The Story of Blood and Roses

"Thank you for the image, Cienna." Yes, sarcasm. I could work with that. Right now, that's as close to the normal Cienna as she was going to get.

"Don't think this will go on forever. We'll not be friends... ever. I'm grateful that you're doing what you are, but you didn't need to. It's not going to last long. Go call Anthony before I fall asleep. I have a story to tell." She looked away from me then, almost like she was shooing me away. I wondered if I should remind her that the room was mine from what I had perceived. I left, though, without protesting. I needed to call Anthony anyways.

As I opened the door to the room, I saw someone move at the far end of the corridor. Opening the door wider, I saw that it was Anthony who was rushing towards my room.

"What the hell is going on, here?" he almost shouted as he took long steps towards me. "I heard the cries and then everything went silent. Did you kill her?" he panicked.

"Hardly," I snorted leaving the door so that he can look outside. He must have been surprised by what he saw because his eyes widened and then he gaped at me.

"It would be believable if you had killed her." I shrugged, knowing that what he said was true. If someone would have told me that I would be taking care of Cienna while she was living the most vulnerable moments in her life, I would have laughed on their faces, but now, it seemed pretty natural to do so. Curiosity had, in the end, gotten to me. The thirst for knowing what screwed her up had left me with a fire burning hot inside my mind.

"It would," I sighed and then turned around to look at Cienna, who was now lying down on the bed, her hands and legs spread eagle and her eyes staring into nothing.

"Holy shit, why is she smiling like a loon?" I heard the voice from right behind me.

"Ethan," Anthony hissed and I heard a distinct thump coming from behind me. I turned around again and ushered them into the room. They came in without a word and then took seats across from Cienna on the very same couch that I had been sleeping on. Cienna snickered when I stood near the foot of the bed.

"Mia, dear, the men have returned I see. Did you have a nice time trying to escape helping out a poor lady in need?" she sounded amused, but I could see that her face turned into a slight frown as she spoke. "You should have been born a couple of decades ago when the escaping act was popular. You could've beat Houdini at his game!" she scoffed.

"Cienna," I warned. She had been the one who had asked me to bring them, and now she was scorning them for giving her space. "Get down to business. We've been waiting long enough for this." I tried to keep my tone light, but the adamant curiosity reared its ugly head.

"Curiosity killed the cat, kitten," she snickered, self-satisfied with using the much-hated nickname as ammunition to fire back at me.

"Don't stall, Vee. I've had enough of your shit. What do you think you're doing?" he barked.

"I didn't do anything!" She shot up from her lying position. Her hair hallowed around her pale face, her eyes darted around the room as if in search of something. "I didn't do one thing!" she screamed. Her hand went to her hair which she pulled at painfully hard.

"Yeah? I've had enough of your bullshit, Cienna. I gave you the last warning that one time. I am not hauling your ass from some seedy place ever again. I don't care if you end up in a ditch smelling of rotten fish and decay. I don't care if you die, but you don't do it when you are risking me. You have been running your mouth and you know how I hate that. What should we do to you, huh?" The sneer on his face was terrifying, but I was satisfied. The damned smug conceptions in her mind of being invincible were breaking in bits with every passing second that Anthony seethed in rage.

"I-" she couldn't speak as her mouth opened in shock. "I didn't rat you out, Anthony. I swear on my life!"

"And maybe I should take you up on your word and take your life!" he spat at her. His fists were clenched at his sides and he bolted to his feet. He sauntered menacingly towards the frightened Cienna. When I took another look at him, I saw that his hands were easily placed at his sides and there was a calm expression on his face. Fearing that he had forgiven Cienna, I moaned to myself. "Tell me what happened, Cienna." The icy glint in his tone made me shudder. He had not forgiven her; on the other hand, he was preparing to give her something to remember for her whole life.

"James called me up a week back." And like that answered everything she stopped explaining. The faraway look in her eyes returned as she stared towards the general direction of Anthony.

"And?" I prompted, feeling the temperature in the room rising. I saw Ethan shift on the couch from the corner of my eyes. When I actually turned to look at him, I saw him giving Cienna a scrutinizing stare. He looked at her like she was his science experiment.

"He told me that he'd gotten hold of Brianna," she whispered out. A gust of wind left her body as her facade fell off and she started to sob. "I can't do this. I'm not prepared," she cried. I couldn't help but feel a bit sad for her.

"Speak," the boss barked. "NOW!"

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