ALESSIO

1- Always Alone

June 5th

Dear Diary,

I have officially given up on all hope in my life. No matter how much i write in this brown leather journal that my mother gave me before she died; it will never change the reality that i live in. The true, cruel place that i breathe air on.

2 days ago, i was kidnapped, drugged and taken to a dark, cold basement where i have been living in for the past 48 hours. There is a single bed in the top right hand corner of the room and there is a sink, toilet and bath tub that mind you looks like it hasn't been cleaned for 10 years, in the bottom left hand corner. The food has been distasteful to say the least. It usually consisted of stale bread and cold chicken soup washed down with a glass of warm water. And under the condition of only being fed once a day, i had no other choice but to eat the food that they gave me.

And who is they, may you ask? They are the Italian Mafia.

It all started 2 months ago when my father came home in the middle of the night in his usual drunken state but this time he was beat and bloody. He had a broken noise, a bruised eye and a bloody lip. At the time, my father told me that he owed some people money and to them, putting him in that kind of condition was somehow taken as letting him off with a warning. This 'person' that he owed money to was none other than Alessio Zampelli, The Italian Mafia's Boss.

My father was given from the 3rd of April to the 3rd of June to pay off his debts by giving back the money that he 'borrowed' from Alessio. If his debt wasn't paid off until then, which obviously couldn't have been because my father didn't have 150 thousand dollars to return to him, then he had to come up with another way to repay him or he'd pay him off with his life. And that was where i came into the equation. My father evidently didn't want to die so he sold me off to them instead.

So then that led to me getting kidnapped whilst my walk home from the library 2 days ago.

So far in the time that i have been here, i've learnt all of this information between my first fifteen minutes in this cell. My reaction from hearing how my own flesh and blood sold me off to dangerous mafia men was quite normal to anyone else's. I cried, badly. I sobbed into my hands as Alessio's right hand man, Dominic who was strangely nice to me continued to explain the crucial detail of how easily my father exchanged my life for his. It was hard to hear of course, but sadly i wasn't that all surprised either.

Ever since my mother died when i was only 12 years of age, my dad was extremely out of the loop when we lost her; so that left me fending for myself. Sometimes he would leave me alone days at a time for his binge drinking weekends, only to return home complaining to me about why food wasn't on the table for him to eat.

Before my mother died, my father, her and i use to have a normal, life and were once called a family. We lived in a small house but big enough for the three of us in one of New Jersey's Suburbs'. My mother was a stay-at-home mum. She was so tender, selfless and nurturing; i can still remember how she and my father use to tuck me into my sheets at night. At the time, my father owned a Garage which was his business that skyrocketed so quickly. He adored his job and he was the most popular mechanic in all of New Jersey.

Reflecting on the times were all my days were filled with happy smiles and pure love and enjoyment of life, makes me wonder how life got so screwed up for me now.

I cry myself to sleep every night, praying and dreaming of a life where i was free from the danger and cruelty that floods this city everyday. I dream about not being held captive from these people and running away from all the madness that bombards my existence.

Earlier today i was told that i was being moved to a more comfortable locale to stay at. I was shocked to hear that, that place was Alessio Zampelli's Apartment.

Why on earth would he want me living with him? As much as i despise the fact that this man and my father is the reason why i am here, i could not fathom the fact that i was going to live with him.

And as much as i hate my mind for it, i could not deny the fact that Alessio was a very attractive man indeed. I however only saw him once and that was when my abduction occurred; but it was only that one time that i saw his rugged hair, sparkly brown eyes, and structured facial features that caused me to fall weak at the knees. There was no contradicting his handsome features, but there was no opposing the naked truth that he was a monster. A true devil that inflicted harm on others.

But there was no running away from it now. I was going to live with the cruel, heartless Italian Mobster Boss Alessio Zampelli. All i could possibly do is watch as the clock slowly ticks it's way to sunrise; sealing the deal and shipping me off to lodge with a stranger who means nothing but pure suffering for me.

I need to be strong. I can not give up on hope. I need to find a way out of this torture; out of this mess that my father has put me in. But the question does linger in my mind. Can I survive this?

- Olivia Ivanov