Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Chapter 13 I'm not your daughter!

"A-Ace you're hurt." Dakota's weak voice says as I lie her down on the bed of the hospital room in my home. She has waken from her sleep, and now stares at me with her large eyes that are full of concern.

She has noticed my bullet wound, that has caused blood to seep through my shirt. The last thing she should be worrying about is me.

"Shh you need rest. Doctor Kaylee is on her way, don't worry about me." I assure her. Her eyes look heavy, and her head weakly flops to the side in exhaustion.

Doctor Kaylee runs into the room with all her equipment, and starts hooking her up with fluids as Dakota is very dehydrated.

"I'm going to examine her body now to check for any internal wounds. By the looks of it, she's been beaten up pretty severely, so I need to make sure that none of her internal organs were damaged. On top of that she's too skinny and malnourished." Doctor Kaylee tells me.

"I'll have my assistant check out that bullet wound." Doctor Kaylee adds.

I nod, and leave the room to give Dakota privacy.

As I leave the room, Katelin comes running up to me, and embraces me in a hug. I wince when she's a little bit rough as she hugs me, as the wound in my shoulder is easily aggravated.

Katelin notices, and pulls away; her eyes widened.

"You're hurt!" She exclaims.

"Yeah, I know. I was going to get it taken care of." I tell her. This isn't my first bullet wound I've received, and it probably won't be the last, either.

"Thank God you're both alive though." Katelin replies as she starts dragging me to the Doctor's assistant.

"How is Dakota? Is she okay? I know she's alive but....how bad are her injuries? I hope they're not too bad, if they are--"

"Katelin, she's in bad shape, but she otherwise will recover." I cut her off, ending her rambling. "Doctor Kaylee is looking over her now, so until then, I don't know the exact results."

Katelin nods in understanding. "I'm so grateful you two are alive. Injured, but nevertheless alive. I...I know I say that you every time you come back from some mission...it's just that I just, I just couldn't imagine losing my family. I've been through it once, I don't think I can survive through it again." Katelin says sadly.

I feel guilty for putting this kind of stress on Katelin. She's already lost mom and dad, and in a way, it's not really fair for me to continue to put my life on the line in the name of work and money.

Because what if I did loose my life one day?

Katelin would be left alone, and would probably break completely.

I clear my thoughts as we enter into the doctor assistant's room. The doctor disinfects the area and removes the bullet.

I know the drill, so they don't need to even tell me how to clean it. I've been through it too many times before.

Warning! Warning! An idiot is attempting to reach you on your cellular device!

Warning! Warning! An idiot is attempting to reach you on your cellular device!

I growl as Jordan's ringtone goes off, and I dig into my pocket and find my phone. The doctor and Katelin send me weird stares but I don't care and just roll my eyes.

"Jordan?"

"Yes, Boss....I have some news."

"Well spit it out then!" I say.

"We have John Warren in custody...." Jordan says.

My heart leaps as I think about the moment when I can finally end him in an excruciating way....he does not deserve to go out peacefully.

"You know the drill. T&T, and I'll be there shortly." I reply.

"Of course." Jordan replies.

T&T stands for Tie and Torture. I think it's pretty self explanatory.

Jordan and I hang up, and I get ready to go down to the lock up and have my revenge.

Your revenge? Shouldn't revenge belong to Dakota? After all, this is her father, the one who sold her to other men and mistreated her.

I think it over and decide I won't kill him yet then. I will wait till Dakota has recovered, and then I'll break the news to her, it's only fair for her to know. After all, it's still her dad by blood, and she has a right to know.

Until then, John Warren will be kept alive under our mercy....

* * *

Days pass, and as days pass, Dakota gains her strength back. And as Dakota gains her strength back, the time to break the news to her nears.

And so, I go into the room she stays in, and I find her sitting on the floor drawing her troubles away. I watch her intently as she finishes the drawing up, and signs her signature at the bottom right corner. The drawing was beautiful; it was a snow leopard lying on a rock. It was so detailed, it looked real.

"Where did you learn to draw like this?" I question out of the blue, forgetting that she didn't know I was there.

She gets startled and jumps.

"Sorry....I should have knocked." I say.

Dakota stands up and faces me. She looks shy, but eventually speaks.

"Well, growing up confined to my house all the time is boring, so drawing helped pass the time. And on top of being abused, it was a way to release stress and pain." She says as she folds her arms over her chest.

"Practice makes perfect, I guess." She adds, shrugging as if it's the easiest thing in the world. "Drawing just really helps the healing process....It helps me calm down when I'm angry, sad, or whatever emotion I'm feeling."

"That's amazing." I mumble. "Not your past, of course, but how you used this to help you."

That sounded so much better in my head.

For a moment we just stand there awkwardly and stare at each other. I cough awkwardly, and Dakota surprises me by laughing.

"I knew what you meant." She replies, a small smile displayed across her face.

Awkward silence suffocates the atmosphere once more, and once again we both stare awkwardly at each other, neither of us daring to speak.

Dakota clears her throat and looks around the room, obviously uncomfortable.

"So, uhh.... did you need something?" Dakota asks.

"Oh, right. Well, I've got some....news. Dakota, your dad is in our custody." I tell her.

Way to rip off the band-aid.

Her eyes widen and a look of shock crosses her face.

"Sorry I had to break it to you like that. It was better now than never, as you have a right to know." I tell her.

"What are you going to do to h-him?" She asks.

Shit...does she really want to know?

I can't just lie to her....they say honesty is the best policy....

With those thoughts, I speak. "Well, we want to kill him."

I see Dakota's face fade away with deep thought. Once again, I can see the war waging on the inside of her. Her eyebrows are furrowed together, and her eyes hold a look of thought. Her hands are fisted at her sides, and she bites her lip as time passes.

But the words she speaks next shock me.

"Kill him, then." She says. Her eyes meet mine, and she looks determined and ready. Ready to just be done with her past and exhausted from living in fear constantly.

I inwardly smirk.

Who knew such a small, abused, and timid girl could be so brutal and straight-forward about something like this? She has such a kind heart that she struck me as a woman who was timid and all for the lives of others.

But I must say...I like the hidden sides of her.

It makes her mysterious, and it makes me desire to get to know her better.

I nod. "Would you like to see him before he's gone?"

I mean, it wouldn't hurt to look the bastard in the eyes and tell him that his daughter is happy. It wouldn't hurt to show him that his daughter is free from his wrath. After all, didn't he want Dakota to suffer in her misery for the rest of her life? I think showing him that she's happy and thriving in her new life will just fill him with a sense of anger.

Dakota folds her arms over her chest, and gives me look I had never seen before in her.

"Yes, I would like to see him." She replies.

Confidence.

She's getting stronger.

"Get ready, I will take you down there."

* * *

Dakota's POV:

The lockup was dark. The temperature was cooler, and I could hear the sound of a constant dripping. The air was moist, and everything around me seems to scream, run. You're not safe.

Ace could sense my fear, I could tell. "Hey, I will be with you, remember that." He says in a reassuring manner.

Ace leads me throughout the winding pathways of the lockup, and eventually, we find ourselves outside a cell.

My dad's cell.

"I must warn you, he's in bad shape. He might seem different, but it's all an act." Ace tells me.

I nod my head in understanding, and before I know it, we are inside the cell.

The the back center of the cell, I notice my dad is chained to the wall. His head hangs low against his chest, and his shirt is stained in blood. Bruises are scattered all around his arms.

I almost feel bad for him.

Almost.

Because he used to be the almighty one who would bruise and beat me.

Now he's reduced to nothing more than broken ego and battered appearance.

"How does it feel, to be beaten?" My voice echos through the dimly lit room. I am surprised of the amount of confidence my voice holds, even though I feel so nervous.

My dad slowly lifts his head from his chest, and meets me in the eyes. His face is swollen, and he has two black eyes and a busted lip. He looks horrible.

"You got what was coming to you." I whisper. But my voice carried across the room for all to hear, as everything was silent.

My dad scoffs and says, "Oh, so now you're all miss tough? You weren't so tough when I let those men have their way with you. You were all broken and sobbing into the corner."

I feel Ace tense behind me.

Ace steps out from behind me, and punches my dad so hard that he flies back into the wall. My dad groans upon impact, and coughs a few times.

"Thank you Ace. But I think it's time for me to start fighting my own battles." I say quietly to Ace.

Ace nods and says, "You're right. But I'm always right beside you if you need me."

"Oh how sweet. Are you two a thing now? You don't want this girl, Ace. She's too broken and tainted beyond repair." My dad spits out.

I feel my heart beating frantically as anger takes over my being, and before I know it, I'm letting him have it.

"Yes, you made my life miserable. And yes, you damaged me in many ways that may not heal. But, I am happy now. You may have think you won this war on my life, well news flash for you. You haven't!"

My dad scowls in anger, but I'm not done.

"You will die, and you will be forgotten. Your name will be carried away into the wind, and vanish into thin air. How does that sound for you?" I say angrily.

"You are a disgrace to my name! All those years of misery I dragged you through, you deserved it. At the end of the day, you're still a broken little girl cowering in the corner like a weak child. No child of mine is weak, and for that, you are no longer my daughter." My dad seethes.

"You're damn right I'm not your daughter! I feel sick that I'm even related to someone like you." I shoot back. But all my dad does is laugh.

He just laughs!

"What's so funny?" Ace booms from behind me.

"You know, all those years I wondered why those men would want to sleep with someone like you. You're just an ugly slut who's forgotten by the world. You're dirty. Tainted. But hey, at least I made some money off you you, it was worth it." My dad says, smiling. He looks deranged.

Angry tears are falling down my cheeks now, and my body is shaking. I feel so humiliated, so angry! I have never felt this kind of rage in my life. Every word and memory pierces my soul and mind like a deadly arrow.

Blinded by anger, my eyes meet with the gun tucked underneath Ace's shirt.

And before I know it, I aim the weapon point blank at my dad and fire.

Not once.

Not twice.

But five times.

Five, angry times.

Fives times I unloaded the weapon into my dad, and five times I witnessed his body splattering blood everywhere.

And suddenly, my anger vanished.

I drop the gun and it clatters loudly as it makes contact with the floor. I hold my mouth in shock, and sink to my knees as realization hits me.

I just killed someone.

Sure, he deserved it but...I just took a life!

It's a shocking moment to realize that I've just taken a life. An evil life, but a life nonetheless.

I hear Ace run to me, and pick me up off my feet. He wraps his arms around me,and hugs me tightly as silent tears stream down my face. I don't even push him away like I normally would have.

Instead, I find myself burying my face into his shirt and holding onto him for dear life. All I needed was comfort in one of the lowest times in my life. My body shakes from the shock, and I feel so....shaken.

"Shh it's alright." Ace whispers as he runs his fingers through my hair. "Let's get you out of here, okay?"

Ace gently leads me out of the lockup.

It's then that I realize that I don't ever want to lose control of my anger like that again.