Guns and Kittens

Chapter 1

You know it's gonna be a shit day when you drop your phone in the toilet... Today was gonna be a shit day. By some miracle it survived the swim and is now covered in toilet paper. Thank god it lived as I am way too broke to be able to afford a new one.

I quickly grab a muesli bar from the cupboard of my microscopic apartments kitchen and head out the door to work. I walk down the emergency stairs of my apartment block, as the lift can probably be classified as an emergency, bumping into my roommate Stella on the way.

"Kat! Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry Stel, I'm already late, I dropped my phone in the toilet"

"Again?"

"Yes again, I gotta run. Oh and I'm working till 2 tonight."

"I'll be in bed when you get back"

"Okay see ya"

I continue my run to work as I don't want my boss betting shitty with me. He wouldn't fire me though; I probably earn him too much for him to do that. Trust me if I didn't I would have been gone a while ago.

I reach the club and go in the dancer's door. Heading into the change rooms I see my boss, Valentino, standing anxiously at the door. He looks up and lets out a breath he has clearly been holding for a while.

"Omg Kat! You're late and you're on in 5 minutes!" He squeals like a prepubescent teen.

"I know Val. Chill." I slow my pace just to mess with him.

"Not everyone can be as chill as you Kat" He says as he drags me by my arm to the change rooms.

"This is true" I say laughing and closing the door behind me. It isn't really true but usually when other people are stressed out I find myself incredibly calm weird I know but what can you do. I change quickly into my first outfit which is just a bejeweled bra and sequinned boy leg undies. I quickly apply a little bit of mascara before heading out and I still have 60 seconds before I have to be onstage.

"Okay, go!"

"I'm going Val. I'm going!" I walk off hearing Val mumbling something to himself about retiring despite being barely 30 years old.

I walk backstage and wait for my music to turn on. As soon as I hear Beyoncé's 'crazy' come on I walk out on the stage. Men begin to whistle. I tune them out and lose myself in the dance, letting my body flow with the music.

At one point in my set I look up to catch eyes with an incredible blue pair, the stage lights block my view from seeing his full face so I continue on with my dance.

As my set comes to an end I walk off the stage knowing I've made a shit ton. Relieved I can pay my rent this month I head back to the change room to get dressed in my bartender's outfits, a corset and a pair of tight black leather shorts.

I walk out to the bar for the remainder of my shift. which means flirting with creepy guys and trying to ignore the fact that they keep starting at my boobs as if they were my face.

Finally, my shift is over and Val says I can leave but to take out the trash first. I grab the trash bags out of the bins and head out the back door to the creepy as fuck alleyway where our bins are. I swear there must be some requirement for strip clubs to have shifty back doors.

Heading out to where the bins are as quickly as I can, I reach the bin and chuck in the bags. As I close the lid I hear a loud bang from around the corner. Obviously a gunshot, especially in this part of town. I duck quickly, knocking over all of the bins which hit the ground with a large series of clangs.

Too curious for my own good, I walk around the corner towards where I heard the noise. Peeking out from behind the wall, I see a man lying on the ground. Well shit. I look around and there's no one to be seen. The shooter must have run when they heard the bins. I run over to the body on the floor. Holy fuck balls.

I see blood pouring out of him onto the pavement. I try to find the source of the bleeding by lifting up the man's shirt. I quickly find a hole where a bullet went in. I put my hand over in to try and stop the bleeding. The man cries out eyes opening and looking straight at me. I can't help but recognize them as the blue eyes I saw in the club.

"I'm sorry, is this hurting you?" I say terrifies that this man is going to die dues t my incompetence. He grunts but makes no other response. What a dumb fucking question Kat of course it's fucking hurting him! His open eyes start to flicker and roll back. Shit he's passing out.

"Hey stay awake, stay awake" I plead more than demand. No response. I put my hands in my pockets looking for my phone. I must have left it inside. I check the man's pockets and he doesn't have a phone either. 'Chill' Kat is nowhere to be seen.

I don't want to leave him here and run and get help. I do the next logical thing that my mind thinks of, I start dragging him towards the club. I put my hands under his arm pits and start dragging. He acts like a dead weight and despite all my lifting at the gym nothing prepared me for dragging a 200+ pound man along the ground.

As I start to round the corner I'm pushed off balance and slam into the side wall. What the fuck? Someone pushes me against the wall again this time hitting my head. My head rings a loud noise and everything else cancels out. My legs give out from under me and I have no power but to go with gravity as I slump on the ground.

I hear murmurs of voices and see the shadows of footsteps before the ringing takes over and blackness consumes my mind.