Blood Vows

LSparrow sat at the edge of the Waterford Hotel bed in Ireland, running his hands through his inky dark hair. The simplicity and raw natural beauty of the River Suir had done nothing to dull his agitated, yet somber mood. It’d been four days since he left Insanity, the club back in Sydney. Four days since his life was turned upside down, again. Four days since he’d finally found what he’d been searching for almost three years. And now that he’d found it, he didn’t know what the fuck to do with the information or where the fuck he would begin looking for the cunt who ruined his life.

Sparrow walked through the school yard with his younger sister, Blue. They could hear the kids behind them taunting and teasing them about their names. Unfortunately, this was a daily occurrence for the both of them.

They’d moved from Australia to Ireland when he was twelve to be closer to his dad’s family. This was the third school he’d been to in those four years due to his inability to ignore the kids. Sparrow practiced Maui Thai, and as a result of his training he was muscly for his age. At sixteen, his raven hair and jade eyes sparkled with trouble, and he was filled to the brim with anger and testosterone.

He clenched his jaw and continued to put one foot in front of the other. He’d been in enough fights this year and one more would see him expelled. The thought petrified him; he would not allow his sister to be left at this school with all these fuck knuckles with no one to protect her. His aunty had threatened to transfer only him to a new school and leave Blue here if he found himself in trouble again.

“Would ya all feck off already!”

He imitated their accents before his sister pulled on his blue blazer and hushed him.

“Shut up, Sparrow, you are in enough shit as it is!”

He wanted to scald his fourteen-year-old sister for swearing at him, but he thought she sounded cute when she cussed. He decided to indulge her and shut up as they walked toward their auntie’s green khaki Jaguar. They were almost at the car when Sparrow heard a familiar voice call out.

“Sparrow! Sparrow! Wait up, please!”

He turned and smiled as he saw Beth running toward him. Alongside her was Stacey. Stacey had been throwing suggestive comments and looks at him since he enrolled here, and although she was beautiful, he had a serious crush on Beth. He’d been meaning to ask her out all year but couldn’t find the balls to do it.

“Hey Beth, ah—um, how are you?” he stammered.

Breathing heavily from running, she said, “I’m well. I just wanted to see if you were still needing help with your math homework?” Her eyes found the green grass as she waited for his answer.

Sparrow didn’t really need any help with math, but he used it as a ploy to get closer to her. His eyes roamed over her white blonde hair, down to her big breasts, and then back up to her oval face, searching her deep hazelnut eyes.

“Eh, I’m sorry, Beth, I totally forgot about it. Can we reschedule for tomorrow? I have Maui Thai tonight.” In that moment he couldn’t give a shit about his lesson, but he knew his aunty would make him go regardless. Her face flashed with what he thought was rejection. His brow creased as he eyed her cautiously. “Tomorrow I’m all yours, what do ya say?”

The sides of her lips picked up and she nodded yes. “I will see you tomorrow, Sparrow. See you in class, Blue!”

With that, she waved at Sparrow and his sister while they hopped into their auntie’s car. Looking back at her, he knew the images of Beth Brady would haunt him until his last breath on this earth. He was certain of it.

The memory faded from his cognition and he surveyed the room then released a heavy sigh. He knew he should contact Blue and let her know he was back in town, but he wasn’t ready for the over the top home welcoming; and he definitely wasn’t ready to divulge why he was really in Waterford.

He pulled his phone from his denim jeans and scrolled until he found Bran’s number. Bran was his best friend and he worked for the police force at Lismore Garda Station. Bran had contacted him four days ago with some Intel over the murder of his fiancée.

He shut his eyes and attempted to block out the horrific scene of when he had found the love of his life slaughtered. He shook his head from side to side and felt himself spiraling as he looked down at the light emitting from his phone. His hands were shaking when his finger hovered over Bran’s number. He hesitated for a moment before pressing the call button. The phone rang a few times before he picked up.

“Eeeyy, Fecker! You already here? I’ve been waitin’ for your call.” Bran always exaggerated his accent.

Sparrow debated whether he should tell his friend that he’d been here the last couple of days. He decided against it because he didn’t feel like listening to his best friend grill him.

“Yeah, just got here late last night. You working today?”

“Nah, I’m off. You want to head down to the local pub for a pint? I’m thinking The Munster Bar, off Bailey’s New Street and The Mall. You remember where it is?”

“Yeah, sounds like a plan. I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

“Get a crack on!” Bran laughed into the phone then he ended the call.

Sparrow chuckled to himself then dressed for the pub.

He arrived at around lunchtime and searched the bar until he saw Bran. His best mate saw his face and the cheeky smile reached his clear blue eyes. He looked different from the last time Sparrow had seen him. His once mousy hair now had some grey highlights, but he still looked fit as fuck and was sporting a couple of new tats. Both men had trained together throughout secondary school. Bran decided to enlist with the police force and Sparrow became a champion Maui Thai fighter.

He didn’t like to flaunt his achievements and barely told people about his career. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of it; it was just a part of his life that no longer existed. Hell, he still trained but he didn’t fight professionally anymore. Not since that dreadful day. He stopped himself before he trailed off into the abyss. Forcing a smile on his face, he slapped his friend on the back in greeting.

“It’s been too fucking long. How are Eva and your beautiful little girl Irena? She must be big now!”

He watched his friends’ face light up at the mention of his daughter and felt the heat swirl in his belly. And although he wouldn’t admit this out loud, he was envious of what Bran had. It wasn’t his friend’s fault that his fiancé was murdered in cold blood, but sometimes he still felt anger toward those who had what he felt was robbed from him.

Pushing the niggling thought aside, he listened to his friend ramble on about his little family and his life in Ireland. They both ordered a beer and caught each other up in their lives. He studied Bran’s features and he knew it was coming: the acrimonious details of the murder and Bran having the arduous position of providing them to him. Fuck. Am I ready to hear this? Am I ready to endure more pain?

Bran chewed his bottom full lip then said with a sad tone, “You’re probably not ready to hear this shit, but I know you need to.” He inhaled deeply before continuing. “It’s been almost three years since the murder. I need to ask how the fuck you are dealing with this before I continue.”

Sparrow scowled at his friend before crossing his tattooed arms across his chest. “How the fuck do you want me to answer that, Bran? The insomnia kicks my ass every night, and when I finally fall asleep I’m tortured with images of finding the only woman I have ever loved slashed from head to toe! You saw her; I couldn’t even recognize her she was cut up that bad. And I’ll tell you right fucking now if that corpse hadn’t had my engagement ring on I would have argued that it wasn’t fucking her, but it was! It was fucking her and she left me!”

He saw his friend wince at his statement and knew it wasn’t fair to take his pain out on him.

“I’m sorry. Since your phone call the other day and how you couldn’t disclose anything over the phone—I’m just on edge.”

Empathy flickered through his friend’s bright eyes, or at least that’s what Sparrow saw.

“I know you are in pain and I’m sorry that yet again I am the bearer of disheartening news, but you’re my best friend and I need to know that you’re going to be ok. I need to know what to expect once I tell you this. My job is on the line if anyone finds out it came from me. I need to know how to cover my tracks if you do something stupid.”

Sparrow couldn’t blame Bran. After all, he knew exactly what he was capable of, especially when wrath took over. His mouth set in a hard line as he nodded his head once toward his friend.

“Fuck. I’m sorry, I just don’t know what to expect or how the hell I’m going to process this all over again. I’m scared I’m going to lose my mind. I fucking miss her, Bran.” He leaned back and felt his heart shatter a little once the syllables left his mouth. “Tell me, I’m as ready as I will ever be.”

Bran cocked his head to the side. Sparrow knew he was gauging the sincerity in his statement.

Finally he said, “I know you miss her and I wish I could erase the affliction I see haunting your eyes, but I can’t. As you are aware, her body received multiple lacerations and we were unable to find the weapon at the scene of the crime. I’ve heard a few whispers that they believe the weapon was of Viking era, but the whisperers were uncertain if the weapon was a replica or an original. They also believe that this was personal. After digging deeper into her closed case, I believe so too, actually I know so.” He released a breath and seemed to be examining Sparrow’s body language. “I have a suspicion that Aedan Bates was involved with the murder.”

Sparrow saw the red splotches behind his eyes and his body quaked. He attempted to calm his breathing. His voice dripped with acrimony as he spat, “I think we should find somewhere else to talk because I am ten seconds away from smashing this bar to pieces.”

Bran sculled the last of his beer and followed Sparrow outside. He headed toward a vehicle parked not far away. “Get in my car. We will head to my place. The girls are away for a couple of weeks at Eva’s sister’s place in Dublin.”

Sparrow didn’t respond; he just moved to the passenger side of the car. He felt unnerved. Bates? Of all fucking people. He was so tense and the visions that formed were not good. The blood, so much blood. It was fucking everywhere. He glanced down at his hands and saw in his mind the crimson liquid drip. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before releasing it, he brought himself back to reality.

How the fuck did this happen and what the fuck does Aedan have to do with the murder?

His mind trailed off and he couldn’t hear anything Bran was saying anymore.

“Fuck off, bird boy! You think because you beat my ass, once, that I will bow to you! You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Aedan stood there with his lackey Gabriel Perile, taunting him. Sparrow stared at both of them and turned to walk away.

“Don’t you fucking turn your back on me, ya twat!”

Sparrow continued walking until he felt something blunt hit the back of his head. Stars formed behind his eyes and he turned around pissed off while he rubbed his head. He noticed a little bit of blood when he looked at his hand.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Bates! I am not fighting you and it’s not my problem that she chose to like me instead of you! Your mama really needs to supervise your fucking Irish ass!”

In an instant, both boys were in an intense duel, circling one another. Sparrow tried to talk him down; he was done fighting these stupid school battles. Sadly, Aedan wasn’t having it.

He trained with Sparrow and Bran and he made it clear he was intent on being the master. So when Sparrow won their sparring last week, Aedan became bitter and exasperated. Not to mention the girl Aedan wanted didn’t want him and was crushing on Sparrow instead. He knew if the roles were reversed, he would be pissed, too, but he wouldn’t be acting like a two year old that spat their fucking dummy. He smiled at his analogy.

“I won’t fight you, Aedan. If you want to beat me, do it; but it won’t give you the satisfaction you crave.” Sparrow knew Aedan despised being labelled weak and he hoped the statement would have him second guessing the fight.

He noticed Aedan vibrating as he stood still, eyeing him. “This isn’t over, you piece of shite. There will come a day when you’re all alone, walking down a deep dark alley, and I will be there. You won’t even see it coming, bird boy. Remember this day, remember it well. I will have what is rightfully mine.”

Sparrow phased back in when he heard Bran calling his name.

“Aye, you in there? Where the heck did you just go?”

He ran his hand over the inked roman numerals XIVMMXVI. This is my blood vow; I will avenge you, my angel.