91 Days: After the End

Day 25: Hide-and-Seek

I awoke to the sound of my door opening abruptly, my body immediately up while my eyes adjusted to the dark.

Franz's silhouette could be seen by the sliver of light peeking through the small opening of my door, his expression barely visible due to the light being shone on his back.

"Miss-isa?" He whispered.

"Franz, what's wrong?" I asked him after I had motioned him to enter the room and watched him close the door behind him.

It was then that I heard the sound of heavy footsteps ascending the floors and froze.

Fio, Franz, Cerotto and I should be the only ones here and, by habit of observation, neither Fio nor Cerotto were capable of making such heavy footsteps. Angelo and Nero were still in Lawless and wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow unless they decided to turn back.

Which was unlikely since Nero and Angelo were running on borrowed time, after all.

It only meant one thing-

And I didn't like that possibility one bit.

"Franz." I quietly pulled the boy to me, trying my best to meet his gaze amidst the darkness. "Is there a stranger outside? Is that why you came to me? Where's your mom or the tall guy that I came here with?"

"I-no..." Franz's voice sounded a bit panicked, the floorboards outside creaking in protest from the unknown person's heavy footfalls which made us cringe. "I heard ring. Mom go... I saw men."

The footsteps stopped and I inwardly cursed when I noticed the shadow linger over the door to my room through the slit beneath the door. I hugged Franz close to me and gently covered his mouth to muffle the loud breathing of the little boy.

I watched with abated breath as the doorknob to the room twisted ever so slightly, my pulse quickening like a cornered rat when the creaking of the door echoed in the quiet room, the light slowly letting itself into the darkness that was our protection.

*Bang*

A gunshot echoed somewhere beneath us, both Franz and I flinching from the sound. I managed to stifle Franz's cry while nearly biting my tongue to prevent myself from screaming in surprise. The shadow by the door paused halfway through before their footsteps bounded noisily away from our door.

I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but the fact that a gun had been fired prevented me from doing so. Dread replaced my relief when the worry of not knowing who fired the gun and whom it had hit invaded my thoughts.

Franz shivered in my arms as we remained unmoving, whimpers escaping his lips as he tried to make himself smaller when he tucked himself like a ball. It took me a while to realize that he wasn't the only one panicking. The blurring of my vision and the warm wetness that leaked down to my cheeks were proof of that.

What had I gotten myself into?

All of this shouldn't have happened to me - to them - if I hadn't decided to look for Angelo. My own reckless curiosity had put all of them in danger.

All because I wanted to prove myself.

'Yet I'm in this mess now. Whether I wanted it to happen or not... It's my responsibility now too.' I thought to myself while trying in vain to wipe away the tears.

They all wanted nothing more but peace yet I had knocked upon their doorstep and dragged them back into their nightmare of a past. Franz was only just a child and already he's being subjected to such a traumatic experience.

*Bang*

Another gunshot echoed within the establishment, followed next by the sound of glass shattering. It was enough to make us both jump, my hands never reaching Franz' mouth to stifle his cry. It was loud and haunting, echoing in the small confines of Fio's home. I hugged the boy closer to me, trying to soothe him as we awaited anyone to make a move.

It's obvious that his cry would be heard throughout the house. That alone will send those men up to search the house again. The least I can do is protect Franz.

For all the trouble I had cost them. It was my only way to ask for forgiveness.

It scared me. Only few ever had the bravery to face the barrel of a gun for the sake of people they barely knew. Nero made it clear that I shouldn't dig deeper into their world. He meant it with good intentions, hoping to spare me any more of the darkness that clung to them all.

He hoped that maybe the Galassias would make my sentence lighter, a sliver of chance that an innocent bystander like me would be forgiven by the familia if he made my participation in their plans as non-existent as possible.

Not once did he blame me for blowing their cover. Regardless of what his family had once been, it was obvious that Nero was far too kind for his own good.

"Franz." I didn't know what came over me by the time I had called the boy's name. "Let's play a game" I smile at him, lightly pulling his hand and swiftly lifting him off the bed and onto the floor.

"Miss -is-"

"Shhh." I put my finger to his lips and tried to reassure him with a smile far too forced for my liking. "We'll play a game, alright. Hide and Seek. I'll be the 'It' so you have to hide afterp I count to ten."

I scanned the room and noticed that only the bed and the cabinet would be big enough to fit Franz. I turned back to the boy and noticed that he had calmed down now, probably believing that because I had requested him to play a game then it was safe to assume that whatever had just transpired a while back was over now.

It was good. At least for now.

"You can hide anywhere in this room, Franz. Only in this room, alright, otherwise the game is over. Can you do that?"

"Yes..."

"Good," I ruffle him by the hair, my face doing its best not to falter. My heart jumped painfully inside my chest, adrenaline taking over at the thought of what I was about to do.

But I had no choice. We were trapped and to investigate what was going on outside was the only way we were going to get back our shred of normalcy.

I gulped in a whole lot of air and exhaled deeply, composing myself the best I can and stood up.

"Time to start Franz. On the count of three..."

--*--

A/N: Day 3 should have been this fanfic but we were out so I didn't have any decent wi-fi to update it. The schedule will proceed as planned. I've already updated 3/5 of the incomplete fanfics I have so only two left before the year ends.

Once again Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year guys!