Gunshots rang out through the entire house as Izzy scurried under her bed, hiding from the imminent threat that loomed so very close to her bedroom. Her mother had warned her that this day would come. Izzy’s heartbeat quickened as heavy footfalls approached her bedroom door, which she had thankfully locked before turning in for the night. It was something that she had to grow accustomed to having grown up with a strict “no locks” policy. Now, 23 years later, here she was, cowering under her bed just as her mother had instructed, praying that the lock on the door would keep the intruders at bay long enough so that she could hide herself.

Izzy could make out 2 different male voices and they sounded as if they were just outside her bedroom. Seconds later, a loud hammering on the door followed by the splitting of wood filled the room. Her light switch was turned on, and Izzy could just about make out the tips of booted feet from where she hid.

“She’s in here Vengeance.” snarled one of men. Izzy quirked her eyebrow at the nickname being used; it was familiar; she just couldn’t place where she had heard it before. She vaguely remembered her mother issuing some sort of warning about this man; however that warning was being clouded by fear.

“Check everywhere then Gates” came an agitated reply. Elizabeth watched as one of the men made his way to the closet, throwing open the French doors and rifling through the clothes, making sure that she wasn’t behind them.

Izzy clamped her hand over her mouth in fear that the men would hear her erratic breathing. She pushed her back closer to the wall and curled herself tighter. She silently prayed that they wouldn’t find her. Slowly one of the men headed out of the room with an exasperated sigh. Elizabeth allowed tiny rippling waves of relief to wash over her as she watched the other man’s booted feet follow suit.
Split seconds later, the blanket that had been blocking her from view was ripped away and Izzy was greeted by a pair of glinting green eyes.

“Found you.” He breathed, reaching for her. Izzy kicked out at him, only to feel his fingers clamp around her ankle, dragging her away from the safety of her hiding place and out into the open, closer to the danger. Izzy continued to struggle against the man as he tugged her out from under the bed.

“I suggest you stop fighting little one.” he said silkily, his voice menacing.

“Let me go you creep!” screamed Izzy, fighting valiantly against the green eyed man.

“Gates! I have her!” he yelled, alerting his partner to his findings.

Izzy blinked furiously, trying to hold back her tears as the man loomed over her, pressing his body into hers. By process of elimination, she realized that she was face to face with the man called Vengeance. Her brain fired up, sifting through any information that she had as to why this man’s nickname sounded so familiar. Then it hit her with the force of a speeding train. He was Zacky Vengeance, the one that her mother had warned her about. He was the most ruthless out of the entire gang. Her mother had warned her about his notorious temper and his flagrant disregard for human life.
In that moment, with that one realization, Izzy ceased all attempts to fight back. She knew that she would just get herself killed if this man was really as ill-tempered and violent as her mother had warned.

“You’re smarter than everyone lets on.” smirks Vengeance, his breath tickling Izzy’s ear as he nuzzles her hair. “I much prefer you giving me a good fight.”

Izzy gave him a murderous glare just as Gates walked into the room. Izzy looked at him out of the corner of her eye and she felt her heart shudder to a halt. His shirt was splattered with blood, fresh blood from the way that he wiped his hands on his jeans. The tears that threatened to fall earlier cascaded down Izzy’s cheeks.

Vengeance hoisted himself gracefully to his feet and grabbed a fistful of Izzy’s long black hair. She clawed at his fingers, desperately trying to break free of his grasp. He dragged her out of her bedroom, with Gates following in their wake. Pulling Izzy to her feet, Vengeance produced two cable ties and bound her hands together behind her back. Izzy tugged at her new restraints, testing them, immediately halting her attempts when she felt them bite harshly into her skin.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Said Vengeance levelly, a smile hanging from his plump lips. His snakebites glinted maliciously in the light.

“You’re actually giving me a choice?” scoffed Izzy, rolling her grey eyes at Vengeance.

“Yes. I am. Believe it or not, I’m not all that bad.” He said, a devious smirk on his lip, contradicting his statement.

“In that case….”began Izzy sweetly, batting her long eyelashes at the green eyed man before her expression changed into one of pure hatred and disgust, “You can go fuck yourself.”

Izzy felt the back of Vengeance’s hand collide with the right side of her face. She tasted an unfamiliar tangy copper liquid in her mouth, which she could only guess was blood. Her head had been snapped to the side by the sheer force of the blow.

“Don’t you ever speak to me like that ever again you fucking bitch!” snarled Vengeance, backing Izzy into the wall at the top of the staircase. Her eyes flitted to the bottom of the staircase where her mother lay bloody and battered. A soft cry escaped her lips at the sight of her beloved mother.

Vengeance’s eyes followed Izzy’s. “If it makes you feel better she’s not dead.” He whispered to her, his voice sinister. “but I will kill her if you don’t do exactly as I say.”

Izzy nodded her head solemnly, knowing that this was the day that her mother had been coaching her for: The day when the A7X gang would come for her all because her father had double crossed them. He had admitted to it in a letter she had found near his body.

Izzy was collateral for the damage that her father had done last year before he committed suicide. Izzy was now the property of the most notorious gang on the West Coast. She had been promised, and now her time had come to be taken.