The Raven and the Rose (Part 1)

Chapter Two ~ The Rose

When I opened the double doors leading into the Ravino mansion, I was overwhelmed with noise and a suffocating crowd. There were so many people I thought I'd pass out any time soon, and I struggled to keep my breathing steady as I walked deeper into the mansion, each step I took feeling like a thousand pound weight chained to my legs. I searched the room for Alex, the only daughter out of six children from the Starr mafia. She had told me about three days ago that she'd be attending the banquet along with two of her brothers, and I hadn't bothered to ask if their mother had told them to come or if they had decided to attend the banquet willingly. All of a sudden, I feel a hard tap on my shoulder which makes me turn around and meet the green eyed gaze of Alex. She smiled up at me and I couldn't help but notice that the dress she was wearing complimented the shade of green of her eyes. "I see you like my dress." Alex said, grinning, and did a three hundred and sixty turn to show me every detail and angle of her dress. I laughed. "Oh, you know, Alex. I can never seem to shake off your amazing fashion sense." I told her, and chuckled. She laughed and then looked around her, an expression on her face that I couldn't quite scrutinize. "What's wrong?" I asked, frowning. She shook her head, and took a glass from the platter a waiter was holding out to us. She thanked him with a tip of her glass, and he left, and when he was out of sight she drowned the liquid almost instantly. "Ah. Now that... that was good." she said, and licked her lips. I smiled and looked around me. "Hey, do you know where the bar is? I mean, I know it's a banquet and all but-" I started saying, but Alex interrupted me when she tapped me on the forehead with her glass, which made me stare at her, stunned. "At the far left corner, you'll see a makeshift bar with a bartender in a white suit. It's not hard to miss, and neither is he, honestly." Alex said, and pointed to the far left corner of the long hall. "Oh, thanks." I said and gave her one last smile before walking past her in the direction she pointed to.

Alex was right about it not being hard to miss. I spotted different coloured bottles placed on high shelves at the far left corner of the large room and walked towards it. Once I reached the makeshift bar, I sat down on one of the stools in the middle and tapped the counter with my fingers. The bartender, who was wearing a white suit just like Alex had said, turned around from his spot in the corner of the makeshift bar. He had a towel and a glass in his hand to show that he was in the middle of cleaning the glass. "Hi. What can I get you?" he asked, and smiled widely, and I couldn't help but smile back at him. I shifted my position on the stool and asked: "Hi. Can I have a glass of whiskey? With four pieces of ice?" He nodded and put the glass and towel he was holding on the counter behind him, then grabbed a bottle from the highest shelf. He took out a small glass from one of the lower cabinets underneath the counter and placed it on the counter where I was currently tapping my fingers. "Make that two whiskeys. With three pieces of ice in mine." someone said beside me. I looked to the right to find a boy to be about two years older than me sitting on a stool with his back against the wall. He had a medium tan and wore a black shirt with black pants and wore a silver chain around his neck. I looked away when I found that the bartender had placed my glass of whiskey in front of me. I smiled at him and thanked him for the drink, then brought the cold glass to my lips. As I drank, out of the corner of my vision I could see the guy looking me over with a gaze I couldn't scrutinize. When I drank about half of the whiskey, I set down the glass and looked in his direction, giving him a hard glare. "What?" I asked, annoyedly. One corner of his lips tilted upwards in a half smile, and I found myself feeling weird all of a sudden. And feeling weird is not something that Valentina De La Rosa feels.

"What do you want?" I asked him, unable to suppress the anger in my voice. The bartender handed the glass to the guy, then walked away, almost as if he sensed the tension between us. The guy flinched, and then he lightly tapped his glass with one finger as he brought it to his mouth and drained all the whiskey from it. I watched him as he set the glass down on the counter and licked his lips. A shiver went up my spine as he suddenly got up from the stool and walked over to me. I found myself leaning away, despite the fact that I was on a very small stool and couldn't really move a lot away. He stood over me now, and looked down at me with a lopsided grin, and I had to force myself to look him in the eyes. "Who are you looking for?" he asked. I avoided his gaze as I responded: "No one." He laughed at my response, and then he fixed me with a stern look. "Who are you looking for, Valentina?" he asked again. My heart skipped a beat. How did he know my name? I didn't tell him anything about me. I'm guessing he must've seen the fearful look in my expression because he smirked and pointed to my bare arm, where the rose tattoo was clearly visible. I gulped. "You don't think I would've recognized you from the De La Rosa symbol?" he said, and briefly touched my arm. I pulled my arm away and gritted my teeth as I said to him: "Yes. I am, in fact, looking for someone. Would you happen to know where I can find Vince Ravino?"

Something flashed through his dark eyes but it was soon replaced by amusement. "You're looking for Vince Ravino, huh?" he asked, grinning, and shoved his hands in his pockets. I eyed him carefully and then nodded. "Yes. Now where can I find him?" I asked, slowly. His black hair fell over his eyes as he looked down at the floor. I was thinking that maybe it was time I leave but when I tried to get off the stool, he grabbed me by the wrist. "Hey, what are you-?" I started saying, but when I looked at him, that's when I saw it. He had rolled up his sleeve to reveal a raven tattoo on his right forearm. My eyes widened and I started trying to pull my hand out of his grasp. "Let me go." I said to him when he didn't let go of me. He smiled lightly before releasing my wrist, and then I jumped off the stool and ran.

Okay. One thing you should know about me is that I don't run. Ever. Especially not from the most vile and deadliest man in the entire Mafia community. But I just found myself running through the crowd, pushing and shoving my way through the many bodies. Some people shot me looks, others swore, but I wasn't really listening to them. I could only hear the loud thumping of my heart deep in my chest as I ran, and it made me ache inside. I reached the entrance of the long hall but when I tried opening the door it was locked, so I instead ran towards the entrance of the long hallway that acted as a kind of sunroom with the windows looking out into the city on one side and a brick wall on the other. I pulled open the door and stepped inside the hallway, then let out the breath I was holding and fell backwards, letting my back hit the wall behind me. I was sweating and totally exasperated, but I had to keep moving. People would probably start wondering what happened to me and where I went, which is why I don't plan on staying here very long. So I started walking, and as I did so I noticed how quiet it was in the hallway. I glanced to my left where the windows provided an open view to the city outside, and I couldn't help but notice that it was nighttime already. "It's a pretty nice view, huh?" I stopped in my tracks, and very slowly, I turned around.

And there he was. Vince Ravino in the flesh, and the very man I was sent here to kill. The dagger underneath my dress suddenly felt heavier, despite it being attached to my leg by a leather strap. I took a step back. "What are you doing here?" I asked. He mimicked my action by taking a step forward. "Nothing really. I just wanted to ask you why you left in such a hurry." he replied. I glanced around nervously and rubbed my wrist, the same one that he had grabbed only minutes before. He motioned to the party on the other side of the wall. "Are you going to go back?" he asked, and I opened my mouth to answer him but then he started walking towards me. "Hey. What are you doing?" I asked, starting to take tiny but many steps backwards. It wasn't until my back hit a wall behind me that I realized I was screwed.