Reputation: Book One

Qrow

Breaking into Autumn's house has always been seriously easy for me. Out of all the times she's purposely locked me out of the house, I've only had to spend the night on the porch once, and that was because I was stoned off of heartbreak and anything else you'd find in a bar.

So, being the lightest in the group, I was the one to climb the balcony and topple over the banister to go scope it out. All I had to do was get into the upstairs office we rarely used to unlock the doors. Simple, right?

I'd laugh at you for thinking that if my life wasn't on the line right now.

All the lights were on upstairs and the curtains were pulled back so I could see right in, and the girls' bedroom was a total mess. My stomach lurched to my throat anxiously, and Autumn whisper-yelling things from me down below didn't make it all that much better. I tossed my body over the railing and slid to the porch, laying flat on my stomach. After holding my position for a few beats, I sprung up, quietly pushed the doors open and slipped inside. My pulse was so loud in my ears; it was hard for me to focus. I hear Autumn whispering to me, her voice filled with hushed stammers. The vibration of her voice in my earpiece tickled my ear, so I yanked it out, sure that if she yelled everybody in the whole house would hear.

I crosstep down the hall with my gun held close to my chest, balanced on the balls of my feet, looking in every room for intruders. The dresser in every room had the drawers drew and some on the floor, the clothes that were once neat and folded strewn wildly about the room. In my bathroom, the medicinal cabinet above the toilet was opened and every medication was swept into the toilet, the blue caps floating in the shallow water. I creep in, the mirror shattered and blood streaked across the counter and white cloth shower curtain. Somebody put up a fight; my guess Abbagayle. I return to the hall and sneak to the staircase, watching sharply and listening for any movement. Once halfway down the stairs, I sprint down, taking three at a time, falling into the front door and popping the deadbolt open. The sound echoed throughout the house. There were immediate voices.

"Did you hear that?" Asked a deep male voice.

"Somebody's here," Hisses a female. I hear a gun cock and a whimper along with a few gasps and soft shrieks from what I knew was my daughter.

"Quiet!" A loud, authoritative voice roars.

"Hold the girls," A more soothing, calm, familiar female orders. "I'm going down."

I look up, panicked at the sight of shifting shadows along the far wall of the upstairs hallway. I jammed my hand in my pocket, digging around for my earpiece. I had to warn them about how many people I've heard. I hear another gun cock, the cold bullet vividly sliding into place.

I turn and run, down through the kitchen, out the dining room and into the side offices. I quickly kicked my heels off and jumped into a discarded pair of sneakers set beside the desk, breath shaking. Above me, there's creaking where heavy feet step. My heart crawls up to my throat, blocking the air passage. I felt lightheaded and woozy, spots darkening the edges of my vision. I stumbled out of the office and turned for the back stairwell, sure that whoever had heard me was going for the main one. Just as I start up the steps I turn over my shoulder to look if I was being chased, feet loudly pounding up as fast as I could. As I spun around, knowingly reaching the top landing, my body slammed into another, about the same size as I am, with full force. I slightly step backwards, catching myself on the banister behind me.

"You," The body snarls, and I look up, recognizing that voice. That tone, that accent, the slur between letters that once could tame me; how soft it was and how warm it sounded but now makes every part of me writhe with regret. I didn't have the strength to pull my trigger.

Our eyes lock and I feel a piece of myself fall into a flooded pool of guilt and regret somewhere way down deep inside me, somewhere where I thought all my lost feelings would go to die. Except they all came rushing back, building up into one painful name that forced itself out between my lips in a harsh whisper, making my eyes well with frustrated tears.

"Liz."

Her eyes shift down my body, snapping back up to me. "Don't call me that," She orders in a disgusted voice, her jaw set in disappointment. "You had the chance to a long time ago before you cheated."

"You liar!" I scold back. "Fake your death and expect me to still love a dead body? I'm not into that necrophilia type shit!"

"I was coming back!" She yelled, pushing the muzzle of my pistol to the floor and out of her face. "But you had already chosen what you wanted."

"It was for the best I didn't put that ring on you," I huff, eyes narrowed. Her eyes widened, but she shook her head and suddenly shoved me backwards, my foot slipping on the carpet. It seemed as if in slow motion I reached forward to pull her with me but she swiftly kicked her foot to my stomach, her lips pulled into a devious smirk.

I tumbled down the stairs backwards, legs over head, rolling into the side of the first landing wall where the stairs turned, my head slamming into the drywall. I screw my eyes shut as bright light pricked my sight, limply falling forward onto my knees. I grabbed the back of my head and groaned in pain, wincing. She stepped slowly down the stairs, eyeing a small black ball laid on the step I hit the hardest. I squinted hard, and then when I realized what I had lost, I gasped. My earpiece must have fallen out of my back pocket mid-fall.

Liz picked it up, rolling it between her fingers and glancing at me.

"So the others are here?" She asks, eyeing me through slits. I crumple to the carpet, my eyelids heavy. I felt so tired, exhausted. My body relaxes and my hand falls involuntarily, my fingers tinted with blood. I dip my fingers into my boot and feel for my dagger, sighing in relief. I look up to respond to Liz, but she had disappeared. I had to go get the team before it was too late.

Liz winked at me, pressing my earbud into her ear. "Thanks for the input," She smiles, grabbing me by the face. "I'm gonna need it."