The soft sunlight, crept through the living room window, gently stroking Maria's face. Her eyes softly fluttering open as she shifted, trying to get out of the comfortable grip of the armchair. Slowly placing both feet on the cold ground she rubbed her eyes lightly, particles of her mascara sticking to her fingers under the force of the stroke. A soft yawn later her eyes were now able to focused on the sight that stood before her. The empty bottle of Rum, and a full ashtray. The house stank of cigarettes and alcohol. She let out a soft grunt as her hand reached towards the half empty cigarette box, pulling one out she placed it between her lips, lighting it. Her fist morning breath was the nasty fumes of that cancerous stick of misery.
"Oh, you're up.."Nathan's exited voice sounded from the direction of the kitchen, causing Maria to turn towards the door, focusing her attention on the half naked man standing in the kitchen doorway.
He took a good look at her, up and down, slowly, messy hair, makeup everywhere, cloths messed up, and of course the first cigarette of the day, firmly planted between her fingers. That's how he had always known her, real, true to herself. No bullshit, no drama.
"Where is that son of yours?"Nathan asked as he set a coffee mug in front of Maria, sitting down on the couch.
"He's probably at his friend's for the weekend ."The woman spoke as she took a sip of her coffee.
"A friend..?"Nathan asked in a slightly surprised tone."And who might that be?"
"Yeah...a kid in a wheelchair."She stroked her temples lightly as she spoke."Victor was his name...I think."She continued with a calm expression until she threw a look at her friend.
Nathan had a worried, almost shocked expression on his face, he looked as if he was frozen. It struck her, just seeing his face like that.
"W-what..?"She questioned now with worry in her tone.
"Victor..."He started his voice a bit shaky, filled with hatred as he spat out the boy's name, like venom."Victor Vanderwood.."He said in a loud grunt as he slammed his fist on the table, causing the mugs of coffee to shake, enough to spill a little of the black liquid onto the table.
Maria was completely taken aback by his reaction, which caused her to twitch lightly as she looked away."What...I think that was his last name..."She said in a confused tone, still unable to understand his reaction on the subject.
"Maria...Victor Vanderwood is the son of that pig Luciel Vanderwood.."He said in deep disgust, but now calmer as he realized that he had yelled loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
She tilted her head to the side lightly as she tried hard to remember why Vanderwood sounded so familiar to her. And then it hit her, like a wet rag to the face the name...that name she had been trying to forget for years, The silver Vanderwood. The drug lord who had ruined her life.
"Mary...Mary...Maria!"Nathan's concerned voice snapped her out of her disturbing thoughts.
At this point she was unable to speak, her horrible, painful memories pulling her back in their grasp, tears falling down her pale face, her whole body struck with fear. Flashbacks of that day hitting her all at once. She saw his face, hearing that laughter made her gag.
"Don't touch her!"Logan yelled out as he grabbed Maria by the arm, pulling her behind him.
"And what are you going to do about it?"The voice of the silver spread across the alley in a mocking way, as if he was laughing at Logan's attempt to protect his precious Maria."Are you going to fight me with your bare fists boy? And for what..This WHORE!"He yelled.
Logan lashed out, in an attempt to hit him across the face, but was surprised by a sudden bang, right through his chest.
The alley went quiet. The only thing Maria was able to see was the sudden light that came from the gun as the bullet was shot.
"LOGAN!"She screamed in horror as she saw the body of her lover fall to the ground lifeless. Streaks of red water covering the pavement.
After that…it was all a blur.
A sudden shook pulled her completely out of her stage of fear, with cold sour tears running down her cheeks, Nathan held her in his arms."It's okay.."He whispered softly to her as he stroked her hair. She thought that she had been imagining all that, but the truth was that it had dug deep into her memories, ending up trapped in the most horrible of all of them.
"Logan..."She cried out, her cries turning in the form of painful screams, her eyes hurting from the amount of tears that would burst through them. She was shaking, repeating his name in a painful moan over and over again. This was a state not even Nathan could pull her out of.