The Story of Blood and Roses

Maybe in my rush to get out of the mansion, I had not noticed how shady Cienna looked as she swayed and stumbled on the path that led to the mansion's entrance. I could see that she had hailed a cab to reach her destination and was relieved that she hadn't driven herself here or had taken a lift from someone who would find out too much about the organization and turn out to be a threat. Of course, most would trust Cienna to remember the security of the mob even before her life as she had been part of it for longer than most people, but I didn't have that sort of faith in her. In my opinion, she could give away vital information to the wrong people.

As I passed her, I smelled the alcohol on her. She reeked. And then there was something else, the pungent smell almost made me recoil in disgust. It's as if she hadn't had a shower in a few days and rolled around in the mud for the same period of time.

"The newest whore is here!" she squealed as she turned to me. Okay, she was obviously a happy drunk, a very rude happy drunk.

"Cienna," I sighed in frustration. She stumbled as she leaned in to whisper something in my ear and fell forward. I stepped away, making her fall on her face with a thud. I couldn't say I felt sorry for letting her fall. I squatted down beside her to check if she was hurt and found her back shaking. I groaned, thinking that she was crying for getting hurt, but when I turned her face to a side, I saw her exhaling sharply from her nose, laughing silently. I tried to turn her whole body and apparently it was extremely amusing for her. She let out a guffaw and then broke out into a maniacal giggle.

I might have just left her there, but the cab was still waiting outside the gate and the guards spoke to the cabbie with heated expressions. Sighing, I decided that I should get her inside before she makes a fool of herself and lay there all night, and god forbid catches pneumonia.

"Guards," I called in a loud voice that made Cienna laugh louder. I rolled my eyes as I tried to catch their attention. At last, they seemed to take notice of me sitting in front of an inebriated Cienna and rushed to my aid. "Get her up and inside. I'll take care of the cabbie." They nodded and stooped down to try to scoop Cienna up and take her inside. Two of them grabbed her hands and legs and suspended her into the air and swiftly carried her inside as if they were used to it or had at least done it before.

I moved towards the cabbie, who was an older man. He looked distressed as he gazed above my shoulders to see what was happening to his customer. I gave him a reassuring smile when he finally turned to me. He looked suspiciously at me as if having seen me avoiding catching her when she fell. He probably did.

"Thank you for dropping her, sir," I thanked him politely. His expression seemed to soften at my grateful words, but he still seemed suspicious. "Could you tell me how much the ride cost?" I made sure that my voice was soft and sweet.

"First you gotta tell me what will gonna happen to that girl." I was surprised by her harshness in his voice. The older man was genuinely concerned for an inebriated girl. I wondered what Cienna had spewed while she was in the cab. I'd got to find out, and the only way I could do that was by reassuring the man and making him trust me enough to tell me what transpired while she was in the cab.

"You don't need to worry about her. I think we'll give her some food and then let her sleep." I smiled the best I could to tell him that everything was fine, but he still seemed unsure. "I think I understand your concern, but this is where she lives most of the time. She's the lady of the house," I told him, but I could hear the distaste that I felt.

"Don't play nice, girl. I saw how you let her go." He narrowed his eyes at me. So he had seen me let her fall. Well, that seemed okay to me.

'Can this man not let this go? I need to get inside and see what is going on.'

"I'll admit that I don't get along with her, but I'm not here to harm her."

"And don't think for a moment that I don't know that the girl is in danger."

"Danger?" That got me curious.

"She told me that her man was out for her blood. I'm guessing that this is his place, so I'm not going until the lady asks me to." I huffed before I ran a hand through my hair.

"You've got to tell me everything she said. If she's in danger then I need to know."

"You just came out of the house like you owned it. You think I'll tell you a thing?" Okay, the old man was getting to my nerves by that time. But I didn't think that involving anyone else in the matter would do any good.

"I'm an employee here. I don't need to explain myself to you. Just tell me how much she owes you and I'll pay you." He shook his head. He bloody shook his head. I ground my teeth together and then turned around. "You can wait here as long as you want, then. She's gonna stay here for as long as she needs to sleep and I'm not in a mood to have this conversation. Anyway, I need to see how she's doing."

"Let me know what you see," he grumbled and I shot him a look. "You might lie, but I need to get my peace of mind." I rolled my eyes and walked back into the mansion.

She was lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling with a shit eating grin on her face. The guards were standing across the room with disturbed looks on their faces. They seemed unsettled as I approached Cienna. She seemed oblivious to her surroundings. When I was close enough to properly see her, I could see her mumbling to herself and smiling. I wondered if she'd lost her mind at last.

"Do you know where Anthony is?" I asked the guards. They shook their heads and then looked anywhere but at Cienna. "Get him for me, now," I ordered. They scattered in different directions. I kneeled down beside Cienna and tried to make out what she was saying.

"Kill... kill... he's gonna... this is what love... hate it..." that's all I could make out. I listened closer, trying to make sense of what she was saying, but it was useless. "He'll take care of me," I heard her say suddenly and snapped my head up to look at her face. She was still staring at the ceiling with that dreamy look in her eyes. Her head turned almost dramatically towards me, slowly that I could count until ten before she was looking into my eyes. Kneeling down made my eyes in direct line of hers.

"Who?" I asked when I realized that she had been talking to me.

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