𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫

Aurora Thorne wasn't the type of girl to fall in love. She wasn't the type of girl who thought she could be loved. Ever since her older brother Freddie went and got married to some Shelby whore, she felt that was it for her.

She felt that Freddie had given up on being her brother. Aurora and Freddie's parents were long gone. Their father hadn't been in the picture since she was really young so she couldn't remember a thing about him.

But their mother. Oh their mother was a beautiful woman with tan skin and dark eyes — Aurora looked so much like her mother that it made her sick. It was a mystery what happened to the Thorne woman during the war.

Some say she ran off in hopes to start a new life. Some say she couldn't handle being a mother anymore. Both were true really.

Aurora had been left in the care of Freddie at the age of 12 — right after the war had ended. Before that, she practically fended for herself. It was either that or live under the roof of one of their awful neighbours.

She knew how to care for herself. She always knew. Ever since their father left them, Aurora and Freddie's mother gave up on parenting. So Freddie was left raising his little sister which he struggled doing.

So when Freddie secretly married the sister of his old best mate, Aurora felt like she'd been left in the mud once again. With nobody by her side. She knew Freddie would hardly be around anymore — who was she kidding, he was hardly around anyway.

But for Aurora, that just meant one thing. Freedom. Something she always craved. Freedom was something Aurora couldn't get enough of.

-

"Come on, Rory." Freddie began, looking in the mirror and fixing his hair like he usually did. She rolled her eyes dramatically at how vain he was.

"I've told you already, Fred. I don't care what you do. It's not like you look after me anymore anyway. I'm almost fourteen and I can look after myself." Aurora said bluntly, leaning against her fist as she smoked a cigarette. "It's not like i'm going to go and get pregnant," she whispered slyly.

Freddie was hardly listening to her.

Rory glanced down at the bag beside his feet and pushed her leg forward, sending the bag toppling over which caused the contents to spill out onto the floor.

Freddie looked down at the bag then up at his sister with pure hatred on his face.

"The fuck do you think you're doing, eh?" He shouted.

Aurora raised her eyebrows in surprise and blew smoke into the air. "Who're ya talking to like that?" She asked seriously. Freddie kneeled down and began putting the things back into the bag. "I'm fucking talking to you, Aurora." He hissed.

Rory sat with a snarl on her face and scoffed. "Well I don't know who you think you are speaking to me like that."

Freddie shook his head. "Shut up, Rory. Haven't you got something better to be doing?" He asked. She shrugged and put out her cigarette. "Other than watch my brother abandon me— no. You really can't wait to get away from me, can you?"

He scowled at her and picked up the bag. "I ain't abandoning you. Don't be so bloody ridiculous."

"Don't make me laugh, Fred. You're leaving with Ada and you ain't taking me with you. You're leaving me in this shit hole — and in the eyes of the law, that's abandonment at its finest." She argued.

"You need to stay and go to school, Rory. That's what mum always wanted."

"Who gives a flying fuck about her or what she wanted? She abandoned me too. Must be where you get it from. Hm, but you could've gotten that from dad too, eh?" She added, an angry tone in her voice.

"I don't have time for ya so why don't you be quiet for once in your life. Maybe then people wouldn't feel the need to abandon you." Freddie blurted out.

Aurora sat up in her chair and her mouth parted. "What did you just say?" She asked, tears brimming her eyes. She put out her cigarette and watched her brother struggle to talk.

"Ya know I didn't mean that." Freddie said, his hand raised in front of him as he prepared for her to lash out.

Rory got up from her chair and flung herself forward, grabbing him by the shirt and pushing him backward. "Don't you ever say that to me again! Do you hear me?" She screamed, lashing out like he'd expected.

Freddie tried to fight her off but she'd jumped onto his back, clawing at anything she could. Freddie shouted angrily and spun about, trying to get her away.

"You're a bastard, Freddie Thorne! You're just like dad— I hate you. I fucking hate you!" Aurora shouted through her sobs.

Freddie finally got her off his back, shoving her into the wall. He stumbled backward and ran a hand through his hair, pointing a finger at her.

"And this is why I ain't taking you with me. You're fucking mental, Aurora. Mental." He hissed. Aurora's chest heaved up and down.

She was smaller than him by a significant amount. Yet she still had the upper hand in the situation. But Freddie's words hit her hard.

"You know what, Freddie? Go. Go and be with Ada. You care for her more than you've ever cared for me. God, i thought you hated Thomas Shelby? You even made me stop going to see them—" She let out a breathy laugh, "but you've married his sister and gotten her pregnant. One thing that is hilarious Freddie is that your best mate from school probably cares for me more than you ever had."

Freddie shook his head and got his bag from the floor. "I don't give a shit, Aurora."

"Freddie it's weird!" Aurora shouted, "you're weird! You've fancied her since she was nine years old and you were twelve. Freddie that's not normal. You aren't normal." She insulted, gritting her teeth.

"You'd never understand Rory. You'll never understand because no one will ever love you. They'd be asking for a death wish if they did."

And that was it. That was the last thing he said before walking out the door. Aurora didn't know where she'd go from then. Would he come back for her? Would one of the Shelby's come get her and take her in?

All she knew was that she did indeed have freedom once more. She could do whatever she wanted.

And if that meant losing her brother then so be it. Rory didn't care in the slightest. Freddie looked exactly like their father, acted like him too.

The fact that Freddie looked like their father and Aurora looked like their mother made the siblings resent each other massively. Except Rory was nothing like her mother was. Aurora was short tempered and didn't care about getting in trouble.

Their mother was far too forgiving and cared for everyone but her children.

And Aurora always swore she'd never become the same woman her mum was. Because it was love that made her mum become like that.

And Rory believed she was unlovable.

-

Aurora sat at the back of the classroom as always, the rest of her table completely empty. Nobody ever sat next to her but she didn't care. All the girls were a bit odd — so were the boys.

Her attention moved from the pencil in her hand and over to the door where one of the boys from the year above stood.

"Mr Johnson has sent me here." He leaned against the doorframe, paper in hand. He scanned the room, his eyes landing on Aurora and grinning slightly.

A few of the girls muttered words of excitement to each other at the boy's appearance.

"Isiah Jesus." The teacher sighed. "Will you ever be able to sit through a full lesson before being sent out? Go sit down." He hummed.

Isiah entered the room fully and grabbed the chair opposite Aurora. Her feet were up against that chair so when he attempted to pull it, she hooked her foot underneath it and kept it in place.

"Seat taken. Sorry." She said bluntly.

Isiah raised his eyebrows and walked around to pull the chair from beside her. "I'll sit here then, eh?" He asked.

Aurora crossed her arms and just stared to the front of the classroom.

"I'm Isiah." He introduced.

"I know who you are." Aurora replied quickly, tapping her pencil onto the table. Isiah grinned. "And I know who you are too." He retorted. "You're Freddie Thorne's sister ain't you?"

"I don't know who that is." Aurora kept her eyes on the table, biting her tongue.

Isiah let out an awkward chuckle. "Freddie— Freddie Thorne? Your brother? You're Aurora aren't you?" Isiah sounded somewhat confused.

"Indeed."

Isiah looked up at the ceiling in attempts to try figure out what was going on. "Aurora Thorne. Freddie's sister." He whispered to himself. "Are you trying to confuse me or—"

"Isiah please — it doesn't take much to confuse you. Just because you're in the year above doesn't mean you're very bright."

He scoffed. "Well the last time I checked you ain't the sharpest tool in the shed."

"I never said I was." Rory argued. Isiah took a deep breath and leaned back into his chair, preparing to continue until the teacher interrupted them.

"Isiah don't come into my classroom to disrupt my students." He scolded.

Isiah put his hands up in defence and kissed his teeth. "Your brother got Ada Shelby knocked up didn't he?" Isiah whispered, leaning his chin on his fist.

She rolled her eyes and began drawing shapes on the table.

"Y'know, Tommy weren't too happy about that when he found out, that's for sure." Isiah smiled. She remained silent. "Come on, give me a smile." Isiah tormented.

She ignored him.

"Oh don't be like that. I can be ya friend." He offered. Aurora turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Friend?" She laughed loudly. Aurora quickly smacked a hand over her mouth when she realised how loud she'd been.

Isiah pinched the bridge of his nose through embarrassment. "Well, it's not like you have any do you? And i'm sure having a Peaky Blinder at your side might come with a few benefits."

That caught her attention. "Continue." Aurora leaned against the wall so she could face him.

Isiah pulled out a packet of cigarettes and placed them in front of her. Rory quickly swiped them off the table and smacked his hand. "Are ya stupid? Are ya trying to get us in trouble? You don't just put something like that out on the table! Are you mad?!" She hissed.

Isiah bit back his grin and put his hands up in defence again. "I can get ya free drinks in the Garrison."

"I'm underage." Rory stated. Isiah shrugged. "So you're telling me that you weren't sat under the bridge drinking with the boys in the year above me last week?"

"How did you know about that?"

"I know everything, sweetheart. Those boys are bad news, i'm telling you. You're what— fourteen?" Isiah began. "Thirteen. Fourteen in a few months." She quickly said.

Isiah shrugged. "You're thirteen and drinking with sixteen year olds. Wouldn't want you being in a situation where you're vulnerable would we?" Isiah squinted.

"Why do you care anyway?"

"Because i'm just saying — i wouldn't want my little sister doing that." He said. Aurora hummed. "You have a little sister?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No. But if i did, i know for a fact i wouldn't want older boys drinking with her."

"You're an older boy and you've just offered me free drinks in a Shelby owned pub." Aurora said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah well i'm only older by a year. And besides i'm trying to help you out here."

"And why do you want to help me out?" She asked.

Isiah leaned forward to ensure she would hear him if he whispered. "News spreads quickly around here. So when Tommy and his Aunt Polly found out your Freddie picked up and left, they weren't too happy." He said lowly.

"And why would the Shelby's give a shit about me? They hate Freddie's guts."

"Are you Freddie?" Isiah asked. She shook her head. "Exactly. You're Aurora. Not Freddie. So all i'm saying is you've got me now. I can be ya new brother." Isiah teased.

Aurora smiled slightly, finding his words comforting. Yes she'd always known who Isiah Jesus was but she never knew him personally. Just knew that he was apart of the Peaky Blinders and his dad was the preacher.

But never in a million years would she expect him to take on the role of being her brother — taking on the role of looking after her.

But she knew one thing: she wasn't going to complain. Maybe one day this would come in handy. Apart from the free booze and cigarettes of course.

"Come to Johns wedding." Isiah proposed. "Come to the wedding and let them see that you're nothing like Freddie."

Aurora leaned back and thought for a few moments. "Fine. But on one condition," she pointed a finger at him. Isiah nodded. "Freddie will be there."

Isiah seemed to go quiet and awkward. "About that." He began. "Freddie may or may not have gone into hiding. The police are after him for the whole communist shenanigans.."

"So you're telling me that nobody knows where my brother is?"

"Listen, Tommy must've told the police he would hand Freddie over—"

"What?!" Rory slammed her fist onto the table which echoed.

"Miss Thorne please keep the noise down!" The teacher scolded. Rory pursed her lips into a straight line and placed her fist to her mouth.

"He's grassed him up?" Rory whisper shouted angrily. Isiah winced, realising he shouldn't have said anything. She shrunk in her seat and placed her thumb on her bottom lip, anxiously biting the skin on it. "I'll come to the wedding." She agreed. "But that won't be the last time they'll see my face again." Aurora shook her head.

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