Previously:

"We're the leader of the Italian Mafia."

Well, that escalated quickly.

"Okay," I said slowly.

Daimen raised an eyebrow, "that's all you have to say? Okay?"

"Well what do you want me to say?" I shot back.

"Do you hate us?" Will looked at me worriedly.

"No! No! Why would I hate you?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"We kill people, Iris. We deal with drugs and weapons. Everyone is afraid of us," Lisa replied.

I smiled, "you're forgetting that I'm in a gang as well, Lisa. Does this mean I no longer have to hide my gun and stuff? And I can go to the meetings?"

David and Lisa looked at each other, having a silent conversation. I guess it went something like this:

I don't want to let her- D

She's a big girl, David. You can't stop her- L

But- D

No, she should be allowed. She can defend herself- L

Fine- D

"You can go," David said and I mentally fist bumped the air.

"Jax are you okay?" I looked over at him.

Jax grinned, "I'm fine, Rainbow. It'll be easier, anyway."

"Quick question," Will said, "why do you call Iris 'Rainbow'?"

I smiled nostalgically, "Iris is the Greek Goddess of rainbows. Alex was Greek and he used to call me Rainbow, so it kinda became my nickname."

Will nodded, "cool."

"Can I see your gun?" Julian asked excitedly.

"Sure," I replied, "oh and here's yours. Lemme just go grab mine," I got up and a sharp pain jolted up my leg. I cried out and stumbled. Instantly, my family were on their feet and Jax was by my side, asking me if I was okay.

"I'm fine," I smiled warily, "been sitting down too long, so I guess my leg fell asleep."

My family seemed to believe it, but Jax just shot me a look. I ignored it and went to get my gun. I came down and showed it to Julian, who inspected it with a childlike glee.

"Great! Now we can go to the shooting range together!" I've never seen my stepbrother this excited about anything.

I laughed at his enthusiasm, "Sure Julian, we can."

"Rainbow, can I talk to you in private for a moment?" Jax had been on his phone and was now looking alarmed.

We exited the room- much to my family's chagrin- and he gripped my shoulders tightly.

"Jax, what's going on?" I asked, apprehensive.

"It's John," Jax whispered, "he sent a message to Harry, saying that if Boss didn't give you up, he'd destroy the gang."

"What did Harry say?"

"No, obviously," Jax smiled slightly, "well, he used more colourful language than that, but 'no' was the gist of it."

"Gummy bears," I hissed, "this is a problem."

"You have to tell your family now!" Jax whispered.

"I can't!" I replied fearfully, "Jax, there are some memories best left alone. What if they kick me out?"

Jax gently cupped my face with both of his hands, "Rainbow, they love you. They won't abandon you."

I looked down, "I- I can't, Jaxton. Not now, anyway."

Jax nodded, "okay. Let's go back. I won't force you Rainbow, but you can't keep shutting people out."

X

Jax left a while back so I was currently lounging in my room, getting bored out of my mind. Phones and books can only keep you entertained for so long.

I heard a knock on my door and shouted at the person to come in. Oscar appeared and smiled, telling me that it was family night and we were playing board games.

It turned out to be quite fun. I kicked everyone's behind in Monopoly and Scrabble in the first round, but came second in the next round. It felt nice having a normal family.

"I'm gonna get some water," I said and went to the kitchen. I was staring out of the window, comparing my old life to my new one.

"Hey Iris," Daimen came into the room and I jumped in shock, knocking the glass over. It hit the floor and shattered into a thousand fragments.

Old fears and instincts kicked in and I immediately bent over and began cleaning the mess up, praying I don't get a beating. I was saying 'sorry' over and over like a mantra and Daimen was saying something, but I drowned it out. I was squatting and scooping the glass up. It slit my hands, but I didn't care. I was used to pain anyways.

"Iris," Daimen's voice came into focus. He gently pulled me up and away from the broken glass and used a cloth to take the ones out of my hands.

"We heard a crash, is everything okay?" I looked up to see Brandon and the others in the doorway.

"It's fine," Daimen said, "Iris dropped the glass and cut her hands."

"I'll bandage it," Elijah said, lifting me onto the platform. I was staring in shock at my bloodied hands. He carefully cleaned them and put bandages on them. I had a flashback to when I was younger.

Flashback:

"Eli!" Four-year-old me was in tears and I went to my 11-year old brothers room.

"What's up, neonata?" Elijah asked, looking at me in concern.

I showed him my hands and knees. I'd been climbing the tree in the garden and I'd fallen out of it. Fortunately, it wasn't a big height and the branches more or less broke my fall. However, I'd gained some scratches that were bleeding quite a bit.

"Come here," Elijah lifted me up and placed me on his desk, clearing away the homework to make space for me. He cleaned away the blood and put plasters on the cuts.

When he was done, he smiled and looked at me with all the love in the world.

"Come on, Riss!" He grinned, "let's play hide and seek!"

End

I was jolted back to reality and sighed inaudibly. I would give anything to go back to that time.

"I think I'm going to have an early night," I said softly. My family nodded and bid me goodnight.

X ()

⚠️⚠️

I was running down a long corridor. The walls, ceiling and floor were painted black and blood red doors lined the hallways. Frantic, I barged into one.

"Hello, darling," I whipped around to see John and Elise in all their glory. Elise was clearly too drunk to do much apart from giggle and stumble around. But John was very much sober and very much dangerous.

"Did you think you could escape me?" Elise cackled.

"I think we need to teach the little brat a lesson," John's smirk grew wider. His green eyes glinted.

I was frozen in shock. The next second, I could feel the blows. They beat me everywhere and yelled taunts about my weight, looks, social life etc. I was used to it all.

Suddenly, John slammed me against the wall and wrapped his hand around my neck, cutting off my air supply. I gagged and trashed, desperately trying to inhale some precious air.

"Principessa, wake up!"

"Iris! It's a nightmare!"

"Please wake up!"

"Damn, she has a strong punch!"

I woke up, gasping for breath. My hands were raw and had fingernail marks dug deep into it. My top had ridden up and my blankets kicked off, revealing my not fully healed bruises and scars for all to see.

"Iris," David breathed, not taking his eyes off my scars.

"Who the hell did that to you?!" Daimen growled.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Brandon asked.

David reached out to hug me, but I shoved him away. I couldn't hear anything but the blood pounding in my ears. They knew.

"Everyone out," Lisa demanded in a tone of voice that told everyone not to argue.

The boys started to protest, but one look from Lisa shut them up. With one last morose look at me, the boys reluctantly left.

Lisa tentatively sat next to me and wrapped her arms around me. She didn't force me to talk. She just rubbed soothing circles on my back and let me cry.

So I told her everything. I told her how Elise changed. I told her about the abuse. I told her about John. It felt so good to tell someone- like a part of the weight of the sky came off my shoulders.

"You've been so brave, Iris," Lisa pulled away and stroked my cheek.

"It doesn't feel like it," I mumbled, "I'm scared and I'm worried that the others will judge me because of my scars."

"Everyone gets scared sometimes Iris," Lisa whispered, "and these scars show what you've been through and survived. Iris, that's brave."

There was a comfortable silence.

"You know that I have to tell your brothers and father," Lisa said softly.

"I know," I said back, "just... wait until I'm asleep, please. I don't want to be interrogated right now."

Lisa nodded and I rested my head in her lap. She hummed a lullaby in a language I didn't understand and patted my head. I slowly drifted off into a- mercifully- nightmare lacked sleep.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow?

All I know is it's going to be a very long day.