𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐌

71| S E T T A N T-U N O

ALESSANDRO'S POV

My ears wake before my eyes, I hear different kinds of noises, I hear voices, familiar voices.

I see nothing, I see darkness, I'm unable to force my eyelids to open. It seems hard, difficult and wrong to do such a thing, such a simple gesture just to see, to gaze around the room or wherever I am.

I take a deep breath in and shut my mind up. If I want to focus enough to manage at least opening my eyes, it would be bloody lovely for my head to quit for just a brief moment.

The noises get louder, they echo around the place as if they're calling for me to, even when none of it is directed at me.

I mentally sigh at the thought and feel a weird wave of loneliness and feeling left out. Am I drunk?

I sense something wrap on my stomach, a finger touching my abs twice, a hand dragging itself lower and lower, a hand, Akila's hand.

My eyes flashed open, met with the one and only sight of Akila, I was right. 

Everyone looks my way and stands up, they gather around me and ask how I'm feeling but I'm still frozen, I'm still in shock, looking around the people I'm seeing and trying to decide whether I'm hallucinating or not, whether I'm dead and my mind is playing games with me.

"Earth to Alessandro" Armando calls out for me with a hand wave. He's here, Emilion is here, Dante and Adriano are here. The girls are here. Akila is here.

I'm definitely not imagining this, I think I'm too stunted to trick my own self because what the actual hell.

I was in court, I was in the coronation room, I was crowning Marcello and signing the contract, I was giving up the mafia, I was giving up my leadership.

I blink, I blink again, I blink numerous times and Adriano giggled. I slowly turn my head to glare at him, to ask for an explanation since he thinks it's so funny that he knows what's going on but when I try, I lose my tongue, I low my ability to separate my lips and use my voice.

My eyes widen and stare into nothing, into the ground of this room, this place, this plane.

I'm on a plane, I'm flying into the air, we are on a plane, in the air, hundreds of feet away from the ground.

"Get out of the way" that voice, that voice shakes me inside out, it shoved Armando out of my face and revealed Akila. She holds my eyes for a minute before blowing air out of her mouth. She rolls her eyes and rests both her hands on her hips. "Didn't I say piss off" she hisses at them again and they rush out of the way, they disappear into air and vanish.

"Idiots" Akila mumbles to herself and takes a step towards me. Her cold hazel eyes fix on me and I suddenly feel small, trapped and kidnapped.

But for some reason, I don't want to be saved.

"Took you a moment there to wake up, huh?" She sits in front of me, on the bed I'm lying on, on the bed I'm on, I'm on a bed. "You must have gotten used to explosions by now" she chuckles, her lips form to one side, showing a dimpled cheek. Explosions. What explosion.

"Come on" she offers me her hand and stands up, I glance at it for a second and uncomfortably take it, I automatically hold it in mine and let her guide me up to my feet.

Akila generously helps me stand up, I spend a minute or two getting used to my weight. My body seems to forget what reality and gravity are. I look down and comprehend my height, where I am and my surroundings.