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Post by dot2 on Apr 26, 2011 21:18:19 GMT -6
She was so tired. So so very tired.
Sitting in the tiny living room, she hand her feet firmly planted on the floor, back straight, shoulders rolled back so her posture wasn't sloppy. At least her mother taught her something useful before she disappeared for America when Lulu was still a kid. Perfect posture really did help, in the long run. Rolling her head around a bit to create a motion in her neck so it would cramp up, she blinked a few times while stifling a yawn as she continued to sew the pants that had ripped at the cuffs. Corduroys that had gotten scuffed yesterday at the park that belonged to little Nikolai. It was one in the morning and she had work in four hours. It looked like she'd be pulling yet another all nighter but Nikolai needed these pants for the morning because his other ones were still in the wash, which she would be getting to sometime tomorrow, probably on her half hour break. She'd rush over and wash as many as she could before she ran back to the tiny restaurant.
Feeling her slender fingers ache, the yawn finally escaped her but she shook her head to will sleep away from her bright yet soft and comforting blue irises lined with thick eyelashes. Sitting there, she looked like she was ten again, slaving away at her older sister's and younger brother's clothes because they only had two pairs of pants each. Well, her sister had two skirts just as Lulu did. One would think that when she became rich, she would wear tons of different clothing. She'd wear pants and minis and bikinis. She'd wear tube tops and sneakers and platform heels. Nope. Lulu was an old fashioned kind of girl, a bit stuck on tradition. She still wore skirts, the longest reaching her ankles and the shortest being just below her knees. She didn't like showing off too much skin and only wore tank tops in the summer. Flats were a favorite of her's, kitten heels being the only exception. No, she wasn't flashy. She wore pastel colors that were light and breezy, a bit like her personality. She was sweet and her clothing simply amplified how humble she seemed. Even with money, she still was very cautious with everything because one day, it could all be gone and that day eventually came and she was prepared for it.
Nikolai was fast asleep in his room, where she had left him in his bed at eight o clock at night. Savva was like a log in his own room and she could hear his snoring, something she became accustomed to when they were kids. He slept through everything-the earthquake included. Lucky him. She barely slept lately, much like when she used to live in Russia-before she met Andrei. She wasn't ever able to sleep, stressed about work, about making ends meet, about her son, her brother, their futures. It was rare for her to take a moment and simply think about herself. She was constantly thinking about those around her, constantly worrying that something horrible might happen to them like it did to her. To her, blood really did run thicker than water and once you were in her life, you were practically blood.
So deeply concentrated was she on sewing, that she pricked her finger when she heard the sliding of the window pane. She lived on the first floor of an apartment complex so it was fairly easy to break in-but that was why the windows were always locked. Plus, it was so quiet, she could probably hear a mouse scurry by, if there were any, so right after, she was even more surprised when she heard the sound of a grunt and a few careful footsteps. Without a second thought, she put everything down and turned off the light, the only one on, right next to her, all in a silent and graceful motion. Standing, she already knew the layout of the tiny two bedroom apartment, she made her way to the bedroom she shared with Nikolai. He slept in her bed, with her; a tiny twin sized mattress. Thankful the door was slightly ajar and that she was very light footed, she slipped in without a peep and could see Nikolai still fast asleep on the bed, dark curls cradling his angelic face. He had her full lips, which matched his father's, but he had her nose and his father's eyes. No doubt, he looked like Lulu's and Andrei's son.
But the only thing wrong with the slumbering scene before her was the figure right by the bed, hovering, almost as if hesitating, over Nikolai's tiny form. Feeling the adrenaline deep within her veins, she slipped up behind him and sharply pressed her fingers into a knot between his neck and shoulder muscles. A pressure point. One that if pressed hard enough could bring anyone down to their knees. She couldn't hold it forever but she managed to make him get down enough from the pain that she had a bit of the upper hand. She didn't want to kill him. Violence was against her nature. But he obviously wanted her son so after hitting his pressure point, she did a full swing and smack! her fist met with his left eye as if she were in some kind of movie. Anyone could have thought she was a man with the power she yielded behind every move but really, it was because she had more than enough adrenaline in her system. Plus,s he was trained for this. She was trained to kill people and if she wanted to-she could kill him right then and there with her bare hands but she wouldn't because she could solve this without having to kill him. She may have stopped her formal education when she was ten but it didn't mean she was stupid, "Who are you and what do you want with him?" despite her position, her voice was calm and even and there was curiosity mixed with patience and understanding. It wasn't Andrei. He knew what she was capable of. Maybe one of his minions out to get Nikolai? That made more sense.
If it was the latter, she might be able to convince him to leave them alone and in the morning, she'd have to talk to Ash to see if she could move in to her place for a while. She would have to find a new place to live for them-and she didn't think Savva would want to move yet again. |
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Post by connor on Apr 29, 2011 10:52:49 GMT -6
  d o n' t k n o w w h e nI' L L B E B A C K A G A I Nthe italians had had a leg-up on him since he'd arrived in valkyrie. most of them had been born and raised, if not in town, then close by in los angeles, but connor originated and had spent most of his time in europe. even after coming to the states, he'd been banished after his acting out which involved violetta giovanni and a shootout which followed and killed a few of his men and wounded the irish's rep. he hadn't given a damn about that sort of thing back then, but that mattered to him now. he was the godfather of the irish mafia now, following his father's untimely death, so he had more to worry about than he had when he was nineteen years old and unable to control his lusts as well as he did now.
not that he had much self-control ten years later.
slipping through the darkness, sliding through the shadows between the rundown buildings in the area appropriately nicknamed 'the shaks', connor arrived outside of the window leading into the abode he planned to infiltrate. he already had his target in mind. it was a young boy and the son to the russian mafia don who connor desperately wanted to get in good with. he needed their alliance if he was ever going to get one-up on the giovanni family. with the russians on his side, he would have more power than the italians, and then luca and his bastard family wouldn't be able to touch him without offending the russians as well as the irish. connor smiled darkly at the thought. if he could see luca giovanni hanging from a roof somewhere in valkyrie - wherever he lived with his bitch of a wife maggie, the girl who'd had the nerve to tell him no in vegas - that would be the happiest day of connor's life. he wanted to make the little maggot pay for all of the shit he'd been through because of him.
swiftly slipping to the window, connor pulled out his knife and easily jimmyed open the latch. these cheap apartment buildings were really nothing to break into; it was embarrassing really. pushing the window upward, he grimaced as it slid rather noisily. he'd never been the one to sneak in silently to get what he wanted. he was known for blasting in through the front door, guns blazing, shooting and asking questions later. now he wished he'd paid more attention when his father was trying to teach him stealth. lifting himself up and through the window, he lost his grip and almost fell with a crash to the floor but caught himself just in time, grunting from the effort to hold himself in the window without falling on his face on the carpet. easing his legs in through the window, one at the time, he pulled his body fully into the room and tiptoed to the side of the bed where a child slept. he couldn't see the child's face clearly, but something inside of him reacted to the sleeping boy. he was probably younger than rocco, but recently connor had been thinking about his son, the one he'd given violetta giovanni unknowingly through the headstrong lust of his youth. since the death of his own father, deep down inside he'd begun to feel that he needed to be more of a father figure to his own son. he would be turning thirty this year, and he'd never even been to one of the boy's birthday parties. of course, violetta would probably not only sick the dogs on him if she saw him, but she'd probably have every one of her male relatives gun him down on sight, but connor refused to think on that for now.
but he had paused too long. the woman obviously had better stealth training than he, and she hit the pressure point at the base of his neck before he could react. thankfully, his threshold of pain was high, and he merely grunted from the surprise and shock of pain through his shoulders, his knees weakening slightly but not taking him fully to the floor. however, before he could turn fully to counter her stealth attack, she swung at him and planted a good blow to his left eye. "shit," he cursed, cupping his eye and trying to move away from her through the darkness which managed to back him up against the bed where the boy lay. he almost fell over on the kid but caught himself with his free hand on the bed post.
who are you and what do you want with him? came the woman's voice, unmistakably russian and protective, instantly tipping him off to her identity. of course the boy's mother would be aware of anyone or anything coming into the house after the child. he'd been a fool not to think farther ahead. that had always been one of his shortcomings: he was irrational when he tried to get what he wanted. that also meant he wasn't careful enough to sneak in and out with his prize without making a huge show of himself. damn him for his short fuse.
"i think you know what i want with him," he growled, removing his protecting hand from his eye that was already starting to swell. "as for who i am, that's not something you need to know." he smiled in the darkness but doubted she could see it. he didn't give a damn who she was, and he'd kill her if he had to. he'd been bred to be a soldier before he'd been forced into the position of leadership within the irish mafia, and he recognized that this woman wasn't as weak as most. she was no giovanni woman, pampered and protected from all bad things. by her skill at weakening him, he knew she would be a handful. his hand nonchalantly slid down his side to the knife which was concealed beneath his clothing just in case. "considering you must be his mother, i'm guessing you're aware of the price on little nikolai's head..." he trailed off, glancing over at the boy and then back at the young woman in the shadows with a small, evil grin. "... and on your own."
andrei hadn't spoken directly to him, but connor had spoken to men close in with the leader and found out a bit about the man and why he wanted the child. obviously, he wanted his son, but he also wouldn't mind the mother of the boy dead also. his reasoning wasn't clear, but that didn't matter to connor. a target was a target, and if he got in good with the russians by killing some irritating bitch and stealing her pup, then so be it.
status | finished . notes | sorry for the wait!- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - graphics by spaceman!says (nemo) on rc&r |
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Post by dot2 on Apr 30, 2011 11:52:09 GMT -6
"You stay calm," the deep voice, the Russian words of wisdom, flowed back into her mind as she remembered sitting at the large, lavishing dining room table in Russia, the heavy hand on her shoulder feeling dangerous yet welcoming in the strangest of ways, "Deepen your breathing to a relaxed tone to bring your heart rate from giving you away," and as he spoke she did as she was told, "Look them straight in the eyes...and do not ever let them know you are afraid. You are strong, Lulu. Stronger than Andrei. You can do this on your own. Don't let anyone stand in your way of doing what you see is right."
She didn't understand entirely what he meant back then. She didn't have the muscle capacity of a man. She had stopped attending school when she was eleven so she wasn't as intelligent either. She didn't even make it to high school and everything she learned she had to do so on her own in her spare time through heavy, extensive readings. She didn't understand why Andrei's own father would think Lulu was stronger than his own son. Than Andrei, who proved to be powerful enough as it was. It wasn't until she left Russia did she realize what he meant. She was stronger than Andrei. It was why he wanted her dead so badly while Nikolai was still young and wouldn't remember her. It was because she had mercy and humanity in her. She knew how to be human, had seen the world from the other end of the gun. Andrei had been pampered his entire life.
It was why Lulu was in so much trouble and was wanted dead or alive. She was the one Andrei's father chose to lead instead of him and it pissed Andrei off that a silly, poverty stricken, prostitute he fell in love with could out rank him in anything from beauty to values to family to capability to leadership. Lulu was better than him across the board and she had less training and less of an education than he did. No resources but herself and she beat him with flying colors. Jealous was an ugly thing and she knew, since she left, that it would be the death of her.
"Don't touch him," her voice was steady, her breathing relaxed. She did everything she was taught, even kept her voice low so Nikolai wouldn't awaken, "Keep my son out of this. He's only three," she wasn't trying to reason with him. She was practically ordering him not to touch a hair on his head, "If you are with Andrei..." but her voice trailed off, noticing she had spoken his name out loud for the first time in almost three years. Just saying it made her heart ache but she shook it off, keeping her eyes locked onto his. She could see his face a bit better as the moon came out from behind the clouds. Then abruptly, she added, "Take me instead," her eyes flickered to her son and she couldn't keep the worry and concern out of her face. She would obviously protect him fiercely, even if it meant her death.
She moved around him in that graceful silence of her's, her long skirt flowing so it almost seemed like she was gliding like a ghost. She stood beside Nikolai,attempting to keep the intruder away from her own son. She'd gone through the death of two other children before. She couldn't go through another one. She knew for a fact that if Nikolai died, she would go with him. Living without him would be like a flower living without water or sunlight. He was what kept her going, what kept her fighting, what kept her from giving up. He was her inspiration and her pride and glory. Him gone...she couldn't even bare the thought of it, "Plus," she remained calm, "the price on my head is bigger than his," and this she knew perfectly. Of course the price on her head was bigger. Kidnapping a three year old was as easy as pie. Trying to kill a trained Russian woman who knew more than she was suppose to? A whole other ball game.
"Deal? Leave Nikolai out of this and I'll give you anything you want," her Russian accent was thick despite she trying to et rid of it. She was praying, silently, in her mind that he would agree and see that, in the end, she was technically right. Lulu was more valuable because if Nikolai died, Andrei could always have another one with his little whore of a secretary. Lulu never hated or even despised anyone but this woman, who took away her husband, who took away her life, who took away the closest to family she had ever gotten...She was coming close to being the first one to make that list. Lulu wasn't naturally violent unless it came to her family and this man was threatening it-no matter who he was. He should be gone. She would call the police if she could manage to prove why she was illegally in the country when her tourist visa expired months ago. She was stuck and the only way out was to turn herself in.
But if Nikolai was okay....she would go through any amount of torture to keep it that way. |
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Post by connor on May 18, 2011 15:53:59 GMT -6
d o n' t k n o w w h e nI' L L B E B A C K A G A I N connor had extensive training with different types of victims. he'd dealt with women and men and children alike. they were all different even within their gender and age groups, but they turned into a monotonous litany after a while. essentially they were all the same. they didn't want to die, and they didn't want their family to die, or one or the other. some people were the martyrs - the ones who would give themselves for another even if that meant the end of their own life. this woman appeared to be one of those. although connor had a son, he'd never been around the boy and other than a distant desire to have an heir in case some freak accident happened to him as had happened to his father, connor felt no emotional ties to the child. he'd only raped the kid's mother violetta in a horny, drunken irrational moment anyway. it wasn't as if they'd ever been in love. what nikolai's mother felt for him was foreign to connor, but he knew how to use it to his advantage.
he would rather have both of them as bargaining chips, but one would be enough. with the mother, he could better insure she would behave if her son was in a state of jeopardy. but with the boy, he wouldn't have much bargaining power because a three year old just wouldn't understand the amount of danger surrounding him. yes, he was liking her idea. plus, the amount on her head was delicious to say the least. if andrei wanted either of them, and he was willing to pay plus give his loyalty to the selwyns then connor didn't give a damn who his victim was.
smiling, connor crossed the distance between them and grabbed her chin, pulling her face closer to his through the darkness. she had a hardness to her eyes that masked something inexplicable, and he turned her face slightly to admire her. even if he never turned her in for the cash, she could be... entertaining to say the least. he smiled at her, a smile which could have been confused for kind if the subjects were less intelligent and ignorant to who he really was. "i guess you'll do. i can always kill you if you piss me off." he roughly released her face, taking a mental note of the silvery scars which were well hidden at key points along the edges of her face and into her hair. she wasn't some soft woman. there was a reason andrei wanted her dead, he just had to figure out what that was.
glancing over at the boy as he turned away from her and slid his hand over his hip where another knife was hidden in a stealthy pocket on his pants. his eyebrows flickered upward as he turned back to face the child's mother. "say your goodbyes. this is the last chance you've got." he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to signify the sleeping boy. "and do hurry. i'm an impatient man."
status | finished. notes | okay, that wasn't worth how long you had to wait for it. lol hope you enjoy the next thread! i'll start it and send you a link.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - graphics by spaceman!says (nemo) on rc&r |
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