Devils Inheritance | Peaky Blinders

01.

February 8th 1919,

Angel was a word you most certainly would not use when referring to a Shelby. However, Matilda Shelby was different— for she was an angel. Perhaps not in the way you think, you know, innocent, as pure as ever, wings and all that nonsense. No, she was an angel in unimaginable ways.

You see, Matilda has done some very questionable things in her life, bad things which she prefers not to think, nor speak upon. Yet, you'll find that she is one of the only family members who owns up to her past mistakes and tries her hardest to change her ways.

But where will that get her as a Shelby? The simple answer is nowhere.

Make a mistake as a Shelby and it's bound to haunt you for the rest of your life— you'll be reminded of all the terrible things you have done every single day until you die, and even then, people will be sure to remind you of every sin you've ever committed. Even on your death bed.

At least she tries to sort herself out. That's all that matters, right? For that must make her an angel in some senses, no? Well, in her twisted mind she likes to view herself that way, true or not.

But in this day and age that's all you can do really, dream. Yet, everyone in the miserable city of Birmingham knows that nothing you wish for will ever come true, and I mean ever. No matter how much you yearn for a different life, a life away from this city, a life that may finally be yours.

It will never happen.

💋🕯യ₊⋆ 💌 ﹪

Matilda, sixteen years of age, was currently sat reading some nonsense novel she had found in her Aunt Polly's bedroom. Who knew Polly was such a reader?

Either way, reading was the one thing she could do to escape from reality, pull her from the vile world she just so happens to be stuck in and into a new one, full of happiness and wonder. Oh, how a girl can dream.

She was situated on one of the chairs in the dining room. One of her many brothers, Finn, was accompanying her, though in all honesty she wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to him, she was far too engrossed in her book for that.

It was only when she heard footsteps that she looked up from the pages, staring at her youngest brother. Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched him throw something into the fireplace, her curiosity rising.

Thomas walked into the room and she muttered a curse word under her breath, her gaze following his every move. "Finn," he said as the young boy used his hands in a quick attempt to waft away the smoke.

"Arthur's mad as hell." The boy replied, his small hands now gripping the back of his chair.

Tommy looked at Matilda with a disappointed look, who tried her best to avoid eye contact, before he turned his focus back on Finn. He sighed and crouched down, picking up the cigarette the younger had been fiddling with.

The girls eyes widened, her brother was attempting to smoke whilst she was reading her book? She bit down on her bottom lip, silently scolding herself for not keeping a closer eye on him.

"What does a ten year old know about hell, ay?" Thomas asked, throwing the cigarette back into the fire and playfully ruffling up his brother's hair.

"I'm eleven Sunday." Finn corrected.

He stood up straight and turned back to his sister, whose gaze was now on the ground. "And what were you doing whilst Finn was smoking?"