000
ΰΌ» β ΰΌΊ
prologue
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β WHAT CAN NOT BE SAID,
WILL BE WEPT β
The streets of Hell's Kitchen carried a pungent stench of rotted food, urine and blood. It's appearance wasn't the most welcoming, but neither were it's citizens. The sparse population it had was mostly made up of; junkies, thieves, and the occasional young couple whom made the unpopular decision of moving into one of its many run down apartment buildings.
Despite this, Adriana had called Hell's Kitchen home for the last four years. After escaping her abusive father's grip, Adriana fled to the city β where her eldest brother, Oliver, resided β for a fresh start. She had secured a low-paying job at a small diner named, 'Dish and Dine' which was owned by an elderly hispanic woman.
"I'm leaving Meela, try not to stay here to late!" Shouted Adriana as she hooked her fingers around the string of her neutral coloured apron, tugging it loose from her body. Today hadn't been any different from the rest; she had darted from tabel to table β with her notepad and pen β taking orders as she tried to avoid the uncomfortable eyes of the middle aged men that lingered on her figure for too long.
Adriana slipped her arms into the sleeves of a black waterproof coat, instantly feeling the warmth the extra layer created. With that, she was ready to leave the diner and arrive home to one of her brothers "You're home late" statements.
As rain poured from the late-evening sky, Adriana wrapped her arms tighter around her figure; the hood of her coat doing no favours in keeping her hair from dampening. She had never minded working late, in fact she enjoyed the company of the elderly woman ( Meela ) but the early morning to late evening shifts were not helping Adriana's mental and physical exhaustion.
The walk to Oliver's apartment building was only brief β despite the heavy pouring of rain making it seem longer. Adriana stood outside, rummaging through her cheap leather handbag in hopes of finding her keys.
The flash of an unfamiliar car light caught her attention for only a second, its beams lighting up the street, before it left the pavement it had parked on and hastily drove away.
Adriana payed no attention to the uneasy feeling in her stomach and continued into the run down building; making sure to say a polite "hello" to the residents she passed in the hallways.
The wooden steps creaked beneath her boot as she climbed towards the fourth floor; unfortunately, for Adriana, the landlord of the building did not show an interest in calling somone to fix the broken down elevator β that was now forming a new layer of rust.
Adriana stalked towards her apartment door, the only light sorce in the slim hallway being a old, yellow-toned ceiling light which flickered every few seconds. Reaching for the door's wobbly handle she paused, her eyebrows furrowing. The door stood ajar, which wasn't normal, they had agreed to keep it constantly locked β an agreement that was set in place to avoid encountering one of the many monsteres that lurked the streets of Hells Kitchen.
The more she stared down the dark wood, the more it began to haunt her thoughts β why was it open?
Adriana's breaths grew more anxious leaving her heart to beat furiously against her ribs. All she carried with her was her purse, she wasn't exactly ready to fight off a possible attacker.
Realisation flooded her mind, its waves crashing violently against her skull causing an unbearable headache. Oliver. Her brother had been home... and if the door had been left open, something must've happened.
That was all it took for her to push the door with such force that it put a crack into the cream-coloured wall. The moment her heel hit the threshold of the apartment it was covered in crimson red.
Oliver was there, but he was... the carpet was stained with his blood as he laid against it's fluff β it reminded Adriana of the night she had drunkenly spilt a bottle of cheap-red wine. She would never be able to wash that out of the rug, or her memories; the sight of her brother's lifeless corpse, the smell of his blood and the taste of her own bile as it threatened to rise in her throat.
She felt her legs weaken, unable to provide enough strength to hold her body upright, she collapsed besides Oliver's body β her bare knees hitting the carpet with a squelch and becoming sticky with his blood.
"Ollie..." Adriana pressed a slender hand to her mouth, her voice coming out strangled as she stared down at the pale-skinned body. Instinctively, she swollowed hard and moved her fingers to hover over his torso β if she could find the entrace of the wounds there was a chance she could stop the bleeding.
What Adriana failed to notice in her panic was the
stillness of his chest.
She pressed the palm of her hand to one of the open slashes, the warmth of the liquid against her skin caused her stomach to turn sour with nausea. A sob escaped her lips and her lungs begged for mercy against her ragged breaths.
"Please. C'mon Ollie, c'mon please."
She scrambled with her free hand to find the cellphone she carried with her, her eyes occasionally diverting from the inside of her handbag, to Oliver's body.Β Fianlly finding the device, she gripped it tightly; taking in a deep breath before dialling for help.
The cellphone rang.
one.
two.
three, times.
"911, what is your emergency?"Β The voice of the young, female operator was overun by the sound of thudding footsteps coming up the wooden stairs of the aprtment complex. Adriana turned her head slightly towards the entrance, watching as four men in deep blue suits rushed towards her β guns held high.
The cellphone slipped from Adriana's grip.
"Please, please help me!" The brunette woman cried out. She lifted her trembling hands, crimson red dripping down from her palm to her wrist. Two of the men darted around the room, heading to search the bedrooms for a reason unknown to Adriana, the remaining men stayed put with their guns dangerously close to the back of her skull.
Their harsh shouts seemed to fade into background noise as Adriana's attention diverted to the man on her left. His voice was hoarse and his jawline sharp, carryingΒ a decent amount of stubble.
"We've got her." He stated into the collar of his jacket, a stomach turning grin on his lips.
"W-what..." Adriana stammered through uneven breaths. The man stepped forward, grabbing her arms β rather roughly β forcing them uncomfortably behind her back.
"Adriana Parks, you are being placed under arrest on the suspicion of murder in the first degree. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can not afford an attorney one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"
A lump formed in Adriana's throat as she nodded slowly.
Considering her current position, Adriana's mind had failed to notice the weirdness of the situation β from the police arriving before she had stated her loaction, to the way the stubble-chinned cop had grinned at her arrest.
Adriana let out a yelp as she was pulled to her feet; her hands bound tightly behind her back by the cop's cold metal handcuffs. She was yanked backwards as the man in the deep blue uniform lead her away from the crime scene. Hot tears streamed down the brunette woman's face as she cried and begged to stay besides her brother's corpse.
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Stepping back into the pouring rain, Adriana closed her eyes slightly β to avoid the bright colours of the police cars that were stationed outside. Her head was pounding, her throat felt as though it was made of sandpaper and the tighness of the metal againt her wrists caused them to start discolouring.
The man placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her to sit down in the back of one of the vehicles. Adriana unconsciously scrunched her face up in disgust as the overwheling smell of coffee and cigars filled her nostrills. The car door was slammed shut making the brunette jump in her seat.
Two officer's entered the front of the vehicle, with a scoff the blonde-haired male slotted his keys into the ignition lock causing the engine to come alive.
Adriana placed her head against the window, watching as droplets of rain slid down the glass she noticed the similarity with her own tears as they slid continuously down her cheek.
The blood on her hands was drying quickly; she could feel it becoming more of a layer of crust then a liquid.
My brothers blood, she reminded herself.
AUTHORS NOTE.
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Hello! thank you for reading the prologue to,
Thrones Of The Rose ( Matt Murdock )
Feel free to leave comments, i'd appreciate feedback if there is anything you noticed i could improve β i definitely think i could've done better but here we are.
Please, if you had seen any spelling/grammar mistakes let me know ( about mistakes/feedback in my dm's ) and i will edit them. This was not proof read.
Despite being on this app for a while, i'm still relatively new to writing, so if you do want to criticise my work please try to keep that in mind.
I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Adriana's story and don't worry, we will be seeing Mr. Murdock in the next update ( whenever that may be ) .
β mae x
BαΊ‘n Δang Δα»c truyα»n trΓͺn: Truyen247.Pro