The Mafia Man

Scarlet

       
A shock of red hair and the wide eyes of a lunatic greeted me. Yellow and green splotches of broken blood vessels painted his jaw and cheekbones, giving him a more deranged look. Niall bit his swollen lip and grinned.

         "Hello, Rosie- baby, long time, no see." His arms suffocated me like one of those boa constrictors I saw in a zoo as a young girl. Niall swept a black-and-blue hand across my face. "Baby doll...you didn't think you could hide from me, did you?"

           I gulped, and my eyes scanned his chafed, bleeding wrists. Rope burns. He must have escaped whatever constraints they'd put him in before sending him to a hospital.

             Bile rose in my throat at the rusty tang of blood that reached my nose. Dried stains covered his tweed jacket.

               I glanced at the door as two bulky young men stalked in and nodded at Niall. These henchmen must have helped him escape!

                Niall tugged a lock of my hair once. Twice. Then three times, before viciously ripping it out.

                  I screamed, excruciating pain erupting where the strands were yanked. Niall tucked the lock of my hair into his breast pocket, sadly smirking to himself. "Just a little something for me to keep while I'm away."

                   His face fell in surrender as my brothers descended on him. The dance floor had cleared at my screech of pain, and young men and women were desperately trying to leave the basement.

                     Blood, a scarlet as striking as my dress, stained Charlotte's hand as she clutched my head.

                      I tried not to cry, but the pain combined with the twisted obsession of a madman forced sobs out of me.

                        Cal was the angriest of them all, beating the repugnant Niall while his cohorts tussled with my brothers.

                       A siren blared. Police officers stormed the room. Fists and curses continued to fly.

                        My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton; my limbs felt heavy as lead. My breathing abruptly went shallow as the cloud of a panic attack shrouded me.

                         Charlotte carefully lowered me against the wall, cradling my head in her lap. She tenderly stroked my hair and staunched the bleeding patch of scalp with a handkerchief. "It's not too bad, Rosie. It's not too bad." She cooed reassuringly.

                            An officer clad in dark blue grabbed Cal by the collar and pulled him from Niall. "Boy! Boy! Do you hear me? Stop this horsing around right this minute! We've been looking for you and the others all over town! Stop your flailing and listen- there's been a shooting."

                          At that, I was out like a light.

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Merry Christmas! Your gift is a cliffhanger :)