Late, I was so late. Every thing blurred as I ran down Las Vegas Avenue. Just knowing I was in for it had me picking up my speed. The streets were full of color and flashing signs. Full of people walking astride in groups clutching their bags and purses as they walked in no hurry. It might be "The Strip" but it was also referred to as "Tourist Avenue" by everyone who called the place home. Tourist Avenue was being crawled upon by the old, young, fat, skinny, male, woman, some who didn't know what they were yet. Anything you wanted to see, we have it here. The city had some of the strangest sites you would ever want to see. By the time they had a full dose of Vegas they would never be the same. The City of Sin is that powerful. This place should have been evacuated so a hoard of priest could come in like Front Battle Line Marines to flood it with holy water. But, they hadn't and the city had flourished. Sin had a tendency to do that. If anyone here knew how adequatly they had nick-named this place it would be me. A group of guys tried to call me over to them. "Shake it sexy!Come here!" they whistled. Snorting I kept on running. Perverts. I took a peek down at my watch. Oh my god, Dad was going to kill me. My feet led me off the main strip onto a detour street. It was never really a street, just a very wide alley. Only bikes or motorcycles could travel and park in here. Me, I had no problem and kept on running. Sin was in full swing; I could hear the music from outside the club even though the walls were suppose to be "sound proof". I'd tried to tell Dad the place was too old. It had been an old apartment building. There was no apartment building in this whole damn city that put up the money for soundproofness! Dad hadn't listen, he'd insisted this was the place for his new joint and bought it. The club logo stood out in the background, a bright neon red in the surrounding browns and grays of the buildings. Club Sin. The door read and would always read "where the whores are as abundant as the liquor." very tastefully done Dad. To me it was tacky but it had been my Daddy's idea and since this was his fine establishment I shut up. I just worked here. Knocking on the door, I waited. There was no one around only a small group and they were further down coming this way. Their bright auras lit up the dark alley. Most likely heading down this way to get in. I knocked again. In my brillance I had left my key in my room. Right on the hook by the door; it was suppose to be right where i could see it. If i saw it then i wouldn't forget it. That all flew out the window when I looked up from shoe hunting and saw how lit up the night life was outside my window. "Hey Babe!" The sound of voice made my head snap up. Shit! They hadn't been that close a minute ago. The group came a few feet closer, still not close enough to snatch at me, but they were getting closer. I knocked again, bamming the door with my knuckles until it hurt. If this was Kyle's idea of a joke then I wasn't laughing. In fact I was going to kick his ass then fire him. "HEY CUTIE!" I rolled my eyes. Anyone could tell they were drunk. I could without even glancing at them, I lived with a drunk. I didn't answer just bammed the door again and again. Some one had to hear me they were just being jack asses. A hand snaked around my waist snatching me back. "Hey bitch didn't you hear us talking to you!" Yes I had and had pointidly ignored you. They would have known this if his other hand hadn't covered my mouth. "You going to work Sweetheart?" there were four of them. This came from the second one, the one closest to me. He was a tall really big man. It was hard to judge but I would put money he was more fat than muscle. His face was so close to mine I could practically taste the vodka on his breath. Damn they smelled! The two remaining goons just snickered egging the first two idiots on. "She seems kind of young." said one of the side watchers. In one move the first one, the one who held me, had my arms pinned at my side. Since they had snatched me a trickle of unease slid into my belly. My feet were off the ground and flailing about. "I like'em young." Number Two licked his lips. The street was dark, the only light came off a street light a few feet away. Number Two was still close enough that I could see him smile without squinting. In the dark he still radiated so bright it nearly blinded me. I hated the Gold Ones, the were just creepy. I didn't have to see the guy behind me to know he was just like his friends. I could feel him. Just being in contact with him was making me sick. There was doubt what they wanted, what they were going to do if i let them. Their Gold Auras practically lit up the small alley. I couldn't have pick a worse night to forget my cross and beads. Or at least my knife. With my gun in serious M.I.A. as of a few weeks ago, my hopes in finding it were slim to none. Dad had either found and sold it for booze or was keeping it for himself. "Hey Whore." he shook me so hard I bit my tongue. "You so dumb you haven't heard what said I, have you?" Wow, he was tanked. He shook me again snapping my head back and forth, he was a big man and I was a small. "She must be too dumb to talk" said Number Two. Number one shrugged, I felt him do it. "She don't need to talk for what we want now do she?" Number two shook his head. He reminded me of a bull dog with it's wrinkles, spit should have been flying. "You right." he readjusted me and I felt the coldness of a knife to my neck. Oh God. I was going to die. I knew I was because I would throw myself on that knife sooner than I'd let those morons who didn't know how to piss in a bucket touch me. "Don't be like that sweetheart." A hand grabbed my chin forcing it up to look at him. His clumsy hands fumbled at my corset. Son of a- "Don't be like that" he said again too drunk to realize he had said that earlier. His words all slured together. I only had one chance and I was going to take it. Carefully, slowly, I moved my leg into place. "Look at her, see." his fat fingers fumbled around trying to find a way to get my corset down. He frowned when he couldn't figure out the rubics cube called hooks. I didn't struggle, they dropped their guard when you didn't struggle. I wasn't proud to say I had learned this through experience. I was proud to say it did work, it always had. Aim... "She's a kicker!" one of the other two warn shouting over each other, their voices jumbled over the other until it sounded like mess and gibberish. Number Two looked at them but it was to late, I kicked. Hard enough that it sent him flying right into the steel enforced door before biting down on Number One's hand. Hard. Not letting go even after I tasted blood and his screams filled my ears. That's right you bastard, scream louder. He flung me across the street into the brick wall of the apartments on the other side sending my world into a flood of colors. That's when I started screaming too. "You Bitch!" he roared, looking down at me. His blinding gold aura was fading into a simmering red every moment he looked my way Death was a promise on his face and it was all for me. He stalked forward as everyone skittered back to flank him. Number Two was out cold near the club door. Three drunk Neanderthals to one girl, great odds. Number One, he clearly was the runner of the others, grabbed me around the neck making me stumble to my feet or have my neck snapped. Panic clawed at my back threatening to snap me in half. He wasn't going to drop me. I would die alone, outside a dark bar as "The Victim". He didn't scare me anymore. That's what I'd been taught, fear no man. I didn't fear any man even the ones who thought they controlled me. I feared what men could do. What they thought they could do when they thought you needed them. The ones who felt you should bend over backwards to please them, they always failed you in the end. I hated Them, hated Him. I hated my life for making think this way. Hated my Dad for not giving a shit what I thought about life. Most of all I hated these four for being drunk and stupid. He swung me into the bricks, my vision exploded in a white burst of light. Instantly as the hit shot a surprise burst of hot pain through my head. I'd never seen the world in black and white before but as the haze trickled away everything was so much duller. My world had always been an array of colors to see it in black and white was an experience, and impairment. My head was spinning so fast I just wanted it to fall off. That didn't stop me from hearing the whoosh of his fist or the click of someone taking off their safety. "Drop her!" I knew that voice, it was more beautiful than anything i'd ever heard. Deep and smooth, it came straight out of a dark action movie. I could have sobbed. There were angels on earth, the name of mine was Kyle. Over Number One's shoulder I saw Kyle at the, now open, club door. Standing calm, gun cooly pointed Number one's head. When Number One rounded on him he knew it too. His fat face blanched, the hand that was holding my neck in a vice grip loosened enough to let air into my burning chest. I could breath well enough to not black out. I wanted to watch Kyle pop bullets in his drunk ass. He dropped me and I crumbled to the ground. I was still able to watch Kyle go all Big Bad Bouncer on them. All of them froze like naughty children. It took everything not to laugh as Kyle pointed it at One, Two, then Three and Four. The smell of urine filled the alley. It wasn't me. Someone had pissed their pants! I bet it was Number One. His face was scrunched till he seemed on the point of crying. Watching Kyle go Big Bad Bouncer on them I was fighting down the giggles like I was fighting off the light headedness. There was the sound of something popping followed by a loud rolling bang. It sounded like a gun shot but wasn't near sharp enough. None of the Idiots knew that though. It set off a stampede. All of them sprinted away, leaving Two behind, with their tails between their legs and a water trail down the alley. Down they went through the deserted alley from the direction they had come. One stopped long enough to kick a bundle I was sure hadn't been there earlier. "Mercy?" I might have the signs of an oncoming major headache but I wasn’t crazy. “Put the safety back on!” It took him only a second then he was at my side. It was bad, I could see by the way his face constricted when he looked down at me. His face turned pale as he kept staring taking everything in. “Kyle up here!” I snapped the light headedness was taking away my good humor.I didn't feel like indulging in anything tonight except for in a bottle of Jack and an Asprin. His head snapped up an impish grin playing on his lips. “Sorry Boss.” he said seriously helping me to my feet. “I’m not your boss.” I said hating how much I had to lean on him. “I’m the boss’s daughter.” He shrugged. “Your Dad doesn’t know a cracker jack from a snuff can.” he shook his head “That’s on a good day of course.” Of course. “You sign the checks that makes you boss.” “I’ll give you a raise if you to tell my dad that.” “So he can shoot me!” he voice deepened with indignation making me smile. "You're just the boss, deal with it." Wasn't that the sort of truth. Club Sin was a home away from home. Everything that went on here I knew about it because i ran the damn joint. If there was a bill i paid it, fixed whatever, kept the employees in line. There were also some projects on the side that weren't optional. Funny, i didn't own the place but it was my life. In the four years i had taken it over it had become a santuary and a place of business where the Damned could find help or at least drink their sorrows away. “So, wanna tell me how come you didn’t open the damn door.” “Didn’t hear you 'til the screaming started.” he shrugged readjusting me trying to poke and prod on the slide for more injuries. “and that one hit the door.” We both looked at Number Two. He was still out cold. “Just to let you know Mercy, I’m gonna have to take you to the hospital.” “No!” “I brought my car today, you don’t have to hang off the back of my Harley tonight.” Of course he had, I looked away down the street to where the goons had gone. The walls of the surrounding building were high with no windows in sight. The street was a dark line that ran between them. “Do you see that?” My eyes were drawn back to the bundle again. “I don’t see-” then he did. “It’s just a pile of sheets.” “In the middle of a vacant street?” I wasn’t really sure but a feeling that I needed to check it out was forming in my gut. The kind that over the years I’d learned to listen to, it had saved my life many times. Taking a step forward I nearly pitched forward to do a face plant. Kyle caught me last moment. I shook him off and started walking. After a moment he followed. This street, past the point of Sin, was empty. That was one of the reasons Dad had chosen it. "you can take care of business in peace." Do what you needed without disruption. We kept the street clean, for something to just be there didn’t make sense. It hadn’t been their earlier I was sure of it. That had me picking up my speed. Something was in it I just knew it. It moved. When I kneeled beside it, it was faint but you could see the rise and fall of the sheet. Bracing myself for a dismembered dog or animal, before Kyle could open his mouth to stop me, I pulled back the sheet. I wasn’t sure who gasp the loudest, me or Kyle. Probably me, there was a boy in it! Laying on his back. If I didn’t know better I would swear he was sleeping. He looked severely out of place in this dark alley. Hell he would look out of place anywhere. He was gorgeous, my hand went to his face of its own free will. I had to make sure he was really breathing. Deep down i really just needed to touch him. Was I just imagining him? It was faint but the feeling of air being sucked in was there. “Mercy.” oh shit, he was real. “Help me get him to your car.” I said not bothering to glance at Kyle, he had "that get away from that." bossy tone turned on. “Merc-” I turned my head to glare at my "bodyguard," it was one of the things that my Dad had hired him on the side for. He didn’t tell me and Dad sure as hell would never tell me but I knew. Kyle was way more protective than the average bouncer. Why couldn’t he just do as told? The sleeping boys eyes fluttered and Kyle was all but forgiven and forgotten. My sight was still shifting between greys black and white, I couldn’t see colors that well. THe lights shining off Tourisit Ave was coming in as bright white. I would bet anything his eyes were brown, they were too dark to be anything else. He looked up at me and stared. “Are you alright?” okay dumb question, but I was having a hard time focusing. “My name is Mercy, do you remember how you got here?” He said nothing, just continued to look up at my face. “Are you hurt?” Like we weren’t taking him to a hospital anyway. He looked clean, there were no bruises in sight. He could have been a mental ward patient missing. . . I leaned in closer, maybe he couldn’t hear me. “What is your name?” “Blue.” I jumped back, I hadn't seriously expected him to answer me. “Blue?” I said confused. moving back toward him shaking off Kyle’s restraining hand. “Your name is Blue?” “Your hair is blue.” he raised a hand through the sheet reaching for my head. I sighed. “Yeah, it is.” pulling my hair back behind my ear I tried again. “Who are you? what’s your name?” He was silent for a moment before he answered. “Eri.” Eri. That was even stranger than Blue. Everything about him was strange right down to him being wrapped in a blanket like an abandon baby in an almost empty alley. “Well Eri, we are taking you to the hospital-” I was trying to make my voice that brisk professional tone that made everyone snap to attention and do as told. With no questions asked. I killed it when I did a total face plant forward right onto his chest. The last thing I saw