Part 2. "Little Warrior"

Fallon, Fiona's step-dad, seemed to have no heart at all. All he cared about was drinking and money. Her mum and her were on the bottom of the totem pole for him. He would eat most of the dinner she prepared and leave half a bowl for them. One could tell that they hardly ate from how skinny they both had become, but according to him that's how he liked his women. 

The man was a few inches shorter than Fiona, standing at a great height of 5'4". He carried all his weight by waddling his way back and forth between the bar and his chair at home. The grease stains under his eyes never seemed to go away. Fiona was disgusted by this man. Yet, her mother waited on him day and night doing her best to make him happy. They had met from her getting a job at his bar after her pa died. Her ma was desperate for any man to take care of her.

"If it wasn't for him you'd have no home! You ungrateful child."

Her mother always reminded her of this. He did business with the local family that ran the streets around here. He was no head honcho, but he enjoyed acting like he was. He ordered his little group of men around like he was the man. Fiona always enjoyed watching one of their Made Men show up and ask for the cash he owed. Of course Fallon never knew she was watching, she was as quiet as a mouse while watching, but she could see him tremble and sometimes beg for mercy at the foot of these men. 

At the age of twenty two she should have been married by now with kids, but Fallon would never share "his women". Fiona was barely allowed to leave the house except to run errands for him. He always wanted her to cover up fully, where a hood to hide her face, and keep her head down. The one day she defied that rule she realized why he tried to hide her so.

Her skin lacked color from never being outside, she was as pale as the moon, but her lips had a hint of red. They were not as strong colored as a rose, but more a light soft pink. Her eyes were like the sea, her father always told her a sailor would fall for her by just looking into her eyes. A dark blue with hints of green sprinkled in them. Her hair still never became a fire, it was a dark bloody red, but it stood out against her pale skin. Upon lowering the hood and walking around town with her face showing, even the women were stopping to stare. A couple even stopped her to say how beautiful she was, but they also could tell she was hardly eating.

As time went on she kept doing this, she would leave the house all covered up and hidden, but once out of eyesight she would take her hood down. Many of the people along the way became regulars that she stopped by to greet. A couple of the women started sneaking food into her pockets. Soon, Fiona, was starting to look healthier and healthier. Yet, this was a change she couldn't hide from Fallon.

"WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY BEAUTIFUL ROSE!?"

Fiona looked at him taken back. He called her a rose? She felt gross and in need of a shower just from the comment. She was tending to the fire when he made the comment. He stood up quickly, as quick as a man his size could, and stomped his way over to Fiona. Ge grabbed her arm and twisted it. The pain seared all the way up to her neck. Wincing she glared at him. He was too close for comfort and causing too much pain.

"YOU...YOU...have been disobeying me! WHO is feeding you, girl? IS IT A MAN? ARE YOU SEEING SOMEONE IN SECRET!? I should have never let you do anything! Not even simple errands! WHO IS HE!?"

Fallon yelled into her ear. Her hatred of him rising up from her chest as he continued to berate her. Her mother stood there in shock. Fiona knew it wasn't from him hurting her, her ma never cared much. She could tell it was the words he said. That he called her daughter a beautiful rose. He twisted more, and Fiona cried out in pain. Any more and he could break her arm.

"You will speak. You will tell me who it is. You are MINE, girl."

Fiona was sickened by the man calling her his. She couldn't take anymore of him. She was tired of living in this home, she had no life of her own, she was tired of being beaten down by her mother, tired of this man licking his lips as she undressed to wash herself, she was tired of it all, but most of all, she was sick of this man.

He made one mistake, he grabbed her while she was tending to the fire. Fiona took the fireplace poker and held it up under his chin. Fallon's eyes reminded her of when the Made Men came knocking. He was terrified. His grip loosened some, but not fully. 

"Let me go."

Fiona said three words. The fire raged in her heart. She was done with this man and this family. She tried to channel the power from the warriors in her pa's stories. She tried to channel the power that those Made Men held. Fallon let go of her and took a step back, but the fireplace poker was long so she kept it right there, where with one shove it would cut into his head.

"Do that again and you better hope I'm dead."

Those words reminded Fallon, he leaned over to the stand neck to his chair and picked up the gun. Fiona had not planned for this, she thought he would just leave her be, but no he truly intended on shooting her. He stood there with the gun pointed right at her. Yet, she remembered how poor of a shot he was and how whenever he fired since he never held the gun correctly it always hurt him more than he hurt someone else. 

She couldn't risk him possibly missing, but this meant that he probably had a poor handle on the gun. Maybe if she was fast enough she could knock it from his hands. As soon as that thought came through her mind her body had already went into action and she kicked her leg out, praying. She felt contact, but was it with his hand or his face? They weren't that far of a distance away from one another. 

Fiona heard something drop to the ground, in a split second she looked and grabbed the gun. She didn't hit her target, his hand, but she indeed his his face with her foot. That force was enough for him to drop his gun. She couldn't believe men would work for this guy.

"Pathetic."

She said without realizing it. With the gun in her hand now she held it how the Made Men did. Their stance and how they held themselves seemed so strong and correct. Like the warriors from her pa's stories. She admired them so. 

"I warned you. I said do it again and you better hope I'm dead. My turn."

Fiona didn't know where all this power was coming from. All her years of putting up with everyone, everything, all the stuff that shoved her down. She was never allowed to be anyone or thing. Until now.

She fired.

Her ma screamed out and ran for the phone. She cried as she asked the operator to get the police. Then leaving the phone hanging there she ran over to Fallon who laid there lifeless. With how close they all were standing it was too easy to fire a head shot. He was dead.

Fiona sat down in his chair and waited. She waited for the police to come get her. At this point she didn't care where she went as long as she got far away from here. She was done with this life. She ignited the fire within her soul and became a warrior. She was her pa's little warrior.