𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

15

~ phoenix ~

My grandfather shoved past Ilya and tore me into his warm embrace. The confusion and doubt in my mind was buried by a tonne of relief and happiness. I was finally home, safe.

"Kochanie, szukaliśmy wszędzie," he muttered into my hair. The relief was evident in his tone. [Darling, we looked everywhere.]

"Dza," I sobbed into his chest. I never wanted to let go.

All of a sudden, the clatter of metal caused me to look up. Babs stood a metre away, hands clasped over her mouth, tears filling her eyes. I left Dza's embrace to leap into her own.

"Oh, my baby," she gasped, "we thought those Italians..."

I pulled back, looking at her with confusion. "What?"

She couldn't answer because a loud bang filled the room. "This is her?" Ilya snarled.

Ignoring his perplexing words, I moved protectively in front of my grandparents. "You said you wouldn't go after them," I growled, threateningly at him.

"Shut up, сука," he warned, snatching my wrist and pulling me flush against him. "You lied. You're a fucking Stilinski."

"Dimitri!" Dza shouted menacingly from behind me.

Immediately, Ilya released me.

What? They knew each other...

"Stop this foolishness, her mother is a Stilinski. She has her father's name, Ivanov," Babs pressed with narrowed eyes.

"You said the girl was called Lyra, Franciszek," Ilya said through gritted teeth to my grandfather.

I looked frantically between them. Wait, they were talking about me?

"That is her name. Phoenix Lyra Vale," Dza announced proudly.

"Dza, what are you talking about?" I asked angrily. I turned my back to the fuming Russian behind me. I heard the awkward shuffle of his men outside.

My grandfather looked at me with a mix of apology and weariness. His creased face looked exhausted and shadowed, like he hadn't slept in days. Babs had similar bags beneath her eyes.

"Lyra," he began, unsurely, "we have much to talk about."

"Yes, we do," Ilya snapped behind me. "We were supposed to meet in five weeks. Why did you call me now?"

Five weeks? That was when I was coming to Poland for their surprise...

My grandmother looked exasperatedly at him. "There was an emergency. My granddaughter went missing." She said the last sentence with accusing venom in her tone.

Frustrated, afraid and confused, I watched the interaction between them. What the hell were they talking about? "Babs! Dza! I want to go home," I cried.

"Marzia, zabierz ją na górę," Dza said. [Take her upstairs.]

With one final glare behind me, Babs took my hand and I helplessly followed her up. In the entryway below, I could still hear angry shouts and harsh words between the men.

Once we reached the parlour, she sat me down and took my hand.

"My dear Lyra, tak bardzo cię kocham, wiesz, że nie?" she asked, emotion deepening his voice. [I love you so much, you know that, don't you?]

"Tak, babciu," I nodded. [Yes, grandmother]

She sighed and pulled me close. Then, she kissed both of my cheeks. I felt the wetness of her face against mine. When she released me minutes later, I saw fear in her watery eyes. My heart clenched.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Babs exhaled.

Stroking away a tear, I pleaded, "Tell me."

With a glance at my face, she opened her mouth to speak

"Your mother left Poland, right after you were born, darling. She hoped to save you from what my stupid father-in-law already decreed. We are the children of a powerful Mafia, baby. Your great grandfather was the Don of this organisation and now your Dza is. Don means leader, Lyra. We run a drugs cartel. One of the most powerful in the world."

I flinched away. "Drugs? That's... wrong, Babs."

"Yes, it is. It's evil. But we have no choice to continue the legacy our fathers have left for us, Lyra. The Italians are worse. They deal humans, baby, women, children, innocents. We and the Russians wanted nothing to do with it. We might be sinners, but we feared God. We had no right to play foolish games with life. Because we denied cooperation, they deemed us enemies. They became a threat to us. For security, my father in law wanted an alliance with the Russians that they couldn't break even if they wanted to. A blood alliance. A union. He promised the Russian Don, Ivan your hand in marriage for his son. His first great granddaughter. That was you, baby. So right after you were born, Lena ran to the States with your father."

I jumped away from Babs like she'd burned me. What? This had to be a mistake. There was no way I was engaged before I was even born. No, this couldn't be happening. This was why Mom didn't want me to go to Europe. She knew. And eventually, she did let me. Why? Because she knew she could not delay the inevitable.

"She wanted to give you the best life possible before you had to leave for Russia."

A dangerous fear blossomed in my mind. Like a knife to my gut or shackles around my wrists, it brought pain and horror. Betrayal. Anger.

"N-no," I sobbed, stepping further back, "I-I can't. I won't. Babs, please."

I fell to my knees with the burden of suffocating emotions.

Babs reached out for me, tears streaming down her own cheeks. I moved back.

"Lyra, there was a contract. If any party tried to break the decades old deal..."

She didn't continue. I looked up to see my Babs frozen. Suddenly, her age caught up with her. She was hunched, scarred, defeated. No longer the invincible queen, I thought her to be.

"What?" I whispered, voice broken and weak.

She stayed silent.

"WHAT!" I screamed hysterically. What was the price for my fucking life? What would I have to pay to keep everything? My scholarship, my friends, my family....

My frail grandmother flinched out of her reverie. Then, she met my eyes and spoke, "The punishment would be death. Me, your Dza, your mother, father and... you. They'd wipe out the Stilinski Mafia, baby.... I-I'm sorry."

And just like that, the walls around me were caving in. The oxygen was ripped out of my lungs. My heart was aching, burning, dissolving into nothing. I felt... nothing.

However, I wasn't a cruel, ungrateful bitch. I wouldn't choose my pride, my freedom over my blood. I'd marry that goddamn bastard. I'd accept the contract. I'd be their rag doll and form their fucking alliance.

But in the process, I'd lose myself.

I was Phoenix. A bird never meant to be caged. A bird that belonged free in the skies. A bird that would burn itself before it surrendered to evil.

But this time, this bird wouldn't rise out of her ashes. She'd be dead and gone.

𝑥𝑜
𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖆𝖛𝖎