The lies continued to fall from his lips, and as the minutes ticked by. I grew more and more restless. My left hand moved to the fold of my jacket, clutching around the magnum. The wooden handle smooth in my grasp. For moment, I began to feel the urge to chicken out growing more in power. But one look at Linn quashed any sense of backing out. The more he spoke, the more her eyes watered and the more her lip quivered. "We were at the Genovese, the butcher, because on Thursday she makes agnolcotti for..."

They were laughing, actually laughing! Knowing what he was being accused of, what he did! How could they laugh? How could his mother look at him and encourage him? Thankfully, the judge rebuked him, and requested order. From the left of the room, I could hear two reporters chattering to one another. "He'll walk, even with all this evidence."

"Look, all Yakavetta's people on the left. All the families of the men he has killed on the right. Everyone wants some justice."

At this observation, I turned to look. He was right; it was as if a barrier separated the opposing groups. Only one was going to win, and the other deserved justice. "Look at him. Doesn't have a care in the world….. He's gonna walk."

The hell he was. Gritting my teeth, I slowly pulled the gun from my jacket and started to rise from the bench. Suddenly, the doors burst open and all was chaos. "You! To the back!"

People screamed, and I turned. 3 men had stormed into the room. All of them armed. One of them vaulted the barrier and started waving his gun, forcing the reporters to duck and abandon their cameras.

Rosaline grabbed for my arm, knocking the gun from my hands.

The eldest of the group ordered. "Shut the fucking cameras off!

It clattered to the floor and was kicked away amidst the confusion.

The elder made his demands; the dark haired man grabbed Yakavetta and dragged him to the front of the court. The third one aimed his gun at the guards, and they threw their weapons down to him.

My grip tightened as I held my sister's hand. She let out a strangled cry as the judge was grabbed by one of the men and dragged away from the platform all the while insisting on an explanation. He was pushed to the back of the room, where he remained on the floor.

I don't know why Linn and I didn't take cover, though Linn bowed her head. Tears dropping into her lap, her grip on my hand firm. I could only look on, my heart in my throat as two of the men aimed their guns at the back of Yakavetta's head.

My attention turned to the old man, as he surveyed the room, taking in every face. Almost as if to memorize every wrinkle and every detail that made them. When he spoke, his voice was thunderous and demanded respect. With every word he paced, as if he owned a stage, and had every right to be there. "You people, have been chosen, to reveal our existence to the world!"

I couldn't look away, even though I sincerely wanted to, I followed the old man's progress. "You will witness what has happened here today, and you will tell of it later!"

He paused and looked to the reporters; some had their hands up, while a spare few were jotting down his words. "All eyes to the front."

"Now's a good time..!"

Hearing Yakavetta, my attention jumped to him. "Shut yer fuckin mouth!"

The dark hair man kicked him in the small of the back and pulled him to his knees by the collar of his pressed shirt. Upon seeing this, a small smile made my lips twitch, as a single thought danced through my mind 'Justice.'

Feeling Linn's grip practically breaking my fingers, I looked to her. Only to find the old man making his way over to us, his eyes no longer hard but kind. His tattooed and gnarled hands reached for my sister. He placed his hand under her chin, and encouraged her to look at him. When next he spoke, his voice was gentle and almost father like. When she met his eyes, he smiled and turned to look at me. His removed his hand from her, and cupped my cheek. "Ye must watch dears; it'll all be over soon."

I could feel my heart going a mile a minute out of fear and twisted excitement. Tears found their way into my eyes and moved at a snail's pace down my cheek. Wetting the old man's hand, he gave a look wrought with compassion as if he knew; his thumb wiped away the tears. The fire alarms went off, and he retracted his hand, moving to the front and taking position behind Yakavetta.

The two younger men stepped up onto the desks that normally harbored the opposing sides. Both extracted a pair of pistols and held them aloft. Spurring a new wave of terror as everyone took cover, everyone except Rosaline and I. Doing as we were told by the old man.

My eyes moved to take in the two younger men. The one closest to us had the dark hair and blue eyes. I couldn't look anywhere else but at them as they spoke what almost seemed like a well rehearsed speech. I think it was the first time that I took into account their accents. They sounded homey on the ear, because my mother spoke in the same way before she died. "Now you will receive us!"

I was going to listen, and remember everything that was going to happen, and everything they were going to say. The dark haired one followed his comrade's words. "We do not ask for yer poor, or yer hungry!"

Each spoke with much passion, their rage and power coming out with every word they spoke. "We do not want yer tired and sick!"

I felt like some sort of devoted follower, taking in each and every thing they said. "It is yer corrupt we claim!"

Rosaline quacked, not a whimper passing her lips. In that moment, she looked like a virginal figure, unblemished and innocent. Seeing her like this, frightened and made me feel unworthy and dirty. "With every breath, we shall hunt them down!"

At that declaration, I looked up, and found myself face to face with the man on the desk. "Each day we will spill their blood, till it rains down from the skies!"

He looked away, only then did I realize that I was holding my breath the moment we looked at one another. "Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal!

Both Rosaline and I looked at Yakavetta, he stared at us. His eyes full of hatred and evil, Linn looked away but I glared at him. I wanted him dead; I wanted to be the one to kill him. Minutes ago I would have given anything to shirk my duty, but now I wanted that gun in my hand and I wanted so badly to pull the trigger and watch the light of life leave his body. "These are principles of which every man of every faith can embrace!"

It was as if they were growing louder and louder, their voices resounding in my head. "These are not polite suggestions. These are codes of behavior. And those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost."

"There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth...not to push the bounds and cross over...into true corruption, into our domain."

"But if you do...one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day you will reap it!"

His voice quieted, but it was still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "And we will send you to whatever ever god, you wish."

The two dismounted the desks and joined the old man, pointing their guns into the back of Yakavetta's head. Despite the Italian's complaints and uttering for mercy and God, I could still hear them. They were praying, and I knew upon hearing it I would never ever forget it. "And shepherds we shall be, for Thee my Lord for Thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand. That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command. So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be."

There was a pause. The old man spoke in a voice that could have been mistaken for whisper. I strained to hear the him. "In nomine Patris."

Then the light haired man "Et Filii Et."

Finally the dark haired. "Spiritus Sancti."

The gunshots echoed through the room, my eyes never left as Yakavetta fell forward. His eyes shot out by the bullets, his face nothing more that raw piece of singed meat. People screamed, and Rosaline sobbed. All I could do was stare at the body of the man that had tormented my family for so long. He was nothing now, it was over, and I wasn't the one to kill him. And I found myself wanting.

Linn rose from the bench and ran, her fingers digging into my arm, yet I still couldn't look away. My feet caught on something, and I was down. I heard my sister cry my name, but the mob of people hid me. Someone stepped on my casted arm, causing me to yelp in pain. I was reduced to rolling out of the way of high heeled feet and well polished shoes. A hand mucked through the throng of people and I was pulled up from the ground.

I found myself looking into a pair of blue eyes. For a second I had no idea who he was, until I took in the rest of his face. The mole just above the lips which hinted a smile, the Virgin Mary inked into his neck, the dark hair. Good God, it was him. It was as if every single word in my vocabulary had up and packed. I was speechless; I had no idea what I was supposed to say to him. Before I could continue thinking about this, he was gone along with the other two.

The room was empty all except for me. Seeing my gun on the floor, I snatched it up and ran outside. Only to be ambushed by reporters. I was reunited with my sister. Though she cried, I could just catch the smile in her eyes.

We managed to shunt the reporters, and made it to my car. I had no intention of telling Linn what had happened when we were separated back there. I didn't want her know, because I didn't want her to be scared for me. I wasn't even scared for myself, in fact, I was actually angry with myself and those men. In my heart, I knew it should have been me to kill Yakavetta. Then again, that sick fuck wasn't the only one that wronged my family. His men were still out there, walking free despite the wrong they had done. And there were others like them, men who beat women and raped them mercilessly. As I drove, I was forming plans in the silence between my sister and I. This wasn't over for me, in fact, it had only just begun.