*Trigger warnings - Physical fight\, Small drug reference\, Small pornographic reference*

My clothes uncomfortably stick to my skin with a mix of sweat and cool evening rain the air smells of wet asphalt tied in with the scent of fresh grass. the musk of garbage and dirt arises whenever my tattered shoes skid and scrape the ground in my attempts to stand my ground against The Crimson Lilies, a well-known gang from the depths of Gehenna. CRACK! A flying punch hits me straight in the jaw making my vision fuzzy. I stumble almost tripping over a rouge shoelace, stabling myself I try and focus. Right in front of me is a burly man in a disgusting sweat-stained leather jacket with a massive rip down the back where it was supposed to show a lily engulfed in cerise flames, the gangs logo. With closer inspection, I realize the sides of the rip are encrusted in dried blood telling me the hole is most likely from a blade that induced a wound.

 "shit.." I grumble under my breath. This probably means he gets in a lot of trouble, I'm in for a hard fight. Out of nowhere a curvy woman with bouncy sangria coloured hair beats me on top of my head with a blunt object that I cant see, my knees go weak. My head starts pounding with immense pain, falling onto the rough concrete my knees scrape against the loose pebbles ripping open the skin. painful stinging shoots from the raw skin. I'm an idiot for thinking I could take them on all at once. My mind clouds and goes woozy due to the blows when I hear a deep husky scream of pain come from the burly man. Eyes glazed I glance over to see that someone has kicked him in his lower abdomen. The woman panics and calls out to him. Movement happens in the deep shadows but I’m unable to see clearly. Swaying in and out of consciousness I’m brutally jerked backwards by my biceps, surroundings fade out of my awareness It's just me and an increasingly loud ringing in my ears.

                                                               ***___***

"IDIOT! WHY WOULD YOU BRING HER WITH US?" I hear someone shout. It's a familiar female voice but I can't place it.

"I don't know Persophne! I thought the boss would be happy?!" I recognize this voice it's the deep husky voice of the burly man in the ripped jacket. Eyes shooting open I look around, my hands tied behind me. I'm in a rundown apartment, to my right is a floral-patterned couch that reeks of piss and cheap perfume with a chipped wooden coffee table placed in front of it, on top of the table is a huge pile of weed with a very used, half-full bong beside it. In disgust I turn my head to my right there I see an iron bed frame around twin size with nothing but an old mattress and a checkered comforter, under the bed I see piles of pornographic magazines and dirty clothes. Besides that, the apartment has a small kitchenette with a fold-up table covered in fast food containers, leftover food dripping onto the carpeted floor.

"**** Ronnie! she's awake now there's no going back," says the female who I've now identified as the curvy redhead from before. She and the man are standing in between the kitchen and bathroom door.

"Where the hell am I?" I groan. Smirking the woman whose name I’ve found to be Persephone bends down to reach eye level with me. With her so close I see that she is very beautiful she has smooth olive skin and deep brown eyes flecked with a herbal green. Her nose is straight and leads perfectly to her plump, full lips.

"Smart aren't you?" Her response snaps me back from my daze.

"What?" I question. The Burly man, now Ronnie walks over with a limp.

He comes right up to me and breathes into my ear "that’s where you are... Hell"

His breath smells so bad it burns my nose and makes my mouth dry. Hell? how could I be here! just a moment ago I was walking home from a meetup with an old friend of mine when all of a sudden I was ambushed by the Crimson Lilies.

"why? what do you get from this?!" I shout although I feel the answer is not one I wish to know. Ronnie grumbles and limps over to the bathroom not bothering to shut the door to do his business. Averting my eyes from him I glare at the beautiful woman. Sighing she reaches for her phone which is laying on the floor cracked and covered in all sorts of sticky substances. Unlocking it she begins to mess around on it, typing every few seconds.

"Hello???" I inquire. No response. "Hey! you going to tell me why you've taken me?!"

Persephone gives me an annoyed glare and opens her mouth as to respond when Ronnie bounds out the bathroom holding up his own dirty phone.

"HE KNOWS!!!" He booms. Persephone begins to visibly shake in fear. trembling she begins to speak.

"It’s fine! it’s fine! we just need to make sure she doesn't look beat up!" she attempts to state calmly but her panic shines through the facade. What’s going on? who is 'he' and why are these brutes scared of him? was he the mysterious figure who kicked Ronnie earlier during the fight?

   TW: Physical assault - small blood mention

 Keeping to the shadows I skulk and hold a small cup of coffee close, I don’t want much attention on me since I'm not supposed to be out of Gehenna but I’ve been craving the coffee at "Cough-ee" for weeks. "Cough-ee" is a small cafe that both sells great food and gives eighty-two per cent of their profits to the sick children in the area, good people. Sighing I pull my hair back into a bun most of the strands falling out of the elastic. I wish I were like the cafe workers but instead, I'm more concerned if my hair is too feminine, both my dad and best friend, Abdulbaith, say my hair looks good and are supportive but I can't help but think otherwise, do my gang members think I look weak? I'm supposed to fit a mean, tough, and strong persona as the leader of The Crimson Lilies but I'm not even that strong! I'm toned and athletic but not fit for the bad boy look.

"Whatever," I mumble to myself. Dragging along I continue to sip the steaming drink while walking towards the subway station.

    "ACK!" a female voice cries out in pain from an alley. My palms begin to sweat causing me to drop the coffee, my breath quickens. What’s going on?! We're in Empyrean why would there be someone in distress? Thoughts scrambling I catch myself and try to calm down, maybe the woman has a stinging blister and is just fixing her shoe or it could even be a pregnant woman whose water just broke?! I decide to run over in case someone needs help. Instead, I'm faced with the back of my own gangs torn leather jacket! what are the crimsons doing here? I'll need to ask AbdulBaith later. Focusing I look around to see that’s there’s a girl on the ground in a muddied dark blue dress that goes down to her knees which are now scraped and thrashed she’s holding her head and swaying back and forth clearly in pain. behind her Is a woman with red hair cut into a short bob with a large rock in her grasp. The figure in front of me turns out to be a huge, burly, rough-looking man. He looms in front of the distraught girl getting ready to hit when my instincts tell me to help her. As fast as I can I run up to the man and give the strongest kick I can muster right into his gut. He lets out a satisfying shriek of pain. Swivelling around I kick him again but this time hard into his shin to stop him from chasing me. Then running through the shadows towards the woman I get ready to finish the fight but she screams at the doubled over man to retreat. I pause now, sweating more than I should with my heart pounding out of my chest. Thinking they'll leave, letting the girl go. The Redhead takes my pause as a chance punching me right in the nose, tears blurring my sight I stumble back. Once I regain my ground they're gone including the beaten girl.

                                                                       ***---***

    While applying the contents of a cheap pharmacy 'first aid kit' I bought after not finding the Crimsons anywhere I silently ride the subway back to downtown Gehenna. I feel stupid for not being able to help that girl and I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve met her before. Nevermind. Stuffing the rappers and casings of the first aid equipment into my pockets I stand up knowing I'm nearing my destination.