Because Mom Wasn't Enough

Stay away from my friends

Jo's POV

 "It's not like you ever wanted me anyway. Bye, Vic." I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket. I breathed heavily as I ran through the streets. It was too early to be doing this...

I had woken up in an abandoned warehouse in San Francisco this morning. I hadn't turned my phone on since I left and I needed to in case Danny tried to call me. The warehouse was dark and dingy and I went outside for some fresh air. It was almost noon when I walked to the park. My phone started ringing and I pulled it out. It was an unknown number and turned out to be Danny.

"What?" I asked coldly.

"You didn't follow my orders." He said in a disappointed tone.

"Because I don't want to die." I said angrily. There was a pause on the other line. "Hello?" I asked to see if he was still on the phone.

"I'm disappointed in you, Jodie Mae."

"What?"

"Try to stay out of the line of fire. I want to kill you myself." Then the line went dead. I looked at my phone screen and it was exactly noon. I heard a blast and something went whizzing by my ear and planted itself in the dirt next to me. I looked down and a bullet was buried in the ground as the dust cloud cleared. I looked up at a building in front of me. There was a guy crouched down behind the lip of the roof holding what looked to be some sort of sniper.

I jumped to the right just as he took another shot. Then I spun and sprinted away from that spot. How did they find me? I thought I had lost the spies he had back in San Diego, maybe even Texas. I pounded my feet against the concrete and forced myself forward. Soon I knew I was out of rang fr the sniper and I slowed to a walk.

I only took a few deep breaths before I regained my strength since I hadn't run that far. I heard another blast and looked up. There he was; the sniper. How did he get to that building so quickly? He shot and just missed my feet. I started running again. Then there was another blast from a different direction. There was more than one shooter.

I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out of my pocket. I didn't check the collar ID, I just answered it. It was Dad. He asked me where I was and how I got there and a bunch of trivial questions. He asked me to come home, which of course I couldn't do. He didn't care anyway. This was better for everyone.

 "It's not like you ever wanted me anyway. Bye, Vic." I continued running down the block and swerved into an alley. I tried to catch my breath by slowing down, but I was soon met with bullets cascading all around me. I dodged them and forced myself to run again. My legs ached and my head was pounding. I choked on the air my lungs so desperately craved. They were on fire. Bullets continued to rain down.

How were there so many? Danny couldn't possibly have this many trained shooters could he? And why hadn't any of them hit me yet? I was a fast runner, but I was outnumbered. And why was there no one else on the streets? What happened to everyone?

I glanced around frantically, searching for a safe haven, at least for now. I saw an open door to a vacant building and darted inside. I fell back against the door and panted until I caught my breath. I used an old board to bar the door. There were stairs that lead to the basement and I quickly went down. I didn't know how long I had before they came and found me, but for now I needed to think.

I took out my phone and I had seven missed calls all from Vic. He had also texted me nine times asking if I was okay, what was going on, and why I wouldn't talk to him. I felt bad. I really cared about Vic and the guys, but this was what I had to do to protect them. I leaned back into the wall and shut my eyes.

I don't know how long I sat there for until I heard pounding on the door above me. There was a crash and I heard people storming in. I wasn't sure how many there were, maybe only one or two, or six or seven. Either way, I knew I was caught. They started coming down the stairs and I tried to hide myself in the darkness of the corner.

"There she is!" Someone yelled. A dark figure walked towards me, flanked by at least two guys on each side. The center one came up closer so I could see his face.

"Hey, Sissy. Long time no see, huh?" I shivered at his cold slur of a voice. He grinned malevolently and yanked my arm, forcing me to stand up. He dragged me up the stairs while one of the guys held a rifle up to my back.

"W-Why are you doing this?" I asked quietly. He laughed.

"Why am I doing this? Sis, I got my reasons. I have more than enough motives behind killing you." Danny shoved me ahead of him. We were in the parking lot of an old department store. I used to go there when I came here with Bulldog.

"But, but why? This can't be about Sam..."

"You're right about that, Sam was useless. He only held us back. I'm twice the man he ever was." Danny grabbed my arm and swung me into a tree. My back hit it with a loud thud and all the air was knocked out of my lungs. I dropped my head as my eyes started to water. I already knew Danny was going to kill me, but I had at least hoped that I would have a few more days. I was scared.

"Please stop..." I sighed.

"Oh, my tough little Sissy isn't so tough with a gun to her head now, huh?" He grabbed my shoulder and pushed me to my knees and shoving a gun in my face.

"Stop calling me that!" I shrieked. I couldn't stand to hear him refer to me as some type of family. He will never be my family.

"Aww, Daddy's little girl gets everything she wants! A rock star dad and touring the world. Go ahead, beg. Beg for your life! You don't know what my life was like after I got kicked out! Beg! Beg for the life that you don't deserve!" He smashed the butt of his rifle on the the side of my head. I fell to the side and tried to stay conscious. I heard a screech and a door slam shut.