She had this sense of peace about her. She hid the problems well. I give her credit for that to. Hiding is really hard to do. She had every reason not to trust us. Yet she gave us a chance. More then I can say about myself.

I was coming home from the bar two days ago. It was a usual event since Promise died. I seemed to fall apart the day that happened. I was a bomb. I was waiting, ticking ever so slowly, begging to be set off. Another death brought my eruption.

I wasn't drunk tonight maybe it was some sort of miracle. I was walking alone in the dark. The smell of blood lurked in the air like a poison. From my previous time in the gang the smell of blood always meant death. I stopped and stood there inhaling the intoxicating smell. Then I heard her. The sobbing, it echoes in my ears haunting me. I turned into an alley and looked down upon the pale girl, known as Trust.

Her body normally pale was an ashy white. Her dark brown hair matted with blood. Her body covered in bruises and cuts. Blood was everywhere. The blood that was supposed to be in her body flowing through her veins was pooling onto the pavement. I panicked.

"Trust?" I yelled. She tried to sit up; the pain etched into her face was horrifying.

She tried to smile, as tears leaked from her face mixing with the blood. She was crying tears of blood. I picked her up; she winced against my touch. She had to have had a broken rib or two. Her leg hung at an awkward angle. I knew it was broken, just like when I had broken my own. She was light, but her body was limp and it was nothing but dead weight in my arms. I struggled back to the lodging house. I came through the front door. Sean looked up. I saw the concern in his face. I lay her gently down on the couch.

"What happened?" Sean asked from his stance by the kitchen door. That must have been when Ecstasy left. She can't handle death. She must have known what was going to happen. Tracker ran down the stairs I do think that I remember hearing a loud curse word as he rushed down the stairs. Thankfully he did not hit Morning on the way down. I remember forcing myself to take my eyes off of her to beg Sean to go find Charity.

"I'm okay…really." Trust tried to convince us. I just looked at her the blood from her body had soaked into my clothes. My arms were nothing but red and my clothes were dyed to.

"No you are not." Said Tracker shaking his head. I could see the terror clearly written across his face. I wanted him not to worry but I couldn't speak.

Then Charity ran in. Like I was hit over the head I immediately knew what to do.

"Go get her some clothes Charity." I said starting to unbutton her shirt. She wasn't going to sit here and soak in her own blood. Tracker held her hand, and she winced as I pulled the shirt off of her body.

"My head hurts." She whispered frowning some. Charity brought the clothes and stood there she looked helpless.

"Can you get something to clean her cuts with?" asked Tracker to Charity. Charity nodded and went to get those materials to. Tracker began to clean her up. I stopped trying to dress her; part of me saw this as being a hopeless cause. Trust looked over at Tracker with her dark brown eyes almost black. He looked at her.

"You are going to be okay, all right?" he said trying to convince himself as well as her.

"Not this time." She whispered.

"What happened?" he asked looking at her while he worked.

"Brennan…"she gasped. That’s when I started to feel the sickening feeling in my stomach. I almost threw up. The smell of death was rising, and like carbon monoxide I was being suffocated. She let out a ragged sigh and her body shuddered. She closed her eyes. I panicked along with Tracker.

"Trust!" he yelled as her hand went limp in his own.

"Trust!" I yelled tears lining my eyes. My body began to shake.

"Is she dead?" asked Charity. I shook my head definitely.

"No." I said through gritted teeth. She couldn't be dead. She was just starting to get better. Everything was starting to be okay. I shook her.

"Come on Trust get up." I said. Charity just stared.

"Empire stop! She's dead!" She said trying to pull me away.

Tracker just sat there holding onto her cold hand and cried. Charity sent Sean for the police to remove the body. I backed up against the door shaking; my whole body was having convulsions. My stomach churned. My insides burned and my heart was beating in my chest thudding against my ribcage to get out.

The Police arrived. I just looked at them and once I realized that they were taking Trust away I lost it.

"No! She's not dead you can't take her!" I screamed. I knew I was putting myself on the line, but my heart refused to listen to my head. Tracker joined me, taking her hand into his own again.

"No, you can't take her." He said holding on crying. I felt pity for him. There must have been something between them. I had never sat there and watched another man cry.

"I won't let you take her." I challenged the police.

"Let go of her or you will be placed under arrest." Said the officer. He was just trying to do his job. But that was a challenge to me.

"Fucking arrest me I don't care!" I screamed back. Other men came in and tore us away from her body. Charity told one officer that she would make funeral arrangements for her. I gave up. My body just gave up. Right after the police took her out the door. I crumpled to the ground shaking. Tracker ran. Up the stairs, the door slamming made the floor shake.

"You okay?" asked Charity. I looked at her.

"I need a cigarette." I whispered hoarsely. I gulped some. My stomach lurched I ran outside and threw up all the liquor that was in my system. I sank to my knees. I was then consumed by anger.

The smell of the blood, the smell of death, the way my arms were dyed. I just blew a fuse. In a gang we had rules. Women were never beaten. Never beaten to death unless she had killed or was responsible for a death of a gang member. Her brother had beaten her, for no reason. I pulled my switchblade from my boot and stood up. I had a faint idea of where he lived. My rage, my anger, led me to his front door.

I knocked on it. And I waited. He called out a frustrated "what". I still stood there until he opened the door. He looked at me. My hair was array more then usual. I had the smell of blood soaking into my skin. I stabbed my knife into his stomach pushing him back into his house with the handle of the blade, shutting the door to the outside world. Shutting the door to my sanity.

He yelped. The blood began to pool in his mouth and it dripped from the corners.

"That's for hitting her."

I hit him in the face, his nose cracking as my fist connected with the bone.

"That is for hurting her."

I kicked him in the knee watching him fall to the ground helpless, yet he still had not called out for help.

"That is for making her bleed."

I kicked him in the face, I felt the bones give way to my powerful kick. My years of horseback riding were kicking in.

"That's for making her afraid."

His hands flew to his face but the blood still seeped out freely, soaking into me spreading on his face. I pulled the knife from his stomach.

I held him down I yanked his hands away holding them with one hand of my own. I had never felt the rage I had now. I put the blade to his throat. I could see the vein clearly pulsing in the skin, how it was desperately trying to give blood to the rest of his body.

"And this…this is for killing her." I growled. I pushed the blade into his throat, cutting deep, cutting quickly. I pulled it towards his vein. Connecting with it the blood spurted, splashing onto my face, my arms, and my clothes. I took my knife and then I ran. I left him there to die.

I came into the lodging house, I didn't know where else to go. I just looked at Charity as I entered through the door. Courage, Charity and Angel all stared back at me. I stood there, emotionless. The switchblade fell from my hand. The only sound that broke the silence was the metal blade hitting the wooden floor with a thud. I looked at each one of their faces. Angel's face was full of confusion, Courage was full of fear, and Charity's was of pain. I blinked the blood running down my forehead into my eyes.

"I'm sorry." I said.

Then I ran.