• Funerals are never fun. People dressed in black mourning someone they didn't truly care about. Then there are the close friends and some family, the ones that actually care about the person. Occasionally, the immediate family cared too, but not in this case.

    My funeral was all people that didn't know me or care about anything I had ever done in life. They just showed up because it was proper. My only true friend had died two years ago from a car accident, and my family had always been wrapped up in their own individual hells. Mom had turned into a bitter alcoholic who couldn't bear to look at her drug addicted son or her remaining daughter after my twin had died when we were seven. My father was always out of town on "business" visiting his girlfriend in New York. No one in my family had even cared what happened to me.

    The other attendees consisted of my classmates and a few faculty members. Even they looked bored out of their minds as the priest droned about how I had been a good daughter with a bright future. Total bullshit. It wasn't as if I had anything planned for my future aside from getting out of the hell I'd called home. Just months before, I'd been on the fast road for completely ruining my life forever. At least until the man beside me had shown up and quickly changed everything.

    Chapter One

    Summer. Hot, sticky, sweaty and a total waste of three months. Everyone insisted on wearing clothes designed for women with perfect bodies even if they were less than perfect. Men walked around without shirts on, flaunting what they thought passed for a desirable body. I hated the season with a passion because it left me with nothing to do but avoid my family. Even now I could hear my mother arguing drunkenly with my father who was going to New York again. From the smells coming through the wall, I knew my brother was on another bender, though on what I had no clue.

    "Prudence! Come say goodbye to your b*****d of a father who is on his way to New York again." I flinched and reluctantly slid a bare cotton sheath on over my skimpy underwear. It wouldn't do for my parents to see just how scarred my body had become after all the abuse I'd put it through. Not that I thought it would do anything other than make them curse the day I was born yet again.

    Dad stood by the door in an immaculate suit, though his lip was slightly split where Mom must have slapped him. She was sprawled on the sofa, a bottle of Jack raised to her lips. Her strawberry blonde hair was even more frazzled than normal and the stench of booze choked the air.

    "Bye Dad." I gave him a half hug and turned to disappear into the kitchen to get myself a bottle of water and look wistfully out at the pool. I had always loved swimming even if I didn't like the heat.

    Sighing, I went back to my room and stripped the sheath off, hating the cloistering feel of it against my bruised skin. My last fight had been against a giant woman with a devastating punch. I'd eventually bested her, though I didn't escape unscathed.

    "Hey Prudence, wanna come smoke with me?" Daniel poked his head in and I could clearly see the fresh scabs where he'd been clawing at his face. Bile rose in my throat at the sight. He had once been a straight A student and a star athlete with a bright future, but that had changed after he and his girlfriend-my best friend-had been in an accident. To kill the pain of losing her and losing his future, he'd turned to drugs. My grief had blinded me to what he was doing until it was already too late.

    "No thanks, Dan. I'm just going to watch some movies for a little while then go out. Go enjoy yourself." Only a cold resignation filled me when I looked at my brother. I wasn't able to fight his addiction without him being willing. And I had tried until I had very nearly killed myself from the effort.

    A long few hours of boredom stretched in front of me. Finally, I put my music on shuffle and trained for the fight I would be in later this evening. No one had ever questioned why I wanted a room full of exercise equipment and it worked to my advantage in this moment. Each day I worked out until my limbs were burning and nearly ready to collapse, then worked out some more. It had given me a lean muscular physique, though my bosom was still quite ample, a gift from my mother's distant Irish heritage.

    "Prudence shut that s**t off and get out here for dinner!" I had just put my body through a rigorous workout and decided food and a bit of rest would do me good before I had to go fight tonight. Vinny wouldn't like it if I was weak from starving myself.

    After a quick cold shower, I slid the sheath back on and joined Mom and Daniel at the table. He had freshly dried blood on his arms and a blank expression on his face. Mom had a bottle of vodka next to her plate and a cigarette dangling from her lips. I grimaced and scarfed down the nearly tasteless food. Mom slurped at her drink.

    "Thanks for dinner." I bolted back to my room and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a simple black tank top, tossing my backpack over my shoulder. I could hear the distant sounds of snoring echoing from the living room and Daniel's odd shuffle moving down the hall. No one would be looking for me for a long time.

    Outside, I jumped onto my motorcycle and sped towards the abandoned warehouses on the outskirts of town.