Find out what happens next!

I can"t cry.

Xander isn"t worth anymore of my tears.

My eyes follow the change of scenery out the double-decker bus window, but no matter how much it changes, all I can see is the blood.

I thought I had a gilded life. Sure, there are things I want and dreams that I just missed out on, but I had no idea what was really lurking behind the scenes. My life has been nothing but a lie, and it all revolves around Xander.

"Next stop is Janesville." A loud voice calls out from the front, and I startle at the sound. My nerves are completely shot. I guess it should be expected when I"ve just seen my boyfriend kill two people in front of me like they were cockroaches.

I"ve been on the bus for hours, but I honestly have no idea where I am. I wasn"t actively paying attention. The only thing that matters right now is that I get away from Xander. A deep pull in my gut has me getting out of my seat and walking towards the front of the bus. Sitting in one of the empty front seats, I look out the front window. This place is nothing like New York. I don"t see not one skyscraper. "Excuse me, where is this?" I lean forward to whisper to the driver.

"The next stop will be Janesville, Wisconsin. It"s nothing more than a stop-over town for folks to use the facilities and get some food. After this, the next big bus depot is in Chicago." he replies. I lean back in the seat and direct my attention back toward the window. This place isn"t home, but maybe it has some promise. Perhaps this will be the place where I"ll be able to start a new life for myself. Somewhere I"d be able to hide from Xander, hide from the killers that seem to be after me.

I grab the small bag I have, and sling it over my shoulder to wait for the bus to come to a stop. Only a few people rustle from their sleep to get off the bus, but for the most part, everyone stays on the bus. Before I have a chance to step off the bus, the driver taps my shoulder.

"Miss, this is only a stop-over, the bus will pull out in twenty minutes." The intense odor of coffee comes wafting out of his mouth, and I have to fight the urge to back away. I nod, but in the back of my mind, I"m sure he knows the truth. I"m not coming back to this bus. It"s not like I have anywhere in particular to go. Xander is the only person I have left that I consider family, and I can"t go back to him.

Even in the dark, I can see how quaint this small town is. Everything looks vintage as if it were built in the eighteen hundreds. If I were in a better mood, I"d be clamoring to get my phone out and take pictures.

In the last twenty-four hours, my entire world has turned on its head. After my disastrous encounter with a mugger, I found out not only am I related to someone in the mafia, but my best friend turned boyfriend is nothing more than a minion sent to watch me. Every good memory I have from the last ten years includes Xander, but none of it was real. I always thought of Xander as my safe place.

I was wrong.

Pulling the hoodie higher up on my head, I stroll down the narrow sidewalk. I have to move to the side as a couple walks by me, the woman throwing her head back and laughing at something the man says.

A whisper of naughty things to come, maybe?

They seem so carefree. Neither one of them have to look over their shoulders, worrying about what bad guys are waiting for them around the corner. I want that.

My mind is set. This is the place I"m going to spend the rest of my life. I can do this. I don"t really have much of a choice.

It"s near eight at night when I start walking around the sleepy town to look for somewhere to rest. Most of the general stores are closed up for the evening, but I do find one diner that is still bustling. That is, if three customers and one waitress can be called bustling.

I walk in slowly, trying not to draw much attention to myself. A small tinkling bell rings when I open the door. The middle-aged waitress turns toward the sound, and her eyebrows instantly furrow when she gets a look at me. Self conscientiously, I smooth down my clothing, but nothing I do is going to hide the fact that I"m a mess.

"Uh, can I help you?" The woman asks, moving closer to me with a menu in her hand.

"Yeah, I"m sorry. I don"t mean to bother you, but I just hopped off the bus here, and I was wondering if there was a hotel or something like that nearby?" I bite the corner of my lip, shuffling from foot to foot as the woman continues to take in my attire.

"You just hopped off the bus? That"s a new one. Usually people don"t stay more than five minutes when they pass through." She crosses her arms over her chest and waits for me to provide her more information.

I can"t. The less people know about why I"m here, the better.

"Yeah... so anything about the hotel?"

When it"s obvious that I"m not going to indulge her need for gossip, the waitress shrugs a shoulder and walks me back out the door. "I don"t know if she"s got any rooms open, but the only inn we have in town belongs to Ms. Adeline. It"s five blocks down and two blocks to the right. It"s a three-story house, the biggest on the street. Doesn"t look much like an inn, so you"ll miss it if you"re not paying attention."

Five blocks down, two blocks right.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." I give the woman a tight smile and notice her eyes are trained down to the ground. She"s looking at my shoes.

My eyes follow her gaze, and a fresh wave of panic hits me when I realize what she"s staring at. There"s a large splatter of blood on my white converse. Blood spilled by Xander.

Before the woman can ask any questions, I turn and quickly walk, following the directions she"s given me. The blocks are about half of the blocks I"m used to back home, so it takes me no time at all to get to the inn.

There"s no sign on the outside that would let me know it"s an inn besides one small letter sized cardboard leaning against the window saying rooms available. In a past life I would have thought this place quaint, now I"m scared that it might be too easy for someone to get in and hurt me.

I shake my head and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to get a hold on my anxiety, "No one knows you"re here, Mel. It"s safe." My words sound weak even to my own ears.

Reaching out for the door knob, I"m pleasantly surprised to find that it"s locked, and I need to ring the bell to gain entry. Through the window I see an elderly woman, maybe sixty or even seventy years old, hobble out to the main area. She smiles at me, but I see the confusion in her eyes. She doesn"t know who I am.

As she slowly makes her way to the door, I move back a step and pull the hood off my head, so she can see me clearly. It"s not that I expect her to know who I am, but maybe I can put her at ease a little.

"Hello? Can I help you?" The woman asks as she opens the door and lets me inside. I stand about a foot taller than her, and right away I realize how frail she looks. She gives off major Nana vibes. Her hair is graying at the edges, her face is a bit sallow and her eyes droop slightly, as if she could fall asleep at any minute. She yawns once, letting me know she should probably be off sleeping right now instead of standing out here waiting on me.

"Good evening, I"m so sorry to be a bother. I need to find a place to stay for the night." I walk closer and do my best to keep my voice polite.

"Oh, well, that"s lucky for you because I have a few vacant rooms." She smiles at me, and my body relaxes as I watch the sides of her eyes crinkle from years of experience and life.

It feels like a bit of good luck to me. I can"t deal with having to sleep out on the street tonight. I may be from New York, but I"ve had a pretty sheltered life thus far.

"Great. What do I need to do?" I ask, and she gives me the rundown of all the documents she needs in order for me to rent a room.

She wants an ID and a credit card. Both things with my real name on it. I know the possibility of her knowing Xander or someone in his circle is close to nil, but I really can"t chance someone finding it.

"I have cash. I won"t be any trouble." I pull out the money in my wallet and show it to her.

Her mouth turns down before she looks me over once again. This time, I don"t bother to fix my appearance. I want her to see what I look like. I want her to see my desperation.

"Are you legal? Over eighteen?"

"Yes, ma"am." I reply.

Finally, her eyes come back up to mine, and she gives me a tight nod. After a few stern warnings, she allows me to have one of the rooms.

My room is located on the second floor, and she slowly walks me up. I half listen to her as she gives me the rundown on what the inn has to offer, but mostly I"m just taking in the atmosphere.

The entire place is covered with ghastly blue and yellow wallpaper, and the dark blue rugs look like they could use a good clean. There are tables with cherub and angel knick-knacks in the corners and the halls, and all the doors have external locks on them. It"s a sweet place. Calm.

"Now, we usually have breakfast at around nine in the morning, if you make it there by eleven, then you should be able to get you some."

I nod and take in more information," Thank you. I"ll be down."

"There"s a bathroom in your room and a full bath down at the end of the hall if you need to shower." My eyes follow her arthritic looking finger as it points in the opposite direction.

"What about the town itself? I know it"s late now, but around what time would you say most of the stores open up?" My eyes scan the walls and I see all the personal photographs the older lady has on the wall. This isn"t just her business, this place is her home.

"Oh, I"d say you"d be able to get everything that you need outside around ten in the morning. Is there something that I can help you with now?" Her thin eyebrows raise, and I"m hesitant to ask her if she has any of the things that I need. With the possibility of Xander looking for me, I need to make it a little harder for him to find me.

"Um, well, I need some hair dye." My voice gets lower, and I watch as the light of recognition burns bright in her eyes. Her eyes go over my outfit again, and no doubt she"s thinking about the fact that I"m only able to give her cash. It"s all the tell-tale signs of a woman on the run. That"s who I am now, a victim. No. I"m a survivor.

"Ahh, I see." Her thin hands come up to my dark hair. "Well, you"re going to need to bleach. I have that. Have you ever thought about being a blonde?" The older woman asks as she drops her hand and threads her arm through mine.

"I think I could like that." I smile at her and feel the prick of tears behind my eyelids. I don"t know much about my surroundings, but I truly believe I"m going to love it here.

My world used to revolve around Xander, but now it"s time to find a way to live for myself. It starts right here in the small town of Janesville, Wisconsin.

***

Xander

"One of us isn"t walking out of here." I take a drag of my cigarette. The glow of the ember lights up Augustus" face.

Well, the side of his face that"s still attached, that is.

I"m starting to feel like this is another dead end, but I"m not going to half ass this. The last time I half assed my responsibilities, Melisande was able to get away.

"You have all of twenty seconds to tell me where the fuck Mel is." I take the dirty rag and wipe the latest layer of blood off my hands. It"s caked under my cuticles and nail bed.

"I don"t have shit to tell you. I don"t know what you think you"re going to get out of me, but I swear to you there"s nothing you can do to me to get me to say anything."

I puff out a deep breath from my nose, and flick my butt to the ground before I grab hold of Augustus" binds. He"s a nobody in the Di Cesare family, just a foot soldier, but he"s loyal. Most of our enemy families are loyal to themselves until all the pain starts.

I"m good at that. I hand out torture and pain like it"s Halloween candy. Freely and with a fucking smile on my face.

After Mel"s uncle came to our off campus dorm to steal her from me, I"ve not stopped looking for her. Not when It seemed an impossible task for me to find her. Not when my brothers and sisters turned their backs on me. Not even when I should have been in a hospital bed healing from the twenty-one muscle deep whip lashes my father gave me for failing him. Mel is as much a part of me as my own heart, even if she isn"t supposed to be.

I was supposed to keep my eyes on Melisande, but instead not only was she able to get kidnapped, but once I rescued her from that nightmare she managed to run off on her own before disappearing without a fucking trace.

It should piss me off that I can"t find her, but if I"m honest, I"m more concerned with her being out there on her own. For the majority of her life, I"ve been by her side. Anytime she needed anything or was in a jam, I"ve been right there to help her out of it. Until the one day I wasn"t, and she found out exactly who I was and what I did in order to keep her in my life.

"Augustus, you need to realize that no matter what happens tonight, you"re going to die. Either you"re going to die quickly or you"re going to wish you could die quickly. One way or another, the matter in which your life ends greatly coincides with how merciful I"m feeling. You"re keeping me from my woman. So tell me, how merciful do you think I"m feeling?"

Augustus grunts once before he hawks up a bloody loogie and spits it onto the floor by my feet.

"Fine, suit yourself. I"m not going to waste my time on you. Where you keep your mouth shut, others will talk." I look down at my watch, his twenty seconds is up.

I make sure one more time that the binds are secure before I use the long metal shovel to close the steam dampener that is on the other side of the small engineering room. A long steel pipe leads from the coal furnace, snakes around the ceiling and should connect to another pipe through the wall. Thankfully, I can be considered something of a handyman. After removing a few large bolts, hooking up a hinge and buying the proper materials to handle the metal, I made my very own death chamber.

I even went as far as making sure the pipes were properly insulated, just to ensure I didn"t lose any heat in the process. I swing the hinge, so the opening of the pipe is inches in front of Augustus face and chest.

In my quest to find Melisande, I"ve drowned people, shot people, stabbed, dismembered, but this will be the first time I melt someone to death.

Tears fill Augustus one good eye as he stares at the large pipe in front of him. I"ve already blasted him once, so he knows what he"s in for. He endured the scalding steam for only seconds before I started asking him questions. This time, I won"t turn it off until his brain has dripped out of his skull.

I"m going to make myself a big bowl of Augustus soup.

"Wait, just, wait. There has to be another way. I don"t have any information." He mumbled shakily.

"Sorry, this has been fun. Truly. But I"ve got places to be, a woman to find, and you"ve become increasingly boring." With a sigh, I reach over and turn the once rusted knob. I hear the deep metallic groan followed by an ominous hiss as the steam is forced up from the industrial, factory sized furnace, concentrated through the metal pipe, and shoots right into Augustus.

The heat is instantly unbearable. I"m a good eight feet away from the opening, and it"s still almost too much for me to take. Though internally, I"m awed by how cool this is to watch, I make sure to keep my face emotionless.

Augustus screams and pulls at his binds to try and get away from the heat. I watch, completely mesmerized, as the other half of his face first blisters then slowly begins to drip away. The smell of burning fabric pulls my eyes from his face. His clothes have ignited, but I"m not going to let him have the easy way out.

"Oh no, we can"t have that!" I douse him with water to extinguish the fire.

He gets no mercy. Not even the mercy of burning to death. He"ll cook for keeping me away from Melisande.

Right as his lips started to droop down, he shouts through the roar of the steam, "She got on a bus. Midwest. Dollar bus. Cartoon on the side." He squeals as his only remaining eye pops and the liquid sizzles down his face. "Kill me! Kill me!" He squirms one final time before his body starts to convulse.

Midwest. At least that gives me a heading.

With very little enthusiasm, I turn the knob, so the steam stops pumping out, before pulling my gun out of the side of my pants. I shoot him once in what"s left of his head.

I walk out to the sound of his blood dripping onto the dirty floor. It"s not his brain, but I guess it"ll do.

After making sure to lock up the room, I put in a call to the only clean-up crew in the state that will still work with me and let them know where Augustus" body is. I"ve spent more money over the last few months getting rid of the people I"ve killed for information than I care to count, but none of that matters now.

Now, I have a heading and a bus line to research. It"s not the most detailed information, but if there"s one thing that can be said about me, it"s that I"m determined.

It"s time for me to get my girl.