A New Beginning

(Several Months Later)

After the death of her Father, Amalia was sent to live with her grandfather. He had a small rural home on the outskirts of the city. It was a bit of a commute to her school but she didn't mind.

It had taken several months for her to fully recover from the tragedy of her fathers death. There had been counselling sessions, repeated check ups and far too many adults poking their noses into her life. Most of her relatives couldn't be bothered anymore so when it was suggested she live with her grandfather she had not objected.

She still carried quite a bit of trauma with her unfortunately. Since that night she rarely slept. She was tormented by dreams of the night those men had taken away her most beloved person. She could still remember their faces, and there was only thing that kept her going since then. Revenge. In the time since her move to her grandfathers house her personality had taken a complete change. She had gone from the young carefree girl of 17 to wild child.

In the months since her fathers passing she had not only cut her hair, but pierced her as well. She was almost never home before dark and sometimes much later than a young girl ought to be out by herself. Her grades were dropping and her teachers were calling regularly to complain. Her grandfather, much as he loved her, just simply did not know what to do.

He was sitting deep in thought in kitchen with his coffee pondering this dilemma when he was roused from his thoughts by the sound Amalia getting ready for school.

"J*sus Chr*st" she cussed hearing her alarm go off as she almost fell from her bed, a mass of tangled legs and blankets. She sat up and glared at her alarm slamming it down impatiently " I get it, I'm awake, I'm awake already!!" Stumbling to the closet after she shut it off she stared vacantly at her wardrobe. There wasn't much left of it. She'd left all "girly" stuff behind when she moved and shrugged, pulling on a pair ripped jeans and a hoodie. It was just school anyway and there was a good chance she wouldn't finish the whole day. She just had to attend the one class to get her teachers off her back. Beyond that, she didn't care. She had better, more important things to do.

Rushing down the stairs in her wrinkled clothes she ran into the kitchen, kissed her grandfathers cheek and snagged a pop tart. "I'm off Gramps! Don't wait up!! I have a study session tonight!!" she lied smoothly as she charged out the door. Leaving him in the kitchen to stare after her. She was gone just as quickly as she came. Her grandfather couldn't help but sigh and go back to staring at his coffee.

.........

Sometime Later, at school

Amalia entered the first class of her day, head down hoodie pulled over her hair to hide her face. She knew all the other kids talked about her, it wasn't like they were quiet. It was more like no one had taught them properly was a whisper was. She shot them a dirty look as she dropped to her seat, head down. It didn't really matter. Compared to the loss of losing her father and finding him in her kitchen, this was nothing. This was a walk in the park. Compared to the nightmares she still had of those men and watching them hit him, this was a joke. There was nothing they could say at this point to phase. She'd built wall around herself so thick it would make Fort Knox envious.

Plugging her headphones into her ears to tune them out she opened her text book and began to study. The work was easy. But she had always been good with math. It was the one course she wasn't failing in right now, but what did grades matter anyway? She could retake the year if needed. Inside the text book was a list of clubs she was planning to check out. She'd been hunting lately. She could still remember their faces with painful clarity and in the meantime while she looked for them she would train. She'd rebuild herself from head to toe. Because when she found them, they would know the pain that she was living with better than she knew it herself.

In the months leading up today it wasn't just her appearance that had changed. Her entire outlook had, she was cold and aloof girl by day. Teenage thug by night. She'd been building up to this day for a long time. Since moving in with her grandfather not only had she cut her hair, but she'd also talked him into getting her self defense lessons. Her body was lean and well trained, her reflexes much faster than most kids her age and on top of that she had even been learning some street fighting on the side. All of it was in preparation for today.

Satan's Foot Soldier's was one of the areas biggest most scariest gangs. They had one of the toughest initiation rights of any gang in the area and their reputation was such that most of the other crews tended to either submit or flee from them. Everyone was afraid of them. And as the saying goes, if you can't beat them. Join them. That was exactly what Amalia intended to do. With their reputation no one would mess her ever again, and once she was in she would be able to get all the intel she needed on the thugs who killed her father. From there she would pick them off one by one. She couldn't help but smirk as she shut her eyes at her desk. There was a long night ahead, so Amalia figured she should catch a nap.