American Bad Blood: City of the Dead

Raguel

My beautiful home. It's gone.

GONE.

Someone is going to die.

Not a slow and easy death.

No.

I want them to suffer. I want them to know pain-the very gut wrenching pain that has my heart breaking in two. I want to hear their screams as they beg for mercy from me, not from Oti, but from ME. I want them six feet underground where they will rot for all eternity-rot until they fucking cease to exist.

My fingers graze over the rubble that is, no, WAS the grave marker belonging to Earl and Lucia, the glistening soft gray granite now blocks of dust and rocks. As if it wasn't bad enough The Graveyard had been blazed to nothing but ash and rotted timber; Heritage Memorial Park suffered as well. Headstones were knocked over, graves were desecrated, crypts were broken into-it's as if someone had grabbed the precious snow globe that held my entire world and smashed it right in front of my face. I can still smell the burnt wood emitting from the shell that was once The Graveyard, that smell burning itself as it imprinted forever in my mind. Anubis whimpers as he pokes his nose against my arm, sensing my sadness. He manages to weave his head underneath my hand cupping a piece of the grave marker, snorting and whimpering as he tries to grab my attention. My eyes slowly creep over from the desolate land where Mi Casita once stood towards his direction, Anubis barking with alert as he nudges my hand again. I manage to bring myself to pet mi chacal, but it's no use-my sacred heart cracks even more like a broken porcelain doll, and I end up weeping against him, cradling Anubis in my arms. If it wasn't for Orion, Anubis would've been gone forever along with Mi Casita. Just that thought alone brought me to even more tears of agony.

"Muerte."

I hear and feel the heavy stomps of Oti's footsteps behind me as he approaches against the grass. I don't even flinch as I continue to bury my head against Anubis, mi chacal nudging his nose against my jaw as he tries to soothe me. I hear Oti sigh deeply with his own anguish in his tone; he growls with anger as he stares at the ashen shell of our home. "Whoever did this is going to pay, Muerte, Ou te tauto atu ia te oe." Oti grumbles deep in his throat as he lets out another hiss. He starts to pace up and down behind me, watching as DPD starts to rope up the scene to begin their investigation on who started the fire and desecrated our land of the dead. I hear another set of footsteps approach, followed by the low, timbre tone of Cerberus addressing Oti with a short "Pule", immediately showing his first in command aura on the spot.

Oti continues to foam at the mouth, his eyes watching as officers and investigators roam the area, Cerberus waiting patiently with his hands interlocked with each other in front of his body. I can feel him staring at me, watching me as I continued to sulk and kneel in front of Earl and Lucia's grave, still clinging onto Anubis as support.

"Are you okay, Pule?" Cerberus finally asks Oti, my husband letting out another rumbling snarl. Oti stops pacing and whips his head towards Cerberus, obviously showing his exasperation for such a retarded question. "Do I look okay? My wife is distraught, my home has been burned to the fucking ground, and now," Oti gestures around the cemetery, "innocent lost souls had their final resting place tarnished and degraded. So don't ASK me if I'm okay, Malie, because I'm NOT. I'm FURIOUS. ITA TELE."

"Noted." Cerberus responds stilly, cautious to even ask or say another word, for Oti's words alone acted like an attempt to neuter his ass right there on the spot.

"Listen to me well, Malie," Oti speaks up again, the siren lights of the police units breaking through the darkness, and illuminating Oti's face with blue and red lighting, his obsidian eyes blazing with the exact flames that consumed our home, "I need you to do your job and get the rest of the men in line. Have Adam and Gus take the Black Mariah and head on over to Cathedral Cemetery. I need them to keep an eye on it in case any retaliation happens there. Same thing with Deadwood Garden-have Orion and Harem take the Black Dahlia and post over there. Carter is already on his way over to the Harris Estate to drop off Giovanni's car and post as look out in case anyone dares to trespass on the property. I need you, Malie, to ensure this gets done."