* Please Review! So I took this down because I didn't like it. I am gutting it and redoing it. So I hope you guys like it*
When Nickolas Jeffers died, he made his two best friends, Connor and Murphy MacManus, promised to look after his younger sister. Concezio Yakavetta had promised to kidnap and rape her before he killed her. Concezio had tricked the Saints and Nickolas. He had tied them up then made his promise to Nick before he shot him in the stomach. Then he walked out of the room so the Saints could watch their friend die.
Connor had rocked his chair, tipping it over. The old wooden chair broke when he impacted the floor. He was able to get loose almost right away. He jumped up and untied his brother then they surrounded their friend. Nick made them promise to care for his sister, Lyric. When he died they place pennies on his eyes and said their family prayer. They had just finished up the prayer when their dad burst through the door. Concezio had disappeared but they knew he would keep his promise. So that was why, for two months, Murphy found himself hiding in the brushes, watching Lyric as she washed the dishes or roamed around her house in a daze.
The day after Nick's death Dolly and Duffy had helped Connor and Murphy put on disguises so they could walk with Lyric as she IDed her brother's body. They had called Dolly after they left the warehouse to report Nick's death but his next of kin still had to ID him. Neither brother had ever seen Lyric outside of a picture of her. Nick had told them she had no idea he had been helping the brothers.
The MacManus brothers were walking behind her down the long, cold hallway of the country corner's office. She was younger than Nick by two years so that put her at twenty-six. She had pulled her hair up into a messy bun. Her hair was dark brown with two blond streaks on either side of her head. She was holding onto her arms tightly as they were crossed over her chest. She thought Connor and Murphy were cops like Dolly and Duffy.
When they reached the viewing window, the body was laying in front of her, covered by a long, white sheet. She swallowed hard but raised her head. Dolly asked her if she was ready to see it and she nodded. He nodded towards the Corner who pulled the sheet down to her brother's shoulders. Lyric paled, covered her mouth and turned around quickly. She was squeezing her eyes shut. Silent tears started making their way own her cheeks.
" Is that him?" Dolly asked softly. She nodded while her shoulders shook. Murphy's jaw clutched as he watched her. His hands went into two tight fists. Connor took slow deep breaths to control himself. He tried hard to not look at the small girl. Their friend's death was weighing hard on them.
" They found him with pennies on his eyes?" She asked when she found her voice. She opened her eyes as she struggled to control her breathing.
" Yes." Dolly said. She dropped her hand from her mouth and nodded. Her pretty face was frowning and her eyebrows were knitted together in her fast growing anger.
" I know what that means. He was killed by the Saints." Both Connor and Murphy glanced at each other, they hadn't been expecting that. Her face hardened up, right in front of them. " Why would they do that to him? I thought they protected the innocents. Nick was as innocent as they come." Dolly nodded again to the Corner who covered Nick and wheeled him away. He moved to Lyric's side to look at her.
" We don't believe they had anything to do with your brother's death." He said gently. She was still frowning when she looked at him.
" Of course they killed him." She spit out. " The pennies are their calling card, everyone knows that." She shook her head and looked straight ahead of her, not even seeing the fake cops. " I fucking hate them. If I ever find them, I will kill them myself." She snapped before she walked away.
BDSBDSBDS
" How the hell are we supposed to take care of her if she wants to kill us?" Connor asked as he leaned against the counter in the small apartment the brothers and their dad were hiding in. He shifted his weight to his right side as Murphy pulled out two beers from the fridge.
" Aye. She hates us." Murphy commented. He twisted off one cap and handed it to his brother then twisted off his own cap. He came to stand beside Conner. Both boys looked their dad.
" You will watch her from afar while we wait to see if anyone comes for her. If need be, we will go in nd remove her from her home. We will have to try and explain things to her. If anyone can make her see that we are trying to help, it would be the two of you." Duce said calmly.
" I think she'd rather slit our throats." Connor said.
" You should have see her face, Da." Murphy said. Connor nodded, bring his beer to his lips.
" Imagine, if you can, how you would feel if someone killed one of you two. How would you feel?" Duce said. The brothers looked at each other and frowned. Neither could even entertain the idea of one of them being killed. They looked at their dad with matching frowns.
" I'd fucking kill them." Connor said.
" Aye, shot out their knees then beat them to death." Murphy confirmed.
" Then my advice to you two when you finally introduce yourselves to her, watch your knees." Duce said.
BDSBDSBDS
The first night they went on watch was the night of Nick's funeral. Connor took first watch. He stayed in the shadows of the night, standing close to some of the trees that lined her house and watched as she moved around her house. She came home from the funeral and stripped down. Connor, being an honorable man, looked to the ground. He moved around the house and waited under the bathroom window as she took a bath. He listened as her sobs came through the open window.
The next night, Murphy followed her to work, in disguises. He sat in the back of the bar. She tried hard to hold it together as she delivered drinks. She was struggling while she wiped down her tables. She disappeared to the bar, returning a short time later with her eyes red rimmed. It was painful. A few hours into her shift, her boss hugged her tight and sent her on her way. Murphy closed out his tab and quickly left. He kept a respectable distance from her as he followed her to her house.
Every night for the first two weeks were the same. They took turns following her to work and back home again. She cried all the time. She cried while she watched TV, she cried while she did dishes and she cried on the way to work. Friends had stopped by during the day and that seemed to help her but at night, she was alone and a mess.
By the third week, everything was making her mad. She would throw things around her house. Clothes, pillows, picture frames. She brought plates or glasses, whatever she could get her small hands on. By the end of that week, Connor needed to take a break. Her grief and anger were almost overwhelming him. He had to step back. He had loved Nick like a brother. So Murphy took over her care.
He had too. It was more than just the promise to his dying friend that kept him coming back to her. She was alone, completely alone. Their parents had died when the siblings were in their teens and they had no aunts or grandparents. Friends had started to pull back from her, unable to help her or see her fall apart. Murphy just couldn't leave her alone.
After a month, he did something they had promised they won't do. He reached out to her silently, twice. She loved the band, 30 Seconds to Mars. She listened to them with her kitchen window open while she did dishes. One night the CD started to skip and he heard her make the comment that it was scratched. Her emotions were so raw and her CD breaking made her start to cry. She had covered her face, resting her elbows on the sink counter as the tears poured out of her and the sobs over took her. When she covered, she had broke the CD into pieces and went to bed, dishes and water still in the sink. The next day Murphy had bought her the CD and left it in her mailbox. When Lyric pulled it out later that night, she looked around in surprise. He hadn't left a note, just the CD. She had turned it on and listen to it for a week straight.
The second time, she had been doing dishes again. She had broken a glass but instead of throwing it away. She held it in her hand and stared at the piece. Quietly Murphy begged her to put it down. Her fingertips moved to her wrist. She brushed against the delicate flesh. Murphy shook his head, feeling torn. Should he rush in and stop her? Should he call someone?
Before he could blink, she slashed across her right wrist. She transferred the now bloody glass to her right hand and slashed against her left wrist. The pain was sharp and hit her right away. Lyric started to cry. She dropped the glass and sank to her knees. Her blood poured out of her in a heavy, fast pace. She fell backwards, landing on her back. She covered her face with her hands as the blood started to cover her cheeks.
Sleep. She just needed to sleep. Her sobs slowed. Her eyes closed. Yeah, she just needed some sleep. She moaned as darkness dimmed around her. In the background, she thought she heard her door bang open and someone with a soft irish accent calling out for her. But that couldn't be right. She didn't know anyone with an irish accent.
In her pre-death haze, she thought two strong hands grabbed her hands and pulled them down from her face. She opened her eyes then shut them again. Was that a dark haired man, sitting beside her? Was he talking on the phone as he grabbed her towel off the counter? She tried to speak to him. She tried to ask him who he was but nothing would come out.
" Ah, Lass, stay with me, please." She thought she heard him beg. Pressure was applied to both her wrists.
" Let me go." She begged in a whisper.
" I can't, Lass. I can't do that. Stay with me. I called for help." The voice said.
" I don't want help." She whispered. She felt her head lopped to the right side.
" No, don't do that." The voice ordered. " Open your eyes, Lyric. Now!"
" How do you know my name?" She barely got out.
" Open your eyes and I will tell you." The voice said. Was that sirens she heard in the background? She sighed and tried to open her eyes. All she could manage was tiny slits. " That's right, Lass. Open those eyes."
The most beautiful man she had ever seen was staring down at her, leaning over and blocking out the light. His eyes were the most amazing blue. His features were strong and beautiful. His hair was a mess with some of the dark strands hanging over his eyebrows like he hadn't had a hair cut in months. His facial hair was scruff with the goatee in badly need of a trim. She closed her eyes and smiled.
" Are you my angel?" She whispered.
" No. I'm your Saint, sent straight from the heavens but if you ask my ma, she might say I was sent from hell." He said.
" No, not hell." She whispered.
" Lyric, the EMT's are almost here. I have to leave. Please don't die. Can you promise you will fight? Can you promise me you won't do this again?" He asked.
" No." She whispered. Her saint cursed, making her smile again. " What kind of saint curses?" She asked as his warm hands left her, taking his smokey, spicey scent with him.
For three days she was kept in the hospital. It was mandatory for anyone who tried to commit suicide. Dolly checked on her every day but she refused to talk about anything. She didn't mention her saint but she didn't have too. He knew about it already, knew that Murphy had called 911 and stopped her bleeding. He knew that Murphy had stayed with her until the EMT's pulled into her driveway, knew that the darker brother had saved her life with the pressure of his hands.