Prologue #2
A second later, the dark around me vanishes.
The single lightbulb hanging in the middle of the large, empty basement shines its white light over the space, momentarily blinding me.
As I blink the room back into focus I catch sight of the biggest man I’ve ever seen.
I cower against the wall in horror as I take in his bloody gray shirt, camouflage pants, the two guns strapped to his waist band and heavy duty boots.
He’s a giant with wide shoulders, blond hair that’s buzzed down real short to his scalp, clean shaven and mean looking.
The dark scowl on his face is paired with the hard press of his mouth and dark glare as his gaze sweeps over the room.
I try to make myself as small as possible, hoping he won’t notice me. My hope is in vain. When the giant’s eyes land on me, his whole body tenses up. His brows fly upward and eyes widen.
“What—and I cannot stress this enough—the fuck is this, Anchor?” the man demands.
That’s when I notice my daddy flung over the man’s shoulder. The stranger lowers Daddy to the dirt floor with a gentleness I don’t expect from such an intimidating person before he straightens and looks back at me.
My dad coughs and groans as he turns his head to look at me. The pain etched into his face is hard to miss. As big and as impenetrable as my daddy seems, somehow someone got the best of him. I gasp at the sight of blood staining his shirt and covering his face and bare arms.
“That’s my little helper,” my dad wheezes before shooting me a pained smile. “Come here, Blair. Bring… bring the first aid kit.”
My gaze darts from my dad’s broken form on the ground to the massive mountain of a man who’s openly gaping at me.
“Please tell me you didn’t kidnap her, Anchor,” the stranger says, his voice strained.
My daddy, who this man keeps calling Anchor, chuckles weakly. “Nah, she’s my kid. Come here, Blair. We need your help.”
“Your kid?” The man repeats, incredulously. “Since when do you have a kid?”
“R-remember when I told you about that girl I knocked up before I-I joined the service?” my daddy bites out.
“Yeah, but I thought you gave up your rights?” The giant man looks from my daddy, to me, then back to him. “Don’t tell me that this is the kid?”
Daddy’s eyes close for a second as he nods. When he opens them, he says, “Yup.”
“Why is she here and not with her mom? Don’t tell me this is some sort of custody agreement—”
“Lena’s dead. Died three years ago. I didn’t know… I just went t-to see how they were doing and I found Blair in a… bad situation,” my daddy grinds out between clenched teeth. “C-can we talk about this later? I’m pretty sure I’m bleeding out.”
Daddy needs me. I have to move. I have to grab my backpack where the first aid kit is and get to his side quickly. But that man… Who is he? Will he hurt me? Did he do that to Daddy? Fear threatens to consume me.
The only reason I’m able to unfold myself and get to my feet is because I do the breathing technique Daddy taught me. I grab the backpack and force my feet to move towards both men.
The giant watches me in disbelief. I struggle between returning this intimidating man’s wide-eyed stare and wanting to not acknowledge him at all.
There’s something about him that reminds me of that time I’d run out into the middle of the street just as a drunk driver had come barreling down the road.
At that moment, time had felt suspended.
All I could do was stare at the oncoming headlights.
There was no time to react or to hope the car would swerve.
All I could do was gasp. That’s what it feels like now as I approach this stranger.
As I come to a stop before my daddy, the stranger looks away from me. The minute his attention is elsewhere, I feel like I can breathe again.
“That’s a good girl,” my daddy says with pride. “Now Blair Bear, I… I need you to get the kit out, cut my shirt off, grab the tweezers, and pull the bullet from my stomach. Alright? Then you’ll need to disinfect—”
“Wait a damn minute,” the stranger bellows, cutting off my dad and causing me to flinch away from him. “She’s like, five years old! You expect her to—”
“I’m eight!” I correct with a scowl.
“—fucking dig a bullet out of you—”
“Yup, and out of you too,” my daddy interrupts with a lopsided smile as if he’s not hurt or on a dirty floor with a stranger towering over the two of us. “Don’t worry, Ledger. She’s got steady hands and a strong stomach. Blair’s great with stitches too. I only had to show her a few times—”
“No! This is a new level of fucked up. You taught her how to clean wounds and stitch you up? For what? In case something like this happened? God, you’re fucking twisted, Anchor.”
Daddy chuckles. “It’s a useful skill now, though, isn't it?”
“She’s not doing this, Anchor!” the man shouts. “Fuck, I can…”
The giant suddenly staggers to the side before going down on one knee. He reaches up and covers the bloody spot on his shirt, by his left shoulder.
“Shit, Ledger?” Daddy turns his head to face the man, his voice twisting with concern.
The man, Ledger, waves a dismissive hand before he growls out, “I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”
“Blair Bear, come here. It’s time to get to work,” my daddy orders, looking back at me. “You remember how to do this? What we went over?”
With a nod, I lower myself to my knees beside him and open my backpack. Daddy had shown me how to pull bullets out of all sorts of stuff and how to stitch up the skin afterwards. It’s one of the first things he taught me. I pull the first aid kit out and place it beside me.
The giant glances over at me with a grimace. I cringe away from him but don’t stop pulling the supplies I’ll need from the kit.
“Don’t worry about Ledger, Blair. He’s one of the few good ones in this world,” Daddy says softly. “He’s practically my brother. You gotta help him too, after me, okay?”
“Anchor…”
Daddy waves a hand weakly in dismissal of whatever Ledger is about to say. “You saved me, we’re going to save you, Ledger. Brothers until the end, right?”
“You saved my daddy?” I ask, surprised.
Ledger’s face scrunches up like he doesn’t like my question. “We look out for each other.”
My trepidation of this man ebbs away. Without my daddy, I’d have nothing and no one.
Uncle Al is dead, one of Daddy’s bullets had landed right between his eyes the night he’d come to take me away.
Mommy’s been gone for a few years, and… that’s all I had.
By saving Daddy, Ledger saved me too, in a way.
“I’ll help you,” I promise in a soft voice.
Ledger stares at me, his expression suddenly unreadable.
“Yeah, you will,” Daddy agrees, pleased.
“Now, Blair, I’m going to need you to hurry.
The bullet isn’t deep, you can probably even see it since it went through my vest which slowed it down.
I-I might pass out while you work but don’t worry.
I’ll be okay. When you’re done with t-the both of us, try to relax until I can get us out of here… ”
I nod again, quickly laying out the supplies in the order I'll need them.
Ledger swears under his breath and shakes his head. “I can’t believe we're trusting our lives to an eight-year-old. Who the hell brings their kid on a hit?”
“Someone who didn’t have any choice,” my daddy replies, his eyelids fluttering shut. “I won’t leave her with anyone else ever again. If you knew what she’s gone through…”
Daddy doesn’t get to finish as his eyes roll into the back of his head and he goes to sleep. I don’t let fear swell up. He’ll be okay, I just have to get the bullet out of him. Squaring my shoulders, I grab the scissors and get to work cutting Daddy’s shirt off of his body.
Ledger grunts before he awkwardly shuffles closer to me and Daddy.
I stare up at the giant for a second, taking in his sheer size and the grim determination on his face.
He’s a hero. Like Batman or Superman. Somehow he swooped in and saved my daddy from whatever threat had taken place upstairs.
I have to repay him for such a brave act. I won’t let him or my daddy down.
Not today, tomorrow, or any time in the future.
I give him a tentative smile and promise softly, “Don’t worry. You saved my daddy, now I’ll save you.”