Guns and Roses

Forty Eight ~ Rya

I stare down at my bruised hand. I do think my fingers are broken but they still hurt like hell. My wrist on the opposite arm however, is not so lucky.

The room around me is strange. It looks like it was lived in and then someone tried to take everything important very quickly. Clothes are strewn everywhere and even some of the floorboards have been pulled up.

I look at the clothes and realise that not only are there men's and women's clothes, but they dont seem to follow any sort of style. They're all different sizes too.

A row of shoes line one wall. Heels, trainers, slippers etc all in different sizes. I would have thought that maybe more than one person slept in this room but with only one double bed, I highly doubt it.

Quinn comes out of the en suite bathroom with an assortment of pill boxes in his hands. "There's loads of different painkillers here but they all seem to be out of date. Think you can make it home?"

I nod and look over at the door. Everyone's looking for mum but I'm not worried about her. She knows this house like the back of her hand from when she was a teenager.

I frown as I look around the room once again. Was this her room? Is this where she slept?

I look around and realise that I actually recognise the bed sheets. They're the same ones that were in the documentary.

"This is where Mum was." I say out loud, "This is where it began."

Quinn dumps the pills on top of a dresser and sighs. "I'll go check a few more rooms and maybe find one that someone has slept in recently. Maybe they'll have something you can take."

I nod again and watch him leave. Honestly, the pain is fading and I dont know if its because I'm growing used to it or if it's actually getting better. Other than my arm, I almost feel fine.

The door opens and someone I domt recognise comes in. Actually, I do recognise him. Hes the man from downstairs.

He holds his hands up as if in surrender and smiles. Hes maybe in his forties and I get this feeling that I know him from somewhere else.

He scratches at his beard and lets out a shaky laugh. "I'm not here to hurt you. Only to talk."

He speaks in English which I find troubling. That means he's not one of mine.

"My name's Sean." He holds his hand out for me to shake and my face falls. This is the man who kidnapped my mother and sold her to Elijah. He ruined her life. Hes dead. "Shh. Calm down. Like I said, I'm here to talk. I really think you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"Talk then." I snap at him.

He smiles, "Just like your mother when she was your age, arent you? It's her I want to talk about."

I glare at him. Hes stalling.

He raises his hands again, "Well, it's also about you. And Elijah." He stops again but I dont say a word. "I'm guessing you know about the relationship between your mother and Elijah. I'm not sure exactly what you were told but I dont believe that you will have been told what I'm going to tell you."

Any second now, Quinn's going to come back and interrupt this. As much as I hate to admit it, I want to know what he's talking about.

He comes down and sits on the bed with me. I tuck my feet beneath me to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Have you ever wondered why you look nothing like Natalyla?" He says. "Your father doesnt look a great deal like his mother but there are similarities. What do you think the chances are that you dont have any? What are the chances that you and your grandmother dont look related in the slightest?"

I still dont answer. I want to know where he's going with this.

"What if you weren't? Not by blood anyway."

I snap at this, "The fuck are you on about? I look like my father and always have done."

Sean smirks at this. "Your father also looks a great deal like his own father."

Theres silence for a few beats as what he's suggesting sinks in. My father isn't actually my father but my brother. My stomach turns with the thought.

I shake my head. "That's not possible. That would mean that... that... that would mean that..."

"Elijah was not a good man and what he wanted he took. He wanted your mother."

I knew Elijah did awful things to my mother but I made myself to believe that he never forced himself upon her. I was naive to believe that a man like him was above an act like that.

Does dad know?

"I apologize for burdening you with this information but I felt that it was important for you to know where you came from" He reaches out to touch me and suddenly I remember who he is.

I jump from the bed and shake my head at him. "Wheres my mother?" I ask him. It cant be coincidence that she goes missing in the house that he is in. "Why are you still alive?" I was so caught up in what he was saying that I forgot the important questions.

He gets to his feet and crosses the room towards me. "I havent got your mother," he growls, "but one of my men have." He straightens his suit jacket and I step back until my back hits the dresser. "Your uncle, I believe, shot me but I survived and hid out for years until your mother got out of prison. Then the Petrovs showed up and told me that they could give me exactly what I wanted. But, since you're still alive and they're dead, I'm going to take you instead. I'm sure theres hundreds of people out there who would pay a hefty sum for koroleva."

Theres a loud smash and then he drops like a stone revealing Quinn standing there, holding what's left of a shattered vase.

Sean's alive but he wont be for long. Not once everyone else finds him here.