FIRE AND BLOOD
921 Words
The night was chaos.
Gunfire cracked through the alley, deafening and relentless. Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off metal dumpsters and brick walls.
Leon crouched low, gripping the pistol Darnell had tossed him. His hands trembled. This was different from anything he’d ever done. Running packages, collecting money—none of that had prepared him for this.
Darnell fired another shot, hitting one of Raul’s guys in the shoulder. The man dropped with a scream.
Raul ducked behind the SUV, barking orders. “Flank ‘em! Cut off the exit!”
Leon’s heart pounded. They were outnumbered, and the longer they stayed here, the worse it would get.
“Leon!” Darnell yelled. “Cover me!”
Leon swallowed hard, then did something he never thought he’d do—he raised the gun and fired.
The recoil jolted his arm, but he barely noticed. He wasn’t even aiming. Just squeezing the trigger, trying to buy Darnell time.
Darnell sprinted toward a side door of the laundromat. He kicked it open. “Come on!”
Leon bolted after him, diving inside as bullets tore into the doorframe behind him.
They ran through the dark, abandoned building, breath ragged. Somewhere outside, Raul and his guys were regrouping.
“We gotta move,” Darnell muttered.
Leon nodded, his pulse a wild drumbeat in his ears. He had just fired a gun at someone. He had just tried to kill.
There was no coming back from that.
---
Nowhere to Hide
They slipped out the back and into the city streets. Leon pulled his hood low, keeping his head down. The cold air burned his lungs, but he kept moving.
Darnell led the way, taking turns randomly, doubling back, making sure they weren’t followed. Finally, they ducked into a deserted subway station.
Leon collapsed onto a bench, chest heaving.
Darnell eyed him. “You good?”
Leon let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”
Darnell sighed, rubbing his jaw. “You killed anybody back there?”
Leon shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Good.” Darnell looked at him hard. “Because the second you do, it’s over. You ain’t never the same after that.”
Leon swallowed. “I already feel different.”
Darnell nodded. “Yeah. You will.”
They sat in silence, the distant rumble of a train the only sound.
Then Darnell spoke again.
“We gotta get you outta here, kid. Tonight.”
Leon looked up. “Where?”
Darnell exhaled. “Jersey first. Then maybe farther. I got people who can help. But once you go, you can’t come back.”
Leon hesitated. “And Kia? My mom?”
Darnell’s face darkened. “Jay knows where they are by now. If you reach out, you’re putting them in danger.”
Leon’s stomach twisted.
He had to leave them behind.
---
Loose Ends
The plan was simple. Get to Darnell’s safe house, switch cars, and disappear.
But Leon couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut.
Something was wrong.
As they neared the street where Darnell’s car was parked, Leon spotted it instantly—a black SUV down the block. Lights off. Engine running.
His heart stopped.
Jay’s people.
“Darnell—”
But it was too late.
A car door opened.
And out stepped Jay.
Leon’s breath caught.
Jay was calm, dressed in his usual dark coat, his face unreadable. He stood there, hands in his pockets, like he had all the time in the world.
Raul and two others flanked him, guns visible.
“Leon,” Jay said, his voice smooth. “You been running all night. Ain’t you tired?”
Leon’s fists clenched. His mind screamed at him to run, to fight—to do something.
But he couldn’t.
Jay was here. That meant it was over.
Darnell took a step forward. “This ain’t the place, Jay.”
Jay smirked. “It’s exactly the place. Kid made a choice. Now he gotta live with it.”
Darnell’s hand drifted toward his waistband, where his gun was tucked.
Jay sighed. “Don’t.”
The warning was clear. Any move meant death.
Leon’s voice was hoarse. “What do you want, Jay?”
Jay studied him. “You think I can let this slide? You think I can just let you walk away after what you did?”
Leon said nothing.
Jay shook his head. “You know how this works, kid. You break the rules, you pay the price.”
Leon swallowed hard. “So that’s it?”
Jay tilted his head. “I’m giving you an option.”
Leon’s pulse pounded. “What?”
Jay’s voice was steady. Cold. “You work for me. No more questions. No more doubts. You do what I say, when I say it.”
Leon’s breath caught.
Jay continued. “Or... we finish this right now.”
The street was silent.
Leon felt the weight of every choice he had ever made pressing down on him.
He looked at Darnell. The older man’s face was tight with tension, his jaw clenched.
Leon had spent his whole life believing there was a way out.
But standing here, under the streetlights, with Jay’s eyes locked on him—he finally understood the truth.
There was no escape.
Not really.
There was only survival.
And right now?
That meant making a deal with the devil.
Leon exhaled slowly. Then—he nodded.
Jay smiled. “Good choice.”
And just like that—
Leon was back in.
- Writer
