Chapter 16, The hunt

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I can't believe what Jack told me.

He's the best hacker I know, so when he told me that there's no records of an Alan Chimpunk, I had to believe him. My reasoning was that maybe she changed his name to protect his identity, but then Jack told me that there's nothing about Amber ever having a boyfriend on social media. What he also mentioned is that all her accounts were deleted before she moved to Tygerwell.

That's about the same time I realized that Amber shouldn't be underestimated nearly as much as everyone's already had.

When I arrived at the party, everyone was gawking. 

Crossing territories is just asking to get killed, but it'll all be my territory soon enough in anyway.

The East-gang's inner-circle were at the scene faster than I could blink. Of course Rhodes wasn't there with them. Worst case scenario: He's already in bed with Amber. Best case scenario: I can stop them before it actually happens.

I went looking everywhere and it's only now, on the top-floor hallway that I find them.

And they kissed.

RHODES KISSED AMBER FIRST.

"Well, that confirms the fake-boyfriend," I say after Amber pulls away. Relief floods me more than I'd like to admit. Everyone knows it's over after Rhodes gets a girl in bed. He's a bloody pimp for a reason!

"You can't be here. This is the East-side, Bowmen," Rhodes slurs after realizing what's happening. His words are slow - probably because he's keeping himself from murdering me. Or because he got himself drunk. Or just both. 

"It'll all be my side soon enough," I say before walking over to them.

"You want another fight; is that it?"

"Get. Away. From. Amber."

"You have no say over Goldy on this side of town," Owen says before taking two swaying steps towards me and throwing a sloppy punch. The guy is an excellent boxer, but something tells me he's had too much to drink.

I dodge the punch and land one of my own, flat on his face. Rhodes goes staggering before I grab Amber. 

"You're coming with me, Darling," I say and fling her over my shoulder. This is going to become a habit if I'm not careful, I muse to myself.

"LET ME GO!" Amber yells and starts kicking.

"The fake boyfriend thing? That was smart,"

"You guys were just stupid!" she spits back.

God, I love it when she's like this.

But she smells like alcohol and sweat and if it we're a perfume it would be called: 'Le tàke advantage of mè'.

"Owen has my phone! At least let me get my phone!" she begs because she's drunk and I'm sober. Meaning, I can do whatever I want and she'll be too useless to resist.

"You're going to regret this!" Owen says from the floor. He's holding back from vomiting if my speculations are correct. God, I should take a picture of this.

When Liam comes strolling in, I tell him to grab Amber's phone and follow us. Rhodes attempts to fling a few punches at Liam, but Liam is our muscles and Rhodes can barely stand. I don't know what he and Amber were doing, but she fucked him up in the drinking department.

When we get downstairs, I see Liam handing Amber her phone over my shoulder.

"Thank you," she says with a sincere smile before punching Liam in the face.

"What the fuck!?" Liam howls and crouches down - his nose already bleeding.

Amber bites my shoulder and I let go quickly, because it's at the exact same spot where I got bitten by her last time. I refrain from yelling 'bitch' because I have to get this girl to like me. 

She kicks my shin before running and disappearing into the party.

"She needs a muzzle," Liam whines.

"I aggree completely," I say before running into the crowd. 

I refuse to acknowledge that the slight limp I have is because of the kick Amber gave me, but damn, that girl's got strong legs! Never in my life have I literally had to hunt down a girl, because I have to get her to like me. Everything about this is ridiculous and the sooner I fool Amber into loving me, the sooner I can get this to end.

I spot Amber's golden hair bobbing through people like it's bread crumbs leading me to her. So, I follow that gold to the dance floor. Every few seconds I spot her ducking to get away. She dances with random people to try and not be spotted, but unfortunately for her, it's hard to miss a person made of gold.

"OH HEY, BLAKEEEE," I hear Camila greet.

"Not now," I say. I don't care if she can't hear me over the music. I refuse to shout.

"OH, YOU WANT TO DANCE?"

"No"

Not hearing or not caring, Camila starts grinding up against me. Her short red dress is pulling up to dangerous territory and for a moment I just want to let some steam out and enjoy Camila being desperate. The girl's got a fine body. Her dark hair and tanned skin makes her seem like a dessert ready to be devoured.

But is she made of gold? 

I try reasoning that a few minutes of Camila won't hurt. The inner-gang is ordered to bring Amber back to the cars if they find her. I put my hands on Camila's hips and let her sway herself in my grip. So easily I can take her to a room and rip that pretty little dress off.

But why doesn't it have paint on it?

Camila turns around and smiles seductively at me. "Let's find some place quiet," she whispers in my ear. When she pulls back, desire is dancing around her her bedroom brown eyes.

But I can't find any oceans within them...

I push away from Camila and go looking for Amber again. 

I have to try and win that bet, I tell myself. It's not because Amber has paint on her clothes or oceans in her eyes or gold in her blood. It's because I need to have this town to myself. 

Realizing that I can't find Amber's golden hair anymore in the dance-floor, I go looking for her in the dining room. Some guys are talking about how impressed they are that Amber won Owen in beer-pong. When I can't find her in the dining room, I check for her in the kitchen.

Sure enough, she's standing there - with her back to me and talking to Jessica. Jessica sees me and her eyes grow wide before she gestures for Amber to leave. 

"Shit, go!" Jessica says to Amber and when I attempt to follow Amber through the kitchen door, Jessica steps in my way.

"Uhh... y-you have a nice face," Jessica says.

I look down at her. "Get out of my way," I growl.

"A-as much as I'd l-like to, I have to wait just a few m-more seconds," she stammers.

I glare down at her. Ever since Amber talked back to me that first day everyone thinks they can walk all over me. People are openly staring, Camila is trying to grind up against me and even now, Jessica is defying me. Just because she used to date my bro, Liam, doesn't mean I won't get rid of her as easily as the next person that stand in my way.

"So, Amber is living with you," I say. 

Along with the fact that Amber doesn't actually have a boyfriend, Jack also told me that she lives with her cousin, Jessica Marigold Brown. She moved states to do so to, but the reason why is unclear. There's absolutely no records of her parents other than they were rich and lived luxurious. 

Where they are now, couldn't be found either.

"H-how do you know that?" Jessica asks.

"Don't be stupid, Jessica. You and Liam dated. Of course you know about Jack's hacking skills," I say.

The poor girl looks like she's going to feint. I miss the old Jessica. The one that dated my friend and that wore leather tights and heels. That Jessica smoked and stood her ground. But alas, a gang-shooting can change you. 

I would know.

"Why isn't she living with her parents?" I ask.

"That's none of your business!" Jessica says - letting her old self show for a split second.

"Well, guess I'll have to ask her myself," I say before pushing past Jessica.

I storm through the kitchen door, but stop because I have to ask myself which way will a golden girl go. Left or Right? Back to the chaos or into the depths of the mansion?

I pick right and follow the hallway. 

By the end of it, I turn left and go up a few stairs before I catch a glimpse of golden hair rushing into a room. Gotcha. 

I stop when I'm in front of the door she just went into.

I have to be smart over here. Kidnapping Amber for the second time in a week isn't going to get me to win the bet. It might actually let me lose it.

Getting a girl to love you is about opening up I guess. To calm her chaos, but never silence her storm.

I open the door slowly with a look of heavy burden pasted onto my face. Amber is sitting on the bed and swears under her breath when she sees me. She's swaying a bit - I'm guessing because of drinks. So, instead of flipping her onto my shoulder and kidnapping her, I close the door and slump down onto the bed with Amber.

I don't attempt to seduce her and instead just act like I'm feeling so defeated. I'll have to out smart both Rhodes and this girl if I want to win the bet.

"What are you doing?" Amber asks.

"I'm taking a break."

"From?"

"Life."

Amber lets out an 'I don't believe you' snort before scooting a bit away from me.

"You're lucky that you're normal," I say. Though, normal isn't the word to describe her at all. "You get to live a normal life and not worry about people who you care about getting killed. You just have to be pretty and everything will work out for you," I end off with.

This is lying. I don't care about my mother enough to worry about her getting shot. The two people I worried about is already dead. Now, I only have the gang left. But, in the end, my heart's just too frozen to not get them involved in what can possibly kill them.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Amber says. The words are so soft that I'm worried I didn't actually hear it.

"What do you mean?" I ask. 

I'm getting a bit impatient, because I want to play the dead-brother-and-father-card and hope that'll get her to soften towards me. I don't really care about what this girl has to say. Right?

"You think just because I'm pretty that I'm normal? That I don't have my own shit to deal with?" she asks. Her blue eyes turn into glaciers. Even in the darkness of the moon I can see her getting emotional.

I never know what to do with emotional girls. I usually tell them to fuck-off, because they freak me out.

"Yes, I do," I answer. She's just a girl. And I really want to play the dead-brother-and-father-card.

"Well, you're wrong. I have demons of my own, Blake," she says.

I'm starting to get annoyed with this girl.

"You think living with your cousin is demons? What? Doesn't Mommy and Daddy want to deal with you anymore? Did your credit card max out at your last shopping spree? My dad is dead. And my brother too. I only have my mom left, so get real. Life is much harder than figuring out what to wear to a party or a chipped nail," I say.

I'm getting this all wrong. I'm suppose to get her to like me, but I'm just not good with opening up. Even when pretending to do so.

At least I played the dead-brother-and-father-card like Mother suggested.

Amber's eyes are getting teary, but I refuse to feel sorry for her.

"I'm living with my cousin, because my parents got murdered," Amber whispers.

I feel like I didn't hear her right for a second before I realize: Oh God, I've fucked up.

"People came into our house and when my Dad tried to stop them, they shot him eight times. My mother got shot twice while I was hiding under her bed. Her blood splattered onto me. There's a reason I don't paint with red. And sometimes my mind goes so dark it feels like I'm going to drown.

"So don't you dare tell me I don't have demons. You're in a gang. You signed up for possibly losing people. Me? I'm not in a gang. I got my parents taken away because people wanted to rob us," she ends off with before storming out of the room.

I don't follow her.

I stay there on the bed because for the first time in a long time, I can feel my heart. I feel it break for the golden girl that's drowning in the oceans behind her eyes.

But it only lasts for a second.

Hey,

What do you think about this chapter? Do you guys like the layers I'm adding to characters or are they stupid? 

Oh, and thank you guys so much for getting me over the 1k mark in views! Tomorrow it's our 1 week anniversary for TGAAGG! I can't even believe it! 

And one more thing...

WE'RE #821 IN TEEN FICTION!!!!

*Dies from a heart attack and leaves everyone while mouthing 'thank you' in ghost form*

~ Holly Shmit

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