[1] A War of Blood and Hearts | ✔️

PROLOGUE

CRYSTAL

Crystal runs as fast as she can through the tingled trees trying not to trip over any rocks on the uneven ground. Bullet shots echo through her ears; yet, the only thing that is consuming her mind is Alonso. His leg has been badly injured, and now there they are, running for their lives in the middle of a forest. Moreover, they are being hunted down by people who want to put them in their graves.
Despite the ache in her feet and her life being literally on the line, Crystal looks around for the people who she calls family. Some she has known her whole life, while others she met just a couple of months ago. The person she cares about the most would be her big brother Nicholas; he has always been the one to guard her. Not even her parents have cared about her as much as Nicholas does.
She looks over at him and feels her heartbeats' rapidness increase at the feeling of her foot stumble upon a huge rock. She yelps and closes her eyes as she waits for the hard fall. She; however, is held by strong arms, ones she recognizes to be her best friend's. She does not need to open her eyes to recognize him.
"This is not the time for one of your episodes Crystal. If you get hurt, both Nicholas and Alonso will unquestionably turn into banshees." Lucas her oldest and only friend smirks down at her.
"Correct me if I am wrong, but to be a banshee you have to be a female right?" Leora Alonso's little sister pants as she passes Crystal and Lucas. She has a common sense; she keeps up with her jogging, unlike the two idiotic best friends who stop in their tracks.
Crystal is about to reply, but she gets pushed by Ignazio. "In case you have not noticed Timon and Pumbaa, we are being chased by angry armed men whose only aim right now is to cause and witness our demise. Chatting is murder at this point." He urges his friends to continue down the winding path.
Although it takes a few minutes, eventually the firing sound becomes distant, and they are no longer being pursued. Crystal detects the area where everyone decide that they have no more energy to keep running. They vote on taking refuge in an underground cave that is attached to a beautiful lake. She immediately grabs some essentials from the E.R. box that Leora has grabbed from the car and runs to Nicholas to mend his injuries.
Every nerve in her body tells her to go and check up on Alonso, but she does not seem to comprehend anything that is relevant to him. While tending to her brother's broken hand, she takes a quick gaze at poor Alberto who is pretty injured up. He is staring at his wife Mila practically begging her with his eyes to help him clean himself up. Regardless, she just keeps whining about how she is going to have blisters on her feet from running in heels, how she is covered in sweat and dirt, and how the air is loaded with bugs. Crystal believes that Mila is the most annoying person that has ever walked the Earth. Still, so far she has managed to not put the lollypop addict in her place.
"You can at least pretend that you are concerned about me." Nicholas teases his sibling as he pinches her check with his intact hand. Crystal delivers a glare his way just as she finishes wrapping his wrist. Nonetheless, her brother's words make her reluctant to go to Alonso since she noticed that no one has bothered to fix him up.
"If I did not care I would have left you to put the bandage on your own."
"If you did, then you would be no better than Mila"
The comparison makes Crystal gag, she has never saw the day when she would be compared to an attention- seeker married whore. She believes that she is better, and is worth way more than her brother has just given her credit. Even though she is aware of his words are nothing but a tease, she exploits the opportunity and goes to Alonso.
"That must hurt like a total bitch." She makes sure to keep a good two feet between them. She does not want or need any more confusion concerning the Alonso situation.
"Indeed, it does, and that coming from a mafia leader, well... that says something." He gives her his million dollars half smile.
"I can help you clean and cover that up. That is of course if you ask nicely." She tries to avoid looking at his tattooed body as she bides for his response. He is about to say something when his mother approaches them and holds her son's leg to examine it. Crystal turns to walk away as she hopes that Alonso is about to agree before his mother arrived.
"Mother, you are tired. Let Crystal help me with the wound." The mafia leader's words cause her to turn around and face the mob family –or part of it- with red cheeks.
"Oh, it is alright darling. We do not want to trouble the young lady. Furthermore, if I do not endure tiredness and pain for you then for whom would I do it?"
"No, Alonso is right, you look really tired. I will attend to him. You go and rest Camilla." Crystal tries her best not show any kind of eagerness for Camilla to leave. Part of the reason is because she curses herself for wanting to be alone with Alonso.
Everything about him is puzzling, and Crystal loathes what she cannot understand. She loves his bright brown hair that is always jelled to the back, his many piercings, and his tattoos that cover almost his entire body including part of his head. She; however, hates his smile because it makes her melt, she hates his eyes because they seem to be able to look into her soul, and she hates his beautiful pink lips because they are just so kissable.
Sometimes she finds herself admiring his characters, other times she despises his actions. Sometimes, she loves him, other times she cannot stand him. What gets on her skin though is her irresolute position in this riddle. She cannot determine where she stands.
Camilla smiles kindly at Crystal before going to sit by her husband Diego by the lake. She takes nervous steps towards Alonso before realizing that she has nothing to work with. She starts to get up to go and ask Leora if there are any antiseptics and bandages left, but she is halted in her place by Alonso's hand grabbing her arm.
"Everything in the E.R. box has been used. You will not achieve anything in making my mother and sister worry about me. My wound has not and will not be purged for a few hours. That is alright though, I am okay."
"Are you crazy? This cut is big and deep. It can get infected. Besides, you do not know how long we will stay here." Crystal hisses at him. She pulls her hand away from his and makes her way to Alberto.
"You look pale. Is Alonso alright?" Alberto greets her with a concerned expression. Ever since she met him, Crystal has been respecting him for not allowing his wife's bad influence to contaminate his personality. One thing she is not a fan of though is his addiction to alcohol. Despite that, she has never spoken a word about it because she is a heavy smoker, and that is just as bad as being a heavy drinker.
"Please tell me you have your precious flask. Or else your dear best friend is going to be dead in a few hours. Then, we will have to carry a corpse with us. You do not want that, do you? Do you want to hold your best friend's corpse? "
Alberto looks at her as if her skin just turned green before he reaches into his pocket and hands her the flask. She gives him a glare for no reason, hits him on the back of his neck, then she walks away. She is almost certain that both Nicholas and Lucas watch her closely not startled by her maniac behavior. They should be adjusted to her lunacy by now.
She does not find the need to justify herself as she sits on the soil in front of Alonso, grabs his leg to place it on her lap, and pour the contents of the flask on the enormous cut. Alonso cries out in pain as the alcohol makes its way to his open flesh.
No one comes to Alonso's aid, as they know that Crystal will never hurt him. In addition, they know that she never does anything like a normal human being; otherwise, she would not be Crystal Moreno.
"Did you just shower my bloody leg with alcohol?" Alonso yells in rage, but Crystal is unfazed by his tone.
"I think the words you are looking for are 'thank' and 'you'" She mutters as she ribs a huge part of her t-shirt off, to cover his cut.
"That should do it." She mutters once again. Only this time, she is talking to herself.
Crystal stands to her feet; she takes a few seconds to check up on everyone with her eyes. When she is certain that everything is as good as it can be, she starts grabbing rocks off the ground catching everybody's attention by doing so. Nevertheless, she neglects their curious stares and keeps on assembling rocks of all sizes.
Once she is satisfied with the amount of rocks that she has gathered, she heads towards a tree and throws the first rock with a deafening scream.
"We got attacked." She throws the second rock
"I just experienced a car chase." The third
"Nicholas's hand is broken." The fourth
"Alonso has an ugly wound on his leg." The fifth
"We had crazy gunned men follow us." The sixth
"I almost got shot!" The seventh
"We are stuck in a freaking forest." The eighth
"I need to pee." The ninth
"it is about to get dark!" the tenth.
Once she feels that she has let it all out, she throws the rest of the rocks in her hands at the tree all at once. She hears a chuckle; but, instead of focusing on it, she pulls her hands up in the air and faces the sky.
"Why? What sins have I committed to deserve such a life? You always do this to me. You always make me experience things that I would never even wish upon Carey Mitchell!"
"Who the bloody hell is Carey Mitchell?" Crystal hears Ignazio whisper behind her back.
"She was her bully from high school. Well, bully-ish; Crystal always sought revenge." Lucas replies with a chuckle making her realize that it was her best friend who has chuckled just a minute ago.
"She had a bully?!" Crystal can imagine the amused look on Alonso's face, but she decides on pretending that she cannot hear them.
"You made that bitch steal every single boyfriend I had in high school, you even taunted me after I decided to giving up on people, and now this! Seriously? Are you trying to get me killed? Wait, no, I already know that you do. Sometimes I feel that you have a fucking vendetta against me!"
"Be careful sis, declaring war against God will not work out well." Nicholas smirks at her. Her not being able to be serious about anything has always impressed him. After what they just been through; however, she has definitely entered a completely new stage of irresponsible and crazy.
"He has been trying to kill me ever since that day at kinder garden when Jim the Dim practically cleaned a bathroom with my head! I could have died that day from the defiled water entering my lungs."
"Seriously could you get any more..." Crystal is sure that Mila has been intending to insult her. This almost makes her grateful for hearing men approaching them with loud footsteps. Everyone is paralyzed looking at Alonso and Nicholas for guidance. After all, they are the mafia leaders.
"It could be our men." Leora suggests, while Crystal does not find it in herself to even move her hand.
"No, our men are trained not to make a noise on the field. These are enemies. On my mark, everyone run without making a sound." Nicholas instructs.
"One"
"Two"
"Three"
"Run!"