me a look that said “show time!” I slowly crossed the street and Vlad folded his paper as he followed. My jeans stuck to seat of the bike as my jacket protected me from the storm air. Vlad handed me the bag when no one was looking at us. When I got to the other side of the street I peddled at medium speed until I got to the end of the street and stopped in front of ‘Freedom Hotel’ I put my bike in the bike rack and then I slid to the side of the building and saw the bathroom window was open, which meant Satashi had followed through with his part of the plan. I grabbed the edge of the window and slid myself in, luckily no one was inside. I went into one of the stalls and opened my bag. I got out the black sports coat, the dark blue pants, the black shoes, the white dress shirt, and the hair gel. I took off my jacket, shirt, pants, and shoes. Then I replaced them with the new. I put my old cloths into the bag and came out of the stall. When I went up to the mirror I sleeked my hair to the side, which made it look a lot better than my usual messy hair. I put the gel back into the bag and then I threw it out the window of the bathroom. As I made my way to the door something on my neck caught my eye. I walked back to the mirror and noticed I had a black and blue bruise on my neck and on part of my shoulder. It was so dark that you could see it through my white shirt, so I pulled my jacket closer to my neck.
I walked out of the bathroom and saw Nick and Drake pretending to talk at a booth in the restaurant at the main floor of the hotel. They looked at the 6 guards who were at the door of the hotel and made sure they weren’t looking at them or me. Nick gave me a thumb up and that made me less nervous, but the always-rude Drake kept up to his reputation and pointed at the elevator with anger. As Drake turned around I stuck my tongue out at him and then made my way to the elevator. I pressed the green arrow button and the golden doors of the elevator opened. I walked inside the elevator and waited for it to close. Then I saw the target of the night’s daughter walking quickly towards the closing doors of the elevator I was in. I ran to the front of the elevator and put my hand by the sensor. The elevator re-opened and the girl got into the elevator.
“Thank you for holding the elevator for me.” She said in her gentle voice as the elevator doors closed.
“It’s my pleasure, Miss.” I said with my winning smile that the boss told me to use whenever I wanted a girl to fall for me. She blushed as she leaned against the wall of the elevator. I pressed the button that said ‘top floor’. “I assume you are going to the banquet upstairs also?” I added.
“What makes you think that?” She asked.
“Your beauty. If the host didn’t invite such a beautiful girl as yourself, then he would be a fool, and as far as I know Mr. Freedom isn’t a fool.” I said, extremely flirting with the target’s daughter. I knew if I got her to like me it might help me by the end of the night.
“You think I’m beautiful?” She asked with a deeper blush formed on her cheeks.
“The blind could see your beauty.” I said kindly.
“My father tells me that all the time.” She said with a continuing blush.
“Then I hope to meet your father. He sounds like a great man if he comments on your beauty so much.” I said, even though I knew who she was and who her father was.
“I will make sure you do. But what shall I tell him your name is?” She asked.
“James Houser.” I said, using my fake last name the boss had given me.
“Oh? I don’t believe I know your family.”
“That should be correct. I’m not here with my family.”
“Then who are you with?” She asked anxiously.
“The Hilstones. I am best friends with the family heir and he got permission for me to come be with him tonight.” I answered.
“Oh? So you’re Erick’s friend that he was talking about?” She asked.
“What did Erick say about me?” I asked with a smile.
“He said you were his best friend and that your life is exciting.” She said. “What did he mean by exciting?”
“I don’t know. My life isn’t all that interesting.” I said as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Immediately the quiet elevator was filled with the noise of the party that took up the large party room that made up the top floor of the hotel. “I never caught your name.” I said before I stepped out.
“Kirsten Freedom.” She said with a blush.
“Well, Miss Kirsten, I hope to see you later.” I said and then I walked off. I found Erick quickly and tapped his shoulder. He was in a large group of fancy guys in tuxedos and they all turned to look at me.
“James!” Erick yelled excitedly. He smiled broadly and I felt out of place as I noticed he was wearing a tuxedo also. Actually I was the only guy in the whole place not wearing a tuxedo.
“Sorry I’m late.” I said.
“It’s cool.” He said and then he stood next to me. “Guy’s this is my best friend James.” He said with a proud smile.
“Hello.” They all said formally and I felt even more out of place.
“Hey.” I said with a smile.
“Dude, you look nervous.” Erick whispered to me.
“That’s because I feel out of place.”
“Why?” He whispered.
“I don’t belong here.” I whispered.
He looked at me sadly. “Sorry, but I’m really glad you came.” He whispered.
I nodded and smiled to the group of guys. “So where do you go to school?” I asked the group and they smiled at me.
“We’re all going to Grace High.” One said.
“Oh? That school is the best in the county.”
“Of course. We are expelled if we get two C’s.” The same guy said.
“That’s harsh! I would never make it there.” I said with a joking smile.
“With the grades you get, James, I’m surprised your not expelled from our school.” James added with a laugh.
“Oh well.” I said and everyone laughed. Then someone grabbed my shoulder tightly and it startled me. I turned to see Will and Henry. Will was the one who had grabbed my shoulder and Henry pointed his hand at me in the shape of a gun.
“Bang!” Henry said as he slightly moved his fingers up.
“Hey.” Will said as he let go of me.
“What are you doing here J?” Henry asked.
“Shouldn’t a gang member like you be killing someone now and not at a nice party?” Will asked with a smirk.
“I’m not in a gang.” I said as I put my fist in front of Will’s face. “Unless you want me to start acting like I’m in one now?”
“J! Don’t ignore me!” Henry said. “Answer me!”
“I’m here with a friend, what are you guys doing here?” I asked.
“We were invited, duh.” Will said with another smirk and I put my hand down.
“Well, sorry.” I said with a smile.
“We’ll see you later, okay?” Henry asked.
“Alright. See ya’.” I said and they walked away. Then I turned back to the group of guys and they looked at me bug-eyed.
“How do you know them?” Erick asked.
“I was Henry’s body guard last year and I became good friends with them.” I said.
“But they are the richest people here!”
“So? Money isn’t everything.” I said and they all laughed, even though I hadn’t made a joke. I frowned. “You’ll have to excuse me. I have to get some air.” I said and then I walked away. I went to the open doors on the side of the room. I walked out onto the porch and leaned against the railing. I picked up my phone and dialed Boss’s number.
“Hello? James?” He asked.
“Yea, I’m inside and have made small talk, as planned.”
“Good, now Grant figured out where the gem is. He said it was one floor below you. It is guarded by two armed guards and is in a locked box.” He said.
“Alright. I’ll go get it.” I said.
“Be careful. Vlad will be waiting for you outside in the car. He’s already got your old stuff and bike. You have to be out within an hour from now or we’re going to end the mission.” He said.
“Got it. Goodbye.” I said and I hung up my phone. I made my way back into the room and went through the crowd until I got to the other side of the room. I pressed the button for the elevator. I got in and pressed the button for the floor below. The elevator moved there and the doors opened. I came out of the elevator and made my way to the only door in the hallway that had two guards in front of it. I casually walked up to them and they looked surprised that I did, since they were two large men with extremely large guns with them.
“Excuse me, could you tell me where the bathroom is?” I asked the bigger guard.
“Down the hall and to the right.” The guard said as he lifted his arm and pointed his finger at the direction he was talking about.
“Thank you.” I said and then I started to turn away, but I turned back around and kicked the guard in the stomach. He fell slightly to the ground as the other guard ran towards me. I punched him in the head hard enough that he passed out, but he would live. The other guard got up and grabbed my neck with both hands. I reached behind me and poked both of his eyes. He screamed as he fell to the ground. I quickly ran into the room and found the safe. It had a lock that required 3 numbers from 1 to 50 to be put in. I listened to the top of the box as I turned the knob of the lock. Finally I got one click and then I got the second. Sadly the guard I had punched in the head regained consciousness and pressed a button that was on the wall. I knew it was for reinforcements so I hurried. As he passed out again I got the third click and the door of the safe opened! I got the shiny green gem out and put it into my pocket. I put an ace of spades playing card inside the box and closed it. Then I heard people running down the hall, so I ran to the window, held my pocket with the gem, and kicked the window. The glass shattered and I jumped though it. Before I hit the ground I grabbed onto the side of the building and stopped myself. I got onto a balcony to a room and jumped from one balcony to the other until I got to the porch that was at the top floor. I pulled myself over the railing and leaned against the railing like noting had happened. Then I went inside and found Erick.
“Hey! Where have you been?” He asked.
“I went outside and then walked around.”
“Okay. So what are you going to do now?”
“I’m bored, so I’m going to leave. Is that okay?”
“Yea. If you don’t want to be here, you can leave, but I’ll walk you out.” He said.
“Alright. Let’s go.” I said and we went to the elevator. We got in, pressed the main level button, went down, and got out. All the guards were gone, so they were probably trying to find the robber somewhere near the scene. We got outside and I saw the group’s car. “That’s my ride.” I said.
“Okay. I’ll see you at school on Monday.” He said. I nodded and then I walked to the car. I opened the car passenger door and got in. Vlad was driving the car and he drove away. I slumped in my seat once we were out of the area of the hotel.
“You did good, even though you were late.”
“Thanks. By the way, how did Drake, Nick, and Satashi get back?”
“They got a ride from Sam. He was stocking on food, so he picked them up on his way back.”
“Oh, okay.”
“So did you not kill them?”
“The two guards didn’t die. One I punched in the head and the other I poked in the eyes. They will be fine.”
“Good, because the boss wouldn’t like it if you had killed someone on your first mission.” Vlad pointed out.
“I know.” I said and he smiled.
“So your finally a man of the group.” He said with a proud smile.
“Yea, thanks for helping me get here.”
“It was my pleasure. When I found you 5 years ago I knew I couldn’t leave you with that family. When I became your gardener as my assignment I saw how that man abused you, so I felt sorry and wanted to help you. The only thing I could think of was to take you to the boss.” He said as he stopped at a red light.
“And I’m going to always be in your debt for doing that.” I said as I put my hand kindly on his shoulder.
“I know. The boss treats you like his own now.”
“And I’m also grateful for that. I look up to the boss like the father I always wanted.” I said as Vlad started driving again.
“He thinks of you as the son he’s always wanted.” Vlad said with a wink.
“Yea. You all are the best family a guy could have.” I said.
“We all are a family aren’t we?” He said with a smile as I changed back into my cloths from before. I put my fancy cloths back into the bag.
“Yea. We all care and take care of each other. I’d call that a family.”
He nodded as he drove up to the church. He stopped the car and we got out. I quickly ran up to the doors of the abandoned church. Vlad followed slowly and I knocked on the door. It was quiet around the church and felt peaceful.
“Who is it?” Satashi called through the door.
“James and Vlad.” I said and he opened the door.
“Hey! You made it!” Satashi yelled as he hugged me happily.
“Yea. It wasn’t that hard.”
“Come in, come in.” Satashi said as he let go of me. Vlad and I came in and Satashi shut the door. All 10 guys, including the boss, were sitting in the pews of the church and they were talking. They stopped and looked at us when the door shut.
“James!” They yelled as they saw me.
“Hey!” I said.
The boss got up and walked up to me. He put him hand on my shoulder tenderly. “You got it?” He asked.
“I’m sorry. I was attacked on my way out and it was stolen from me, but I luckily got away.” I said, as I put my head down. Everyone looked sad, but not ashamed.
“Well at least they didn’t get you.” Boss said as his hand came off of me. He turned around and started to walk back to the sad group when I busted out laughing. Everyone looked at me in confusion.
“Man! Ya’ll are easy to fool!” I said with another laugh. Everyone smiled and laughed too. The boss walked back to me with a grin.
“So you did get it?” He asked.
“They would’ve had to kill me for me not to leave with the gem.” I said as I took it out of my pocket and showed it to everyone. They all cheered as the Boss took it from me with a large smile.
“I’m proud of you James. You did good.” He said and I smiled.
“Thanks.” I said and the boss put the gem in his pocket.
“I’m going to leave and be back in the morning. When I get back we are leaving.” He said and everyone smiled.
“Aruba diarchic England!” Sam said in his French accent with a proud grin.
“Aruba diarchic!” We all, except for the boss, yelled in a cheer. The boss laughed.
“Where are we going now?” I asked the boss.
“You’ll see.” He said with a wink. Then he walked out of the church.
Everyone smiled at each other, and then we all started to pack all of our stuff. I packed up the food with Sam while everyone else did another job.
“I hope we go to Japan for once.” Sam said in his deep accent.
“I don’t care where we go. As long as we leave here.” I said as I taped the top of a box closed. Sam and I both picked up a box and carried them outside.
“Right, how close are we from your town?”
“Only a few miles.” I said with a sad smile as we walked towards the pick up truck that was owned by Sam.
“At least London is very populated. The cops won’t spot you easily here.” He said as we set our boxes in the back of the car.
“I hope they don’t see me.”
“Don’t worry, concerti. We will be gone by dawn.” He said with a smile.
“Yea.” I said and we walked back inside the church. I helped Sam with the last 4 boxes and brought them to the truck. Once that was done I came back inside.
“Hey, J! Can you help me with theses?” Freak asked as he tried to carry the largest box out of all of them.
“Sure, Freak.” I said as I went over and grabbed the side of the box that he wasn’t holding. We got it out to John’s Volvo and put it in the trunk.
“Thanks.” He said with a smile.
“No problem. It would’ve been really bad if you had dropped that box of explosives.” I said and he looked shocked.
“How did you know it was a box of explosives?”
“I could smell the explosive powder before I even touched the box.” I said as I saw John carrying a large box and then he tripped over a tree branch! I ran over as fast as I could, I slid on my stomach and caught the box before it hit the ground.
“He’s safe!” Freak yelled as he crossed his arms and pulled them across each other like an umpire for a baseball game and since everyone was now outside they all laughed.
“Nice slide!” Austin said with a smile as he shut the back of Vlad’s car.
“Smooth catch!” Vlad said as he stood next to Austin. I got up and held the box with one hand and brushed the dirt off my shirt and jacket.
“Wow! You’re so strong!” John said as he got off the ground. “I could barely carry that box with my whole body and you’re carrying it with only one hand!” He said.
“Of course! He practices fighting with me and he sharpens his knife skills with Drake every day.” Nick said with a smile and Drake frowned.
Everyone laughed at John’s weakness as I brought the box over to John’s silver Volvo. I closed the back of the car and smiled.
“You shouldn’t have carried the guns, John. They are too heavy for you.”
“Sorry.” He said with a smile and I smiled too.
“So what do we have left?”
John ran to the church and looked around. “We’re done!” He called back and everyone gave a sigh of relief. Everyone except for me went inside. I went to John’s car and got out the brooms we always brought with us. I walked into the church and saw everyone was already getting ready to sleep.
“Aren’t you going to sleep, J? We’re leaving early tomorrow.” Nick asked me as he sat on a pew with a blanket. Everyone was on their own pew with a blanket and pillow.
“I’m not going to sleep tonight. I can feel it.” I said with a wiry smile.
“Too close to home to feel comfortable?”
I nodded. “I don’t feel safe here.”
“That makes sense. All of us don’t feel safe when we are home.”
“Yea.” I replied as I started to sweep the floor by him.
“Are your parents still looking for you?” He asked. Nick was like an older brother to me, so he always was the one I shared my feelings to.
I handed him a newspaper that was on the pew in front of the one he was on. I pointed to an article. I had read that paper this morning so I knew what that article said. It talked about the middle school boy who had been taken by “Ace of Spades” and how today was the 5 years anniversary of his abduction.
“So today was the day you joined us?” He asked.
I nodded as I swept more.
“I can’t believe those evil people are still trying to get you back! They don’t deserve a son as good as you!” He yelled to the paper in my defense.
“They want me back so they can hurt me.” I said as I looked down.
“Speaking of hurting you, who gave you that bruise on you neck and shoulder?” He asked as I noticed my t-shirt and jacket were not on my shoulder and showed the bruise.
“Um…I did that.” I lied as I didn’t look at his eyes.
“You’re lying. Now tell me who gave that to you.” He said with a smile.
“It’s noting to worry about.”
“Come on, you can tell me. You tell me everything.”
“No, this one time I think it would be best if I kept this one to myself.” I said as I swept more. Then the door of the church opened and the boss ran in. He shut the doors behind him and walked over to Nick and I.
“How do they know?” Boss asked me with wide eyes.
“What?” Nick asked in confusion.
“Tell me, James! How do they know your in London?!” Boss yelled at me and everyone got up. Vlad ran over and everyone followed.
“They know?! How?!” Vlad asked.
“What are you talking about?!” Nick yelled.
“James’s family has somehow found out he is in London!” Boss said and he turned me to him. He quickly noticed the bruise on my shoulder and neck. Vlad and the boss gasped.
“They got you?” Vlad asked me.
I looked away and tried to keep calm.
“James! You have to tell us! Did they get you?! Did they touch you?!” Boss yelled.
I nodded and the Boss’s eyes got wider.
“How badly did they hurt you?” Boss asked.
“Only this bruise.” I lied and I didn’t look at the boss.
“He’s lying. When he lived with his family I would ask him if they hurt him and he would say he accidentally hurt himself or it was only a cut or bruise.” Vlad said.
“Tell me James! Tell me or we will have to find out for ourselves!” Boss yelled.
“They burned my arms and cut my legs.” I said as I looked at the ground.
The boss unzipped my jacket and took it off of me. The whole group gasped when they saw the black spots on my arms from the burns.
“What did they use?” Boss asked me.
“My mother’s curling iron.” I said as I held back my tears.
“Vlad, get some ice for his arms and some band-aids for his legs.” Boss ordered.
“No! I’m fine!” I protested.
“Quickly Vlad.” The boss ordered again and Vlad left. “How did they get you?” Boss asked.
“I was at biking to get to Vlad when my father spotted me. He and my three brothers grabbed me and brought me back to their house. Then the tortured me until I finally got away from my brother’s grip and jumped out their window. I ran back to my bike and rode away. I was hoping they would give up on getting me, but I was wrong.”
“They are searching the whole city for you.” Boss said.
“Then they will never think of coming to an abandoned church in a cornfield that is outside the city.” Nick said.
“Hopefully, but we will have to hide James when we leave tomorrow.” Boss said as Vlad ran back to the boss.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble.”
“It’s alright, but you should’ve told us.” Boss said. I nodded as the boss put a bag of ice on my arm. I winced at the coldness of the bag.
“Change into a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt.” The boss ordered. Vlad went outside and came back with a pair of my shorts and a shirt. I changed into them and the boss told me to sit down. “Everyone else go to sleep.” The boss ordered and everyone followed, except for Nick and Vlad.
“I want to help.” Nick said.
“We need 2 extra hands.” Vlad pointed out. Nick held ice up to my right arm and the boss held some up to my left while Vlad bandaged up my legs. I sat there quietly as my arms went numb from the ice. Nick looked up at me with a sad smile and so did Vlad.
“Why didn’t you tell me, J?” Vlad asked.
“It isn’t worth telling. It isn’t horrible.” I said as I looked at all the bandages on my legs. The Boss squeezed my wrist and the three of us looked at him in shock.
“You need to tell us this kind of stuff. What if they had seriously hurt you?” The boss said as he let go of me.
“I can handle it. I’m used to it.” I said as I held back tears.
“You shouldn’t be used to abuse.” Nick pointed out.
Vlad nodded. “But he is telling the truth. He should be used to abuse because he was abused every day that I was at his house.” Vlad said.
“How many times a year did they abuse you?” Nick asked curiously.
“As long as I can remember.”
“Even on your birthday?!” Nick said in shock.
“They did worse on my birthday. I hated my birthday because of it.” I said.
“But why did they abuse you?!” Nick asked.
“I’d rather not say.” I said as I looked down.
“Your parents told me that you had done something when you were younger that made you a disgrace.”
“I did.” I said as I looked down.
“What?” Nick asked.
“I killed my brother.” I said.
“What?! You would never kill anyone!” Nick protested.
“When I was 5 my oldest brother got angry at me and tried to kill me. I tried to defend myself and I ended up killing my brother.” I said.
“But you did it out of self defense!” Nick yelled.
“It didn’t matter. My family already hated me, but then they wanted to get revenge for my brother’s life.” I said.
“Your parents did seem short a few marbles.” Vlad commented.
“Your parents must be crazy.” Nick added.
“I don’t know.” I said as the boss sighed. We all looked at him curiously.
“I won’t let your family get their hands on you again.” The boss said.
“Neither will I.” Vlad said.
“Amen!” Nick added and they all smiled at me.
“They aren’t my family.” I said and they all looked at me curiously. “You guys are my family now. You are the people I love and want to protect.”
“Yea.” The boss added.
“We are the family of the ace of spades.” Nick added and we all laughed.