Mafia's Mate

All of my fear

It's now or never,

I looked at the road again, the car was moving fast and I knew pain was the only thing waiting for me but fueled by adrenaline, leaped out into the darkness.

The sudden impact with the unforgiving ground jarred through my body. The gravelly road bit into my palms, and my knees absorbed the force of the fall.

"HAH!!!?" A sharp gasp escaped my lips as pain radiated through my limbs.

For a moment, the world spun in disorientation. The car's tail lights painted a fading streak in the distance as it continued its journey, oblivious to my escape. The surrounding darkness seemed to swallow me whole, and the pain in my limbs served as a stark reminder of the risks I'd taken.

FUCK!!??? Tears streamed down my cheeks on their own as the bone breaking pain shook my nerves.

SHIT!!

Struggling to my feet, I winced with each step, aching limbs protesting the abrupt landing. The shadows embraced me like silent witnesses to my hasty descent. I limped away from the road, the pain a persistent companion in the quiet night.

That's when it happened, the rhythmic hum of the car's engine died down.

Oh no,

I looked back at the car and my heart pounded with a mixture of fear and anticipation. As the vehicle came to an abrupt stop, I sensed the impending threat

SHIT! He found out!

My aching limbs protested every move, but the adrenaline-fueled determination to escape overshadowed the pain.

As the car door creaked open, I pressed further into the concealment of the night but the moon in the sky provided enough light to the eye to see.

Shit! Can't the moon get covered by clouds or something?!? Only for a while!!

The kidnapper's silhouette emerged, a foreboding figure against the muted glow of the moon.

Despite the pain throbbing through my limbs, I pushed myself to my feet, stumbling away from the scene of the escape.

I ran ahead, trying my best to forget about the pain in my body and the blood seeping out.

"Quite foolish of you," It was indeed Murim's voice. He was the one driving the car, "What did you think you'd achieve by jumping out of a speeding car?"

I chose to ignore his voice, I chose to ignore his words and I only chose to run

The uneven terrain challenged my weakened state, and the night seemed to blur as I navigated the surroundings, driven by a primal instinct for survival. The tire iron, though heavy in my grip, I didn't want to let it go, it was my only weapon, my only shield

As I staggered along the moonlit road, the distant echoes of my kidnapper's footsteps became a haunting reminder that escape was a fragile reality.

Suddenly, a vice-like grip seized my hair, pulling me backward with a force that sent a jolt of panic through me. The night air filled with my startled gasp as I struggled against the unruly assault.

In that desperate moment, fear ignited a surge of adrenaline. My free hand instinctively clutched the tire iron, a cold determination replacing the initial shock. The world seemed to slow as I turned, my heart pounding, and with a fierce swing, I struck the kidnapper with the improvised weapon.

The metallic thud resonated through the night, punctuating the struggle of escape.

"You bitch!!!!" The grip on my hair loosened, and a gasp of pain escaped my captor. Panic and defiance clashed in the darkness, and I stumbled away, the tire iron now stained because of my resolute strike.

Murim tried to come at me again as I was scrambling away and I looked at him frantically. That's when I noticed what part of him I injured.

His eye

Only one of his eyes though. He placed his right hand on his right eye but his left eye glared at me and he came running to me. I stood up.

I knew I couldn't run, my injuries wouldn't allow me to run fast or far. So I chose to fight. He lunged at me and I hit him again as I tripped him. The night and his injured vision betrayed him and he fell on the road head first, hitting his head there.

I stared at him with the weapon firm in my hand and I don't know what it was. The panic? The hatred? The fear? The desire for revenge? The anger?

The fear might have made me stop thinking.

Or maybe it was the anxiety that took my power to think away

It could also be the yearning for eternal freedom

Or then again, it might have been accumulated trauma that burst out like that.

I don't know for sure what it was or how I even found the strength to do it. But as Murim crashed on the road once, I hit him again with the iron in my hand.

He let out a painful groan

And I hit him again

And again and again and again

"Stop," He bled, "What are you-" But I kept hitting him, "Clio," And again. He groaned in pain. I heard something of his crack.

His skull?

His bones?

His fingers?

I don't know. I wasn't in my right mind. I had just snapped and I kept going like a maniac.

Till another voice reached me,

"Calliope!!!" Someone yelled out my name, which was perhaps the only thing that made me stop and snap back to reality.

!!!

Huh?

The bloodstains on my hands and the tire iron faded into the background at the sound of his voice and I shot my head around to look at him.

All of my being felt the peace when he came into my view

With a sigh of relief, I forgot the desperate struggle, the pain, and the fear that had defined the night.

"Matthew," I whispered his name. In the haze of the moment, I rushed towards him, forgetting the stains that marked our individual ordeals. The blood on my hands and the darkness on his clothes became inconsequential as I embraced him, seeking solace in the familiar warmth of his arms.

The scent of blood lingered in the air, yet, in that moment, his presence eclipsed the shadows, and the chaos melted away in the reassurance of his hug.

"Matthew," My voice trembled as his warmth seeped into me,

"Hey," He wrapped his strong arms around me, "It's okay,"

Oh God,

Yes,

I was heard,

I pulled back slightly from the embrace, the sincerity in his eyes mirrored the vulnerability in mine. The realization that I could finally share my truth with him, unburdened by the shadows that had haunted me, brought a sense of liberation.

And it was probably the high amount of adrenaline pumping in my blood like crazy that I went ahead and did it.

With a quivering voice, I whispered the words that had long lingered on the tip of my tongue. "I love you,"

His eyes went wide at my words but I couldn't wait.

I placed my hands on his cheek, cupped his face regardless of the fact I was getting it dirty.

The overwhelming feeling made me lose all sense of shame and I went ahead and planted my lips on his which only caused him more shock.