C1 POISON IVY

"QUICKLY, ADRIELLE, RUN!"

Reaper's scream echoed through the noisy streets of Recto Avenue in Sampaloc, Manila. The shouts of the vendors selling something on the side of the wide road were heard all around as well as the shouts of some men calling for passengers to board on the jeepneys that were lined up along the side of the road. Those noises were followed by the loud sound of an approaching train as a young woman wearing a loose T-shirt and cut-off jeans were seen running quickly up to the underpass accross a large establishment. An old and somewhat holey black hat was worn upside down on her head. It was past eight o'clock in the evening and that part of Manila was still alive.

"Catch, Reaper!" Adrielle shouted before she threw the bill she snatched from a student, the reason why she runs so fast as the two fat policemen were tailing her.

Reaper quickly caught up and simply blended into the crowd while Adrielle quickly continued running until she reached the part of the dark road. She stopped for a moment and looked around. When she made sure that there was no one else there, a wide smile immediately appeared on both corners of her lips.

Adrielle immediately took off the cap that she was wearing and from there, her long and wavy hair came out. Next, she took off her clothes, which she put on a white shirt, as well as her loose-cut pants, leaving only the cotton shorts that she was wearing underneath. She looked around until she saw the trash can ahead of her. Adrielle smiled before slowly stepping closer to it, carrying her undressed clothes and throwing them in the trashcan.

"Seek and chase as much as you like, you fools!" Adrielle mumbled before shaking both of her hands on the shorts that she was wearing.

Adrielle turned towards where she came from when she suddenly stopped as she saw a man standing in the middle of the road. She couldn't see his face because he had his back to the lamppost that was meters away from them. She frowned and immediately became alert. She braced herself for a possible attack when she caught a glimpse of the others on the other side of the road. Only then she did noticed that there were still two men there and when she turned her back again, three more men were standing in the middle of the road.

"Like what the fuck?!" Adrielle murmured while clenching her fists.

"Tsk..." One of them mumbled before starting to step closer to her.

Adrielle became more alert. She looked around to find a way to fight them. Even if she was alone and a woman, she would not allow herself to not injure even one of these men.

"Who are you and what do you need from me?" she asked them angrily before simply stepping closer to the medium-sized stone that she saw near where she was standing. She quickly picked it up and was ready to attack them but stopped. Suddenly, the two men on the other side of the road laughed and it was followed by loud applause from someone standing behind him.

"Feisty!" said one of them which made Adrielle frown.

How dare these men laughed at her? She was also thinking about Reaper. She was sure that her friend was waiting at their meeting place and she was also sure that he was also worried about her. She won't be surprised if, at any moment from now, he's suddenly appear right in front of her.

"Don't come any closer!" She warned the guys and raised the stone that she was holding. "Before you can touch me, I'll make sure to crack the skull of one of you!" she added.

"C'mon, guys," Adrielle heard from the man coming from behind. Both of his hands were in his pants pocket.

"what's taking you all so long, huh?" he continued before completely stopped walking and standing next to a man who was standing quietly in the middle of the road.

"There are so many of you..." Adrielle couldn't stop complaining. "one against seven, where is the justice?!" S

she grunted as she tightened her grip on the stone in her palm.

"Relax," said the newcomer to Adrielle, whose face crumpled again. Was it really necessary for them to speak in English? She was already going numb. If worse comes to worst, this guy is the first one she will break the skull. "we ain't here to hurt you—"

He was interrupted when the person next to him suddenly spoke.

"Did you handle the cops?" Dalton asked in a cold voice. Adrielle suddenly felt a shiver on her spine upon hearing it.

"Uh-huh...piece of—" the guy replied to the person next to him, accompanied by a nod.

"Stop speaking English, it's irritating!" Adrielle snorted at them who suddenly stopped talking.

The men were silent for a few moments while Adrielle still felt alert. She couldn't scream for help. It would be more dangerous for her if she land at the hands of the DSWD people.

"You're a long way from home, Adrielle. Ready to go home now?"

Adrielle raised her eyebrows.

"What?"

"Adrielle Guerrero, Dad is waiting for you at home..."

FOURTEEN YEARS HAD PASSED...

"Lead the way for me, dumbass!"

It was Russet.

His jaws were clinching while his eyes were focused on the front of the Toyota Corolla Ascent that he was driving as it winds along the wide road. It's a good thing that there aren't many people traveling at that time since it's almost the middle of the night.

"Turn to your left now, Russ," answered Crimson while his eyes were focused on the monitors in front of him. He was in the big monitoring room in the basement of their father, Señor Lion's mansion. A small earpiece is worn on his ear.

While in the living room, Kimhan and Azure were there with their father. The faces of both brothers showed deep concern for Russet, who at that moment was being chased by their rival group. Señor Lion was looking so calm while his tobacco was slapped in his mouth.

"Bullshit! These rats are pissing the hell out of me already." Russet grimaced as he continued to drive fast. "How the heck did they fucking know that I was having a deal with the Valerios there?!" he continued as he tighten his grip on the steering wheel of the car that he was driving.

"You have a mole in your team, idiot!" Trigger, who had been irritated by Russet's noise, let out a sigh. "Just focus on your driving and get the hell your ass off the road!" He added as he received a deadly glares from their eldest brother, August.

They were in one of the bungalow-style houses not far from the mansion with some bodyguards and just like Senor Lion's other bastards, they were also monitoring Russet. Even if they want to back up their brother, they can't. Not until their father gives them a go signal.

"Damn it! I'm going..." Azure said angrily as he was about to step out of the living room when a serious and emotionless voice was heard at the same time from the earpiece they were wearing.

"Details..."

The siblings breathed a sigh of relief at the very moment while a small smile appeared from the corner of Señor Lion's lips.

"Put her on speaker," Señor Lion ordered Crimson who immediately obeyed. Like his children, the Señor also wears earpieces.

"Is that Adrielle?" it was Russet's voice that had calmed down a little.

"Hello, Russ..." Adrielle greeted Russet who immediately grinned.

"Where are you?" August asked his youngest sister. His forehead was wrinkled. Since when did their little sister come back to the country? He couldn't remember their father mentioning anything about it to them or even to him. What is he up to this time, huh?

"Hi there, Aug. I'm just around the corner, trying to save Russ' troubled ass," Adrielle replied to August before returning her attention to Crimson who at that moment was still busy with his eyes on the monitor, and the fingers are constantly pressed on the keyboard. "Give me his exact location, Crim," she said while speeding the black motorbike on that part of the wide road.

"On your two, Adrielle," Crimson replied to his sister.

"I want a clear and fastest way to Russ, Crim," said Adrielle as she quickly passed several cars on the road.

"You can take the road right after the traffic light then turn left, go straight to the railway—" Crimson stopped speaking when he noticed something on a monitor. "Oh, shit! There's a train coming in about five minutes, Adrielle. Can you take that?"

"Piece of cake," Adrielle said seriously before speeding up the motorbike that she was driving.

"Okay, wait for my signal..." Crimson said before focusing his eyes on the monitor where he could see the approaching train.

Meanwhile, Azure calmly stepped closer to the small table where he put the chips that he was eating earlier.

"Alright, who's up for a midnight party, huh?" Kimhan asked, which Trigger and Azure answered almost simultaneously.

"I'm in!"

"Cool..."

"Enjoy the rest of the night boys." Señor Lion said to his children before standing up and starting to walk toward the stairs.

"Wait for me, morons..." Adrielle interjected in their conversation before turning her attention back to driving.

"On my three, Adrielle. Ready?" it was Crimson's voice.

Adrielle grinned. "I'm always ready, Crim."

"Alright, on the other side of that railway, Russet is near there—"

Crimson stopped when Russet talked.

"I'll slow down then," he said.

"Just keep driving, Russ. Distract them and I'll handle the rest." Adrielle said.

"On my mark, Adrielle!" Crimson warned the youngest sister.

"Roger that, big bro!"

A few moments later, the rushing sound of the approaching train was heard all around the corner.

"Now, Adrielle!"

Along with Crimson's words, the wheel of Adrielle's motorbike rose from the paved road before it flew into the air, about half a meter high from the roof of the train.

"Damn, that was one hell of a fancy stunt, El!" Kimhan shouted excitedly. He even punched the air in a joyous voice as if his youngest sister was just right in front of him.

When the wheel of Adrielle's motorbike hit the ground again, she was already on the other side of the tracks and she could already the cars that seemed to be chasing each other.

"Uh-uh, nobody messes up with a Guerrero, bitches!" Adrielle said before taking the holstered gun from her waist.

He sped the motorbike along until she was maybe two hundred meters away from the last vehicle that was trying to catch up with Russet. She raised her gun and opened fire on the car. Because the driver didn't expect that, he couldn't avoid it. The broken glass in the back of the car created a loud noise as the bullet hit the driver directly in the back of the head. The car sped off before crashing into another car driven by one of its companions.

"Serves you right, assholes!" Adrielle whispered before pulling out a small knife from her knee boots and throw at the vehicle to her left. And because the windows of the car were open, it hit the middle of the driver's forehead."See you in hell, bitches!" she shouted at them before raising his hand to give the three men in the car a dirty finger sign.

"Nice one, El!" said Dalton who spoke for the first time since earlier.

"Hey, Da, how's Nina?" Adrielle's lips lifted slightly as she asked her older brother.

Dalton's face immediately darkened when he heard that question from Adrielle.

"Fuck you, little witch!" Dalton snorted.

Adrielle giggled before turning her attention back to Crimson when she spoke again.

"Both of you, you need to get out there, now! They have back-ups coming from the left intersection."

"Hey, Russ, is that a stolen car?" Trigger asked his brother.

"Yeah,"

"Leave it now and you can do a piggyback ride with El..." said Dalton.

"Hey, Trigger, I love your new car," Adrielle said to her other older sibling. Perks of being one of Lion Guerrero's infamous bastards, she got herself seven nosy, annoying, and not to mention—devilish brothers.

"Of course, it's —"

But before Trigger could finish what he had to say, they were all hit by a loud explosion from outside the mansion.

"It's payback time, brother..." Adrielle said to Trigger before she finally took the earpiece off her ear.

"Adrielle!" The red-faced Trigger shouted before quickly running out of the mansion. "Fuck it!" he shouted again when he saw his newly purchased car, burning in the middle of the vast training ground. How it got there, was surely all thanks to Adrielle Guerrero.