As Cold As Ice

Locket

I hadn't left my room in days, Dante had tried to bribe me out with food but little did he know, I'd rather not eat anyway.

I had fallen deep into depression, deeper than I had ever gone before. Breathing was difficult. I stared at the blank wall, trying to process my thoughts. I had nothing left anymore, no revenge, no purpose.

Until I heard a knock at my door.

"Ice, you might want to see this!" I heard Dante say urgently, he was behind the door.
"I don't" I rejected his proposal.
"Is this you?" He asked, and it caught my attention. What was he talking about?

I climbed to my feet with a groan and unlocked my door, opening it to reveal Dante. He held a golden locket in his hand, which dangled gently.
"It's a locket?" I rolled my eyes about to shut my door again.
"No look," he pleaded before I turned back to him.

I watched as his chunky finger pressed the smallest button on the side of the locket. It opened to reveal a picture of Avery and I as kids. My eyes widened with disbelief as I grabbed the locket from Dante's hand, inspecting it closer.

"Where did you get this?" I asked with desperation in my voice.
"One of the men went....." Dante trailed off, hesitating to tell me.
"Spit it out" I egged him on, as I stood with my arms folded.
"....to collect a drug debt. The woman gave us this as a payment, told us it was real gold" Dante finished, and I felt like my jaw had hit the floor because I opened it so wide. Shock ran through my veins.

"Why can't I catch a fucking break?" I yelled as I left with the locket. Dante followed closely behind me.

"Who is it?" Dante asked. I didn't reply
"Who was she?" He asked again, and yet again I didn't reply.
"Why did she give us this?"
"Dante, can you please be quiet!" I snapped angrily, and he just grinned.
"It's nice to see your back to yourself" he joked, trying to keep up with my pace.
"You're funny" I glared.
"I know I am."

"So are you going to tell me....." he waited, still following behind me.
"It's my mom" I uttered and even he seemed shocked.
"Where do you think my little brother got his drug addiction from? It runs in the family".

Now Dante's jaw was also on the floor with shock. I laughed when I saw his face, he looked like he wanted to die. I did too.

"So where are we going now?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow and collecting himself.
"To see her" I nodded, opening Ace's office.

I hadn't knocked, I opened the door to reveal Ace who sat quietly doing some research.

"You didn't knock" he grumbled.
"I don't have to, look at this!" I stated, showing him the locket.
He examined the locket for a moment, and quickly lost interest.
"What about it?" He rolled his eyes as he stared at his laptop screen.
"Who got this and from where?" I asked so eagerly that it sparked Ace's attention.
"I believe Terry got it from some woman who's in debt with us. She offered it instead of money, why?" He questioned suspiciously, before snatching the necklace from my hand. I tried to grab it back from his grasp, but it was useless.

He tapped on the side, opening the locket, revealing Avery and I.

"I didn't realise you looked like that as a kid" Ace mumbled, handing the locket back after he was done snooping.
"What do you mean?" I hissed, tucking the necklace deep into my pocket.
"You were cute" Dante chimed in with a cheeky grin, leaning against the table. I threw an empty bottle from Ace's desk, towards Dante and he dodged with a laugh. I smiled as I left the room to go interrogate Terry.

I walked to the front of the house where Terry stood quietly, keeping his position.

"Terry, where's this locket from?" I questioned, holding the locket as close to his face as I could. Terry backed up a little, before inspecting the locket. He looked confused for a moment until I saw his face wash over with realisation.
"Oh, it's from a woman down on fourth street. She owed us some serious drug money, and offered the locket as part of the payment." He rambled, getting lost in the story. I wanted to ask so many questions but I decided it would be better to head down myself and check it out.

"Dante, let's go, we're going on a mission!" I stated, running down the driveway.
"Firstly Ice, we can take the car and secondly we don't even know where we're going" he argued, killing every ounce of energy I had mustered from deep within me.
"Terry where are we going" I sighed, as Terry laughed while Dante had a smirk plastered across his face. He knew he was right.
"I'll wipe that smile off your face" I threatened him before Terry interrupted me.
"Fourth street, the Blackwell apartments, door 79" Terry said, reading off a list from his phone.

Dante and I climbed in the car, he was driving since I was too lazy.

We reached downtown and I realised it wasn't too far from my old house. Maybe a twenty minute walk and you reached my house from this point.

She couldn't be alive, could she?

All this time I believed she was dead. Overdosed years ago, in some other person's apartment and they just threw away the body. She couldn't of left us alone, knowing we were still there.

We pulled up to the apartment blocks, each one more dull than the other. The apartments were a dirty white colour, with a musty orange around the windows. It was ugly to look at. Grey tarnishes ruined the building.

I began to worry about our plan. What if she was in here?
What would I even say?
Does she know Avery is dead?

I might murder her. No, I would have to murder her. How dare she not take care of Avery. She abandoned two children, leaving us hopelessly stranded in our home. Thankfully I always had been more mature than my age.

"You were so eager to get here and now you're hesitating?" Dante said, seeming to be in disbelief with my sudden switch of emotion.
"I can't do it Dante, I'll kill her" I muttered, my hand covering my mouth with worry.
"That's why I'm here" he said as he smiled, holding his thumb up, and opening the apartment block's door.

"Okay" I nodded, following behind him.