by Martha Woods
Leila nodded, smiling widely. “I can. Thank you Skylar.”
“Alright then, let’s… Let’s go see how we’re going to find these people then.” Skylar laughed briefly, grabbing Leila’s hand and pulling her alongside her. “And don’t smile like you did before, it made me think you were going to eat me.”
* * *
Liam sat in the middle of the room, the weight of his friends and family's eyes upon him made him feel as though her was being pushed into the ground. They all had incredible sadness in their eyes, especially his mother, but more than that was a grimly set determination, as though they were not going to let even the end of the world deter them from their purpose today. He just wished that it wasn't because of him.
Leah had come by the previous night, obviously needing some company and knowing more than anyone that he needed it as well. Unfortunately she had come in the middle of one of his research sessions, when he had been far less than sober and on the verge of raving to the world about how he was going to save his wife. He had been halfway out the door by the time she realized the depth of what was wrong with him by this point, fully intent on running out into the middle of the forest in the dead of night, with no plan and no consideration for who or what he might run into.
One punch later, he had been in bed for the next ten hours. One phone call later, and everyone was up to date with the situation.
Which led him to here, sitting in the middle of the room with a throbbing headache and an intense feeling of guilt sitting in his gut, knowing what he had been doing wrong but not able to stop himself. In his quest for healing all he had accomplished was making his friends and family more miserable, the loss of Skylar as fresh in their minds as it was in his, all of them having to ignore their pain in order to make sure that he was more comfortable. The knowledge that they had been doing this was something that weighed heavily on Liam's mind, and he knew that no matter how today went he would deserve whatever they would give to him. He had certainly deserved that punch last night, in fact if he could go back in time he would suggest giving him another one.
"Hi everyone." He said awkwardly, cringing as he said it. "I'm sure I can guess why you're all here."
Michael stepped forward, slapping him lightly on the back of the head and pulling him into his arms, squeezing tightly around him. "We're here because you're being a complete dumb ass brother. You should have come to us when things started getting this bad, instead of trying to drink yourself to death."
"I wasn't trying to..." He trailed off, his throat closing up as he wrapped his own arms around Michael's waist, feeling smaller than he had in his whole life. "But it doesn't matter what I was trying to do does it? If mom hadn't come here last night god knows where I would be now, and Abigail would have been left all alone." He shook his head, tears prickling at the sides of his vision as he finally let his grief run over. "I've failed as a father... Skylar would be so ashamed of me."
The others watched on while he lost himself, they had come prepared to give harsh speeches, to drag him into recovery kicking and screaming if need be. They hadn't expected, though they had certainly hoped, that he would see the error of his ways, yet there he sat sobbing into his brother's shoulder. Unfortunately, they knew that it was easy to relapse in situations like this. They would have to make sure they had taken every step they could to try and prevent that, and if that meant that they would have to say some things that they didn't want to have to say under circumstances, then so be it.
"Liam, Skylar would be proud of you for doing all you could to provide for your daughter given the circumstances." Cassandra nodded, wriggling a finger in front of the giggling infant, unable to keep a smile from crossing her face. "But the drinking has to stop. I understand that you need to do something to cope, that's why they are called coping mechanisms, but that doesn't make it a healthy thing to do. I've seen people lose themselves to addictions, whether it be to alcohol or something more... Fantastical, and they all started in the place that you are now. Grieving, angry, desperate for an out into something more than just endless pain and misery." She gestured around the room at the people assembled, each one of them with love and anger burning clear in their gazes. "Look around you Liam, the people here love and care for you, and they don't want to see you lose yourself into something so horrible. This is your chance to step away from that,, to really open yourself up and try to move past this, to return to being the man that Skylar fell in love with, and to be the father that Abigail deserves."
"I have already lost a son Liam, and now I have lost a daughter." Leah moved forward, embracing him alongside Michael. "I cannot bear to lose you too, my heart wouldn't be able to take it. Please, I just want you to trust us to help you, I don't want to come visit you one day and find you either gone or... Or worse."
He burrowed his head into their chests, voice muffled when he said, "I want help, I just... Everything hurts so much! I love Abigail, and I would do anything for her, but every time I look into her eyes I remember what it is that I lost, that I failed to protect. If I couldn't even save my wife, what hope do I have of being able to protect Abigail from whatever the world decides to throw at us? I was too weak, and knowing that is killing me."
"It's not weak to have doubt, I would call it a strength." Cayden spoke up, not looking up from the photos that he had been shuffling around in his hands for the last ten minutes. "I used to not have doubt, and do you know what I did? I joined up with madmen and killed a lot of people, for what turned out to be no reason at all. The fact that you have doubt, that you're never certain if what you can do is ever enough... That’s a sign that you're becoming a better man. We just need to, you know, take the drinking away and get you back on your feet. And I think I have the perfect thing for you to do just that."
He looked over at Cassandra, the two of them nodding before he held the photographs up. "I've got a few members of my old clan following Christian's trail, these will give us a leg up in tracking the son of a bitch down." The photos were placed down on the table, each one showing Christian and various members of his entourage in rapidly advancing towns, moving from the forest regions of their surroundings to the desert of the middle of the country. "I asked around and they were more than happy to help us out with this."
Liam reached forward and grabbed one of the photos, sheer will the only thing keeping him from crushing it in his hand when he looked at that face that haunted his nightmares. "Why? Why would your hunters help us kill this man?"
"Because the members of my old clan aren't stupid. Stubborn, sure, but not stupid. And what they are above everything else is tired." He pointed to each member of the room, each one having a different background and belonging to groups that logically should be killing each other at that very moment. "They want what we have here, to be able to cooperate with one another and focus on destroying the true threats to our survival. A few groups around the country are even making some good headway, and someone like Christian jeopardizes every part of that. We kill him and everyone has a problem go away."
"I've been here when you are asleep, when you've needed someone to take care of Abigail on those bad days you've been having." Cassandra nodded, her expression sympathetic. "I know that you dream about him, I know that he is a great source of pain for you. Cayden and I believe that this could be a good opportunity for you to dismantle a source of your pain, to gain closure and be able to move on from this tragedy."
"We all loved Skylar Liam, we feel her death just the same as you do. So believe me when I tell you that you won't be alone in this." Cayden scowled, thinking of the multitude of things he wished to do to Christian. "I'll stand right by your side and watch you tear him limb from limb, I'll pour the gasoline that you'll ignite to burn down his life's work, and I will build a monument to the wonderful woman that he took away from all of us." He held his hand out to Liam, shaking with emotion. "All you have to do is take my hand, and we can go get our revenge together."
Liam stared at the offered
hand, considering the offer even though he already knew his answer. The rest of the group smiled when he took hold, squeezing down with a determination that he could feel burning deep in his bones. "Let's go Cayden. The man took away my wife, he denied all of you a friend and he denied my daughter a mother. I'll take everything away from him, I'll make him watch as I turn it to ash, and then I'm going to kill him. And I would be honored to do it with all of you at my side."
Cayden grinned, eyes alight as he said, "Well then, looks like we've got work to do, doesn't it?"
Chapter 5
"The first thing that you have to learn with these powers is control." Leila rubbed Skylar's shoulders, kneading the tension out from under her fingers. She grimaced at a few stubborn knots, sensing easily the amount of stress that her daughter was under. "Control is only going to come when you can trust your own abilities, which means that you need to stop stressing yourself so much."
"This is hard you know, I'm not used to having to use something like this on command."
"I know." Her mother chuckled, "The last time did kill you after all, I can understand why you would be hesitant to attempt to use it again so soon."
Skylar turned to her with curiosity burning in her eyes. "What was it like when you first found out what was going on? It must have been terrifying, not knowing anything about the paranormal and all."
"Terrifying is right. I was twelve, then suddenly I'm waking up with my arms falling into the sheets and just barely keeping hold of my form long enough to scream." She shuddered at the memory, even now so many decades later that feeling of utter terror would sometimes creep up on her, an icy reminder of what could have happened to her, of what she thought was happening. She started when she felt Skylar's hand on her shoulder, concerned about the way her gaze had unfocused. "Sorry, I was just... I'm sure you can remember yourself, it's not a pleasant feeling. Your entire world gets turned upside down, your sense of what is and isn't possible just goes up in smoke, with us quite literally."
Skylar chuckled at the joke, but she could still see how disturbed Leila was at the memory. "What happened after that?"
"I lost control, a lot like you did a month ago. My bodyguards came running, thinking that I was being kidnapped, or killed, or whatever it was they could think of that they were there to protect me from, but all they saw when they opened that door was darkness." Leila grimaced, almost tasting bile on her tongue. "Apparently when my parents came by the guards were scattered around the room, they thought it was the work of a rival family. They went to war the next day, and that was that for the next few years of my life."
"You killed your bodyguards?" Skylar shook her head, running her hand up and down the older woman's back. "I'm sorry, that sounds awful."
"It was. I was twelve, and I'd already been responsible for killing five people. That's not exactly something that a child wants to have to think about when they go to sleep. The next few people I can barely remember, but those five are always clear as day." She turned and walked past Skylar, going to set up some targets. "Just count yourself lucky that you didn't go through anything like that when you fully emerged. I doubt you would have dealt killing your family in a healthy manner."
The very thought of doing something like that horrified Skylar, she hadn't realized till just that moment how wrong the events of one month ago could have gone, how much damage she could have truly caused to those that she had sworn to protect and love. "No, no I don't think I would have taken something like that very well at all."
"Anyway, after that it was a constant mission to try and find out just what I could do. I got hurt a lot of times, but as I'm sure you'll learn we can just bounce past that sort of thing. I've been shot, stabbed, drowned, a few times I was blown up that wasn't very fun, but every time I just... Came back. Sometimes a bit later than others, but I always have." Leila's expression was serious when she turned back to her. "Do not let that get to your head though. I got cocky when I found out that I was more or less invincible, so I did some very stupid things to people that it is not advisable to do stupid things to."
"What happened?"
"I learnt a very harsh lesson is what happened. We may be able to come back from anything, but the people that we love and care about cannot, it's easy to forget that. The problem with growing up in the mafia is that people always go for your loved ones first, so there was no way that I wasn't going to learn sometime. I've buried more family and friends than you'll ever have, so do not make my mistakes."
Her daughter sat down against the tree trunk next to their training area, enjoying the shade from the scorching sun. "It sounds like things have been very hard for you, I'm sorry that your life has been like this."
"Oh please, I of all people don't deserve your pity. The things I've done in my life... I deserve whatever misery the world decides to throw at me, but you? Against all odds you're a good person, how that came out of being born to me and raised by your father is beyond me, but there have been smaller miracles." Leila took a seat next to her, grunting when her back thumped against the trunk. "I want you to understand that after we are finished with all this I want you to forget all about... Everything, really. Leave the violence behind, go home and love your family, don't stay and end up becoming something like me or Christian. We're monsters who thrive in the darkness, you might be made of literal darkness but you are so far from that."
"I'm not convinced that you are either, you've been nothing but kind to me." Skylar clicked her tongue, "Maybe infuriatingly withholding when it comes to giving me answers, but kind nonetheless."
"You've known me a month," Leila laughed, "Trust me, you don't know the first thing about me, not really."
"Then tell me, I want to know about you." Skylar leaned in, passing her a soda with a smile on her face. "I've never really heard what it's like to be in the mafia, at least from someone who wasn't trying to kill me."
Leila couldn't help the laugh that pushed its way past her lips, the request catching her completely off guard. "You want to know what it's like in the mafia? What, all the little gory details?" She leaned in, poking her finger teasingly into Skylar's side. "You want to know if I knew anyone who acted like Pacino or Liotta?"
Skylar's face turned bright red, her head pushing its way into her arms. "I mean... I did like Goodfellas when I was a little girl..."
"Your parents let you watch that when you were little?" Leila shook her head in disapproval. "Not sure I would have done that if I was raising you. Well to answer your question it's... Very boring."
"I... Really?" Skylar snapped out of her embarrassment, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Of course, what did you think it was? Endless gunfights and intrigue, never knowing what to do or who to trust until your brother inevitably tries to kill you?" She smiled when her answer was a nod. "Well I'm actually sorry to disappoint, but it's not usually like that. For the most part now the mafia is basically just a glorified business, I didn't really get to be a part of much other than board meetings."
"It's... Not like the movies? But what about Sarconi? He was part of the mafia and he tried very hard to kill me, he was almost stereotypical mafia!"
"Well of course, there's always going to be splinters. It's no coincidence no one came to help him either, no one liked him. I would wager they are even glad you killed him." Leila lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "I'll tell you a secret though, I was a little hell raiser after I turned eighteen, that was when they finally started to let me become a part of things."
"Really?" Skylar's eyes lit up with childlike glee. "What did you do?"
"A couple times I would use my powers to make it look like someone had tried to attack us, or one of our enemies had tried to kill one of our other enemies. I'd had a few years of practice by that point, so I'd gotten pretty good at making it look like my powers weren't powers." She scratched at the back of her neck awkwardly, fully aware of how something like this could make her sound. "I got pretty good at messing things up
for everyone, you probably heard about a couple of the wars that went on back in New York, even if you didn't grow up there."
"A couple, dad would read the news sometimes. He'd look... I don't know how to describe how he looked but it makes sense now that I know that he knew you. It was like he knew it was you who was doing it, even though there was no way to prove it."
"That sounds like him. Before he really started going downhill Andrew used to be a pretty good gambler, he could recognize a lot of peoples tells, so it makes sense he picked something up about me. It's probably a good thing he lost his touch, he pissed off a lot of gangsters back in the day." She clapped Skylar on the shoulder, standing back up. "Your father was an asshole Skylar, but he was a loyal asshole, a caring asshole. I'm glad that I gave you to him to raise."
"If you could... Would you change any of it? The fighting, having me, all of it? If you could have any other kind of life, would you?"
Leila didn't hesitate in her answer. "No. I don't regret any of it, having you, where I was born, none of it. I love the fighting, every person I set up, every battle I got into, they were the reasons I was alive, the reason I'm still alive today." She sighed, "The thing you need to understand Skylar is... I'm not a good person. I'm not like you, I don't have something else waiting for me after all this, and that's by design. Maybe helping you can balance things out a little, but once we are done here I'm just going to go back to biting and clawing my way through whatever part of the world I find myself in next."
