Aithne, Badass Princess

CHAPTER 1

ANTONELLA P.O.V.

I was walking home from the store when suddenly I crashed into someone. Me being the clumsy person I am, accidentaly dropped the bag I was holding.

"I am so sorry sir, it's my fault. I didn't see you" I said while picking my things up. There weren't a lot because I don't have that much money but it was OK.

When I looked up to ask if he was fine, he looked as if he'd seen a ghost. After a second I said: "Are you alright sir?"

Since he didn't reply, I asked him again and this time he answered: "Is your name, by any chance, Antonella?" I was astonished, how did he know my name? Why did he have the same brown eyes as me? A million questions were running through my head, so I decided to ask the first thing that came to my mind, "How do you know my name?" But instead of answering my question he asked "How old are you?"

Seriously? It felt as if we were playing '21 questions' and it was getting annoying so I said "Look sir, you seem alright so if you don't mind I'll get going". I know it sounded rude but I really wanted to go. Besides, it was getting dark, and it isn't safe for a woman to be outside at night. So I started walking to my apartment.

On my way there, which was five blocks away from where I was, I'm gonna tell you a little about myself.

My name is Antonella Beatrice Lombardi and I'm 15. My first name means 'woman of great valor' and my second one means 'the one who brings light'. In my free time I like to practise throwing knives and hack companies that claim no-one can hack them, but I like to prove peolple wrong, so you get the idea. I don't know how or when, but besides English I know Spanish and Italian. I have three jobs, two as a waitress and one as a bartender.
I know you're thinking that I'm too young to be a bartender but I have a fake ID and look older so they don't know my actual age.

I've been alone all my life. Until my 7th birthday I lived in an orphanage, but they were horrible people. Every day they would come to my room and tell me my family didn't want me and how ugly I was and that I should kill myself. Of course it hurt but I didn't let it show, that's how I decided to run away and be by myself. At the beginning it was difficult because I didn't have any money which meant no food but throughout the years I managed to handle it.

All these thoughts led me back to the man that I crashed into earlier that night. He was very tall, maybe 185cm; he had light brown hair and looked rich and between 20 and 25 years old. I don't know why, but he looked familiar. The only differences were the height, the hair color and me being poor; but you know what they say: "Never judge a book by it's cover"

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize that I had almost arrived and that the creepy man was following me. Suddenly I came to a stop, turned around and began walking towards him. Since I didn't know what else to do, I grabbed the hidden knife/dagger that was on my shoes and said:

"What do you want? Why are you following me?"

"I need you to come with me" he said in a strangely calm voice since he was being pressed against a wall with a knife to his throat.

"You're not the damm police so I don't have to go anywhere with you. So I'll ask again, who are you? What do you want? And why are you following me?" The anger was evident in my voice but nevertheless I was scared to death.

He chuckled and then said "My name is Carlos , I want nothing from you. I was just following you to make sure you arrived safely to your home" I knew for a fact that he was lying so I decided to have some fun.

I put my beautiful knife down and began walking back home but not before passing next to a dark alley. Maybe you're thinking that I'm an idiot, but hear me out. As we were passing it, I hid in it and went up the emergency stairs without making any sound but stopped on my tracks when I heard 'Carlos' talk on the phone.

"Massimo! L'ho persa... eravamo camminano e di ripente lei è sparito... no! Per favore non dire niente a Emiliamo!... mi ucciderà... si... d'accordo, vi aspettero qui per cercarla... ci vediamo pronto".
(Massimo! I lost her... we were walking and suddenly she disappeared... no! Please don't say anything to Emiliano!... he'll kill me... yes... OK, I'll wait here so we can look for her together... see you soon)

Oh shit!

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