Song: HUMBLE by Kendrick Lamar
Blair's POV
"Where are we going, Aunty Jordyn"
I sat in the backseat of a large black car. I wasn't familiar with the driver and his friend. As soon as I entered the car, I questioned her about them, but she just said they were old friends. I trusted her so I left it alone. My attention returned to her as she answered my question.
"We're just going on a trip to the forest." She chuckled. Her tone surprised me. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic. I ignored my thoughts and just shrugged my shoulders, turning to peer outside. Lines and lines of trees marked my view. The scenery was beautiful. More and more greenery clouded my view until a cluster of black interrupted me. I intently focused on the group of men near the corner of the forest. I wonder why they were here. They peered at our car as we drove by and I almost missed the snarl on one man's face. Odd, I thought to myself. I turned back to Aunty Jordyn, with confusion laced in my tone.
"Where's Mama?" I asked. Aunty Jordyn was loading her gun, an action I was familiar with. She halted her seemingly hilarious conversation with the men in front of us and turned to me. The look she gave me send icy chills down my spine. Her eyebrows were tilted in anger and red lines appeared on her forehead. Did I do something to make her mad? Never in my life had I seen her look at me with such hate. Sadness filled me. I wanted to apologise. To stop her from looking at me in that way. I shifted uncomfortably as she glared at me for a few heavy moments. Silence filled the air as she continued to glare at me. I cowered back slightly. She looked mean.
"Are you okay? Auntie Jordyn" I asked softly. I wanted to prevent aggravating her more. I spoke with such innocence and apology blended in my voice that I thought I saw her soften her look a little bit. But that could have been apart of my imagination because she continued to be mean to me. She rolled her eyes at me and ignored me. I noticed the clench in her jaw and her bawled fist. She looked at me angrily again, looking as if she had to supress the urge to glue my mouth shut. My eyes drooped sadly. I just wanted to make her feel better.
I sat solemnly in my seat, noticing the vast change in Aunty Jordyn. Just a few moments ago, she was softly pulling me out the living room with excitement covering her features. She told me that we had to go quickly. She told me that we were going on a surprise trip and we had to leave before Mama and Dad noticed. I profusely questioned her on where we were going but she remained silent, brushing me off when she could. The moment we entered the car though, her whole demeanour changed. She went silent and her eyes turned spiteful. The kindness in them was long gone and was now replaced with hate. Hate for something unknown to me.
"Your Mum is on her way Blair. Stop asking me questions" She waved me off rudely with her gun and I sunk lower into my seat. She had never gestured to me with her gun before. I don't even think I've ever seen her hold a gun like that. Like there was a threat near by and she had to be cautious and aware at all moments. Slowly, she placed the gun next to her as if the threat was gone. She looked at me and cackled while placing the gun down. Was I the threat? Did she just eliminate me as one? Was that why she laughed like a witch? Dozens of questions floated through y raging mind. Nothing made sense. Why was my aunty acting like this? I decided to shut off my mind for a second.
My eyes drifted to the mirror in front of me. Beady, black eyes stared back at me. I held his gaze for a few moments before turning my head. He freaked me out.
"You want something little girl?" He darkly chuckled at me. I furrowed my eyebrows at his mocking tone. I looked to see if Aunty Jordyn would defend me but all she did was lean forward and laugh with the other men. Something was deeply wrong here. Fury lit my veins. He was making fun of me and I didn't like it. It reminded me of when kids in school would pick on me for having lots of money and stuff. None of it was my fault, but still I got angry. Returning to the current moment, I crossed arms over my chest and pouted.
"Aunty Jordyn. Where. Are. We. Going" She turned her head swiftly and glared at me. "Blair. Don't use that tone with me." She growled. My head ticked. I was mad. She didn't defend me in front of that man, and I didn't know why. She was always the first to protect me after my Dad so why wasn't she coming to my defence now.
I glared at her. "Tell. Me" My jaw clenched. My hands itched for a weapon.
No. I shook my head. I couldn't think like that. She was my aunty. My mum's best friend. I couldn't do that. Calm down Blair. I breathed through my nose and mouth, methodically to calm myself down. Air poured into my lungs and I finally felt like the anger had disappeared. But what she said next made the anger still and come back stronger than before.
"You're just like your mother. Could never control her bitchy feelings."
What did she just say? My mouth fell agape. I had never in my life heard her speak badly about my mother or even swear in front of me. Everyone else did but Aunty Jordyn always remained calm and unfazed. She was the best at controlling her emotions and was always the first to compliment my Mum or make her feel better. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How dare she say these things? She was my Mum's best friend. Even before I was born. Is this what Best friends say about their friends? But Theo has never been mean to me like this. I was so confused.
"Do you not like Mum anymore?" I questioned her, in an attempt to ease my confusion. To my surprise, Aunty Jordyn rolled her eyes at me again before throwing her head back and cackling.
"I have never even liked her" Spite filled her tone and I gasped. What am I hearing? She was my Mum's best friend; how could she not like her? I was about to ask for a better explanation, but she kept going.
"I liked her in the start, obviously, I mean she rescued me from being thrown to the wolves." Aunty Jordyn spoke in a 'duh' tone as if it was obvious, but then her tone turned to one of jealousy.
"But as we grew up EVERYTHING became about her!" Her voice rose.
"She was the first one to graduate. She was the first one to shed her first blood. She was going to inherit the mafia. She fell in love first, got married first, became a fucking queen!" Aunty Jordyn screamed. "I mean out of everything that she already had. Being showered with gifts from everyone, she was also a fucking QUEEN." She huffed in anger. I could practically see the blood boiling in her veins. "
She had the first child." Her eyes narrowed at me. I felt my heart sink. Was I the cause of Aunty Jordyn and Mum ending their friendship? I always felt like I brought them closer. Aunty Jordyn always made me feel like I was her daughter as well. I felt my heart break in my chest. I felt like I was losing her. Like I was grasping on to the only other mother I had while she was making zero effort to hold on to me.
Aunty Jordyn fell back in her seat after her outburst and lowly spoke, "Your mother doesn't know where you are, and I can finally pay her back for all the years she came first. All the years she was better than me" I felt the atmosphere in the car shift. I could not believe the words which came out of her mouth. As the car rolled to a stop, my brain finally clicked. Mama didn't know I was here. No one would come save me. My eyes widened. I turned my head to look at Aunty Jordyn. I scoffed to myself. Aunty Jordyn. She was no Aunty. She has rooted for my mother's failure since before I was born. She didn't deserve to be called my aunty anymore.
"Where are we...Jordyn?" My tone turned dark at the end of my sentence. Jordyn's eyes turned to slits. She felt the power shift. She was no longer my family. She was the enemy. She took me from my mother. At the realisation of the current danger I was in, I immediately fell into survival mode. I closed my eyes, trying to remember my Mum's teachings. Searching my memories, I finally found something helpful. Her beautiful voice filtered through my mind, making me smile.
"If you are ever trapped in a car, look for a weapon and do anything you possibly can to put it in your hands."
My eyes snapped open, scanning the car for a weapon. Jordyn. I narrowed my eyes at the gun by her side. The gun she probably laid down after underestimating my capabilities. It was close enough but very risky. She could easily see what I was doing and shoot me. Well not shoot me. She would never shoot me right? I guess. I weakly answered myself, trying to convince myself that she would never hurt me. But from what I had witnessed today, I couldn't be so sure.
Jordyn carelessly laughed evilly with the other men while I racked my brain for a plan. We were almost at our destination. I hastily looked out the window before refocusing on the mirror in the car. While I examined the men in the front, something caught my eye. My eyes narrowed as I peered into the reflection. A gun. Directly below me. I subtly peered beneath the seat in front of me.
I rolled my eyes internally. Idiots. From the position of the clip, I could tell that it was loaded, and I almost had to force myself to not smile with glee and clap my hands.
As the car stopped closer to our destination, I scanned the dangerous adults surrounding me again. The driver was focused on lighting a cigarette while Jordyn incessantly tapped on her phone screen.
A few more seconds and I would make my move.
As the car started up again, I unclicked my seat belt slowly, making sure not to make a sound.
I gazed up at Jordyn, she was too focused on her phone to notice my sly actions. She laughed about what she saw with the man in front. His eyes met mine. Quickly, he looked at the positioning of my hands and his face lit up in realisation. He reached for his gun but he was too slow. In a mere second, my hands were wrapped around the gun and aimed at the man. A single gunshot sounded.
The world turned to slow motion. The bullet flew skilfully through the air, piercing the man's forehead. Blood spurted all over Jordyn and she screamed. The car swerved dangerously.
Shock railed through me, but before I could process my actions, Jordyn pulled out her gun. I quickly shifted in my seat, kicking the gun out of her hands. My boot pressed against her cheek in the process. She screamed again while the driver turned around with his gun. Again, I shot through the driver's seat and killed him. His head flopped forward, pressing against the horn. Loud noises emitted from the car. His foot stayed on the pedal and I finally looked up to see where we were headed. The car drove straight ahead into a ditch. The impact made our car flip. Glass shattered as our bodies flipped mid-air. Jordyn's gun somehow spun perfectly into her hand. As the car came crashing down, my head made painful contact with the car door. I groaned loudly. I felt the warm blood trickle down the side of my head. Dizziness knocked on my front door and I flitted around, trying to make sense of where I was. Jordyn was still conscious. Through the haziness which clouded my vision, I saw her aim her gun at me. I froze like a deer at headlights. My question would finally be answered. Would she shoot me? I stared into her eyes with such intensity that she faltered for a second. Within a second, I made a move to flee from the car. A large piece of metal clunked painfully down on her leg as I scurried out.
Gas leaked from the car, communicating that it was about to blow. Jordyn wailed loudly in pain, which made me turn my head hastily. I hesitated for a long moment. As I looked into her brown doe eyes, I remembered the countless memories I had with her. She was there when I lost my first tooth. She was there when I was sick at night and my parents were tired after a long night of watching over me. She was there to look after me when my parents had their much needed breaks. She was there since the day I was born. But in a split moment, my memories turned dark. A newfound feeling of hate flooded through me as I peered at her.
She was also the woman we all trusted with our lives. She betrayed that trust. She took me from my parents and put me in a position of uncertainty and danger. She failed to protect me when I needed her most. But overall, she pointed a gun at me and she was prepared to shoot. She was prepared to kill me. She was prepared to take me from this world without a goodbye. At the very least, that was what I deserved right? Tears sprung to my eyes. I didn't want to leave her here. But I had to. With a final look of despair, I escaped into the wilderness, leaving her for dead. Or so I thought.
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A/N ooffff WHO PREDICTED JORDYN WOULD BETRAY THEM?????!!!!!!!
Also, I just wanted to clear a few things up about Blair's age and her POV.
I know she is only 9 and realistically she wouldn't be speaking this maturely with this much vocab but I felt like I wanted to write her character as a very intuitive and intelligent person. She was raised by two of the best assassins in the world and has been taught everything they know, so if she was to be not this brave and intelligent then it wouldn't really make sense.
I felt like if I wrote her POV in a childish voice then the chapter wouldn't really excel and she would just be clueless the whole time. This was also meant to be Blair's 'breakthrough' chapter where she kills someone for the first time so I wanted it to be really good.
When choosing Blair's age, I wanted to prevent having a massive time jump where Harry and Aria are a lot older. In reality, I would have liked Blair to be 13 or 14 but I really didn't want to go down the road of changing Aria and Harry's voice considering they would be 31 and a lot more mature than they were in the first book. I also personally don't like extremely big time jumps and I know some of you don't like them either so please bear with me in terms of Blair's maturity and age because I've tried to make it work for all of us. Thank you for reading and I love all of you...stay safe :)))))))))