Today I was given a writing prompt challenge by @overthewait. Flash fiction, female lead, with the opening phrase. “Yesterday I was a citizen. Today there’s a man in a suit standing outside my door.” I haven’t done one of these before, so bear with me, but we shall see how it goes. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ![GitHub Logo](https://static.pexels.com/photos/286309/pexels-photo-286309.jpeg) _{Yesterday, I was a citizen. Today, there’s a man in a suit standing outside my door. I could tell from first sight that he wasn’t a door to door salesman. He wasn’t gazing into the peephole or fidgeting like those bastard vacuum pushers usually are. The suit was too crisp as well, like someone who had money and power behind them. Something about the way he stood displayed a cold confidence, like a professional bodyguard would have when they are scanning a crowd. He probably wasn’t in a good mood either. A slightly gnawed toothpick rested between his lips. Someone was trying to quit smoking. Not a good habit to have if you’re looking to maintain employment with a powerful boss.

_{“Miss Bartholdi? I’d like a moment of your time to discuss some debts that need to be paid. I’ve been sent personally by a mutual friend to collect.”

_{Bullshit, Sage thought to herself. She knew who sent this overdressed puppet, and they certainly weren’t a friend. Whatever debts were being claimed were definitely not hers to repay. In fact, their “mutual friend” should be the one to pay, if anyone was to shoulder the burden of owning someone something. Sage sidled up to the door regardless. As she motioned toward the heavily locked entrance, a well-trained hand slid under the edge of an end table, brandishing a shiny sai seconds later. She knew better than to maim the messenger, but she would absolutely make him think twice about agreeing to a collection run when he was asked the next time. There always seemed to be a next time. She slid the weapon in between her belt and jeans and she began to release the deadbolts and locks on her apartment door. The security chain was left attached, in case this little lap dog decided to break in. If things got out of hand, someone looking for her could tell evidence of a struggle. The door opened, with a familiar metal thunk as the chain went taut. Sage stared at the man before her, acting as best she could to portray a weak and hungover woman, even though she was sure he knew better.

_{“Can I help you, sir?” She said as groggily as she could muster.

_{“Oh, Miss Bartholdi, we both know why I’m here. This isn’t the first time we’ve been able to find you. You have been on the run for quite some time. You almost managed to slip away this time. You got yourself an apartment and everything. Well done. You were pretty damn sneaky this time. If it wasn’t for your friend Hannah, we would’ve never found you.”

_{Sage’s face snapped out of her façade and the chain rattled again. If they had hurt Hannah…

_{“Relax, Miss Bartholdi. We only had to threaten the life of her son. No one was actually harmed. She caved quickly. She’s not out of the woods yet though. I left a couple of my less sensitive men to keep an eye on her while we have this meeting. If things go well, she’ll be free to go unharmed. If you decide to defy us once again, then things won’t be so happy for her. We both know you don’t want that. I don’t want that. Don’t make me be the bad guy here. I hate it when things get bloody. These suits are expensive.”

_{Sage fought hard to keep the tears at bay. That fucking bastard was playing hardball now. This was a new low, even for someone as heartless as he was. He had sent his best face to collect. She would almost be flattered if she wasn’t fighting to keep herself from ripping the throat out of this little henchman. Perhaps she wouldn’t be as merciful as she has originally planned. She was going to make him bleed. She was going to make him regret listening to his boss. She cleared her throat and maintained some semblance of composure.

_{“You and I both know that I am to be taken in alive and unharmed. You threatening my friends jeopardized that, as well as your own safety, because you know I’m never going back.”

_{Sage fought to keep her voice from wavering, and stared him hard in the face, even though his eyes were covered with mirror finish sunglasses. She could almost see through her own façade in what those silvery shades gleamed back at her. Her moment of reflection was broken as the man’s half-hearted attempt at a smile transformed into a serious grimace.

_{“The hard way it is then,” he almost whispered.

_{Sage jolted backward as a jacketed arm came lurching through the opening of the door. She instinctively kicked just under the doorknob. The sound of the impact… the snapping of bones… the howl of agony from the pinstriped monkey on the other side. Maybe she had overestimated him. As the arm quickly retracted, the grunts and growls grew more and more angry. A swift kick from the other side, the door splintering as the chain ripped from its mooring, the knob wedging itself firmly in the drywall. Sage sighed… she wasn’t going to get her deposit back.

_{The man-ape brandished a weapon of his own. A telescoping nightstick, which was all too familiar to Sage. She would have flashbacks and panic attacks later, probably even night terrors. She narrowly avoided the swing of the weapon as she evaded and drew her own, spinning with the sai in her right hand. The block was true, as she had been trained, and a twist of the wrist locked the nightstick in place just long enough for her to deliver a precise and devastating kick to the man’s sternum. Another crack of bone, followed by the man dropping weapon and slamming against the wall behind him. Sage almost felt insulted. She was being hunted by amateurs now. Had she been underestimated that drastically? Sage stepped forward as the man was slumped in a defeated pile, struggling to breath and favoring his left arm. She knelt down and dug the tip of the sai against the flesh of his chest, his breathing becoming even more labored from the added pain.

_{“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, Mr. Monkey, seems like you weren’t fully informed about who I am. Sad, I was hoping for a good fight. I haven’t had one in ages, and I was worried about getting rusty. Thanks for reminding me that I was his best pupil.”

_{Sage was calm just on the surface. She was surprised how well she was hiding her own anger. She pulled the man’s arm toward the floor, smiling a bit as she heard and felt the shifting of bones. His scream confirmed it. She stood on his wrist and drove the sai through his hand, pinning him to the floor. His volume increased threefold, and she slapped a hand across his mouth. She took the sunglasses off, revealing silver blue eyes welling up with tears. She almost felt sorry for the man. He was only following orders after all. She reached into the man’s pocket and pulled out a slip of paper with an address on it. It was Hannah’s address. The little insect henchman wasn’t lying. Her eyes snapped to his, seeing the fear and regret pool alongside the tears.

_{Sage whispered in his ear gently, “The next time you see your boss, tell him his daughter says hello.”

_{She stood over him for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking toward the door of the abandoned apartment building. Thank the universe for sleazy land lords and their low rent domiciles. Excellent places for being on the lam, but now it was time to come out of hiding. First though, it was time to get Hannah and her son to safety. If such a thing existed anymore. She sighed once again as she looked upon the building one more time, and then retreated into the darkness of the city, engulfed by the shadows she had learn to exploit these last few years.

_{“I’m coming Hannah,” she said gently to herself, “I’m coming.”}

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