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On a plane somewhere over the ocean from Sweden to Houston
Everything had happened so quickly. One moment she had been in Stockholm, relaxing with her family and having a great time with good food and company. The next moment she was on a plane up in the air on her way to a city on the other side of the world, Houston, scared to never see her family again. Athena let the events of the last day play over and over in her mind trying to find what had gone wrong. She didn't even know if her family was still alive anymore, the thought made a headache travel from her neck and up to her forehead. She had never been so scared in her life, even if she knew she needed to put on her brave face and do whatever to stay alive. If they were alive, she didn't know if she could meet them again, ever. The only thing her dad had told her was to get on the next plane possible and as far away as achievable. The last thing Athena had seen of her childhood home was smoke rising to the sky as black shadows, flames danced in the wind like bright demons ready to eat her home. In Athena's mind, the shadows laughed at her as the mafia's daughter fled like a coward. All her life she had trained to never be scared and to laugh at the face of danger, but her family had screamed at her to get away as fast as they saw the invaders. She had tried to stay, she had even picked up one of the guns but her dad had taken a harsh group of her shoulders and shaken her like she was a crazy woman to him. It didn't matter how much Athena told them that she could, they wouldn't let her stay and fight with them. Even her supportive brother who always sided with her had given her one last pained look as he told her to listen to their dad.
Athena focused her gaze forward as she desperately tried to force the fog in her mind to disappear. She held a plastic mug in her hand with yellow liquid swirling around as she made a rotational movement with her hand. It was the only way to distract her thoughts right now. Paralyzed, Athena watched the centre of the vortex she was creating. She shook her head a bit when she felt her heartbeat relax, before putting the glass carefully against her lips to take a sip of the strong-tasting substance, welcoming the burning as it came down with ease.
What should I do now? Athena thought to herself with a sight putting the plastic mug down on the small plastic table. She had only packed the few things she could reach the moment she packed. Her dad had been behind her with a gun high in the air making sure whoever was attacking didn't make their way to his daughter. Athena only got two hoodies, one extra pair of jeans, a random book lying on the kitchen counter, and a couple of five hundred kroner bills. All this under the sounds of guns and screams. Athena had changed the Swedish money to the dollar she needed for her new life in America. America, the place she only had seen through movies and newspapers. Sure, Athena had travelled a lot with her family but most of the places were Europe. At first, she had planned to move to Spain or maybe Germany but she would need to wait at least six hours for either and that was enough time to hunt her down. Either way, her English was better than the Spanish or German she spoke.
I will need to get a job as quickly as possible and somewhere to live. I should probably sell the necklace I have on. There should be enough money for a few meals at least... But it is my last memory of my brother. Athena thought as she felt herself move a bit sentimental. Her brother was like her best friend, the two of them had been going through fire and death for the other one. I will wait a few days before even thinking about selling it. How much does a motel room cost per day in America? She thought while beginning to lay out a plan for how she would make her life work now when everything had changed. But I can't sell the necklace, it could be the last gift she got from her brother. Athena decided as she pressed back the tears that wanted to finely fall. She has no time to cry. She needs to be the strong woman her dad and mom had raised her to be.
Athena gave the planning a few hours before deciding to sleep when her eyes began to betray her. Athena put away the notepad she always had with her in a black bag and turned to a more comfortable sitting position. She looks out the small window seeing the peaceful sea below the plane. The stars were giving a beautiful light over the mysterious deep ocean, the ocean she always had turned to in delight and hope. Life will not be the same again, but at least I was alive... She thought before she placed her head gently against the wall of the cold plane. She welcomed the dark that consumed her mind, giving her some rest from reality even if her dreams were hunted by gunshots and ear-piercing screams.
***
Hours passed peacefully but when the plane shook by turbulence, the blond swede sat up straight like she was ready to fight anyone closer than a meter to her. Her brother had been pushing for her to be ready at all times, you never knew when enemies would come. Athena glanced around for something wrong but saw nothing unusual, low chattering was made but most passengers were asleep. She relaxes and looks down at her clock, just two hours before landing. The plane was dark but the crew was walking around with blankets in their hands. Athena looks to her side to see a gentle smile from a young crewmember. Athena smiled back at the flight attendant who was standing with a dark blanket in midair like she was ready to give her the warmth of it.
"I thought you would like a blanket miss, you look cold," She says, putting the blue blanket over the girl in front of her. Athena gives the lady a thankful smile welcoming the warming blanket. The smell of coffee around the flight made Athena sit up straighter. Athena didn't understand how people wanted to stay awake when the sun was down, at least on a plane.
"Thank you," Athena answered with a low voice, not being able to have a stronger one because of the tiredness and worries she was feeling inside of her mind. The attendant gave her a nod before standing right up again, turning away from Athena, and taking silent steps to her cabin in the dark hallway of the half-packed flight.
Athena couldn't help but think about her father's words before she left, Keep safe love... Life always has a plan for what happens. Athena knew the mafia wouldn't be hers because of my older brother, but she never guessed that it would end like this. Athena had always practised for times like this, and when it came, it broke her heart. Since she was a little girl her dad had told her of the risk their world gave them but never believed that they actually would come true.
Two hours passed unbearably slowly, but the feeling of freedom spread through Athena as she took her first steps off the plane. The sun was rising slowly at the horizon, sending its first warming rays at the folks getting off the plane. Luckily her dad always had secret IDs around the house for emergencies like this. It didn't need much to fake some signatures, now she was Athena Nilsson instead of Athena Johansson. Athena walked through a few rooms before coming to security and standing in line to meet the security guy. When it was her turn, she put her papers and her passport on the counter, waiting for the tired-looking guy who was checking everyone's papers to check hers. He looks up at Athena twice before giving a small smile.
"Welcome to America, miss," He says, giving her things back. The same he had said to every person ready to pass him but Athena smiled politely at the man. She takes the things and pushes them down in her bag before giving him a thank you. Walking through to the other side, she felt her legs thank her for moving again after hours of flying and sitting still. This was it, her official first moment of independence. She went straight out, feeling the morning wind go through her hair and the shirt she had on followed the wind as it dragged and hit her. As she usually had to do Athena pushed her glasses higher up on her nose as she looked around herself. Athena couldn't help but observe the families walking to their rides or the couple's meeting again after time away from each other. The only thing she could think about at that moment was her lost family and how much she wanted to be with them at the moment.
***
Two weeks later
Athena stood in a restaurant in a tight uniform serving couples, groups as well as single people sitting alone drinking coffee at a 24/7 dinner. It was not far away from the motel outside Houston she had checked into only hours when she first came to the city. It hadn't required a lot to get the job, and honestly, she liked the feeling of rushing around. It made her stop thinking of what had happened to her family. Without a phone, she could only use the TV at the motel as a source about her family, and it didn't say much about Sweden in general.
Athena rushed into the kitchen, letting the chef know the next order with a smile, knowing he hated to do the dish over and over again. He gave her a playful groan as he rolled his brown eyes. meanwhile, he was preparing the dish, and Athena went to get the drinks ready in the plastic mugs she was serving them in. The place oozed with fast food smells, and the energy was high as the place was buzzy and loud. Athena had been sceptical about wearing the tight suit but soon understood that the tips were pretty good as long as she held a nice voice with the customers. She wasn't used to putting herself out there when it came to showing her body, considering she had been brought up with fancy parties and money almost growing at trees, she hadn't been needed to take this kind of job. Even if it felt uncomfortable in the beginning Athena started to like the culture and the people around her. She even knew she didn't look too bad, of course, she wasn't the most beautiful girl in the city but she had a look of mystery and seemed like others like that. Her blond hair had often gotten compliments for looking like gold in the sun and her blue eyes were often a subject for comments as well. Her glasses had even been a topic a few times as they made her look more mature than she was sometimes. A few men had even turned around to get an extra gaze at the tall and slender woman moving in her powerful and elegant way
The familiar bells sounded over the entry door, and Athena turned around with a smile to welcome the new guests, but she stopped mid-turn as she saw the bulky men walking in. It was like the air was shivering with danger as she saw a group of MC guys enter. It was like the leader shone in the light of the lamps as he walked in with a smirk as if he owned the place. They had black leather jackets with the cut 'Riders of Poseidon' written on them. Everyone got silent like they knew trouble just walked in, even the chef inside the dinner kitchen felt the change, even if they had no chance of seeing who stepped in. Athena had seen a few of them before and knew they weren't people to mess with, after asking around, she had been told that they came here sometime and if you were lucky you didn't have to speak with them more than necessary. She straightens her back, puts on a smile again, and walks over to the disk with a towel in her hand to keep herself occupied. I have stared death in the eyes many times so how difficult could this guy be, the mafia girl thought while smirking from the inside. The worker of this restaurant didn't know how dangerous she could be, was the last Athena thought as she almost wanted to laugh out loud.
"What can I get for you gentlemen?" she says and looks at all of them one by one. Athena has seen dangerous men all her life, and these had the same look as the rest of them. They all had something in their eyes like they all had seen more things than anyone could understand. The man with the word president over the side of the leather jacket looked her up and down before he stepped forward with an amount of confidence that almost made Athena want to puck. His mouth turned up to a smirk again and his blue eyes got a bit hooded with something Athena had become used to for the last weeks.
"Are you new here, sweetheart?" He asked flirtatious, and Athena nodded putting the towel down slowly. She looked him straight in the eyes trying to tell him to cut the crap and come to the order already. Her new icy gaze made him stare at her for a few seconds before looking over at his friend's visible surprise before answering her question. Athena needed to force herself to stay quiet as she wanted to give the arrogant and dirty biker a snarky response to the looks he was giving her.
"Three burgers with cokes," The biker says, cashing up dollar bills like he already knew what it was worth. Athena takes them carefully, making sure not to touch the man. She counted them and looked up at him over the top of the golden glasses with a small smile. The two bikers behind the president couldn't wait to see the face of their president when the girl kicked his ass by just her tone. They knew from the start that this woman never would fall for their president's usual charm and how much it would irritate him. Her aura screamed authority, one of the guys raised his eyebrow but had an ice gaze in his dark eyes, it was like he tried to get into her mind with just that gaze.
"Here are your two dollars back," she says and pushes a two-dollar bill to the leader, but he just gasped her hand with his big ruff one and smirked. Athena saw the lazy smirk on his lips, knowing dame well that he thought that her knees for sure would shake with need or fear, whatever he wanted to. While leaning forward like he was going to tell a secret he let his best flirty gaze shine through the blue stormy eyes many had complimented him for Athena believed.
"The last two dollars were for you, baby," He says. Athena dragged her hand away from his big hand like he was a fire going to burn her, the biker was unaware of the facial expression of disguise going through her face as she turned away. One of the friends next to the president let out a sound, to Athena it sounded a bit like a deep thunderstruck as he laughed. She turns to the kitchen again, letting the chef know the orders while rolling her shoulders. If she only could give that dumb president a hit to his head, with a pan or whatever she could get her hands on she would feel much better the rest of the evening.
"She is almost as icy as ice" Was the last she heard from the guys before she disappeared away. This wasn't the first time a man had touched her since she came here. He was only teasing tho, Athena knew it was men out there ready to stalk a girl down and do things with her, but not the thick-headed biker trying to swoon her. Athena had met men she needed to give a lecture they wouldn't forget any time soon. An evil smirk passed through Athena's lips as she thought about it, a fog that often threatens to take over in stressful or triggering situations was making its presence known as Athena needed to shake the monster of herself. She hates to have the memories fog her mind so the best thing she could do was to control her feelings as well as she could.
***
Athena walked out in the cold night air as she put her jacket closer to her small but tall figure ready to get home. She saw one of the biker guys standing by a bike, holding a phone in his hand as he was looking for something. Taking quicker steps away from the lights Athena watched the man with calculative eyes. She was thinking for herself: keep away from trouble, and you will be unseen. Her dad wouldn't like it if she blew the cover this fast.
The way to the motel was mostly dark, so Athena would know if a bike was following. Her hopes came true as her way back to the motel was fairly uneventful. Fumbling with the key in front of her door, she opens the door and turns on the dim lights giving the room a small and dim lightning. Closing the door and locking it with a klick. Athena threw her jacket at a chair near the door, as usual, all she wanted to do now was to kick off her heels and fall down in bed. The room isn't big. A small bed was placed by a corner, a little pantry beside it that she rarely used, and a TV opposite a chair was all she had. The small room also included a small table and a door opposite the wall where the bed was by leading to a small bathroom. This was not what the rich girl was used to but it was enough for now. Even if the small rats outside the room had made her want to rent a hotel the first few days here. Athena took a few tired steps to the bathroom which often smells weird. It was only a three steps walk until she could open the door and get herself ready for bed.
While brushing her teeth, she allows herself to think through the day she had done well. The only thing nagging her was the bikers, but the guy was only teasing, right? Athena walked out of the small smelly bathroom to the refrigerator to see what she had for breakfast. It looked like I needed to get some groceries tomorrow, she thought and scratched her neck for some small relief from the stressful knots building up there. Athena turned and with her sight on her uncomfortable bed. With a swift move, she let her blond mane out of her ponytail and sight as she finely lay down on the bed, her fets ached from standing all day and her eyelids begged her to give them some resting time for once, but as the bookworm she was she took a grip of a book and pushed the glasses up her nose a bit, preparing to read herself to sleep. Giving the bikers one last thought, if they meant trouble, could they really affect me? I mean, I am laying low, so as long as I keep being polite and keeping away, I will be safe. Letting the trail of thought go to the back of her head, she focuses on the book she had taken from the trashed motel lobby.