Guns 'N' Roses

KRANE

The smell of lavender slowly woke Jane Doe from a spell of sleep. She wasn't sure if she liked the smell or not. She wasn't sure of anything not even of herself. She got up yawning as she glimpsed around the room she was in. The wall was plain white but decorated with paintings of flowers. The bed was plain too. In fact, the whole room is a simple room with nothing to be fascinated about. It made her smile for some reason. A feeling of preserved, whatever that would mean to her.

She stumbled out of the soft bed and slowly limped to the door. She hesitated to open the door wide, afraid that everything happened was only a dream. She clutched the door handle and took a deep breath jarring the door. She was breath taken by how beautiful the hallway was. The chandelier shone on the marble floor looking like she was walking on diamonds. Each step she takes gave her a chill from how cold the floor was. Little by little, she walked down the stairs while her hand slid down the creamy colour wall.

Jane Doe was mesmerized by the sight she sees. The entrance part was covered by plants that she would never know about, a beautiful mirror hanging on the wall and a table and vase with yellow flowers standing in the middle of the room. She slowly limbered to the room after. Jane Doe felt the idea of freedom coming from the manor but she wasn't sure why. She looked through a big window to see an expanded backyard with a wooden patio and playground set. She assumed the playground set was for the little girl she saw earlier. The patio had a few black chairs with vine designs and a black coffee table with a clear glass in the middle of the black rim. On the side of the side of the patio was a large creamy white swinging seat.

She departed from the window and kept moving. Nothing was a dream to her. She felt the nerves leave with relief. Jane Doe ignored all the other rooms she came across, on a mission to look for anyone in the empty manor for questions and possible answers. She stopped at a huge room with the brown wooden doors opened wide as if they're giving her permission for entrance. She popped her head to see no one but ended up walking in. The room had a huge pale white couch in the middle with brown rims in a swirl design with brown pillows on each end. On the left side of the couch were a light blue and white striped one seat with a white pillow on it. On the right side of the couch was a pale red two seat with a more darker brown rim with black pillows on the two ends. Circling a white marble table with magazines and a vase with one single rose trying its best to not wilt. A brown desk with a black leather chair was watching the whole room like a leader.

Jane Die softly touched the smooth desk peeking at what's on top of the desk. A regular desk lamp stood on the edge of the table with papers, pens and binders in the front. Jane Doe was amazed at how neatly ordered and plain the desk was. Her eyes lead its way to the wall with a picture stuck with a knife. She observed the picture carefully. A man that barely even had a small smirk. He had darkish brown hair with hazel eyes, grey stubbles surrounded his lips and covered his chin. Jane Doe couldn't help but lock her gaze at the man. Who is he? Why does he scare me? Filled her mind. The more she wanted to look away, the more it drawn her to it. Her head started pounding the more she looked at the picture.

“His name is Krane.”

Vincent walked in as she jumped from his voice. Her chest thumped through her shirt. She calmed down when she saw Vincent. She went back to the picture. Krane?

Vincent walked right behind the curious girl and lowered himself to her height. She felt his presence hitting her back with shivers. She didn't dare to look back. She was scared to look back at his piercing eyes. His arm brushed against hers already made her tingle with something she can't even understand.

“He's a killer.”

“Killer? Who did he kill?”

“A lot of people, including my mother." Vincent softens his voice at the thought of his deceased mother whom he loved with all his heart.

“I'm sorry for your loss Mr. Vincent.”

Vincent smirked and spun her around to face him. Jane Doe's eyes widen as he placed his arm around her tiny waist and pulled her closer to him.

“Are you willing to soothe my loss? Jane Doe?”

It wasn't even her real name but she was already weak to her knees with how Vincent said her current name, she could imagine how he would say her real name. Jane Doe realized now wasn't the time to compliment his smooth voice. She bit her inner cheek and wondered how to answer his question.

“Jane Doe, don't bother. He's only pulling your leg” Jack walked in shaking his head.

“What? My leg? He can't, I need my leg. It will be too painful if he pulls on it.”

Vincent backed away from Jane Doe as Jack blinked repeatedly before holding his stomach laughing. Jane Doe gave him a confused look while patting her legs to reassure herself that it is still there.

“Haha, it's only a figure of speech, kid.”

“Figure of speech? I really don't think speeches can have a body.”

Jack laughed and whispered to Vincent. "Boss, how hard did she hit that head of hers? Did they accidentally throw out her brain while patching her up?”

Vincent eyed her up and down with Jack laughing harder than before. He then closed upon her. Jane Doe lightly backed away as a response to Vincent's sudden close up to her. Vincent squinted his eyes at her. He formed a fist and knocked her on the head. Jane Doe whelped loudly while holding her head and crouching down in pain.

“Bro, why'd you do that to her?”

“No reason, I thought that since she lost her memories by a hit on the head, maybe she would get it back by another hit.”

Jane Doe got up and thought of how it actually made sense. Jack declined the form of violence towards a defenceless girl who can't the difference between left and right. She lightly grabbed onto Vincent's white sleeve which made Jack stop speaking.

“Mr. Vincent...." Jane Doe glared.

“Boss, you made her mad now. What's with her calling us mister for? We're not that old.”

“What?”Vincent said sternly.

“Please hit me!”

Vincent's eyes grew big as Jack's jaw dropped. She glanced at both of them wondering why they seem so shocked since it was their idea.

“You're the one that said a hit on my head can recover my memories so hit me please!”

Jack leaned in and whispered to Vincent.

“You sure we didn't pick her up from a mental hospital? This girl is nuts!”

“Am I wrong?" Her face saddened.

Jack noticed that she's acting like a total child and laughed more. “At least she's adorable”

“And brainless” Vincent's eyebrow twitched from what he can’t believe is a girl this stupid standing right in front of her.

Sean, Connor, Sarah and Kasey came in the room with casual wearing. Kasey ran to Vincent and hugged his leg. Jane Doe thought how cute she was.

“What's with all the laughing and yelling?" Connor questioned while glancing at Jack, Vincent then to Jane Doe.

“It's nothing Connor, just talking to Jane Doe, she's really funny” Jack chuckled more

“And brainless”Jane Doe added quietly.

“Huh?" Sarah glanced at her puzzled.

“Uh, no. That's what Mr. Vincent said.”

“Mr. Vincent? What is he? 45?" Connor laughed loudly.

Vincent's eyebrow twitched once more at the thought of Jane Doe calling him mister all the time. He swung Jane Doe's attention towards him. Jane Doe was confounded by his sudden movement towards her.

“Hey, quit calling me mister all the time. I'm only 28.” he wrinkled his eyebrows together as he glared at her.

“Sir Vincent? Signor Black Rose? Jane Doe tried giving more suitable names but each seems to fail.

“Seriously, where did we get this girl?”Jack laughed.

“I thought you said that you guys found me? Where did you take me from?”She questioned.

Jack laughs and says.“We found you in the lost and found.”

There are a few snickers from the group, Vincent cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

“Alright settle down people, now I can finally introduce the newest member of the family, without her fainting I hope. I want all of you to treat her like one our own because from now on she will be a part of our inner circle.”

Connor stepped forward, obviously bothered by what Vincent said.

“V, with all due respect. You can’t just let her be a part of our group, she's a nobody, she could be a spy for all we know, how can we trust her? You'd really just give her the freedom to roam around here?! This is a horrible idea, we need to keep her locked down in the guest room until we can trust her and-”

Vincent walks right up to Connor.

“She can't even remember her own name, if you really think she's a spy, then you're welcome to kill her, Connor. It was my choice to bring her here, and it's my word we go by. I don't want you giving her any trouble, I'm sure you'll have no problems.”

Connor lightly growled as he stepped back to respect Vincent's words, but his eyes of death were aimed at none other than Jane Doe. She felt the presence of angry eyes shooting at her but didn't dare to look at the person. She looked down at her bare feet while biting her inner cheek again. She was positive that this was not Vincent's choice. Why is he standing up for me when he also probably wants me gone?

“That goes for all of you. I don't want to see any rebellion against her. Jack and I thought about it until she remembers who she is, she's going to be living her, meaning she's going to be our new member.”

Oh, that's it, he had this topic with Jack. That's why he's standing up for me. Jack must have said something that made sense. Jane Doe thought She mentally nodded at what's going on. She knew many people here would disapprove a sudden stranger coming into their house and being a new member.

“No. I don't allow it!”Kasey yelled as she pulled on Vincent's leg.

Vincent glanced down at Kasey.“What's wrong Kasey?”

“Everything! It's all Jane Doe this and Jane Doe that! She's not special enough to have that much attention from Vincy! It's not fair!”Kasey started screaming and stomping her foot over and over again.

Her loud screams chimed the pounding pain back into Jane Doe's head. She held her head and begged for it to stop giving her so much trouble. Jack watched from Kasey to Jane Doe and sped walk towards her to hold her.

“Jane Doe! Are you okay? Is your head hurting again?”Jack turned his head towards Kasey. “Kasey, stop screaming. It's hurting Jane Doe's head.”Jack rubbed her back wondering what he should do for her.

Kasey stopped screaming only to start crying loudly while hugging Vincent's leg once more. Vincent picked up Kasey and hugged her as she cried in his arms. Sarah patted Kasey's back. Jane Doe sighed once the pain disappeared.

“Are you okay kid?" Jack asked with concern in his voice.

Jane Doe nodded. "Yes, for now, the pain is gone.”

Jack smiled and nodded towards Vincent who responded back to Jack with a nod. Vincent glanced at everyone that was in the room, including Jane Doe who was rubbing her head. Her eyes were red from the tears she held back from the head pain.

“Kasey, if you yell once more like that and get Jane Doe in pain. I'll definitely get angry. Even if you're my little sister.”

Kasey glanced up at her brother with tears.“But Vincy..”

“No buts. Look, everyone shouldn't be so angry about this. It’s not like I'm gonna ask everyone to take care of her. Jack is the only one that will be her caretaker when he's not out with me. I'll mostly take Connor or Sean out to work. Jack volunteered himself do this.”

Jane Doe swivelled her eyes towards Jack as he smiled and nodded in agreement. Why would he do that? They're all so odd for doing this for someone like me.

“Jack, why are you doing this for me?”Jane Doe asked quietly, knowing that everyone heard her question Jack.

Jack thought about it before answering. “Kiddo, only Vincent and I saw you on that road that day. The others will be disapproving you is a common reaction since they didn't see what we saw, what I saw. The way you laid on the payment, the way your body was lifeless, it was as if you accepted your death. You're still a young gal to accept death. I want to help you get your memories back so we can understand why you had such deep wounds on you. Who knows, maybe you were escaping from the wrath of someone. That’s why I'm doing this for you." Jack grinned happily while petting her head.

Jane Doe couldn’t help but shed the tears she held back while hearing his answer. She whimpered her gratitude towards Jack as he laughed while hugging her. Her cries of happiness were heard louder as she wept on his shirt. She couldn’t even thank Vincent for what he has done for her too. She has so much gratefulness for both of them more than anyone can imagine.

Sarah bit her lip before looking towards Jack kindly hugging a crying Jane Doe in his arms while petting her head and shushing her gently. It was true what Jack said, no one was there but Vincent and Jack to see what state that poor girl was in that day. Only they would know. A pang of guilt hit Sarah in the heart as she understood how evil she must’ve been by disowning Jane Doe just because Jack was giving her so much attention. She never knew Jack had that much thought of her safety in his head.

“I don’t approve her here, but she seems to be the same size as me so I’ll give her my clothes instead of wearing Vincent’s shirt.”

Vincent nodded. “Thank you, Sarah.”

“I’m not doing this for her. Only because you and Jack have that much acceptance towards her.”

“It’s not acceptance. She may as well be a spy that could be faking her memory loss or actually does have memory loss. But she could also be someone else that could be in need of help or accidentally fell. We can’t know till her memories come back to her. Till then, we wait.”

Sarah nodded and took the silent Kasey in her arms as Vincent walked forward to Jack.

“Jack, I entrust her to you. I better not see bothering me or I’ll punish her.”

“Punish?” Jane Doe asked while sniffing.

Vincent went to her eye level with his eyes playfully looking at her. “Punish. Maybe I’ll ask you to give me your body as a punishment.”

Jane Doe blinked bewilderedly as Jack stepped in to answer with an angry smile.

“Oi, V, Don’t be kidding like that.”

“He’s right Singor Black Rose, I can’t give you my body, you got no use for it since it’s injured. Besides, what am I gonna without a body? I can’t simply have yours, I’ve never switched bodies before.” Jane Doe frowned.

Everyone was silent. Jane Doe can’t tell if she said something wrong or not. The silence was broken by Jack laughing loudly, Jane Doe jumped at the sudden laughter. Vincent was taken back by her slightly dense stupidity air she’s breathing.

“Seriously! Where did we get her? She’s so amazing at how she can put your comments down Vincent!”

Jane Doe scratched her head, unsure as to what’s happening. She could only understand that Jack is laughing at Vincent with what she said. Vincent only shook his head then searched the room, his wrinkled eyebrows came back again.

“Has anyone seen Eve anywhere?”

Everyone shook their head while looking around. Vincent stood upright and called on Connor to come with him. Jane Doe was fascinated by Vincent’s structure. Tall and very built, stylish and everyone looks up to him. She still couldn’t understand who they really are and what they do. Who are Vincent and his people?

Vincent left quickly with Connor following him behind, Sean left right after. Sarah stood by with Kasey in her arms still with Jane Doe and Jack.. Vincent stopped for a few seconds and turned around.

“Just call me Vincent, I don’t need formal names from a stranger.”

Jane Doe nodded right before he spun around and disappear into the hallway. The room was thinning with silence. Jane Doe pulled on the white shirt she had on while looking down to her feet, she casually started to wiggle her toes for her own amusement while thinking how kind Vincent is even though he has such a scary face.

“Jack, can you come with me to get clothes for her in my room?”

“Yeah, okay Sarah.” He turned to Jane and patted her head to get her attention. “Kiddo, I’ll be back with some clothes for you. You know how to get to your room right? You can stay here and wait for me or wait for me in your room.”

“I’ll wait for you in the room Jack”

He flashed a smile and patted her cheek before following Sarah out, Kasey glared at Jane Doe till she was out of sight. She sighed and felt a sudden pang of sorrow. She had no idea that her arrival would have such a negative impact on most of these people. She knew she couldn’t blame them since she is no more than a mere stranger to everyone. She followed the same direction back to her room.

Slowly approaching the stairs, she met a girl on the top. At first, she assumed it was Sarah but this girl’s hair was long and blond. Pretty tiny to be a girl, was she a stick in her past life? Damn, she’s beautiful though.

“Annoying.” The girl says quietly to Jane as she approaches.

“Huh?” Jane said with a puzzled look.

“I’m only talking to you because Vincent wants us to play nice, don’t want you thinking I want to be nice to a wretch like you. Can’t believe he’s taking in strays now.”

Looks like Vincent found his missing Eve then… She thought while looking annoyed. She’s pretty but she’s such a bite.

“Nice to meet you, I’m-”

“Yeah, yeah, we know what you are. You don’t need to introduce your nameless self to me, I don’t even want to share the same air as you. Just go to your pathetic room and stay out of my sight, or I won't hesitate to hurt you..” She says with her head held high.

Jane Doe said nothing back, she wasn’t even sure what was happening. She looked back at the girl and saw her smirking.

“I get it, maybe Vincent brought you here to be our servant then right? There’s no way he would accept someone like you in our house.” Eve said sternly while getting closer to Jane Doe’s face.

She was suddenly pulled back and protected by a strong arm.

“Eve, you’re looking beautiful as ever, I see you met Jane Doe over here. Isn’t she a cutie pie?” Jack grinned casually.

Jane Doe never felt so much happiness by seeing Jack by her side until now. She bit her lip to prevent herself from tearing up in front of them.

“Kiddo, I was a bit worried that you couldn’t go back to your room by yourself so I came as fast as I can, but I see you met with trouble along the way.” Jack says while petting her head before looking back at the annoyed Eve.

“Eve, everything is okay, right? Vincent entrusted her to me so I don’t want to go up to her room only for her to cutely cry and say that you bullied her.” Jack says to Eve. “That would be a problem, won’t it…?” Jack’s sudden smile turned into a frown with his eyes looking dark while glaring at Eve. It made even Jane Doe speechless of how scary he looked

“Сука…” She says to Jane Doe as she begrudgingly heads downstairs.

Jack took Jane Doe’s hand and walked up with her before giving a genuine smile towards Eve as she glared at Jane Done with nothing but pure hatred. Jane Doe felt the need to protect her life now that she’s living here with beasts and she’s the rabbit for them all.

Jack closed the door behind them before making sure no one was following them. He then locked the door and glanced at the quiet girl. He smiled and patted her head.

“Sorry, you had seen that kiddo. Didn’t mean to scare ya. I just really don’t like her.”

“Why? She’s so pretty though?”

“True, but you’re much better than her. She’s only here because Eve is Vincent’s temporary lover.”

“Temporary lover? Did his permanent lover run away after seeing her?”

Jack chuckled. “You’re really interesting kiddo, Vincent doesn’t date because of his job since Eve is part of Nightmare, I guess it wouldn’t matter much to him since she’s all over him in the first place.”

“Nightmare? Are you guys a bad form of a circus or something?”

Jack placed the bag of clothes on top of the table beside the bed and comfortably sat on the bed. He then patted an empty spot with a soft smile motioning Jane Doe to sit beside him. She didn’t hesitate a single movement and sat down beside him.

“We’re actually a mafia. We’re named Nightmare. Vincent is our leader who was nicknamed as the Black Rose from all the mafia groups that either fought with him, laid eyes on him or even saw him.”

“Jack, what’s a mafia?”

“It’s an organization that handles with criminals and other bad things Every mafia group is against the rest of the active mafia groups. It’s a kill or be killed situation every day.”

Jane Doe understood that it’s bad but she couldn’t help wonder how such nice people can be bad. Or are they bad?

“Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“You guys aren’t a bad kind of mafia, right?”

“No kiddo, but because we are a mafia group, We are considered bad to society and other mafia groups out there. Vincent may seem like a grizzly bear but he only takes his gun out when it gets serious.” Jack patted her head to relax her worries. “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen. I’ll protect you if any case. Okay?”

Jane Doe smiled happily while nodding. They ended up talking for the whole time until Vincent came back home and dinner was ready to be served. Jane Doe quickly ran to the bathroom and picked out something nice to wear from the clothes that Jack got for her from Sarah. She was happy with a plain white t-shirt and black sweatpants and walked down the stairs with Jack feeling cheerful. The cheerfulness left when she got glares from most of the people that are already there at the table. Jack assured her that she will be fine and dragged her to sit beside him and Vincent who was already trying to make eye contact with her. Eve, sitting on the opposite side, noticed and tried to get his attention back to her.

Jane Doe felt out of place as everyone talked happily to one another. She didn’t mind, it’s not her real home anyway. Real home? Now that I think about it, I wonder where they found me, maybe it was near where I used to live. I wonder if I have a family missing me? The thought gave a light stab pain to her chest. She stared at her wounded arms and noticed there were wounds that weren’t like the rest and faded. It looked way too deep compared to the wounds that she already has. Could it be something I did in the past that I can’t remember? Did I actually wound myself? Why would I possibly do that for? Unless I was involved in something I probably shouldn’t be involved in. Am I a spy like everyone thinks I am?