Layla

I opened my eyes, feeling groggy as I realized I was lying in my hammock. I felt the red fabric underneath my fingertips and winced at the pounding sensation in my head. My face felt stiff with dried tears and my private parts ached as I shifted to try to sit up.

I still had my clothes on from yesterday but they were torn so the boys could have easy access to my skin. I felt sick to my stomach, it technically wasn't rape if I agreed to it right? Even though they took something that wasn't theirs to take, I didn't stop them.

I'm just gonna go with that, I wasn't raped. At least if I try to believe that it won't make me want to pull my hair out in anger and shame.

I wish Vi was here.

I pushed the longing I was feeling away as I swing my feet onto the dirt floor. Ekko and I haven't gotten very far with building, all we've really gotten done was setting up wooden pillars to hold our hammocks up. But there's more to it than there was last time I was here.

Before I could find the strength to stand up, Ekko came around the corner caring a stack of wooden boards. He dropped them as soon as he saw me sitting upright and ran up to me. He put his hands on my face and turned it, inspecting me for injuries.

"How did I get here?"

He scoffed at my question, "A friend of mine from the Junkyard, Scar, found you in an alley. What the hell were you doing Lay? You said you'd be at work all night and come home straight after. Instead, Scar brought you back here battered and bruised as you pushed at him to get him away like you were drunk."

I gently moved my face away from his hands, my heart pounding as I tried finding the right words to say. "Powder's alive, E."

He dropped his hands, his angry face completely gone as a hopeful/worried expression came. "W-What?"

"The girls at work told me Silco has a new prodigy, so I decided to go see for myself. I snuck into The Last Drop, the giant room with the propellor we found out about a while ago? She was there, working on Mouser, I was so happy. But when I told her to come with me, she said she didn't want to. She wanted to stay with Silco, I was so confused I didn't even see him and his goons sneak in until he knocked me out. I agreed to work for him but only if I could stay close to Powder. E, along with us, she's the only one left and no matter who she's with we don't give up on family. I won't give up on her, he's trying to corrupt her and blame everything on Vander and-,"

My throat felt tight as I tried saying her name, I don't know why it's so hard. I've been doing good but every time I talk about her and now that I've seen Pow, my heart is so heavy it feels like a 100 pounds.

"Okay I get that, but what do you think you're gonna do? Be one of his goons and do his dirty work?" Ekko asked, looking completely concerned for my decisions I've made.

"I don't know, Ekko we'll figure it out. I'll be fine. You should come see her, Silco won't know and it'll be good that she knows you're alive too."

"No." My eyes widened at his no hesitation answer, I really thought he'd want to. "The Powder I know, would never go snuggling up to the man who killed her family. He's manipulating her when she's in a sensitive state, he's already invading her head. I want to remember her as the girl I grew up with, not the girl whose Silcos new prodigy."

Tears brimmed my eyes, he's right. I don't have the energy to argue right now, so I nod my head stand up, ignore the pain radiating throughout my body and put on a fake smile. "Okay, peanut, I understand. So, when do I get to meet this Scar fella?"

~~~~~

2 years later...

I giggled as my vision was blocked by a pair of hands, the person walking behind me and guiding me forward. The person behind me covered my eyes with one hand while the other was on my hip, squeezing it every now and then to tickle me. I squirmed and tried moving away from their hand, I'd hear a low chuckle from behind me.

"Are we almost there?" I asked the mystery person, but even though I didn't know who they were I felt safe with them.

"We're here."

Before the voice registered in my head, the person behind me dropped their hand. The bright sun blinded me and I blinked to adjust my eyes, my mouth dropped once I saw the landscape before me. We were standing on a mountain that looked over a beautiful valley with hundreds of trees and flowers, the sun setting in the background made it look like a picture. I feel so at peace here, the air is fresh and I can't remember any of the things that worry me.

"This is our place, Superstar." I looked to my left to see Vi standing there looking down at me, she looked stunning with the sun bouncing off her skin. Her eyes were shining and she looked so at peace, my heart beat faster as I stared at her. "Here nothing can keep us from each other, this is our safe haven. Isn't it beautiful?"

I didn't look at the view and neither did she, I smiled and nodded my head, not breaking eye contact with her. "I've never seen anything more beautiful."

She smiled and put her hand on my cheek, I leaned into her touch and I felt like I could cry.

"I miss you, gorgeous."

"Layla, you have a visitor." I opened my eyes and sat straight up, losing my balance I fell off my chair with my back on the ground with my feet pointed up in the sky. I groaned and stared at the ceiling of my office at the club, I must've fallen asleep while paying bills and looking through bartender and band positions.

For the past two years, Ekko and I have been building our rebellion and we've had so many people join us. It's been a good distraction, along with the fact that Dominique decided to "retire" by becoming the number one customer at the brothels. So I've been promoted to owner of the club, 17 years old and I run an entire club by myself. It's been a lot, but the pay is more than I made just by performing so I couldn't say no. Especially since we have like 40 mouths to feed back at our treehouse. But after a while I got the hang of it, and I still perform just not as much as I used to.

I've been having dreams with Vi in them every night since I became one of Silcos goons. I always get emotional after waking up, reaching for her only to remember she's not here anymore.

Being with Powder or Jinx now, has been both a blessing and a curse. Silco has completely transformed her from the sweet, adorable girl we grew up with to this hard-headed, resentful teenager who has voices in her head that tell her things that aren't true. She didn't fully trust me when I first started hanging with them, she thought I'd turn on her too. Thank goodness now though she's my best friend, I'm the only one she doesn't have to put on a face for. Since I don't pressure her and fill her head with delusions, we've become really close.

Plus every time I see her, I feel like I always have a part of Vi with me. No matter how much she wants to hate her sister, Powder has so much of her sister in her.

"Straighten up, L. Get off the floor for goodness sake." Fran stood at the door laughing at me, I shot him a middle finger before slowly getting up.

"No really don't help your boss, I'm fine."

He rolled his eyes at my sarcasm, "How many times are you going to use the "I'm your boss so respect me" line? I hate that I'm a 37 year old man being bossed around by a 17 year old lesbian."

I bit back a smile, leaning back against my desk and leaning my hands on the edge. "A hot 17 year old lesbian, Franklin. And you love me."

"You're so lucky I do. I'm sending him in, but beware he's even hotter than you." I threw a book at the door he just walked out of and almost hit a very good looking man. He ducked just in time, so the book hit the wall next to the door instead of his face.

I gasped and pushed off the desk to go retrieve the book, "I'm so sorry that book was meant for my least favorite employee!"

I said the last words a bit louder so that Fran would hear, and of course he did. "Don't make me come back there and shove that book up your-."

He walked more into my tiny office and I shut the door before Franklin could finish his rude remark. I smiled up at the man sweetly before walking back to my desk, he took a seat on the dusty sofa that was wedged into the corner of my office. I was about to suggest he shouldn't sit there but since he was already sitting, I didn't want to freak him out that there might be bugs in the cushions his ass is on.

"So how can I help you?"

He shot me a pearly white smile, Fran was right though he is gorgeous. He has neat brown hair on his head, his skin is perfectly clear and even though he is wearing ratty clothes, he looks like he could be from Piltover.

"My name is Nicholas, Nicks. I've been coming here for a couple weeks and like everyone else, I love watching you perform. You have an amazing voice, Layla."

I kept the smile on my face, even though he gives me a weird vibe. I've gotten pretty good at sensing when people are good or bad, I don't trust this guy but I also don't not feel safe around him.

"Thank you, Nicholas."

"Please call me Nicks. I know this is going to sound funny but, I'd like to offer you a job." He was cool and collected, but my palms started shaking.

It's easy to realize that he's not from here, I mean he's clean looking with no dirt on his face like the rest of us. Plus no one down here has enough money to come to me and offer a job that's worth persuading me into accepting it.

"You're not from the Underground, are you Nicks?" I asked, crossing my hands over my chest as I stood up from my chair.

"Clever girl, I knew I'd like you. No I'm not, I'm a rich man who lives in Piltover. I live alone, I'm 40 years old and I host fancy parties as much as a teenage frats do." He put his hands together and leaned forward on the couch intensely.

"Why should I work for you? I'm just a teenager from the Underground, you could get in so much trouble for being down here. Why?" I asked honestly interested in his answer.

"I've been looking for someone to perform at my events, I've been hearing rumors about a girl with a beautiful voice from the Undercity. So I came to see for myself and I was not disappointed. You don't seem like the girl to lie and steal your way to get what you need."

They know about me up in Piltover?

I scoffed, "You don't know me or what I've had to do to survive. I already have a job so I'm not interested in pretending to be one of you rich Pilties just to get coins."

"I'll pay you more than you make in 3 months here. I'm desperate Layla. I know you don't know me but," He reached into his pocket and held out a heavy bag with coins rustling inside it. A lot of coins. "I'm being serious. I'll pay you right now, just say yes."

My mouth dropped a bit at how thick the bag looked and sounded. This is crazy, he lives with the people who I know killed my parents. Piltover is the enemy, they've watched us suffer ever since Vander was murdered. But this isn't about them, this is about the money. It could help a lot with the rebellion and we can improve costumes or lighting and sounds here. This could be another distraction, another big responsibility yes, but it will help everyone.

I took a deep breath, squeezing the bridge of my nose before replying. "Fine, one event. But no one can know about this, Nicks."

"Trust me, no one will know anything except us. Can't wait to show you the life of a rich Piltie." I let out a small smile as he extended the bag of coins out to me.

Ekkos gonna kill me.