The Family

A New Friend...

"Are you sure?" Nicolas asked for the 8th time.

"Oh yes! I am very certain!" Nicolas's father said dismissively.

""But we shall be attending the summer festival with Seraphina!" Nicolas begged.

"No no, you go have fun with Ms Russo and Sera. I have some important business to attend to." His father finished off.

Nicolas simply nodded in return and turned on his heel. He walked up the stairs and made his way to Seraphina's room. He gently knocked on the door and heard a mumble from the inside.

Inside, he saw his little sister sprawled on the ground with me by her side. We had empty mugs on the floor and were both reading books quietly.

"Good evening, ladies." He cheerfully said.

"It's 9 in the morning." I mumbled as I closed my book and lay it next to me.

"Sorry, good morning ladies." Nicolas corrected. Seraphina snorted.

"Well, father will not be attending but that doesn't mean we won't have fun!" Nicolas explained, earning a squeal of excitement from Seraphina and a look of confusion on me.

"What won't he be attending?" I asked.

"Didn't Nicky tell you?! We're going to summer festival!" Seraphina happily squealed.

I couldn't suppress a smile.

Once we had finally arrived at the festival, our noses filled with the scent of popcorn and cotton candy. I felt excitement building inside me.

"So where shall we go?" Seraphina asked.

"Let's try the ferris wheel!" I squealed in a uncharacteristically high pitch.

For the entire day, I had dragged them all over the festival, trying everything at least once.

By the time we were finished, the sun was going down and we settled on a bench.

"Well that was fun!" Nicolas exclaimed, out of breathe.

Seraphina and I nodded in unison.

"Well I suppose it's time to go home then." Seraphina sighed.

As we had began rising from our chairs and picking up our belongings, I heard a deep voice behind me.

"Ms Russo....I've been waiting to meet you." The voice said.

I turned around to see Seraphina in his arms as he gripped her hair. Tears of fear formed in her eyes as the man held a gun to her head.

This man was unfamiliar, he had dark raven obsidian hair, piercing golden eyes and tanned skin. I looked at his posture.It was confident and strong.

Most of these guys were pretty pathetic, so I didn't think much of it.

I grabbed my revolver and had my finger on the trigger before his voice broke through the silence.

"Ah ah ah," he teased," I wouldn't do that if I were you. You shoot me, I shoot her." He ended off with a cocky  smirk.

"OK, what do you want?" I asked, I knew it was a stupid question but I was trying to distract him.

"I know what you're trying to do. Don't think I don't see you reaching for your dagger in your left boot." He whispered with a smirk.

"How did you-" I mumbled.

"Oh sweetheart, I know lots of things, but boy have I been waiting to see you!" He exclaimed.

He let go of Seraphinas hair and put his arm around her neck, restricting her movement and oxygen supply.

"But back to your previous question. Oddly enough, I'm not hear for this little girl-" he said pointing at her,"-Or that little boy." He said pointing to Nicolas.

"I'm here for you." He ended off with a knowing smirk.

I soon smirked as well, finally formulating a plan.

"Alright, how about a trade." I proposed.

A victorious grin spread across his face.

"Sure." He said shoving Seraphinas to her knees and beckoning me.

"My trésor, your not actually going to-" Nicolas pleaded but was cut off by the violent shaking of my head.

I stepped forward and this man grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards him.

I growled at the sudden contact but didn't snap at him.

"Right then, shall we get going?" He said gesturing to a car that I hadn't noticed before.

"Where?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Now now, curiosity killed the cat." He teased as he grabbed my revolver and Tommy gun.

We had began walking when he began speaking.

"Aaah. So many men sent to kill Mr Cheuntrieul and you've killed them all with ease. Yet I was able to catch you on the first try. You know, I've heard great things about you. Valentine Russo, killer of men and women alike. Mistress of the underworld. I heard your skills are unmatchable. Apparently not." He stopped and turned to me.

He grabbed my chin a forced me to look at him, I was quite short compared to him.

"You know, I thought that girl from before was cute, what was her name again? Seraphina." He said in a velvety voice as he purred her name.

"Don't you touch her you scum!" I spat.

His grip on my chin hardened, leaving red marks behind.

"I wasn't finished sweetheart." He growled but turned back to his devilish smirk.

"But you know...I think you're even cuter." He purred.

I smiled back at him.

"I'll be honest. You did put up a good fight and you would have beat me, but be careful who you mess with when you have a attitude like yours." I growled as I clenched the knife that I had successfully gotten in the time he was flirting.

The smirk disappeared from his mouth as I lunged the knife into his shoulder. He collapsed to the ground and I took the opportunity to run back to Nicolas and Valentine.

"Let's go!" I snapped as I ran to the pair. They both looked at me with big, fearful eyes. I didn't give them a second glance as I grabbed their hands and pulled them into the car.

"Who was he?" They both asked in unison. I took a deep breathe and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Honestly, I don't know, but I see a potential threat rising." I paused for dramatic affect.

"Should be fun." I smirked.