Daddy's Little Girl

Chapter 13

The neon sign flashed "Velvet Club"
on the dark street. I slowly drive past the front of this sketchy strip club in Queens. I parked the car and walk inside. The small building was filled with smoke and smell of sweat, cheap perfume, and God knows what else. I take a seat at a table in the back corner. A woman practically in her underwear came and took my drink order. I carefully scanned the room of men. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I sigh and look at the performing stripper who was pole dancing. It was so disgusting that I began to look away when I noticed a man seated behind the stripper staring right at me. He held eye contact and nodded towards the door near the bar. He then got up and went through the door. I get up and follow. Beyond the door was a storage room filled with crates of booze. The man wasn't inside and the door quickly slam behind me. I rattled the doorknob, which is locked and step back before firing around that the lock to bust open the door with the kick. People began to scream and run out of the club. The three men that remained were armed and looking at me. I fire my gun at them as I slide behind the bar. I can hear a man scream out in pain. One down. I pop up and look around. There was one body lying on the floor, but the other three were out of sight. I jump over the bar and walk towards the stage and go back to the dressing room cautiously. The room was clustered with racks of costumes and make up tables. I slowly walked down the aisle of clothing racks. Suddenly a man jumped out of hiding and pinned me to the floor. I wrestled him with him for a moment before pulling my knife on him and driving it into his neck. I push his lifeless body off of me and continue deeper into the dressing room. A gun shot is fired and I hit the floor and roll under a make up table. The man's black boots walked towards me and as he began to kneel to look under the table, I shot at his shin. He huddled over in pain as I scrambled out from under the table. I point my gun at the man's head and right when I'm about to pull the trigger, I am pierced by a bullet in my left arm. I can hear the gun being reset and the shooter is surely not going to miss this time. I turned to face the man. So many regrets flowed through my mind at that moment. I wish I thought this through, I wish I kissed Lance goodbye, I wish I didn't yell at Christiano. I look the man dead in the eye and prepare to take the bullet. Suddenly the trigger was pulled, only I felt no pain. Instead, the shooter fell down revealing Nicholas holding a gun behind him.

"Dani!"

I fall to my knees holding my left arm. My breathing slowed in my ears were ringing as I process what had just happened. Nico's voice called out to me, however I couldn't get myself to respond. He lift me up from the floor which was blanketed with glitter and blood specks. My head rested against his neck as he carried me out of the building.