In the mansion on the tip top of the hill, the Stone family dwelled in chaotic turmoil, every member in their own personal hell, overwhelmed with worry for Diago.
Dorian was over come with guilt, he knew all about loss, his very own brother had committed suicide after killing his wife and trying to kill his son. He had been consumed with guilt over his suicide; he regretted not doing something when he had finally realized just how depraved his brother had become. He was filled with 3 million "what ifs" and he had never forgiven himself. That's why he had devoted himself to his nephew; it was the only way he could think of to attempt to rectify the problem. Unfortunately it hadn't worked very well; Jake was a bit of a monster no matter how bad Dorian chose to deny it. Jake was balancing on a very thin line between brutal madman and a "FUCK THE WORLD!" mentality.
Now Dorian had made another crucial mistake, one that he would NEVER be able to forgive himself for, he had let this disastrous war and his family name come between him and his son. He was riddled with regret, wishing he had of done things differently. No matter how much he hated the Rose family, Diago was still his child and his wife and sons were his immediate concern and only priority.
Darleen was over whelmed with grief, as if it hadn't been bad enough that her youngest son had run away and they had no idea where he was, her best friend in her entire life had been in a major car accident, killing her and her husband.
Darleen now had custody of the other love of her life, her god daughter, Tempest, who was in a deep coma from the accident. It was painful to watch her lying there so lifeless; she was so full of raw energy and such a ray of sunshine, it weighed heavy on Darleen's heart. While her family spent their days with the police and private investigators, she refused to leave her side, she wanted her face to be the first thing tempest saw when she woke up, and she prayed to have the strength to tell her that her parents had not survived.
How could she do it? She couldn't even think about her best friend dead, let alone explain it to her only child. Darleen's heart was heavy and for the 1st time in her life, she had no idea what to do. So she just stayed by Tempest's side, praying for her to wake up and praying that her son would just call and let them know he was alright.
***
In the trailer on the other side of town, right before the garbage dump, the Rose family was calm and peaceful; things seemed to be going a little better for them. Since Bianca had been sent away, there was extra food, extra soap, extra toilet paper, extra everything. There was even a little extra for a broke down car that they had to continually fix up.
Blake was in hog heaven and thrilled to death that he had finally won against his sister. He had his father all to himself, his own room and 2nd helpings at dinner. He was tickled pink, trading Bianca in for that car was the best thing he ever did.
Braxton wasn't sure how he felt, half of him never wanted to see the girl again, the other half wanted her home. He had come to resent his daughter, it was her eyes, they were identical to her mothers, and everytime he looked into them his grief was rekindled. He had prayed it would eventually fade, and he would be able to look his daughter and see her, not the woman he loved. He had not handled his grief well at all, he wanted absolutely no reminders of her, he didn't want to face the reality his loss. He had thrown away everything she had every touched or loved, especially her perfect baby daughter Bianca, the very reason they had grown apart before her death, the very reason for their serious argument before she left home on that fatal day.
*** He had spent 3 months in a sexual, drug induced funk. He found himself in Amsterdam's red light district, on a personal mission to take sex to the lowest level of depravity he could accomplish. He hated sex now, but he needed it.
He had originally set out on this mission to completely abandon all thoughts of sex, women and love. He was determined to force his body to live with out sex, but by the fifth day he had lost his mind and his will. He had been like an addict, feigning for his drug of choice. His natural high sex drive was his downfall, so if he cold not cure himself with no sex, then he would cure himself by an over indulgence of sex. Diago would make those precious, beautiful moments that he had been inside Bianca disappear, it was fucking him up, he couldn't even have sex with out thinking of her and bringing back all those vicious memories and that paralyzing feeling of loss.
So he would make sex so nasty, rotten and dirty for himself that he would eventually stop seeing her. He gave it his best shot, doing unholy things that he could never have imagined with beautiful women who would do anything for the right price, and he was spending money like it was water.
When he woke up in a bed with 4 different women, and remembered the horrible things he had done to them the night before, he knew it was too much, he had gone too far and it was still not working. He got up and got dressed, disgusted that the women had awoken, still eager for more of the money he was throwing around despite the hideous things he had done.
He had to get the hell out of here, if he had learned anything, he learned that he could not escape Bianca; he was cursed with her very spirit trapped inside his mind. Realistically he had have sex, and he found that he could not taint the image or the act, so he would just do it as one would perform the duties of their job, it was no more than filling up his gas tank when his car was empty. He would do it quick and get it the hell over with. Hopefully one day he would be able to feel normal about sex. He couldn't escape it any more than he could escape his life, his family, his love, his hate or Bianca. He had never in his life felt like he did right now and refused to ever feel that way again.
Love was a big risk, something so powerful and destructive that it could blow ones heart up and leave them pathetically weak and vulnerable. He hated feeling vulnerable, he had never felt that before and he would NEVER feel that way again!
Fuck love and all that came with it!!! He didn't need it, after 3 months of hell he realized his father had been right; success was all that truly mattered.
So after his short absence from reality, he was going home to restart his life.
***
Her father had sent her to live with her very old, very fugal aunt. The woman was a tyrant who lived by the bible, held a penny in the same light as a 100 dollar bill and barked out orders like a drill instructor. She also had a mini puff ball, pit bull disguised as a Pomeranian named Noah, who was a barking extension of her aunt's hatred for her.
This woman held a deep contempt for her own brother, for reasons Bianca still did not understand. She treated Bianca like a slave, she noticed the same trait in her father, and she had spent her life in servitude to that man, trying to please him, now he had banished her to his sister who was a feminine version of him. Bianca spent her days cleaning, cooking, and taking care of yard work in-between waiting on her aunt hand and foot.
Her aunt believed having a phone was unnecessary spending when she had no one she wanted to talk to, so Bianca couldn't even call her friends, the only 2 people in the world that she knew cared. She needed to here their familiar voices. She needed something; she had never felt so alone in her entire life.
It was becoming too much for Bianca to bear, her spirit had evaporated and her heart was dead, she wanted to give up. She spent her days slaving away and her nights crying herself to sleep, when she was fortunate enough to get her mind to slow down enough to sleep.
She had actually been at a point where she didn't think she could survive, she hated herself for letting Diago go and turning her back on him and she hated her family for forcing this war in her life. She was deeply in love still, regardless of it all, and she just came to the point where she didn't want to live with out him; than it grew to her just not wanting to live.
She had gone into a deep depression, her mind was not hers and her thoughts had turned sour. She didn't want death, but there really seemed no alternative, life was unbearable and over rated. The thought of death was becoming dreamy and she had delusional fantasies of dying. She knew in her heart that it was the only way they would be able to be together forever. She would embrace him in the afterlife since she was no longer allowed to embrace him in this life. Maybe with her death, he would be able to forgive her.
