Iris Giorgianni is no ordinary girl. She's living a double life: a neglected daughter at home, but a fighter on the streets. As the leader of The Sangue - one of the most wanted and well-known gangs in London - Iris has a reputation to uphold. Only...
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"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."
- Ernest Hemingway
IT WAS as if someone had chosen a new palette for his life. A painter, or perhaps a cinematographer, deciding the mood of his surroundings, each tone carefully thought out, depicting an exact feeling. Of course, like the depressing movie that his life would perhaps be, everything, to him at least, was in monochrome; the grey pavements and the dull, washed out tones of the houses around him seemed to follow him wherever he went, no matter how far he ventured.
It was clear from the minute it happened, everything had changed since her death. The world had faded into a nothingness. An empty, soulless essence of everything he was so desperate never to see. But no matter how many times he tried to forget it, she had died, and he had no choice but to live through it, for there was someone more important, more impressionable than himself, someone that needed the guidance of what little family he had left to, possibly, see another light of day.
As he unlocked and opened the door of their flat, Levi could hear the sounds of the TV wailing through the house, the screen seeming to be the only light that illuminated the rest of the place. Hunter was sat on the sofa, his eyes glued to it with one leg up and his chin leaning upon it, whilst one of his hands tapped the cushion next to him repeatedly.
One thing that Levi noticed about his brother was that he seemed to have almost, as best he could describe it, folded into himself. Ever since her death, Hunter was incredibly reclusive and withdrawn; less of the happy-go-lucky little brother he used to be. He had grown up more in the last few weeks than he had in years, a sudden heightening of his maturity and awareness, as if death was the educator itself.
Levi stepped over the plate left on the carpet to reach the TV, turning it off and plunging them into darkness. "How long has this thing been on?"
"Dunno." Hunter shrugged, the outlines of his shoulders just visible from the streetlights shining into their window.
Sighing, Levi reached to the light switch behind him, exhausted from his responsibilities, upset at Hunter's blatant disregard to almost everything around him. "You can't be like this forever, Hunter." He spoke eventually, his voice softer and surprisingly calm. "I know Mom died, and I know that's been hard on you, but..." He paused, watching the way Hunter lowered his head. Levi sat next to him. "But remember when Mom was like this? Never any life behind her eyes, never any real, proper expressions? Do you really want to live like that?"
Hunter was silent for a minute, tugging at one of the threads off the sofa cushion. Then he lifted his eyes up to his brother and swallowed. "I just...I can't believe that it could happen. Every time I try to-" He wiped away one of his tears angrily, staring up at the ceiling to prevent its departure. "Every time I try to think about it, it just seems wrong." His lip trembled. "Why did she have to die? Why do we have to live through that?"
