Prologue: The Regrets of Love

Liverpool England 1952

The alley an inky black and silent save for pale yellow sickly glow of the gas lamps as she runs down the back streets of Liverpool the stench of urine and cheap booze burning her nostrils. She did not even have a chance to scrunch her face up in disgust as she ran quickly through the alley her long skirt bunched in her sweaty palm and a large bundle swaddled in soft linen scraps of green and blue nestled between the crook of her other arm.

She was grateful that the only sound in the quiet night was her own soft labored breath and the crunch of glass bottles under her naked feet. Just as quickly as that thought ran through her head the sole of her foot caught something sharp and metal as she stumbled a curse that would make her mother smack the woman's forehead in annoyance fell from her lips and she quickly cradled the bundle close to her chest with both arms as she fell to her knees her dress now wet with something that she frankly did not want to think about.

She froze on her knees on the wet ground her ears straining for the sound of shouts in the street trying to direct someone to her location and for the rapid pounding of heavy shoes on the pavement her eyes darted rapidly around searching for the colorful dim glow of their lights her body tensed in terrified anticipation for the feel of electricity humming in the air and her heart clenched with fear. The bundle rustled in her arm and she gently rocked back and forth still on her knees hoping to all hope that he didn't start crying "niño dulce no lloras, no lloras mi soldado pequeño no lloras" ( sweet child don't cry my little soldier don't cry) she whispered panicked to the swaddled child. The child ceased his squirming and went silent and Victoria swallowed the sigh of relief that threatened to pass through her mouth.

She blinked back tears in the dark wondering silently how she got here as she painfully got up from the puddle which she fell and limped out of the alleyway towards the sleepy harbor her knees aching from the glass and the rough cobblestone of the pavement her dress drenched in the acrid liquid from the alleyway and the sole of her foot leaking droplets of blood as she walked. She choked down a sob of relief as through the fog that perpetually shrouded the harbor, she saw the large ship in which she was meant to cross the Atlantic back to her home. She chanced a look backwards checking to make sure no one followed her before she ran quickly ignoring the pain in her body towards the ship. Climbing quickly up the platform she slipped through the door like a silent shadow and promptly collapsed against the wall of the ship cradling her baby in her arms close to her chest. (okay you have no idea how tempting it was to put bosom here but I'm not that pretentious... yet)

How did she end up here in the dark on an empty ship waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon. How did she end up here bruised in bloody holding a child, her child, her son close to her heart in fear for his life and her own. How did she end up here running from her son's father running from the man that she loved. A ghost of a laugh hollow and pitiful fell from her lips as the tears she tried so desperately to hold back slipped from her eyes sliding down her cheeks. Clutching her baby closer she sobbed in silence her face buried in his tiny, so tiny, so small chest. Her baby reached his little hands up patting her cheek softly and she breathed another laugh out lighter with relief and wonder as she stared down at her baby her soldado (soldier) in awe and joy. He was so beautiful his skin like the bark of the Nance fruit tree near her home which grew scattered across the town she was raised in his hair the small tufts that sprouted across the top of his head like bundles of cotton a warm brown the color of cinnamon, and his eyes. His eyes were gorgeous brown and warm and innocent like the charred embers of a crackling fire. Her baby, oh she loved that thought that feeling the warmth that spread through her body from her heart humming and comfortable under her skin, in spite of the fear, the pain, his cold eyes and her bloody feet she had her baby.

Victoria looked out of the small circular post window outlooking the skyline and watched as the sun began to rise up from under the sea where it slept the light of the emerging rays hitting her the tears which still glistened in her dark eyes and smiled rueful and determined. She had her baby with her in her arms and she'll be damned if that man the murderous slimy remains of the man she love... used to love takes him from her. Staring out the window she nuzzled her baby close once more to her beating heart whispering the words to the lullaby her grandmother used to rock her to sleep with as she watched his eyes slip clothes and she wondered what her mother was doing right now.

To Be continued Next Chapter

903 words written Monday June 15, 2020

Hey guys this is the prologue that I am using to introduce to to my new story sorry if you were expecting a continuation where I left off. The story I'm writing is technically just a rehash of this story but with (hopefully) better writing and a much more solid plot I will not be updating this story again but you can subscribe to my new story if you want more Percy and Harry Potter stuff along with some new plot lines and interesting lore and backstories that I hope you guys will like. Thank you to everyone who supported this story and I hope that this prologue introduction chapter inspires you to subscribe to the other story (I plan to update that one every month especially considering I have the plot all planned out) um that is it I think sorry I've been gone so long