Dominating the Donna

8 years ago... “Lee! Stop!” She screams from the bottom as she looks up at him as he continues to climb up the side of the building, gripping onto the ladder as his feet rapidly hit the steel steps, almost reaching the top. “Come on Aleia, the view up here is amazing! Stop being a wuss and come on!” He shouts back at her as he finally reaches the top and looks down at her from over the edge. “He’s absolutely nuts.” Gracie shakes her head at her older brother as she crosses her arms and looks up as he sits at the edge of the roof. The evening came quicker than they expected, being almost 8 pm as the moon shines bright in the vast sky, aligning with small twinkling stars. It is summer, but this particular night is colder as usual and Aleia can feel the cold air prickling her skin like tiny sharp needles. She was never one to stay past curfew, her father is a strict man but he loves her and always thought of what’s best for her. “No, we need to get out of here, I don’t like this place, it’s giving me really bad vibes...” Aleia mumbles as she grips onto her arms, glancing around as begins to feel uneasy, sensing that they are being watched, the hair on the back of her neck rising as she feels chills travel up and down her body. “We can leave once you get up here…” Lee sings as his feet dangle from the edge, swinging back at forth as he stares down at his friend and sister. He is always such an outgoing person, loved the element of danger and is always looking for something thrilling to do. If their Families had not known each other then Aleia doubts she would’ve ever become friends with a person like him. Despite having that thought lingering at the back of her mind, she still loved being around him. He made her slowly evolve from her timid nature and because of that she found herself slowly falling for the guy, but she has just been too scared to tell him. “Aleia, come on, it won’t be so bad.” Gracie tries to encourage Aleia but she takes a few steps back and shakes her head, the feeling of something bad about to happen continuing to gnaw away at her, making her uneasiness peak. Her instincts are always right, it’s sort of like a gift as her Father saw it and he always told her that such a quality will one day make her a great leader. “No, you guys... I think we should go…” She lets out as she looks around until her eyes shift to something behind Gracie, landing on a group of figures approaching all of them. She was right. And at this point, she wishes she wasn’t. “Boooo, buzz kill.” Lee jeers from the roof, cupping his hands over his mouth so his voice comes out louder. “No seriously guys, we should go…” Aleia lets out as she takes a step toward Gracie as the figures draw close, holding onto her arm and making her turn around and look at what she’s been facing. Gracie’s smile drops from her face completely before the colour begins to drain, her skin becoming pale as she watches the group of guys approach them, all wearing black but with red bandana’s placed either around their heads, covering their faces or round their arms. Gangsters. A frown rests on her sculpted eyebrows as an agitated exhale escapes from her nostrils, taking a step in front of Aleia as she glances up at her brother. “Lee. Get down here right now.” She tells her twin as she holds onto Aleia arm protectively, making sure she is staying close. Her voice is deeper than before and it is dead serious. It frightened Aleia and made her realize how dire the situation really is. Lee notices the shift in his sister’s demeanour and quickly hops off the edge of the roof, holding onto the edge with both his hands before he jumps down to the ground, grunting as he crouches down and quickly stands up to his feet, walking over to his sister and Aleia. “What street is this?” Gracie asks him as she keeps her eyes forward. “Valencia Avenue.” He answers and shakes his head slightly before he too faces forward and frowns deeply as he realizes who is approaching them. “Shít…” He mutters to himself. “Lee, don’t you know that this is Hijos de Demonios territory?” Gracie snaps at him and he clenches his jaw for a second. “I’m sorry, I thought it was the next street over...” He lets out before he steps in front of the both of them. Gracie is right. They were unfortunately on the territory of a local violent gang going by the name Hijos de Demonios, that preyed on the innocent and thought too big of themselves. They constantly disturbed the peace and never failed to catch the attention of the police in the area, leading to them having a lot of contacts in and out of the cells. “You guys, what’s going on?” Aleia asks, fear making its way into her body, watching as the figures finally advance towards them, the sounds of them speaking Spanish traveling through the air. “It’s okay Aleia. Come on, this is the fastest path we can use to get you home...” Lee says before he takes a deep breath and steps forward, in hopes that he could pass by the group of guys without them bothering. “Hey, not so fast there...” One of them says with a thick Hispanic accent, as his friends begin to howl and hoot around him, making Lee come to a stop. “We don’t want any trouble,” Lee says to the guy, keeping his composure even though it is evident that he is nervous. The group of 6 guys surround all of them and prevent them from going anywhere, causing Aleia to grip onto Gracie’s arm in fear. “Don’t you know that no one is allowed to roam our streets past this hour without running into one of us...?” The man says as he eyes Lee, despite being a lot shorter compared to Lee’s 6-foot frame, that didn’t stop him from trying to intimidate Lee. “Our mistake... it won’t happen again. Girls...” Lee says and takes a step but the man quickly places his hand on Lee’s chest and shoves him back, causing Aleia to gasp at him. “Oh, don’t think we’re gonna let you get away from us so easily...” The same gangster says as he glances behind Lee, his eyes landing on Aleia as he eyes her up and down. “We need to teach you a lesson first.” At the sound of that, one of the gangsters stands behind Aleia and places his hand on her waist and runs it down her body, making her flinch and move away quickly. “Mm, your black friend here is so pretty...” The man says as he traces Aleia’s skin lightly, making her whimper quietly. “Don’t touch her.” Gracie snaps as she tugs Aleia close to her and away from the man. “Oooh she feisty... I like this one.” Another one of the gang members coos as he eyes Gracie hungrily. “Hey Knots, would you rather have chocolate, or some vanilla?” Another voice says as they grab onto both Gracie and Aleia, gripping onto them tightly to prevent them from going anywhere. “I think I’m in the mood for both...” The same man from before, Knots, answers as he rubs his hands together and sets his eyes, particularly on Aleia. “Don’t you dare touch them...” Lee threatens and the group of them all begin to laugh and hoot at Lee’s boldness. “Oh, and what are you gonna do about it, pretty boy?” Knots questions as he looks up at Lee. He squints his eyes at the gangster before he quickly swings forward and lands a hard punch on Knots, making him grunt out in pain and fall back on the pavement. “Knots!” One of them yells as 2 quickly goes by their leader’s side, the other 3 holding onto Lee who continues to fidget against their holds. Gracie moves quickly and takes out the red hair tie from her hair and uses it like a noose and wraps it around one of the gangsters, choking him harshly. They are distracted for a moment and divert their attention back to Gracie, giving Lee the opportunity to break free from them and begin attacking them with his fists and his feet. Both Gracie and Lee fight the attackers head on, protecting Aleia at all costs before Gracie turns to Aleia and begins to shout for her to run. “Go, get out of here!” Gracie yells as she quickly ducks under the jab of one of the gangsters. “I... I...” Aleia mumbles before everything goes white and she can’t see a thing.