The Raven and the Rose (Part 1)

Chapter Eighteen ~ The Rose

My father once told me that love is a funny thing. That Mafia is the opposite of what love is: to care for one another. But right now, I wasn't in love... I was angry. Emotions. All of them swirling in a crazy circle inside of me, almost begging to be let loose and explode on everything. In that moment, everything that had happened to me came crashing down. My mother and father having me, my father starting to train me the day I turned three, my mom reading bedtime stories to me, my mother's passing, my father training me day by day until eventually I was sent on my first mission. The same mission that was to kill the one and only Vince Ravino. I knew that it wouldn't be easy. But I didn't know that rejection, and especially to be broken, hurt so much. The gun in my hand trembled from the shaking of my hand as I held it, making sure to point it at Ravino's head. Tears burned in my eyes and made my red vision harder to distinguish the colors that swirled all around me. But at that moment, it seemed that the only thing Ravino could see was me. I took a step forward, then another. The gun trembling in my hand meant that I was showing weakness. Fear. I couldn't show him anything. I didn't want to show them anything but the strength and power I had. It wasn't long before a few people stopped fighting each other to notice me. They watched me as I kept on walking forward until I was in the middle of all the chaos and everyone noticed me. People in the Mafia stood all around me, panting out of breath, bloodied body parts, bruises covering most of their skin. It was sickening. And what was more sickening was the sight of Ravino looking at me. I bit my lip at the sound of silence that elapsed and tried to stifle as much as I could the water in my eyes that threatened to make me burst out in tears.

"I hate you." was all I said. The man standing next to Ravino glanced at him, then at me. Recognition flashed in his eyes but was quickly replaced by apprehension. "Valentina." the man said and was about to take a step forward but I stopped him when I moved the gun in his direction. His eyes landed on the weapon and he gulped, taking a step back. I moved the gun so that it was back in front of Ravino's face. "I hate you so much, Ravino." I told him, the tears in my eyes now threateningly burning. He nodded solemnly and gulped hard. "I know, and I'm sorry." he said. I shook my head and bit my lip again. "You don't know how much I want to pull the trigger and kill you right now." I told him, and to prove my point, I clicked off the safety of the gun. The man beside Ravino, who I then remembered was an important leader in the Russian Mafia and whose name was Nikolai, looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut as I went on. "I want to kill you, Ravino. So that you can burn and burn and know what you did not just to me, but to all those girls who you brought with you every night," I said and a few gasps echoed through the walls of the hallway. But I didn't let that stop me from going on. "You hurt them, Vince. Just as much as you hurt me." I said, and brought the gun to my right temple. Nikolai's expression was replaced by urgency as he started to lunge at me, but Ravino held him back with an arm. He eyed me carefully, looking me up and down. "What exactly do you want, Valentina?" he asked, suspiciously. I smiled weakly, despite the pressure I was putting against the side of my head.

"I want you to leave this place. Broken. Defeated. I want you to never show your face here ever again, even though it is your home. I want you to move somewhere nobody can ever find you. I want you to remember what you did to me, Vince. I want you to remember that you are nothing without your men, but most of all, I want you to remember the name Valentina De La Rosa. Because it will be the name you will remember till the day you die. Till the day you will always know the mistakes you made. But I want you to know that I will never stop hunting you down, Vince. I will never stop hunting and searching for you. And until I find you, I will make sure that you will never be able to hurt anybody ever again. You could've had it all, Vince. An empire. But you threw it all away just because you cared too much. So go. I'll give you a headstart." For a few moments, there was silence. And then, Ravino started to back away, his eyes never leaving mine. And at that moment, it seemed as if we were the only people in the hallway. I knew that this wasn't the end for us. We'd eventually find each other, and when we do, I'll be the one to kill him first. And with the next few words he spoke, I somehow knew to respond to them. "Goodbye, my rose." he said, making me smile weakly at him, and very slowly, I moved the gun so that it was pointing at his heart. "Goodbye, my raven." And with that, he opened the window beside him and jumped out.

Suddenly, it was as if all the tension had left the room, so I lowered my gun, the tears in my eyes still burning. Nikolai took a step forward. "Valentina-" he started to say, but I quickly raised the gun so that it was pointed at his forehead. He raised his hands in the air defensively and took a step back. Then, I searched the room for the other person I was looking for. There. Alex. She had a few bruises over her body, and a bloodied lip and shoulder and a really red throat. "Alex." I said, and nodded my head. She smiled tightly and took a step forward from the wall she was currently leaning against. "Valentina." she acknowledged. "So... what now?" Nikolai asked, outstretching his arms and motioning to everyone around him. I gritted my teeth. "Here's what's going to happen," I say and put the gun to my temple again. "You are all going to leave this house and remove as best you can any trace that showed you were here. You're not going to stop me from leaving this place, and you're going to go home to your Mafias and forget this ever happened. Now go, before I lose myself and kill you all right here and now." I told them. For a second, no one moved, they all exchanged glances, some shared knowing and uncertain looks, while others simply nodded to each other. And much to my surprise, it was Nikolai that spoke first. "How can we be sure that you won't try anything to hurt our Mafia parties?" he asked, suspiciously. I shrugged one shoulder loosely as I smiled at him. "There's no way of knowing what I'll do now, Nikolai." I said. He only nodded in response and looked around him. "There's nothing else here for us to take care of. Let's go." he ordered, and turned to leave. The Mafia members soon joined in line with him as they walked out of the exit and left me alone with Alex.

She moved away from the wall to stand in front of me. Her black jumpsuit was covered in blood, and no doubt that it wasn't her own. I saw that she was also trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to leave her eyes as she stared at me with the only thing in her eyes: pity. "Don't pity me, Alex." I snapped. She sniffed and smiled. "I'm just glad to see you again, Valentina. You don't know how much I've missed you. How much your father has missed you." she told me. My eyes widened slightly at those last few words. My father. What would he think of what I did? Of what Ravino did? I closed my eyes briefly. No. I can't think of Ravino. I vow not to ever again. "Valentina?" Alex asked, worriedly, and I opened my eyes to see her gazing at me with both a curious and worried expression. "Go, Alex. Go back to your Mafia and don't ever try to see me again," I told her and turned around as if to make my point. "I'm a monster now." All of a sudden, a warm hand placed itself on my shoulder, forcing me to look behind my shoulder and into the eyes of Alex. "You're not a monster, Valentina." she said, comfortingly. I shook my head and moved away so that her hand left my shoulder. "You don't know what it's like, Alex. To be mentally abused and not being able to know the difference between reality and fantasy. I've been played, Alex, and I don't want it to happen ever again." I told her, staring off into the distance. Behind me, I heard her take a step forward. "What are you going to do about it, Valentina? Are you going to hunt him down like you said you would?" she asked, which made me grin. "I'll do that... and so much more."