Disclaimers: These are my characters, all mine, even if they bear a striking resemblance to a certain warrior and bard. Sorry MCA/Universal you should know by now that I can't resist. But, so ya know, in no way do I make money from this. It's just my own sick, twisted fun.

Sex/Violence: Lots. More then the usual eps of Xena, and more then my usual stories. This is a tough city, a tough neighborhood where just about anything does and will happen. This story depicts love between two members of the same sex, so if this is illegal or offensive, read elsewhere. This story also depicts an act of rape, but no graphic sex scenes. Sorry folks, just not my style.

Anything else? Don't know about that yet. Guess this story has an R rating because of the violence and potty mouth language. Um, that'd be all now. Go ahead and read. Delve into my twisted mind, if you dare! :)

Prologue

In the stale night air, outside of a NYC inner school building, a teenager stood, crunching gravel beneath her booted feet. Moonlight, obscured by various clouds, illuminated her tanned, healthy skin, and her long black hair.

She wore black, faded and torn Jeans and sported the James Dean look of a white T-shirt and black leather jacket. Crisp, spring air wisped from her mouth as she looked up at the sky.

What would the stars look like? she wondered. The bright city lights obliterated all but the strongest of the stars, the northern star. She ceased her wondering as the reverberating growl of a motorcycle echoed up the empty street.

She turned to face the single bright light, blinking against it's glare. Nonchalantly she pulled a pack of cigarettes and a zippo from her coat pocket. She flicked the lighter open on her jeans, striking the flint into a tall, bright flame. She held it to the tip of the cigarette and inhaled deeply.

The smoke coursed down into her lungs, bringing with it the sweet, needed nicotine. The curse of addiction, she grinned wryly. But it sure as hell beat crack, or any other drugs. She wouldn't be making that mistake anytime soon.

Her younger brother roared up on his Harley. He wore no helmet; dark hair slicked back and dressed in the customary dark leather of the biker's he caroused with. Charley cut the engine and waited for his sister Shane to make her presence known.

"Ready, lil' bro?" Shane asked, stepping out of the shadows and down the stone steps of the school, sliding down to her brother with the grace of a panther.

"They're ready," he smiled, his eyes lighting with excitement as if he'd been let loose in a candy store.

"Let's go then." She flicked the cigarette butt out into the street, watching it bounce and send a shower of sparks across the pavement before rolling into the littered storm drain. Then she slid across the seat and grabbed her brother's waist.

He opened the choke and the Harley purred to life. "It's gonna be one hell of a night!" he shouted over the roar of the engine as they tore down the street.

Shane let his excitement roll over her like a freight train, giving a joyous whoop, as the wind tore her hair around her face in a stream of fine silk. Oh yeah, it was gonna be one hell of a night.

Little did either brother or sister know what kind of hell it was going to be…

The parking lot behind the convenience store was dimly lit, two bare bulbs barely penetrating the encompassing darkness. The dumpsters were overflowing with the stench of rotten food.

Charley watched a rat skitter through the trash as he sat in the driver's seat of a '92 Chevy Cavalier that one of the girls had stolen a few hours earlier.

He wasn't in Shane's gang, but he was being allowed to drive the get-away car because he was Shane's younger brother. Shane pulled a lot of weight even if she wasn't the leader. Only two days ago she had told him she would run the gang, that things would be different.

He looked up from his musings and toward the back door of the grocery store. What the hell was taking so long? They should have been-

Bam! Bam!

The shots shook his already racing mind and without thinking he threw open the car door and raced to the back entrance. His older sister was all that mattered to him right then. He knew something had gone desperately wrong.

Charley had to find her and help her.

He ripped open the back door, arriving in a crowded storage room. From there he dashed to the next door, through a freezer department and finally into the store itself.

Someone was shouting. Something was falling. Above it all he searched for his sister's voice but couldn't find it.

He ran around the corner, tumbling over a stack of fallen soup cans. Amidst the cans was a body. Charley shoved through the cans to the dark hair below and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't Shane.

Bam! The burning smell of spent shells curled around the shelf tops.

Shit, what the hell was going on? Charley clung to the side of the aisle and peeked around some cereal boxes. Shane!

She was covered in blood. It dripped from her bangs down over her eyes. It was smeared across the front of her shirt and in her limp hand was a sawed off shotgun.

"Wha-" He must have startled her because she whipped the gun up and around in his direction. For one split second fear, terror and shock galloped across his face before it was wiped clean with a slice of pain. He clutched instinctively at its source, stumbling slightly backwards, looking down to his belly.

Slowly he sank to his knees, watching the floor come up to meet him. He glanced back up at his sister one last time. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in a wide O.

White teeth glimmered brightly in the fluorescent lights before she uttered a sharp, shrill scream.

Oh my God...

Chapter One

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