The Missing Princess

10: Wish

"Isabella! Isabella, please wake up. It's just a dream, tesoro. Come now, please wake up."

I could hear a soft and kind voice—the opposite of the bad man.

My eyes slowly opened, and I let out a sigh of relief as I came back to reality.

It was only a dream. No, it happened; it's not just a dream. It was a memory. But no matter; I'm no longer with the bad man. Uncle saved me from him, and Enzo, my big brother, took me back home.

"Isabella." said the soft and kind voice again, making me turn my head. A guy was sitting on the end of my big, fluffy bed with a terrible, awkward smile on his face, looking at me worriedly. It's the same look Enzo and Kiri would give me.

"It's me, Gio, your brother." He said to me in the same kind voice.

Gio. My brother.

That's right, I have four older brothers. But so far, only Enzo seems to care about me. I almost want to believe the bad man's hurtful words if it weren't for Enzo, Uncle, and Kiri. But then again, the bad man might still be right about my parents and my three other brothers.

"Isabella?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Gio again, and I miserably whimpered and clutched my fluffy blankets tighter as I remembered how violent he could be.

"You're afraid of me." It wasn't a question. But he was now looking at me sadly, as if he were in pain.

I didn't like it. Why was he sad? Have I been a bad girl again? I let out a whimper again and felt like I was about to cry again, thinking that I would be punished.

This caused Gio's eyes to widen, and he quickly stood up from my bed, raising both his hands, surprising me.

"I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're thinking, sorellina." He told me, still looking so sad.

I almost believed him, but I remembered what he did to our other brother.

"G-Gio hit N-Niccolo." I whispered, looking down at my hands.

He hit him, so why wouldn't he hit me too?

"I did, and I'm sorry you had to see that. But you have to understand that Niccolo was being mean to you, and I wasn't going to stand it, but I am so sorry if that scared you."

It really scared me. It almost reminded me of the bad man.

But then again, the bad man never said he was sorry to me or told me why he did what he did.

"I-Is Gio g-going to hit I-Izzy if she's a b-bad girl?" I found myself asking as I looked up at his face again, still slightly fearful.

He let his hands drop to his sides and looked at me in surprise.

"Of course not, tesoro. I could never even dream about hurting you. What I did to Niccolo is just a brother thing, see." He offered me his signature kind and awkward smile.

He really isn't used to smiling. I almost want to laugh.

"N-not a s-sister t-thing?"

"Absolutely not."

"Bu-But Izzy d-don't l-like brothers h-hitting each other." I pouted, thinking that Niccolo must have been hurt when Gio hit him in the back of his head.

"That's not going to happen anymore, tesoro." He smiled reassuringly.

I nod and smile back, feeling happy and content now.

I started to play with my fingernails to help myself get busy, feeling the atmosphere between me and my third-oldest brother getting awkward all of a sudden. The kind old woman back in Unkie's home helped me clean my whole body. I've never felt clean and refreshed in my life. I'm even wearing new comfy pink pyjamas from the huge closet Enzo told me was all mine; it was filled with probably hundreds of clothes and shoes, all fit for a princess. I'm not a princess, though, and I doubt I deserve them, but I'm still really happy and thankful.