Bowie // Thomas Shelby

PROLOGUE

Rain. The sound of pouring rain was all Geraldine Bennett could hear as she ran down an alleyway that had belonged to the city of Manchester. The rain fell on the girl's face, causing the water to slowly slide down her cheeks. Her dress had been soaked because of the pouring rain which caused her to shiver as she ran. She panted as she came to the end of the alleyway which lead to the city's canal.

"Geraldine!" A manly voice called out, causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks. The voice echoed through her mind, causing chills to run down her spine. "No more running!" The voice called out once more with the sound of echoing footsteps following after his words. The echo grew louder, signaling that the man was getting closer to him.

The girl choked out a breath, not knowing that she had it held in for so long. The echo made her take a step closer to the canal. She stared down at the water which caused her heartbeat to quicken. Canals were always something the girl's mother had taught her to stay away from them considering the fact that they were practically impossible to escape out of that.

"You'll die out there Geraldine." The voice spoke, causing her to grimace. Hesitantly, she turned around to face the man that had been following after her. Once her dark eyes met his, she let out a loud sigh before taking a step backwards, nearing the canal.

"I don't care." The girl spoke through grimaced teeth before running a hand through her long black hair.  She glared at the man in front of her as he took a step closer to her. "I'd rather die than be stuck with you any longer!" She exclaimed, remembering all the times that the man who she thought had cared for abuse her verbally, physically and emotionally.

The  man sighed, running a hand through his brown hair before looking the girl in her sad, dark eyes. "Ger." He spoke in a soft manner, using the nickname he had given the girl the first time he had met her. "I'm so sorry." He apologized, pouting his lips out as he neared the girl. "I know I fucked up."

Bowie continued glaring at the man as he words rang through her ears. She was tired of hearing her nickname come out of his mouth and was tired of all the lies that spewed out of his mouth.

"I won't do it again, Ger." He told the girl in a promising tone before finally reaching her. His hand made its way to her cheek before slowly caressing it. "I promise."

Her body violent shook at the feeling of his caressing and because of his words. It was the same thing he had told her when she tried to leave him over and over again for the past year years.

"You've never keep your promises, Edward." She reminded the man before taking his wrist into the palm of her hand to make it stop caressing her cheek. Over the past year he had promised her the same thing but he never once kept it.

Edward sighed before nodding his head at the girl before taking his free hand the grab her free hand's wrist as well. "I know Ger." He spoke softly once more as the rain continued pouring over them. "But that's going to change." He tries convincing the girl before letting go of her wrist to play with her soaking wet jet black hair. His hazel eyes met her dark brown once more before a smirk appeared on his lips. "I will never lay a hand on you, again."

Geraldine's mouth hung open as she registered her lover's words. She really did think about forgiving the man for all the things that he had done to her, but to be quite frank, she believed she could never forgive him. A sigh escaped her lips before her head slowly turned back around to face the canal. If she were to jump in the water and escape this town, she would have nowhere to go and nowhere to stay. That was a risk she was willing to take.

"No." She spat, still staring down at the water.

Edward's eyes widened in shock at the girl's words before his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked not really sure if he had heard the girl correctly.

Right after he asked the question, Geraldine snapped her head to face the man she once had loved and glared at him in the eyes. "I said no, bitch!" She exclaimed before quickly pushing the man off of her. His eyes widened in shock at the girl's actions and before he knew it, Bowie swung a fist at him, hitting him directly in the nose.

A loud, painfully groan escaped the man's mouth before he fell backwards onto the wet, cold cement. He continued to groan in pain as he held his bleeding nose.

Geraldine quickly took this chance to jump off from the ledge, causing her to land in cold water of the canal. She held her breath as she felt her body go under the water. The water was pretty quick for this time of night which caught the girl off guard. As soon as she could, she quickly swam to the surface of the water gasping for air.

"I'll find you Geraldine Bennett!" Edwards screamed, earning the girl's attention. "Me and my gang will find you and when we do, you'll be mine again!"

The words didn't really bother Geraldine because of how happy she had been to finally be leaving the man who had hurt her so many times and to be leaving the town that was haunted of memories of her past. She let her body relax in the water, causing her to float as the water pushed her down the canal. A small smile appeared on her lips as she realized what she had done. Her eyes wandered up into the night sky, realizing that it had finally stopped pouring and that all the stars had been out, watching over her.

"I'm free."