3:20 AM
It had been three years.
Three years since they had spoken; three years since they had seen each other; three years since they had touched.
She sat in front of her window, watching the boy kiss the girl.
His hands moved all over her body as their mouths moved in synchronization.
He didn't know she was watching.
He didn't even know she was back.
Did he even remember her?
Could he ever forget her?
She was his first love, his best friend.
They were supposed to be together forever but then she disappeared.
She didn't want to go but she had to.
They made her leave.
She was the one they needed and so she was the one they took.
There was no backing down from this.
Family is family right?
In this case family meant do what I say or die.
So she had to go.
The things they made her do were traumatizing.
They pushed and pulled until she was broken.
They got inside her mind.
They rewired her thinking system so she wouldn't care.
"Ignore their screams. Kill them."
Their voices haunted her.
They brought her into the world of organized crime as an innocent fifteen year old girl but let her go an eighteen year old machine.
Nothing could break her.
She was branded.
Tattoos had a significant presence on her.
Nothing silly like a heart or butterfly though.
A rosary was tattooed down her chest, she was marked with the family crest, a set of wings adorned her back and about twenty other symbols and words were spread across her body.
She didn't want them but they made her get them.
She needed to be different; she needed to be seen as theirs.
Her shot was perfect.
She'd take out whoever they asked her to.
She didn't think twice; she didn't ask any questions.
It seemed like the sole purpose of a gun being created was so she could use it. Nobody could handle it like she could.
She was the only girl to ever walk with them but she was the most successful they had ever created.
They grew to respect her.
She went from slave to princess.
They sent her back home with bodyguards. She would always have someone watching over her. They would protect her for the rest of her life as long as she stayed loyal. She still had to follow their rules and had to obey her boss.
Do or die.
She came home a completely different person.
Her parents and brother expected this though.
She was disconnected.
She was tough.
She was a stone.
She wanted to show them the emotion she once did but couldn't.
Her mind had been rewritten and it would take time before she could be herself again… with anybody.
"Riley?" she turned around to face her twin brother, Julian.
She turned back around and heard him walk to the windowsill seat she was sitting on.
"How long has he been with her?" she asked.
"Its going to be four months soon."
"Does he know I'm here?"
"No, he doesn't… you know he always asked about you. I mean he was…"
"I didn't ask you anything else Julian."
"Right," he said quietly.
He sat down next to her.
"Are you going to be ok at school tomorrow? I know starting in the middle of the year is weird. Especially your senior year…"
"I'll be fine."
"You can hang out with me if you want. Hopefully we'll get some classes together."
She looked at him for a second then looked back out the window.
He was watching the girl walk to her car now.
"Julian I don't think me hanging around you at school would be a good idea."
"Why not?" he asked. "We were always together before you…" he stopped.
"I'm doing it for you Julian. I'm not part of your world anymore."
"Riley you always will be."
He grabbed her hand.
She looked down at it.
This was something she wasn't used to. The touch of someone that really loved her.
She slipped her hand out of his.
"Julian tomorrow we are going to get to school in our own cars. You're going to go your way and I'm going to go mine. If anyone asks about me just tell them you don't care."
"But Riley I do care about you… I love you."
"You should get to bed Julian, it's really late."
He stood up.
"Can't you say it back?"
"I need time Julian," she said, looking away.
"Ok. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
He walked out of the room and shut the door.
Riley looked out the window once more before getting back into bed.
Shane watched Allison drive away before turning back to his house. On his way up the driveway he looked over at the Torma house.
The house was like his own. In there was what he called his second family.
It was the house of his best friend, Julian.
The house of his godparents.
The house where the love of his life once lived.