How many attempts would there be? Not just to get back at his life but to destory those around him? The fire had been months ago and his Ma had disappeared from her home only to show up dead a few days later. He wasn't stupid. He knew they were trying to draw him out and his Babbo told him to lay low, that they'd forget and then he could travel home with Jersey. They'd both move to New York under his protection and then they'd be safe to live their lives however they'd like. But then Jacob saw them. He wasn't sure what snapped inside him but he saw a man creeping towards Jersey. He didn't think for a moment before grabbing him and dragging him around the corner. They hadn't seen him in months. They didn't know how big the wolf dog had become and they were only prepared to take out a cat, not a nearly full grown wolf dog. He slammed the feline to the ground and snarled. "You wanna' kill me? Ya' wanna' get back at my Babbo? Go ahead. Stab me right now. Ya' could, ya' know. You're close enough. Kill me but leave the rest ah' 'em out ah' it." The feline trembled beneath him. "I know ya' took my Ma n' my Pa. If you touch anyone else, I will find you and I will gut you from the inside out. Ya' don' think I 'aven't seen my Babbo do it? Ya' don' think I know how? You won't be runnin' from Vito anymore, you'll be runnin' from me 'cause I ain't gonna' let anyone touch my family again. You got a problem with me, you deal with me. I will bring Hell on you and I will be sure that you burn in the flames before you go." The words were filled with hatred, more hatred than he even knew he had. Then he saw the terror. He wasn't sure what happened but he was suddenly aware of what he was doing, of what he threatened. The wrost part was none of it had been a lie. He wanted to kill the feline that trembled before him in the worst way he could imagine. He wanted these people to suffer like he did. But he couldn't. He remembered his books and his Ma and he couldn't. All the promises he'd made to himself couldn't be broken for someone like this. "Get out. Let 'em know if they come back you'll get more than some scratches," he snapped the words but he was already starting to shake as the man ran off.

He never told Jersey about that day. He just said there was danger and they needed to go. There'd never been anymore discussion and they'd left. What he'd never said was he was more terrified of his response than the attacks themselves. He'd worked so hard to be what he wanted to be. He'd done everything in his power not to be like the rest of them but here he was, making threats. No matter what the purpose, he couldn't justify the anger and hatred that'd spewed from him that day. He tucked that day away in his memories, only reserved for late nights when he was alone. He knew that was what he could become and he was terrified it'd reappear. He moved as much for other's safety as for his own. 

When the captain, Pincher, had found him being beaten by the strange woman, he hadn't seemed too happy and Jacob had been moved almost immediately. He was kept in the same room as the captain himself, though the man had fallen asleep long ago. He'd been given food and he wasn't bound anymore but it was clear they didn't want him wandering their territory aimlessly. He found himself pacing restlessly. He couldn't usually sleep and after all that'd happened, he knew there was no change of getting any rest tonight. However, his interest was pulled by somber notes that made their way through the wood separating him from whatever the outside of their territory looked like. There was a part of him that considered the music might only be a result of his broken, delirious mind. He had smelled smoke worse than usual all day following his capture and it wouldn't be inconceivable he was hearing things too, though he had to admit it was odd for him to hear anything positive. The chords sounded familiar, though he couldn't quite place them. It somehow reminded him of home. Then he remembered.

"How can I desert you? How to tell you why? Coachman, hold the horses. Stay, I pray you. Let me have a moment, let me say goodbye to bridge and river, forest and waterfall, orchard, sea, and sky. Harsh and sweet and bitter to leave it all. I'll bless my homeland til I die..." The lyrics flowed from him freely and his eyes drifted to the slumbering captain. How embarrassing it would be to not only be mocked for his response to the capture but also the music he now sang in tandem to the odd notes floating just outside. "Tears will never dry, I'll bless my homeland til I die..." He hadn't had a chance to say goodbye. That'd been stolen by the people that murdered his Ma and Pa, the people that'd lit his house on fire, the people that threatened Jersey. He had to leave in the night, like some sort of criminal. Then again, he was a criminal so perhaps it was fitting. Sometimes he forgot that.

He reached the portion of the song that consisted of only humming the melody and he sang the vowel, his voice clouded with emotion. Halfway through, the odd notes outside stopped and he soon found himself landing on the last line, allowing the notes to linger in the air, "I'll bless my homeland til I die..."