C H A P T E R  1

❛ the beginning. ❜

QUINN

     HER FEET CARRIED HER THROUGH THE DARK STREETS of a city long asleep. She used to love the night, the brightness of the stars, the quiet streets. But tonight every sound startled her and her heavy beating heart refused to calm down. The stars were covered by a blanket of clouds, even they would not keep her any company this dark evening. Quinn took one look at her watch and then started running. She couldn't afford to be late. He didn't have much patience and with the news she was about to deliver she couldn't have him be mad with her before she had even opened her mouth.

A cold breeze tickled her skin, sending a chill down her spine as she pulled her jacket closer around her. She didn't stop running until she reached the parking lot. It was completely empty this time at night and because of the high walls surrounding it no one would see her. Which was usually a good thing, Now, however, it only made her more nervous.

She came to a halt, catching her breath, before standing straight and walking through the gates.

Only a few lights were burning, not enough to light the whole parking lot. With her heart beating nervously in her chest she walked around, wondering if they were looking at her right now and laughing because she was such an easy prey. Minutes passed by and she slowly released a long breath. She'd gotten here first, that was at least one positive note on this cold night. She was about to walk to one of the wooden benches that stood against the far end wall when a voice came from behind her.

'Quinn! My favorite girl.' His voice was raspy, as if he'd been screaming at the top of his lungs only minutes before. Knowing about his evening activities, that was probably the case.

She took a deep breath before turning on her heels to face him.

He was tall, his skin like copper, his arms covered in tattoos and a perfectly trimmed beard covered his chin. Though, what scared her most every damn time were his eyes. Dark brown, almost black and completely deprived of any emotion, void of humanity.

People on the street called him the Magician, whispering that the drugs he sold were made of magic. She, however, had been one of his favorites since day one and was allowed to call him by his real name.

'Marcus,' she said, forcing a smile on her face, 'it's good to see you.'

He grinned back at her, although his eyes stayed empty, as always. 'Quinnie, don't be so formal. Come on.' He walked towards her, his arms outstretched.

She bit her tongue as she let him pull her into his arms. Every bone in her body was screaming to be released from his grasp but her mind was telling her to calm down. She couldn't give him any reason to get mad at her. Maybe then she'd have a small chance of getting away with it...

'So tell me,' Marcus said, releasing her and taking a step back. His eyes scanned her body, leaving cold shivers all over her skin. Still, she didn't say a word and kept on smiling at him as he added: 'What brings you to me on this fine night?' She opened her mouth to respond but he was faster. 'Let me guess, you want some more of that Stardust I gave you last week. Some good stuff ain't it?'

Quinn let out a small laugh, which sounded more like a nervous chuckle to her own ears but Marcus didn't seem to notice. 'Yeah, it was some good stuff but that's-'

'Oh, you want something else? Well, you have come to the right man because I have just the thing.' He moved his fingers and out of the shadows came one of his bodyguards. She should've known he wouldn't come alone. It'd been stupid of her to think that this was going to be easy.

The man walked over to them and handed Marcus a black briefcase before stepping back into the shadows, as though he'd never been there. With a smirk on his face Marcus opened the case. Her eyes widened as she saw the small packages filled with white powder. Her hands were itching at the sight. Her very bones begged to reach out and take the drugs, longing to take away her pain, even if it was only for one night. At the very last moment though, her mind managed to snap her out of her trance. Inhaling sharply she forced herself to look away, taking a step back to escape the temptation.

A shadow crossed Marcus' face but then he blinked and it was gone, so fast that she wondered if she'd imagined it.

'Quinnie if you want more Stardust that won't be a problem,' he said, closing the briefcase, 'or do you want to be the first person to try this? It's your choice, doll.'

She felt sick to her stomach. He wanted to use her as a lab rat, nothing more than an animal to test his merchandise on. But what perhaps disgusted her the most was the fact that she felt surprised. Maybe some part of her had hoped that being one of his favorites would somehow exclude her from being used for experiments. She was in so deep that she'd been blinded. She thought she was safe, that she could go by unnoticed, but she had been oh so wrong. 'Listen, Marcus, I wanted to talk to you 'cause I have something important to say.'

He straightened his back, nodding. 'Well then, spit it out, doll.'

'I, ehm,' she took a shaky breath, fighting the urge to step away from him, 'I don't have the money to pay you for the last bit of Stardust you gave me last week.'

Silence fell and Marcus studied her. She couldn't look at him, kept her gaze focused on the ground and her hands folded behind her back. The silence surrounded her, choked her and suddenly she had trouble breathing. Then Marcus let out a booming laugh, so suddenly that she winced. His laugh echoed through the empty parking lot, bounced off the walls and hurt her ears. Slowly she lifted her eyes and although he'd laughed, a furious frown was drawn on his face.

'Quinnie, doll, you've always been a funny one. But even you should know this is not something you can joke about,' he spoke, his voice growing darker with every word he spoke.

'I'm not-' she mumbled but he held up his hand, silencing her.

'Now, listen, you know I am very serious about business and you, being one of the privileged, can take anything as long as you pay it back. Do you know how blessed that makes you?'

Quinn nodded quickly. Of course she knew. Everyone had to pay, but the privileged, his favorites, could take anything they liked and were allowed to pay back later. She had made the same mistake many before her had made. She had taken too much and had no way of paying him back now.

'I'm glad you understand,' Marcus said and his voice sent shivers crawling down her spine. 'Quinn, I would never kick you out, but you're going to have to find a way to pay me back.'

She swallowed, her body was frozen in place and the world seemed to slow down around her as he took a step forward. 'How?' She managed to stutter, completely out of breath.

'Well, there are a few spots open for delivering my merchandise.'

She stumbled back but a hand came out of the darkness, locking around her arm, holding it in a tight grip. Panic flared up inside her stomach and made adrenaline fly wild through her veins. She knew moving the drugs was dangerous. Multiple people who'd done so were caught by the police, too much for it to be a coincidence. She'd thought about it before, maybe this was just Marcus his way of getting rid of people.

'Now now,' Marcus mumbled. He was teasing her, playing with her and it made her dizzy. 'There is no need to run, doll.'

But there was, and her entire body was fighting to make a leap for the exit, wanting to get away from him before he would take the last bit of freedom she had. However with her arm held tightly and Marcus only inches away there was nowhere left to go. Her luck had run out. She bit her tongue not to scream, refusing to show him any weakness. She'd gotten herself into this mess and she would damn well make sure she'd get out of it.

'Isn't there something else I could do?' She questioned, gathering as much of her confidence as she possibly could.

Something flashed through Marcus' eyes, that same shadow she had noticed before. It definitely hadn't been her imagination. 'What would you be willing to do?' He questioned.

Before she could even begin to form an answer a voice echoed through the dark parking lot.

'Hey asshole!'

Marcus took a step back and turned around to look at the person who'd been shouting. Quinn let out a shaky breath before searching the face the voice belonged to. Brown eyes, messy black hair and a sharp jawline covered in stubbles.

'Milo,' she breathed.

His eyes met hers. 'Hey there Angelina, getting into trouble again?'

She wanted to scoff at his use of the stupid nickname he'd given her when they were just kids but she was trembling too much to get the sound out of her throat. As a little girl she'd danced around the house in her ballet shoes. Proudly announcing she wanted to become a ballerina and for a few years her dreams had been a reality...Even now, no matter how much those memories hurt her, the nickname always managed to fill her with warmth.

'I had it under control,' she finally managed to say, though her heart was glowing brightly at the very sight of him.

'Such a happy reunion,' Marcus growled and his voice reminded her of a lion about to jump his prey. Then, faster than she could even blink, the Magician pulled a gun from behind his belt, pointed it at her brother and fired.

With her eyes wide she watched as Milo dove to the ground, avoiding the bullet at the very last second. He jumped back up almost immediately with his own gun in his hand. Seeing him fight back made her fear dissolve like smoke and lit a fire in her heart. She turned to face the man who was still holding her arm and stomped on his feet. It probably didn't hurt much but it was the surprise of seeing her fight back that made him let her go.

She sprinted across the parking lot to safety while bullets ricocheted around her. Once she was out of Marcus' reach she knelt down behind a car, watching her brother take his shot at the Magician while hiding behind a pillar for cover. Marcus was knelt behind one of the few lonely cars in the parking lot, screaming in anger while defending himself.

From her new position she saw her brother wasn't alone, like she first thought. From the entrance of the parking lot came more shots but the men were hiding in the shadows so she failed to see their faces. It wouldn't surprise her if Aiden was with them. He'd never let Milo do something so reckless alone.

Marcus' curses, the bullets hitting the walls, the echoes of the gunshots, it was all too much. She covered her ears, biting back her urge to make a run towards Milo. She was still too exposed and the moment he or his friends ran out of bullets, Marcus would come after her. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, looking for a possible exit but all her plans were roughly interrupted when one of Milo's friends let out a shout. Her eyes widened and it took her a second to realise he hadn't been shot. He was shouting a warning. 'Milo, let's go!'

She jumped up, ran towards her brother, wanting to understand what was going on, wanting to be safe...A hand on her shoulder stopped her from running any further. Blind panic took over her as she turned around and started punching him, anywhere she could.

'You're mine Quinn,' Marcus breathed into her ear. 'And you ain't goin' nowhere,'

She tried to break free but his grip on her was too strong and so she stopped struggling, choosing to look him straight in his eyes instead. She was about to open her mouth and damn him right there, but she never got the chance to. 

The bullet was perfectly aimed. 

It went right past her head and found its target right between Marcus' eyes.

Startled, she stumbled backwards, warm blood covering her face, while her heart raced in her chest. Nausea waved through her stomach and she bit her tongue to control the urge to throw up. It was only when her brother screamed her name that she turned around, snapping out of her trance.

He stood there, with his gun still raised, looking at her with a pained expression on his face. 

She didn't understand why he looked like he was in pain. He saved her. But then his friends came running out of the shadows and grabbed him, pulling him along, out of the parking lot. She wanted to stand up, to run after him but her body seemed to be in shock, completely frozen and refusing to listen to the wishes of her brain. She just stood there, watching as Milo was pushed into a car and it was only after he and his friends drove away that she heard why.

Police sirens blared through the street. An all consuming alarm, signalling a prison sentence if they were to find her here with a corpse and a briefcase filled with drugs.

And so Quinn did the only thing she knew, the one thing she'd been doing most of her life. 

She ran.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

First chapter is published, woohoo! I promise this will all make sense once you've read the next chapter, then you'll know exactly what's going on. For now I hope you liked this first introduction of Quinn and Milo. Two badass siblings I can't wait to write about.

I just wanted to let you guys know this story will be updated on wednesdays and saturdays. That way you'll know which days to expect a chapter.

Hope you all enjoyed, please leave a comment or a vote. And a big thanks for reading this story guys! :)

See you all saturday,

xXx

UYM

edited: ✔