The next few days passed without much of anything happening in Arianna's life. She limped about her house, popped a few Diazepam to knock her out in the evening, and spent most of her days as she had for the last little while. Laying about in a drug-induced slouch. She knew she'd become an addict. She knew she should stop, yet she didn't. Nor would she at the rate she was going. The problem with being so involved in a world of crime is that most people's moral compass pointed downwards, so having a friend to pick you up was, unfortunately, a rarity.
Plus, the drugs at least helped with her knee. She'd landed hard. It was swollen, bruised, and made a rather concerning 'crunch' whenever she crouched down. A hospital visit would have been the smart idea, but in this country who could afford to go to the hospital without health insurance? In a country where a broken finger could cost you as much as five thousand dollars and in her case, a broken or messed up knee could cost anywhere from ten thousand to thirty-five thousand. When you worked on the wrong side of the law, paid your bills purely in cash, and had no claimable income. Going to the hospital became an emergency-only situation.
Maybe it was an emergency. But Arianna didn't care. She sat in her armchair in the living room. Her TV echoed with static in the background as she sat there, eyelids fluttering and her brain slipping in-and-out of consciousness. Snips and Ajax hadn't come back since their evening out and she'd received a single call from Ezio which she hadn't bothered to pick up. His voice mail insisted it was important and based on his tone, he was upset.
"Whatever..." She'd mumbled, clicking off her cell phone and tossing it in the pile of overdue bills laying on her counter before returning to her chair, settling deeply into the dusty cushions of her chair. What was she even doing with her life anymore? Would she ever get over this hump, find a bit of that old self of hers again? Her friend's words had stung when they'd accused her of not being the same. They were right of course. Previous to the loss of her girlfriend, she'd never touched drugs in her life, she had the motivation to do things, she'd always been smiling even though her job was to shake businesses down for money.
But all that had changed when she lost her. She still remembered the day it happened. It was supposed to be a simple business shakedown when a rival gang had rolled up and started shooting. It was chaos. She'd watched her girlfriend of ten years, Taylor. Fall to the ground in front of her. She'd barely got out herself. But she'd stayed there with Taylor until the end. Until she watched the life leave the woman's eyes. Sure, Styx had hit back after that. Had graciously tracked down those who'd committed the act and put them down, but Arianna was still left with a hole she couldn't fill and a life that wouldn't support her through it.
The beep of her cell phone roused her slightly from her half-conscious state. She leaned over and pulled her phone from the counter and looked at the slightly cracked screen.
`Hey Ari! Do you want to go out with the gang tonight?`
Arianna stared at the text for a long moment. It was from Snips. One of the few people who still kept up with her, who invited her to things. It was the reason she'd been willing to go knock over the facility on the edge of the town in an unsanctioned action. She rolled her finger over the reply button for a long moment and then sent a quick response.
`I'm good. The knee is still hurting from our little outing the other day.`
The response came back quickly.
'Oh. Have you gotten it looked at? I'm sure Ezio could find you an under-the-table clinic or something.`
'I'm fine. It'll be better in a day or two I'm sure. Have fun tonight.'
'Alright. Feel better Ari. Talk soon.'
Arianna sighed and tossed her phone onto the side table and looked at her small kit on the table. The needle. The spoon. The bottle of pills and furrowed her brows slightly. Maybe one more hit before she went to bed? That sounded nice.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
She looked up quickly as the knocks resounded on her door. She knew for certain it wasn't Snips and since Ajax was almost always with him it wasn't either of them. She climbed to her feet, stumbling slightly from a wave of nausea that rolled over her. She grumbled slightly and walked to the door and pressed her face to the peephole to see who it was before she considered opening the door.
She didn't even get a peek.
Just as her eye got level with the peephole, all hell broke loose.
Something heavy connected with her door and knocked it right in. The door slammed her in the face hard enough to knock her off her feet. She felt the crunch of her nose, she felt herself hit the floor and in her semi-conscious state she was dropped into a world of blackness for a moment.
Now, Arianna was a fighter. She could throw a punch. She could wrestle with the best of them and above all, she wasn't weak. But despite gaining consciousness and seeing the two burly people dressed in what looked like medical scrubs descending on her through her slightly blurred vision, she didn't have a chance. She swung once and a heavy slug from one of them knocked her right back into that dazed state as they grabbed her roughly, forcing her onto her stomach and slamming her head into the floor, she felt thick fingers lacing into her hair and holding her head there.
From behind the two, the sound of heels clicking on the floor could be heard. Arianna barely saw the black heels in front of her before the person wearing them settled into her armchair and crossed her legs. By now Arianna's vision was clearing slightly and she let out a slight groan as hands kept her pressed down.
"Now now you two. We don't want her busted up too much." The voice tutted at the pair, but despite this their tight hold on her didn't loosen in the slightest.
Arianna's blue-eyed gaze looked up at the woman slowly as she struggled against the two holding her down. A brown-haired woman in a no-nonsense business suit, with her hair, pulled back into a tight bun was looking down at her through a pair of frameless glasses, "Mm...Are you still conscious down there Arianna? That nose looks a bit painful."
"Nn...Who the fuck are you? And what the hell is all this about? Get off me!" She said angrily, struggling against the two holding her, their grip like iron.
"I'd suggest not struggling. They've been instructed not to damage you too much, but I won't hesitate to have them slam you around a bit to make you comply." The woman crossed her legs the other way as she looked around the room slowly, "You know, when I looked you up. I knew you were in deep but I never anticipated you were in THIS deep..." For accent, she flicked one of Arianna's used needles off of the table.
"The hell are you talking about you psycho bit--" The hand gripping her hair slammed her into the ground again, cutting off her words.
