Bad Bloods Prequel

Ami

"So?" I pressed, this time taking her arm and her letting me.

"So what?" she asked, looking at me as if I'd lost my mind while turning into light.

I held back a smirk. "Do you like him or not?"

"What?"

"Well?" I pressed, but she poked me in the ribs and we burst out into laughter.

"If you keep bringing it up, I'll think it's you that likes him," she teased, then I tried to poke her, and we were skipping around one another in the alleyway.

"Ewwwww," I exaggerated. "Have you seen his hair in the morning?" I pulled my blonde strands up above my head, and she mirrored me.

"Looks like you in the morning," she said, and only laughter continued. That is, until we ran into Robert himself.

He grabbed Serena first, his hands on both sides of her, his eyes searching her face. Though he was silent, we heard his order loud and clear: Be quiet.

My heart pounded as I came to a halt behind Niki. Her hands gripped the brick wall at the end of the street as she peered around the edge to our little house in a field.

"What's going on?" Serena whispered, trying to see, but Robert stood in front of her.

"I'll go," Niki said.

It was then that Serena shouldered her way forward.

One second, she stood like a little girl—like the same preteen as me—and the next, she slinked silently like a cat on a street. I imagined she had claws, too. And only that gave me the strength to see what was happening for myself.

A long black car sat at the end of our driveway. The engine rumbled. Our future melted away.

Someone found the Southern Flock.

"We should leave," I said, but Serena shook her head.

"That's our home," she said,

"I'll go talk to them," Niki agreed, but Serena shot out first, and Niki followed in defiance.

Robert grabbed them both. "Wait," he ordered, and everyone listened.

As much as I debated my feelings about Robert, I ultimately knew he led with grace.

My instincts trusted him. My heart believed him. His voice convinced rather than demanded.

He would choose, and we would listen.

It was how we survived.

I held my breath as Robert's dark brown eyes searched the street, then the car, then the house. He glanced at Serena once, Niki twice, and me last. Then, he moved forward. "Come on," he said, then sighed, "Serena."

No matter how hard Niki tried, Serena would always be Robert's second in command.

Niki sat down to the ground like she knew it, too. And for once, she listened with reverence. "Good luck," she muttered, more to Robert than Serena, but she did nod in her direction.

Serena didn't notice. She simply concentrated on the task at hand. She never even said good-bye to me, or told me what to do if something happened.

She only did what she had to, and she only did it with Robert.

July 30, 2084

Serena

"Parlez-vous francais?" The perfumed woman spoke in tongues before sizing up Robert the way a pickpocket would. "No, of course not."