FAMILY

05| The Truth Came To Light

I had nightmares about Hector Cassano for a week. His stupid blue eyes and cold expression continued to follow me everywhere. I had dreams where he came for me and killed me.

You must wonder why I suddenly had nightmares of him.

Well, that's because August decided to tell me after I got mouthy with Hector that the Cassano's owned the mafia. The fucking mafia. I thought that was just a hoax, not real. I thought it was just fucking book trope.

It's not. It's apparently very real. And Hector Cassano was the Don, which means big boss.

I was terrified that he would come for me and torture me for being rude to him.

"He's not going to come for a little girl that was rude to him. I'm sure he has more thrilling things to do than threaten a high schooler." August had told me today during lunch when I expressed my concerns.

He was terribly wrong.

I was laying in bed, listening to ASMR to fall asleep. Usually it knocks me out almost immediately but lately it wasn't working. I was too scared to go asleep. That's when I heard my mom scream.

Goosebumps travelled down my body and I held my breath. That scream was filled with pure terror. I was a big scaredy cat. I couldn't watch horror movies without sobbing my eyes out from fear. But this was my mom. If she needed my help, I'd do anything.

So I sneaked out of bed. I picked up my phone to call 911 but then the screams got louder and more frequent. In pure panic, I picked up a baseball bat and stormed downstairs.

My mom was in the living room with a man holding her down. He was ridiculously muscular and tall. But that didn't stop me from swinging the bat against his head. I'd hoped to have done some damage, but he didn't even budge. He turned to looked at me with an annoyed look.

What the fuck?

I tried to swing again but he grabbed the bat and threw it away.

"Charlotte, run!" My moms screamed at me.

Tears were streaming down her face. She had a head injury, I saw the blood. How can she ask me to just run? What about her? What will I do without her?

I didn't get much more time to think because out of nowhere someone laid his arms around my waist and lifted me up. I panicked and screamed loudly. I used my legs to kick as hard as I could but it didn't work. The man that was holding me didn't even grunt. Instead he hushed me softly.

"Calm down, tesoro, I won't hurt you."

That's what all killers say.

"Let me go!", I screamed.

He didn't. He kept a tight grip on me while I clawed at his arms. I squirmed and tried to twist my way out but he was so strong. This really wasn't one of my smart moments. I shouldn't have stormed downstairs like a chicken without a head. Now my mom and I were both in deep shit.

Especially when I lifted my head and saw fucking Hector Cassano seated on our sofa as if he owned the place.

This little bitch.

"Language." He scolded me.

Apparently I said that out loud. Who was he even to scold me? He intruded my house!

"I'm sorry that I was rude to you, okay! I'm sorry! Let my mom go! She did nothing wrong!" I cried out.

My mom was sobbing on the floor. She had an even weaker heart than me. She couldn't take this and it was all my fault.