Prologue
She knelt on the sidewalk, staring blankly at the charred building before her. Smoke was still lightly billowing into the evening sky, contributing to the seedy air of New York City. Puddles glinted in the setting sun, turning them a brilliant orange, a reminder of the firefighters' vain attempts to control the blaze. The bodies had long been cleared away, but the blood still stained the sidewalk. She prayed and hoped in vain the day had been nothing more than a horrific nightmare, but those wretched crimson stains were evidence of its cruel reality. Her numb mind was distantly aware of the burns stinging her arms, the ash that caked her face, the strange looks she got as people on their evening strolls walked by.
"How terrible. Poor thing, she was one of the lucky ones," she heard a woman whisper to her husband. Tears did not come to her eyes. She felt no fear, no anger, and no grief. Nothing. Any love, any hope that she possessed had burned into ash and blown away in the wind. The sharp pain of a burn on her arm forced her to look down and inspect the wound. It ran from her elbow to her hand. Her hand… It had been clenched into a fist, but a nagging voice within told her to open it and look at her palm. As she did so, a small ember of rage sparked in her chest. As she stared at her palm, she was reminded of something that was once mere childhood fantasy. As she stared at her palm the ember began to burn hotter and stronger, and that fantasy seemed more of a possibility than ever before. The flame was not just one of rage, but hate and the desire to avenge what had been wrenched away from her. As she stared at her palm, the ancient symbol of the Brotherhood- branded on her hand since her eighteenth birthday-stared back at her. It was filthy and stained with grim red blotches, but it reminded her of whom she was and what she had to do. She reached out and placed her palm on the small bloodstain before her, swearing that she would not rest until justice was served and the price was paid for in blood. Why not? After all, nothing is true; everything is permitted.