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•Screaming•

Pov: Nick

I was fast asleep in my comfortable bed, enjoying the peace and quiet that had enveloped the house. Suddenly, I was jolted awake by loud and aggressive screams. My heart was beating frantically in my chest as I tried to come to terms with the commotion.

I sat up in bed, feeling still quite stiff from the injury that I had sustained earlier. I wasn't entirely sure how I was healing, but I think that it's getting better with each passing day.

"What am I even on about? "I'm no doctor." I laughed to myself.

I stretched my arms and legs, taking deep breaths as I contemplated what to do next.

The screaming sounded like it was coming from Austin and Lucas. I knew that this wasn't the first time that they had gotten into an argument, but I was still annoyed at the disturbance. For the first time in a while, I managed to sleep peacefully almost all night. Honestly, really disrespectful if you ask me.

I got up from my bed and walked towards the closet to pick out my clothes for the day.

I rummaged through my options, eventually deciding on a comfortable pair of gray sweatpants and a blue hoodie. I threw them on and glanced in the mirror, making sure I looked presentable enough to face the day. I still looked a bit pale and tired, but I tried to shake it off.

A also noticed a visible bruise on my neck. I tried to touch in gently, but a wave of pain was shot through my body. A slapped both my hands over my mouth so I wouldn't scream out in pain.

"What the..." why did that hurt so badly? I took off my hoodie again and picked up a white shirt that covered the bruise perfectly before putting the hoodie back on.

"Looks fine I guess." I muttered to myself.

A walked to my bedroom door before unlocking and pushing it open with some force.

The screaming continued as I made my way towards the staircase. I could feel a knot in my stomach as I anticipated joining the rest of my family at the breakfast table. I knew that things could get pretty intense with all of them in one space, especially if there were disagreements.

Not to forget the whole mafia thing I figured out the other day. I still haven come to terms with it and I doubt I ever will.

At this point, I'm honestly thinking about running away, but I'm too scared to actually do it. Don't get me wrong, I have run away from "home" before but I know that these people are dangerous and might hurt me if I try, and I'm not brave enough to risk it.

As soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed that the screaming had come to a sudden halt. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that I didn't have to deal with it anymore. Michael had already called out for breakfast, and I could hear everyone shuffling around in the kitchen.

I walked towards the table and took my usual seat next to Lucas. I greeted everyone with a nod, trying to push aside the lingering tension in the air. Jasper took the lead, asking us about our plans for the day.

"I don't have any plans today."

"Me neither."

"I was going to hang out with my friend, but he is sick."

"I'm free from work today so nothing here either."

"nope, Nothing, why are you asking?"

Everyone is looking at Jasper now, waiting for an answer.

"Well," he began, "I thought we could do something together today as a family."

and everyone seemed to like the idea. Everyone except me I will say. We needed to figure out where to go. The conversation quickly turned into chaos as everyone spoke over each other, trying to make their suggestion heard.

I felt my temples start to pulse as the noise level grew unbearable. I decided to excuse myself, walking calmly out of the room and putting on my shoes. I made my way out to the backyard, finding solace in the peace of the gazebo.

I put on my headphones, allowing the music to drown out the noise from the house. As I listened to my favorite playlist, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the brief respite from the chaos.

I hate screaming. I can handle it for the most part but it just gets too loud sometimes.

Pov: Lucas

As I sat there watching the twins argue, All I wanted was for them to stop bickering and just decide on a place to go. But as their argument continued, the rest of us grew more and more apathetic, resigned to simply let them argue it out until they came to a conclusion.

The rest of us had given up on trying to get our points across.

It wasn't until I looked around the room that I noticed something strange. Nico was nowhere to be found. I tried to get the attention of the others, but they were so caught up in their argument that they didn't even hear me.

"guys." I called out to no one in particular

"No, we are not going to a stupid bookstore!"

"Well, we are not going to the arcade!"

"guys." I tried again, a bit louder this time

"why!?, it is ten times cooler than a place with old stupid books!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is no-"

"GUYS!!!"

"What!?"

"Nick is gone!"

"What are you talking about?" one of the twins said dismissively. "He's right here-

But before they could finish their sentence, they realized what I had already known. Nico was truly gone.

"Omg, he is gone!" one of them shrieked.

"I told you!"

I felt a lump form in my throat as I realized the gravity of the situation. Of course, the other didn't know that Nickolas and I had found out about their mafia secret. But I knew that Nickolas was scared of them, and that chances that he might have run away were pretty high.

"Everyone calm down," Jasper said firmly, trying to rein in his own panic. "We will find him. Just split up and start looking for him. If you find him, text in the group chat."

I could see the concern in everyone's eyes as they nodded, showing that they understood. It was time to spring into action. We couldn't let anything happen to Nico.

"Alright, good. Start looking,"Jasper said, doing his best to keep his own voice steady. But we all knew that he was as scared as we were.

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Hello everyone!

I know it took a while for me to update and I'm sorry about that. But I'm back now and I will try to update as before again.❤️