Florentine Rose

Ash and Rubble

After her shift at her grandmother's bakery, Alexandra decides to walk home and not jog. It was still kinda early but now more people had woken up and began their day. As most vendors were opening up their shops. As she drew closer to home she started to smell smoke, the little hairs on the back of her neck started to rise and she got a feeling that something was wrong.

Breaking out of her walk into a full sprint, the feeling of dread filled her heart. When she sprinted around the city block her heart stopped and her world came crashing down around her.

Her family's palazzo, was lit up like a bonfire. Flames licked and burned at the brick walls. Shattered glass lay on the ground as firefighters sprayed water at the flames, with little progress. Alexandra pushed her way through the crowd, tears filled her eyes, fighting to hold them back she rushed forward and grabbed the arm of the fire chief,Cecco Laurin. When he turned to see who grabbed his arm and saw Alexandra, his eyes darkened with sadness and pity. "Child, you're alright, I'm sorry for your loss, your parents both have perished in the fire...but how did you escape?" Alexandra looked towards the burning building "I went to see Liz, at the bakery this morning."

"Alexandra, would you wait until we get the fire out? I would like to speak with you." Cecco mumbled.

When the fire was out, Alexandra took a careful walk through the ruins of her home, Cecco followed behind her. She stopped in front of a burned bookshelf and picked up a broken picture frame. The hot metal burned her fingers when she touched it, dropping it, Alexandra clenched her eyes shut trying to and hold back the tears. She turned and ran from the ruins, away from the smoke, the damage, away from the life she had known.

Alexandra walked down the street, the sun began to set and the shadows of the street grew. In her sorrow she had meant to walk to her grandmother's bakery but her feet had led her to the grassy banks of the river that split the city in half. Was her subconscious telling her that she wanted to die? Alexandra looked at the water and throught. No, she didn't want to die. She had just lost her parents, her home in a big heated blaze. Looking at the bank she remembered herself running over the grass with her father chasing her. It had been a father-daughter day. She remembered her own high pitched laugh as she ran from her father's outstretched arms, in the end he had caught. She could almost feel his protective embrace.

"Pity, your home went up in a blaze like that, not so high and mighty now are you Salavati?" Samuels annoying voice broke her trip down memory lane. Alexandra turned and faced the boy who she called her enemy, Samuel had always harassed her ever since they were children. His father had been a ship trader he had been caught not paying his employees all of their wages, he had been sent to prison. Her father was the prosecutor assigned to the case and the one to have Niccolo Matzeri convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison.

"I am still high and mighty Samuel, if you're here to finish what we started yesterday then bring it on, I may have just lost my parents but I will still make you pay if you say anything about my family" Samuel smirked and held his hand up in the air showing he meant no harm. "Relax Alexandra, I just came to give you something. I say we hold a truce, you're grieving and I understand that, for now we will hold off on our...skirmishes." he held out a piece of paper, it was slightly dirty and crumbled, Alexandra took it and held it in her hands then nodded "Thanks." Samuel turned and walked away. Alexandra opened the note and her world shattered all over again as she read the note out loud to herself.

The Slavati family have been taken out as an example of what happens when you stand in my way, they have served their purpose to the city, Michael and Alessandra where just the start of my plan to rid the city of the those who conspired against the city.

Alexandra dropped the note and fell to her knees, tears fell from her eyes again she pounded the ground with her fist as she screamed her anguish to the heavens, and to any god that had been listening to her cries.

When Alexandra had calmed down, she stood dusted herself off and started to walk towards her grandmother's bakery. By the time she arrived, it was 8:30 at night; five hours had passed since her world had collapsed. She knocked on the door of the bakery. The back lights turned on and out came her grandmother. Liz had always been a kind hearted woman, and her worry lines deepened when she saw Alexandra.

"Oh, thank the gods, child where have you been? I heard the news from Cecco about the fire, I'm so sorry, your parents were fine people.Come inside and I'll make you something to eat, you must be hungry" Alexandra nodded solemnly and followed the elderly women inside and up to her apartment that was above the bakery.

After eating and being comforted by Liz, Alexandra took a hot shower to wash all the dirt and days troubles away. The hot water ran down her back and eased the tension from her muscles, she made the choice to find the truth to as why her parents had been killed and who had written the note that Samuel gave her.

"Grief does not change you...it reveals you" -John Green