April 14, 2021. 16:00. Vancouver.

It's been a while. My eyes dart from one street to another as I drive. Tall dark buildings with neon signs and glowing advertisements bleed into view. Dozens of products ranging from the mundane to obscene scatter throughout the ridiculous amounts of screens on the large buildings. I pull over and grab my phone. My eyes scan through the notes I made.

Groceries, jobs, appointments, reminders... what else? My fingers swipe rapidly until I find the specific note I'm looking for. AXIS place of residence details. I smile and glance at the note, then my eyes flick to the nearest street sign. Nelson Street, perfect. I stop my truck's engine and jump out of the driver's seat. I check the contents of my truck one more time, grabbing anything I need for the second part of my plan. My brain blitzes through a mental checklist of any items I'd like to bring before I lock the truck's doors.

Now to find the building. I walk down Nelson Street and occasionally check the maps app on my phone. It's not long before my senses are assaulted by the sound and sight of screens everywhere displaying the latest product to purchase. Teenagers and adults walk from one end of a street, some eye the latest gadget or piece of clothing on a screen. Supercars cruise down the street while a hover car occasionally looms overhead. My eyes settle on a large intricately designed apartment tower with a large garden plaza surrounding it.

Bingo. I stride to the entrance of the building while looking at the nearby scenery. Parking lots of a variety of cars litter the area and take up any possible space for anything else. Surprisingly, there is a generous amount of greenery, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the city or street. In fact, it's considered a luxury to even have a small portion of a building's property dedicated to nature. I look at the nearby high-rises and note the dull concrete and grey architecture mixed in with a horrific blur of neon and digital billboards that flicker here and there. My pace quickens, and my eyes dart to all corners of the building.

Cameras on the side, annoying. A nice mix of bystanders, whatever. Relaxed security, love it. Corner cameras were slapped around every intersection while well-paid but lazy security guards patrolled the blind spots. A nearby guard comes into view, and we exchange a smile. I pass by him and enter the main building's grandiose doors.

As I enter, a modern luxury apartment tower lobby greets me. The floors are alabaster white marble, while the wooden walls are polished light brown. Busy residents on their phones sit on a mix of grey sofas and chairs with wooden armrests. I stride past them and smile to myself as I approach the elevators.

I press the button to call an elevator a little too enthusiastically, and a nearby person tilts their head to see what the commotion is about. Oops. I sigh and lean against the wall. I take out my phone and scroll through social media to pass the time.

I skim the trending headlines for recent events. Mayor Gestalt campaigning to become Prime Minister of Canada. I swipe up. Rising gang war in Vancouver. I swipe again. New Militech office opens in Toronto. I sigh and scroll past the news. Same old shit. I look at another section online. New fall arrivals. My eyes light up with interest but I reign myself in to save that for later. The elevator doors then open with a ding and I step inside with a smile.

Inside the elevator, the same polished wood from the lobby greets me. A group of young women chat away in a corner and eye me for a moment. I pull out a key fob and nonchalantly wave it in front of the elevator scanner positioned right beside a wall of buttons. The scanner gives a soft blue light that changes to green once it acknowledges my fob as legitimate. My heart races but I keep up a calm appearance; I press the button that takes me to the top floor and put the fob away. I back away from the wall and take out my phone with a smile on my face.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The girls continue chatting. I occasionally glance in their direction as they talk. They look to be around their early to mid-twenties with both their appearance and demeanour. Each of them wears luxury designer brands and I conclude that these girls are either rich or are just blowing almost all of their money on visual appearances. They mostly wear a combination of high-end leisure and business clothing mixed in with a few chic accessories. Meldstrom, Reeve, UrbanFlash. Not bad, but definitely on the cheaper end.

The elevator slows down and arrives at a floor I'm unfamiliar with. They step out laughing about a party happening downtown later tonight. I tune them out and go back to looking at my phone. That is until two large muscular men wearing all-black pants and shirts enter the elevator with me. Just when I'm about to look back at my phone's screen, I notice in my peripheral vision that they too have Dead King tattoos on their wrists. Fuck, great timing. I'm a third of their size too, what the hell.

I know AXIS lives in Dead King territory, but I completely miscalculated that there would be a patrol at this time. I shift my weight a tiny bit as I watch what the Dead King members do. The one with tanned skin and a buzz cut turns to talk to his darker-skinned friend with dreadlocks.

"Yeah, so they rushed him off to the hospital. We got no clue what's going on with him." Oh shit. I slowly reach towards my jacket's inner pockets. The one with dreadlocks scratches his forearm while the elevator doors close.

"Blake won't be happy about this." The elevator moves upward again.

"Oh yeah, for sure he won't be." The tanned one goes over to the elevator buttons and then freezes. His finger stops over the same floor button I pressed earlier.

"Wait..." He turns around and looks at me. "You headed to AXIS' place?" I mentally groan. This is what I get for not properly scoping out the place. I wasn't expecting any Dead Kings to still be in the building, they should've been away. I straighten my back and lean ever so slightly against the wall of the elevator. My left arm leans against the wall with my hand in my jacket, while my right arm casually scrolls through my phone. My eyes slowly make their way to his as I scramble to think of a reasonable excuse.

"Yeah, he buzzed me in earlier and told me to wait for him in his apartment." My eyes go back to my phone as I turn the screen off. The black screen reflects a nearby camera overlooking the elevator. "Is there a problem?" I tilt my head and look at the two gangsters. Please, just back off.

"Well, AXIS got into some trouble or some shit like that." The dark-skinned man's eyes scan me from top to bottom. "Didn't know he invited a 'preem barbie' like you up to his apartment." He makes eye contact with me again and I can practically feel his intent. His companion looks at him with a raised eyebrow and then looks back at me.

"Look, miss, sorry to burst your bubble, but AXIS ain't exactly doing well. Best you get going home, you can hang out with him another time." Yeah considering that I'm the one who shot AXIS in the head, I'd know. I watch Buzz-Boy walk over to press an elevator button but then Dread-Dude grabs him by the shoulder.

"Nah man, she can hang out with us a bit, I don't mind." He flashes me a lecherous grin. Of course. I steel myself and fake a chuckle while putting my phone into my pocket. I bat my eyelashes for a few seconds before my attention turns back to the elevator giving a small ring as it reaches the top floor.

"How about we figure this out after we get out of the elevator, boys?" I step out of the elevator with both of the gangsters giving me mixed looks. A lavish marble hallway stretches from the elevator doors to a singular VIP penthouse suite with a set of black doors. The white surfaces of the hallway are polished to a mirror-like shine while a grey-tiled floor welcomes us. I fight the urge to cringe as I spot a camera in the corner of the room.

Oh yeah, no getting out of this one.

While the one who can't keep it in his pants recovers from my voice, his partner steps forward and grabs me by the arm.

"Hold it, didn't you hear what I just said? AXIS ain't feeling too hot, it's time for you to get—" I hook my foot behind his knee and yank hard. "What the fu—" His legs buckle, and he crashes down with a thud. His teammate blinks in surprise as I drive my palm toward his partner's face. I feel the jolt run through my wrist as his head snaps back, and he hits the floor with a muffled thud.

Andddd, here we go.