'let the fight begin.'

━ elora

today was the day everyone would go to fight. i was in mine and mattia's bedroom getting ready. i had gotten changed out of my pajamas and was tying my hair up in a high ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way.

i grabbed a switchblade and tucked it into my the waist band of my black jeans.

i walked over to my closest and got out a army green bomber jacket. i put it on and then put my black, high top converses on.

i then headed downstairs and saw all of our soldiers gathered in the living room and mattia talking to them.

"if you see your friend get knocked down, keep fighting. do not stop!" mattia demands. "it will only give the canyons more of a chance to kill you."

i nod and walk up beside him. "if your friend ends up dying, do it for them. fight for them! fight for all the people you have lost to one of the canyon soldiers killing them!" i glance over at alejandro and gently smile at him.

"are we all ready?" mattia asks and everyone nods.

it was seven thirty, pm and sundown was at eight.

"let's go!" i yell and we all head out of the house, knowing some of us may not come back.

we get into our cars, mattia, kairi, alejandro, fabiana and i in the leading one.

mattia had spoken to his father and he was going to meet us at the field.

+

when we finally got there i looked into the backseat at our friends.

"i just wanted to say that i love you all, and if anything happens to us, we fight for each other." i nod and they smile.

"we love you too."

the three get out of the car and i look at mattia. "i love you." i tel him and pull him in for a kiss.

"i love you too." he says back and places his hand on my face. "and i promise you, if we get out of this alive, we're going to start a family."

i chuckle as tears form in my eyes. "okay," i nod. "okay."

we eventually get out of the car, hand in hand and walk onto the massive field where the canyons were waiting in the middle.

mattia saw his father and the two nodded at each other.

once we made it to the middle of the field we came face to face with my mother.

"hello, sweetheart." she sickly smiles. "are you ready to fight?" she asks and i scowl at her.

"of course i am." i nod.

"we made a rule." mason said, stepping forward. "no guns."

kairi furrows his eyebrows together and steps beside me. "why?"

"because all we have to do is shoot you in the foot and you're down like a sack of shit." nathaniel answered and i rolled my eyes.

"fine. whatever."

i then turn around. "did you hear the bitches? no guns!" i yell and they groan and take the bullets out of the guns they were holding. i turn back around and grin. "happy?"

"over the moon." my mom answers."are we ready?" she asks again and we nod.

"we've been ready since we got here. we have just been waiting for you." mattia scoffs.

"let the fight begin."

the next minute, the canyons were running at us and the gambino's were running at them.

someone grabbed my arm and punched me across the face.

i let out a hiss of pain as i felt a trickle of blood fall from my nose.

i look at the person who hit me and they had a smirk panted on their lips.

i groan and bring my fist back and then punch her in between the eyebrows. she falls to the floor unconscious.

i then turn around and see nathaniel with a knife his hand. he grabs my wrist and solve the knife across my stomach.

i whimper and the move my shaking hand to my waist band and get out my switchblade.

"two can play at that game." i said and flicked the shake blade out.

i then kneel down and stab the knife into his thigh, making him scream in agony and then start hitting me on the head.

i stand up and slap him across his face. i then grab his shoulders and knee him in the stomach.

he eventually falls to the ground, coughing up blood.

+

it had been a while of fighting and more and more people just kept going down.

i hadn't seen my mom, but when i do i'm going to go all out.

i watched as mattia stabbed a canyon soldier in the shoulder.

i saw fabiana repeatedly punch someone in the face as they lay on the floor.

alejandro had found antonio and was beating the shit out of him. alejandro pulled out a knife and held antonio's head up to the sky so his neck was on full display.

"this is for gia." alejandro growled and then painfully and slowly ran the blade across antonio's neck.

antonio screamed and cried but it all stopped once he was dead.

suddenly, the sound of a gunshot was fired and it went silent.

everyone looked around, wanting to know who fired to gun.

i looked down at myself and saw nothing. it wasn't me who was shot.

i looked up at mattia and saw that he was on the floor. my eyes widen and i sprint over to him.

i skid down onto the floor and see that he was holding his leg. tears make their way to my eyes and i rip off the sleeves to my white shirt and wrap it around his leg.

"are you okay? you're okay." i reassure, my voice shaking with fear.

mattia groan and looks over at me and nods. "i think i'm fine..."

"c-can you stand?" i ask and i grab ahold of his hands and help him stand up.

he rests his weight on me and we slowly make our way over to my mom, mason and mariano, the person who fired the gun.

"you cheated." i growl. "it's over. you cheated. we won. it's over. now leave us alone."

my mom folds her arms across her chest and huffs.

"fine! but just so you know, this isn't over. we'll be back."

and then her, mason and mariano limped away into the distance. never to be seen again.

okay, so i'm sorry that this took forever to come out. i was very busy helping around the house. i never proofread btw!! but anyways, the epilogue is next and i'm so sad that this book is ending :((( love you all <33