The Praying Mantis || JJK

The Origins °

Okay. I admit it. I'm the boss of a criminal organization. But what am I supposed to do? Feel guilty about it? It's not like I chose this life myself. It kind of was the other way around. This life chose me. You don't have that much of a choice when you grow up as an orphan in a bad neighborhood. But still, I don't regret anything. Wait, let me be more specific. It all began five years ago.

Once I turned 18, all I wanted to do was to get out of that orphanage that ruined my entire childhood. It was like being in hell. The people that were supposed to take care of us treated us like scum and that led the kids to be mean and distrustful to each other. Every day was a fight, a battle. Battles of a war I couldn't win, because I had no one by my side. And it was fine the way it was, because that was not a war I wanted to win. But during those dark days, I promised to myself that once out of that place I was gonna do something with my life. Life was the war I wanted to win.

So the day of my eighteenth birthday, I collected my stuff (nothing but a few pieces of clothing and a toothbrush) and I said goodbye to that dreadful place. I slept in the streets for a few days, but anything was better than going back there. It was after those few days that I met the people that would've changed my life and made me the person I am today.

It was late at night and I was wandering through the streets of my disgraced neighborhood, looking for a more comfortable corner to turn into my personal bedroom, when I heard some voices, like someone was fighting. I couldn't distinguish what they were saying nor where they came from, due to the echo of the empty road, but something told me that it was nothing good.
All of a sudden I heard gunshots. I was frozen. I thought I had already seen the worst but there are those experiences in life that make you realize that yes, there is something worse than what you've seen and make you put everything into perspective. Maybe in that moment I wished that I had stayed at the orphanage. Or maybe not. After all I am what I am because of that day and I wouldn't change this life for any other one.

I couldn't move and the gunshots were getting closer. I was just paralized. And it was then that I saw them coming. They came out of an alley and they were running in my direction. Three guys unarmed followed by other five guys with guns. The three were running for their lives while other shots were being fired at their backs.
I can remember those three noticing me in the middle of the street, right in the line of fire, and starting to scream "run!" at the top of their lungs. But I couldn't.
And that's when it all became blurry. And I felt the weight of my body pulling me down on the concrete. All that happened after that felt almost like a dream. I felt my body being carried, then a car screeching, other indistinct voices, then nothing else.

I woke up with a terrible pain in my shoulder and my vision was still blurry. I didn't know where I was nor how long I had been unconscious, but one thing was sure. I was alive.
And probably I should've thanked someone else for that. Not myself for sure.
I looked down and my t-shirt and hoodie were gone. Bandages were wrapped all around my left shoulder and my chest. Only then I started putting two and two together and realized that I had been shot and that someone, probably those three boys, saved my life.
I heard footsteps from outside the room and pretended to be asleep out of habit. I used to do it in the orphanage, when it was time to go to bed and the caretakers used to come to every room to check if the kids were asleep.
I heard the door opening and people coming inside the room.

-She's still like this, is this normal Beetle?- I heard a male voice say.
-Don't worry, she's gonna be fine...- A female voice this time.
-Why the hell did she not move? Is she suicidal or just stupid?- Another male voice, an annoying one, definitely.
-Shut up, Moth! After all, she saved your ass...- The first voice again.
-Yeah, only because those sons of a bitch got all scared that they had shot someone other than us... Why do they fire in the first place? Whimps!- The other voice responded, belonging to someone named Moth apparently.
-Guys, just be thankful and learn from your mistakes... Next time you want to do it your own way, remember that I'm in charge for a reason...- The female voice, Beetle, said.
-Now let's go... Cricket, is Dragonfly back?- She added, starting to walk away.
-Not yet, should I call him?- The guy, which was the one who spoke first when they came into the room, supposedly called Cricket, answered.
Then the footsteps and the voices got further away and I heard the door closing and the silence again.