The Raven and the Rose (Part 1)

Chapter Eight ~ The Rose

When I woke up, I was surprised to find myself sitting in the back seat of a car. "Good morning." a voice said from beside me. I looked to my left to see Vince sitting on the other back seat, and I gawked at him as I tried to get away from him, despite the fact that I was seat buckled. "Where are we going?" I asked. He turned his head to look at me, then smiled. "Why, we're at your house, Valentina." he said, and leaned over to my side of the back seat to open the car door for me. Giving him a skeptical look, I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car to be met with the sight of my house. I didn't realize I was gawking so much so I glanced over my shoulder to look at Vince, who was still sitting in the car. "You have thirty minutes. Go." he said, and unable to contain my excitement, I ran inside the house.

The first thing I saw when I stepped through the front door threshold was proof that there had been chaos. There were broken vases on the floor, thrown over furniture, smashed crystal chandeliers, but the thing I noticed the most was that there was blood everywhere. So much blood; it was almost crazy to think what had happened here. With trembling lips, I took a step forward, then another and then another. I searched the space for a moment and started to think that everything was lost, but then I saw a photo of my dad and I at the beach lying on the floor and it made me think for just a moment that everything was okay. But of course, it wasn't. My house had just been ransacked, exactly like a house of cards. I took a step forward, and when I was starting to think that it was time for me to go upstairs, I heard a noise in the back of the room. Instinctively, I walked towards the source of the sound and then found myself standing in front of the pantry.

With trembling hands, I opened the pantry door to reveal my maid Serena sitting on the floor, her hair and clothes disheveled. She looked up at me with teary eyes, and upon recognizing who I was, she leaped to her feet and hugged me. "Oh, miss! I was so worried about you!" she cried, and sniffed into my shoulder. I patted her back comfortingly, and looked around me. "Serena, what happened here?" I asked, curiously. She stepped back and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. "They came in here, miss. They took everything." she replied, and I couldn't help but ask the question that was running through my head. "Who did?" She took a few moments to answer, and seemed to be considering it for a while, before finally letting out a defeated sigh. She looked deep into my eyes, and in them, I could see the slightest bit of sadness and empathy. "I'm so sorry, miss. They went into your father's private laboratory." At those last few words, my eyes widened and I turned around to run in the direction of the basement, where there was no longer a door separating the stairs from the space above. It was almost as if the door was kicked off its hinges and stored elsewhere. Taking a deep breath, I slowly descended the stairs, preparing myself for whatever I might discover in my father's private lab.

~/~

My father had a lot of secrets. So many, in fact, that I'm sure whatever you might ask him may never seem to be the real truth. His lab though, was one of the things he kept both secret and shared with me. He brought me down here when I was about seven years old, because to him that was a sufficient age to show a child what chemicals you have been working with during your free time. He showed Serena down here too, just in case something happened and he needed a second person to get something from his laboratory if need be. My father always had a backup plan, and if his plan to take over the entire Mafia failed, he would have to turn to other means to get it done. And whatever he was conducting down here, it was dangerous. But now that I saw what happened down here, it nearly broke my heart. Broken glass was laid out on the floor, boxes and papers were ripped apart. I raised a hand to my chest to try and suppress the pain that shot through my heart. I jumped when a hand placed itself on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, miss. I tried to stop them. I really did." Serena said, sadly. I placed my hand over hers and smiled weakly. "Thank you, Serena." I told her. Her hand left my shoulder and she said: "Miss, there is something you must know." I turned my head to look at her, and in her eyes I saw that there was pity in them. "You might want to sit down for this." she said, and motioned to a chair that sat in the corner of the ransacked room. I walked towards the chair and sat down, while Serena sat cross legged on the floor in front of me.