Poisonous Savage

Rosalind

ROSALIND

I emerged, the water falling off my body in rivulets, the sun's touch warm against my cool skin. The lake was a secluded haven, a lush cocoon of greenery that felt worlds away from the brutal, cutthroat life I was born into. Here , I was not Thorn , the daughter of The Black Hand's leader; I was just . The boring girl who enjoys being outside with nature.

I reveled in the silence, punctuated only by the soft lapping of water against flesh. My limbs moved with a grace I couldn't display in the rigid world of drug deals and gun running, each stroke slicing through the liquid embrace that promised escape. Freedom here was loud, an intoxicating rush that filled my lungs with each breath of crisp, unpolluted air .

The sunlight danced on the water’s surface, creating golden flecks that shimmered. Unlike that heavy burden of wealth and power, in this place, the light and water soothed rather than suffocated. I dove beneath the surface again, letting the cool depths swallow me whole, silencing the hatred. The bitterness. Everything changed after my mother died.

Down here, in the murky depths, I could pretend. Pretend that the violence that seeped through my family's veins hadn't touched mine, that the darkness my father was wouldn't one day come to claim me, too.

For now, I was free. Yet , even as the thought crossed my mind, it brought a bitter taste to my mouth. It wouldn't be long until he used me in some capacity to further his own gain. My mother was the only one who ever truly fought for me to remain blind to the business. I kicked upwards, bursting back into the light, gasping for the reality I desperately wanted to reject.

The shore came into view. Lucia was there—her silhouette cut from the rest of the world, like a figure in one of those old-timey paper theaters. She had that grin plastered on her face, the kind that knew too much and said too little. My best friend in this whole universe.

I paddled closer, my muscles singing with the effort, each stroke pushing me closer. The water caressed my skin, cool and indifferent to the chaos it would soon surrender me to. My long curls were heavy with it, almost trying to drag me into the depths where I could stay forever free.

" Come on, Rosie ! Race you to the end!" Lucia's voice shattered the silence as she dove in, swimming furiously towards the boundary.

A laugh bubbled up from my chest, raw and real, as I surged forward. The lake's edge approached—an imaginary between our territory and that of The Cinder Crew . With a few more powerful strokes, I reached the shore.

" Shit , you're fast," I gasped out, crawling onto the land. The water streamed off me, soaking into the dry earth. My skin tingled from the sun's touch, drying the droplets left clinging to me.

Lucia stood over me, blocking the sun for a moment, casting a shadow. Her eyes held the spark of adventures yet untold, the loyalty of years bound by shared secrets and silent understandings.

" Always been a wild thing in the water, huh?" she remarked, offering a hand to haul me up. Her grip was solid, grounding.

" Wild doesn't even begin to cover it, Luce ," I muttered. The playful glint in her gaze didn't waver, but I caught the flicker of something else—concern. She must have heard something through the grapevine. There had been whispers of issues happening in Arizona . Something about John handing off his chapter to a psycho named Gia , who was doing a lot of damage. My father was concerned it would cause instability here between us and the New Mexico guys.

" Let's get you dried off," she said, her tone light but her eyes tight. She handed me a towel, the fabric rough against my skin.

" Yeah , let's." My words were clipped as I pondered if that could be what had everyone on edge. If that was what was causing the increase in security, that wouldn’t bode well for me. It could mean confinement. Or something much, much worse.

My resolve hardened as I stood there, wrapped in the coarse towel. I'd been born into a world that dealt in shadows and pain, but standing next to Luce , I felt the first stirrings of something formidable within me. I wouldn't allow myself to become everything I hated.

" Fuckin ' perfect day, ain't it?" Lucia's grin was infectious, the kind that dared you not to smile back. She wrapped her arms around me.

" Damn straight," I forced out a grin, squeezing her tighter before we both pulled away.

We trudged through the underbrush, our bare feet sinking into the soft moss and dirt, until we found that spot— a clearing just shy of being touched by the sun, where the grass was long enough to tickle your thighs when you sat down. The place where secrets were shared, and futures were dreamed up, if only in whispers.

" Shit , Rosie , this place..." Lucia trailed off, her eyes scanning the horizon like she could see beyond it to a world without blood oaths and iron fists.

I dropped down beside her, the towel slipping from my shoulders to pool around my waist. " It's our little slice of heaven." And for a fleeting second, I believed it could stay that way.

She plucked a blade of grass, twirling it between her fingers, face scrunched in thought. The sun caught the flecks of red in her brown hair. She was beautiful with her light blue eyes and curvy hips.

" Remember when we'd play mafia boss out here? You always had to be the damn queenpin." Her chuckle was low, a husky sound that spoke of too many cigarettes stolen from careless adults.

" Guess some things are destined," I mused, tracing patterns in the dirt with my fingertip. My nails, once painted a vibrant red, were now chipped and marred and bitten down until they were raw. " Never thought I'd actually end up... y'know. I always just imagined this world in my dreams. My mother hid me from it. With her gone... it's like my dad's gone mad. He just... he almost gave me to his guard to appease them. It's a lot."

Luce stayed quiet as I spoke, but her lips thinned into a line. I stretched out on the grass, the blades prickling against my skin, sun kissing my face. She sprawled beside me, her own body a canvas for the light and shadows that played through the leaves above.

" Shit , Rosie , you ever think about just... taking off?" I turned to her, eyes tracing the clouds drifting lazily as sin across the sky. " Hitting the road without looking back?"

" Every damn day," I said, voice thick with yearning. " Dream about it like some folks dream 'bout riches. Wanna see the world, taste every cuisine so spicy it burns, dance in streets where no one speaks my tongue."

She hummed, her fingers digging into the earth. " Yeah , you'd rock that wanderer life. No roots, no chains, just freedom. You even have that weird paisley dress to go along with it."

" Would be nice to roam, not a care or a curfew. To live without the Don of The Black Hands breathing down my neck."

" Picture you in some exotic bazaar," she mused, "bartering like a boss, eyes alight with every new treasure you find. "

" Damn straight." I laughed, the sound raw and unchained. " Wanna soak in every culture until my soul's so full it overflows."

" Fuck yeah." She sat up, plucking a wildflower and twirling it between her fingers. " Me , I've got this itch, right? To create something that's all mine. Some business where I call the shots, no one else."

" Sounds badass, Luce ." I propped myself on an elbow, facing her. " You got the brains and balls for it. What's the gig?"

" Photography ." Her eyes lit up, fierce and bright. " Capture moments, steal slices of time. Snapshots that I can sell in some dinky market."

" Your photos would be the tits." She really did have a knack for capturing people at their best. And their worst. " You'd make the shadows sing."

" Thanks , babe." She grinned, a flash of white teeth. " But hey, let's not kid ourselves. Your old man wouldn't let you go easily."

" Vitto Thorn can kiss my ass." Spat the name out like venom, my father nothing more than a stain on my conscience. " Ain't no cage that can hold me. Not even his."

" Remember that when the time comes," Lucia said, her gaze steady.

" Will do." I nodded, feeling the weight of her faith in me.

" Let's make a pact, yeah?" She held out her pinkie, a child's gesture wrapped in steel resolve. " Chase our dreams, no matter how fucked up things get."

" Deal ." Linked my finger with hers, sealing our pact. " To the future—may it be wild and free as we dare to dream."

" Wild and free." Lucia's whisper was a prayer, a battle cry, a lifeline thrown into the stormy seas that awaited us both. " Always ."

" Shit's been weird at home," I suddenly muttered, rolling a pebble between my fingers, feeling its jagged edges press into my skin. " Dad's ... he's getting more twisted. Since Ma died, it's like he's unraveling, becoming the very filth he lords over."

" Vitto's always been a hard man," Lucia said, drawing patterns in the dirt. " But you're not him, . You're something else. Something better."

" Something he wants to break, mold into his own fucked-up image." My laugh was sharp. " The beatings, the cold stares... feels like he's carving out what's soft inside me, leaving nothing but stone."

" Hey , look at me." Her hand reached out, her touch firm on my shoulder. " You've got a backbone in you, but it's your kind, not his. He can't snuff out your fire."

" Feels like he's damn close." My voice broke. He'd been 'training' me to take over sections of the ' family business' for weeks now. Somehow , it always involved me wearing almost nothing and performing for his men.

" Then we burn brighter, babe." Her eyes were fierce embers that refused to die. " We blaze so fucking hot, he won't dare come near."

" Sometimes , I just wanna run. Leave all this shit behind." My gaze drifted to the horizon, where the sky kissed the earth. " Be free of The Black Hands ' grip."

" Thorn . You were born with wings. That bastard clipped 'em, but they'll grow back. And you'll soar higher than he could ever reach when they do. Your mother didn't raise you to be no wussy."

" Promise ?" The word hung between us.

" Swear on my life." Lucia smiled, but it only half reached her shadowed eyes. " I’ll stand by you through hell itself."

" Hope it doesn't come to that." A half-smile, shadowed by doubt, yet clinging to the sliver of hope she offered.

" Whatever comes, we face it together." She pulled me into an embrace, her strength seeping into my bones. " You and me against the fucking world, Rosie ."

" Against the world," I echoed quietly. " Together ."

We sat there, the remnants of sunlight dying on our skin, the world beyond the lake nothing more than a whisper. In the quiet, I felt the weight of my future—a crown of thorns waiting to be placed upon my head .

" Shit's gonna get real ugly, Rosie ." Lucia's voice was somber. " I've been hearing whispers of your father making deals. Working on shit without your knowledge, even though your mom left you her half of everything."

" Let it come." My reply was a growl. " I'm done being the fucking pretty face he thinks he can use whenever it suits him." Perhaps I was more like my father than I cared admit, all my previous thoughts of remaining pure, like my mother, gone from my mind as thoughts of brutal violence swirled in my mind.

" Damn straight." She laughed, her head tilted back, those luscious strands of brown falling into the grass. " You're a queen in the making. They just don't know it yet."

" Queen of the damned, maybe." A dark amusement curled within me, the first stirrings of power that hungered for more than just survival.

" Best kind of queen." Lucia nudged me, her body radiating defiance. " The kind that rules the shadows and turns them to her will."

" Sounds like a fairytale from hell."

" Every fairytale needs a wicked witch." She smirked. " And every witch needs her loyal fucking familiar."

" Guess that makes you my black cat." The thought sparked a genuine smile .

" Meow , motherfucker." Her words were a hardened purr, a promise that she'd claw apart anyone who dared threaten us.

" Meow indeed." I leaned back, the grass a bed of emerald beneath me, the stars above witnesses to the transformation that awaited me.

In that moment of quiet reflection, with Lucia by my side, I felt the shackles of my past begin to fracture. The uncertainty of the future loomed large, but so too did the certainty of our bond—a force that no mafia, no violence, nothing would break.

" Until the bitter end," she whispered, her breath warm against my cheek.

" Until the end," I agreed, and the night closed in, the witness to our promise.