~If you don't take risks,
you'll have a wasted soul.
-Drew Barrymore

I stood before John, my insides quivering, my face set hard. I have cried my tears, suffered my wounds, walked my hardest roads. There was a moment, just a fraction of a second, when his face showed puzzlement. It was all the encouragement he needed. "You will never lay a single hand on me again. You will never see me again." John held my gaze, his eyes every bit as hard as one who harbors only hatred. I felt the shockwave pass through me like it always did, yet this time I stood firm regardless with dry eyes and still hands.

"You've finally mustered the courage to speak back to me?" The flying off his hands flew directly onto my cheek, leaving a stinging sensation. "I had always had it on you, you ungrateful bitch," My head flew back by the impact of his fist plunging into my stomach.

"So you've finally arrived, Vincent? It took you long enough now, if you may, let us carry out what you're here to do, yes? " I glanced at the direction Sarah was looking. John had taken steps away from me, afraid of what might happen between Vincent and him, despite the last time they had seen each other. Sarah smirks, unfolding her arms, revealing some papers.

When she stops talking, I know there's a problem. I've known her for nearly thirteen years and she isn't capable of silence unless her brain is on complete overload. Right now, her executive functioning is down to walking quickly and checking over her shoulder way too often. If I didn't know her better, I think she'd screwed up.

"Times running out Vincent, tik tok tik tok, save your precious Laura, or give me everything you own."

"Vincent doesn't do it," I gritted out. This couldn't completely be it. "Shut up you fool or I have no choice but to kill you myself. For his decision because your pathetic life is on the line." I'm not going to be hardened by these people, by these things. What's the meaning of all of this? I'm still confused about why all of this is happening.

"Laura, I have no choice." He reached out to sign the papers, but stopped when he heard my pleading. "Mom, please don't do this-"

"I'm not your mother, so shut up. Nor is he your father. Do you want to know the real meaning behind why he's doing this? The real reason why I want both of you to suffer is very simple-" They are not my real parents, but? A void in my chest was beginning to fill with sadness. I never thought words like these would be uttered from her mouth.

"Shut up, it's not for you to say anything to her," Vincent shouts, his voice booming through the concrete walls. "Well then, I'll give you what you desire by not telling her. Why don't you tell her?" The room became silent. I waited and waited when Sarah spoke.

"Did someone cut your tongue out?" Sarah chuckled, grabbing a hold of my hair. Vincent clenched his fist, fighting the urge to not do anything to get me killed.

She hands me a picture of a woman, me and a younger version of Vincent. "You know me?" I asked but he didn't answer me. He clenched his jaw-closing his eyes. "Oh yes he did, and that woman is your mother." I looked exactly like her but a little darker in color. She had the same brown eyes and curly black hair as mine.

"Sarah" Vincent said in a warning tone. "Don't stop me now, it is already being said." She grinned evilly, continuing her words of torture.

"Vincent here was a really bad boy. Even when he had riches, he did terrible things." My mind became silent. What bad things? Then it hit me: the rumors of him being in a gang and killing people. " The rumors of him being in a gang weren't just rumors, they were actually true. Vincent was in a gang called Skull. I know you've heard of it when I and John were talking. " It was true I would overhear them speak about this gang, but I didn't let it get to me at all because it was no use for my escape. Or was it?

"Where are my real parents?" I stammered saying, I could see the sadness in Vincent's eyes. "Oh sweety, we're getting to that real quick. So this is what happened in Skull. They'd kidnap children and sell them off, you know, like human trafficking, "she said, laughing. This woman was pure evil. She had no emotions at all towards others. "You wouldn't guess who was the leader," she said, cracking a laugh. "Any lucky guesses? No well, none other than your father. "I wasn't stunned because I had no memories of this man being my father. I have no father and that's how it will remain.

"And your poor mother, who died by saving you and the other children, was murdered by none other than your father." Tears sprung from my eyes, my hands trembled and I couldn't breathe. "Your father was a very cruel man. If Vincent hadn't kidnapped you from your father, who knows what would've happened to you."

"I didn't kidnap her, I was ordered to"

"Now do you see why we have been abusing you for the last few years? It's because of your beloved husband. He's a terrible man. " A tear fell from Sarah's cheeks and my eyes went wide. Vincent was not capable of killing someone else's child. He had not shown any cruelty to killing another person, so she was in fact lying. You killed your own fucking child. No one told you to go and start your own fucking gang to be kicked out of Skull. You took the risk. You're a crazy fucking bitch " He spat, his eyes growing dark.

Sarah's eyes were a bottomless pool of darkness, he knew, but he could not help trying to find the bottom. "Quiet! It's not the time to discuss the past, sign the damn papers! "She shouted, making all the talking seize, so she was indeed lying. How far can she go to do this? She caused all of this. Vincent was to protect me, but all this time they blackmailed him and there was nothing he could do to ensure that I was safe.

"Please don't" I begged once again, but it was no use. Once he made up his mind, there was no going back on this. He smiled at me. I knew there was nothing else left. "I've analyzed every angle. You know me when I ever got it wrong? " I believed him and watched as he signed the papers.

When I was free from those ropes, I thought we'd walk away free, but I was so wrong. "You'll never be happy Laura, your family is the cause of all my pain," Sarah said. The sound of a gunshot jerked me to look down at myself for any bruises and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I looked at Vincent, seeing the blood-soaked his chest radiating outward. He smiled at me and stepped forward. I was in shock. I couldn't breathe. The sound of tires made me snap out of it. Sarah.

Vincent's face exploded into misery, tears falling unchecked, his eyes looking around for solutions that just didn't exist. "No, no." I raised my hand to steady his face, to make him look right at me. "My love, once I'm gone, they'll stop looking for you, and the kids. This is my choice. Sometimes there are no good moves."

Vincent lost the color of his face. It was as if his heart had suddenly stopped beating and all the blood had run down into his arms. He swayed for just a moment before he fell on his knees, looking at me with teary eyes. "I love you, Laura." Time seems to slow down. When things go wrong, your mind becomes still and you're unable to process all the possible movement around you.

"No!" I screamed and ran towards Vincent, who was about to collapse on his face. "Vincent please, love, please stay with me." I kept my face passive while I panicked on the inside. "Love, this is no problem. Just hang on, I'll get-." He held my hands from leaving his side.

"I'm sorry, please don't leave me. The twins need you. I'm so sorry." I cried holding the wound on his chest. "There's nothing to be sorry about." He added, wincing at the pain. We gave him the courage to cry, but they were hardened tears. They rolled slowly one at a time in silvery streaks down his face.

"Keep fighting. Don't worry, nothing will happen to you. I love you. I hurt you so badly. And for that, I'm sorry. I was trying to break away, not to break you. " His breath became ragged, his voice stuttering in shallow gasps, and he was slowing with pain. He looked into my eyes, tightened up again as a wave of pain washed over him.

Throwing his head back with utter defeat and despair, Vincent cried out my name. "Go to the twins, they need you." He whispered. "They're waiting for you." Those were his last words before his eyes went shut.

"No God damnit, I promised you forever, so come back to me. You took care of me for years. You can't leave me now when I need you, Venice and Vince need you. " The mixture of the rain and my salty tears tasted in my mouth. I had nothing left to do other than to hold him.