D R A P E T O M A N I A
(n.) an overwhelming urge to run away
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"You guys reek of weed." Angelo scrunched up his face as we approached him.
Oops.
"Yeah, uh," I went to tuck my hair behind my ear but felt something -- oh. I pulled the joint out from behind my ear, the half-smoked joint. "You want it?" I asked Angelo who pursed his lips, pushing my hand down.
"I don't smoke." He smiled and I raised a brow.
"I don't really smoke either," I shrugged. "I'm more of an alcohol person," I told him and he jerked a brow.
"Okay, see, I relate to that one," He told me and I smiled. "I quit smoking about three years ago," He sighed and I moved the joint further away.
"My bad," I scratched the back of my neck. "But, good for you." I cheerily told him and he thanked me with a grin.
"Hey, we got thirty minutes left," Flavio approached us and we both looked at him. "Let's get going." He rubbed his hands after hugging his knee-length, black jacket to his body.
"You got a lighter?" I eyed the tiny ass joint left, popping it between my lips as I looked up at him, blocking the sunlight with my hands.
"Yeah but seriously?" He asked as he chucked the lighter at me which I caught.
"There's only a bit left," I shrugged and he nodded. "See you, Angelo." I smiled, walking off and then lighting my joint.
I got back in the front, the nice heat in the car making me feel better again and I smelt air freshener in here too.
"Oh, come on, I just sprayed." Lorenzo dropped his shoulders and I pulled the joint away, blowing out the smoke with an awkward grin.
"You can have the last bit," I patted his shoulder and he eyed me before he smiled, shaking his head.
"Fine."
"Motherfucker," I cursed, raising my sunglasses as I eyed the property we entered. "Where's my brother--" I have to complain to him why our safe house isn't like this. "--he's in the other car, nevermind." I watched the massive black gates open up, this isn't a mansion, it's like a fucking castle.
It's got like pillars and statues and shit, damn, I feel like I'm posh all of a sudden.
I noticed a group of undeniably attractive people standing, waiting for us, I guess.
"Anyone got perfume? I don't wanna give everyone the first impression that I'm some pothead." I looked around and they shook their heads. "Oh, you're all so extremely helpful." I sarcastically smiled.
"I got Febreeze." Lorenzo pointed at the long-ass can and why not?
"Febreeze will do." I shrugged and Dominic 'uh-uh'ed me.
"You are not using Febreeze, we all smell like weed, it's alright." He shook his head and I paused, glancing between both brothers.
"Here's the Febreeze," Lorenzo passed me the can and Dominic shook his head.
"Thank you for the Febreeze," I took it from him and smelt the top, oh, that smells nice.
"You're welcome for the Febreeze," He replied and Mila and Dominic both groaned.
"Can you stop saying Febreeze?" Flavio glanced at me. "We know it's Febreeze." I love when Flavio joins in on the jokes.
"You want us to stop saying Febreeze but you said Febreeze twice yourself." I smirked, knowing I'm getting annoying now but I also know that Flavio's messing around with us.
"Are you going to spray the Febreeze because I'm thinking I might use the Febreeze too?" Mila chimed in and I grinned at how she joined in on the joke too.
It's only Dominic's grump ass.
"Hurry up and spray the Febreeze." Dominic rolled his eyes and I laughed, spraying the cold-ass thing in my shirt which made me jump.
"Okay! That is cold." I handed the can behind me and I don't even know who took it but someone did.
"Ow!" I turned around to see Dominic holding his knee.
I guess no one took it.
"Sorry." I gave him an awkward smile and turned back around.
This place is so massive; it starts off as a normal mansion but eventually, get's higher and higher until the back of the mansion stands out like it's a whole new building. Surrounded by trees and the cream and white coloured buildings covered with fluorescent plants, it only made the royal looking place stand out; a whole small world of its own.
The walls of the mansion stood tall, protecting its own from the sins out in the world; rays of sunshine beamed through the gloomy morning skies and yet, the nature that had embraced itself with this mansion, it still had a dark energy to it.
The kind of energy that made the hairs on my skin raise and the chills to run down my spine, once we entered the property.
It didn't make it any easier that a group of intimidating people stood outside, waiting with their hands in front of them, one holding the other wrist while they kept their eyes ahead of them; Roman parking first, our car stopping in behind them and Storm behind us.
"Uh, guys," I muttered. "Is it too late to turn back?" I asked, feeling the nagging intimidation that twisted itself with a hint of darkness.
"Mara, don't worry, we're all gonna be with you," Flavio assured me and I just can't help but let all that humour in me drain itself from me; the beatings of my heart irregular and I just feel like I wanna leave.
The door opened for me, the gloomy daylight not making this any better.
I looked at the man who opened the door; maybe in his middle ages as he had an older look; faint wrinkles on his face but his eyes... they were dark. They were dark as in he's seen or done something, something so terrible but it was the scar -- a dark and intimidating scar on his left eye that ran from the top of his brow, through it and down his face, ending halfway down.
"Ms Torres," He professionally greeted me, now snapping back as I exited the car.
I smiled at him to be polite but I didn't get a reaction, his eyes still dead as he held somewhat of a scowl on his face.
"Mara," I turned to my right to see Dominic, Mila getting out right after him. "This is Leonardo Esposito, he's the boss around here," Makes sense, he's got that whole authoritative vibe to him. "Leonardo, this is Amara Torres," He introduced us and I forced on a small smile as I looked up at Leonardo.
He was huge, like scary tall and was very slim; his face was structured and cheeks hollow as his prominent cheekbones stood out. His platinum blonde hair a little poofy as he slicked it all back and his eyes an icy blue colour.
He looked cold, pale, like those stereotype kind of vampires.
"Si, signore," Leonardo gave Dominic a stern nod before he looked back at me. "I've heard a lot about you," He had a thick Italian accent, a deep voice to go along with it. "Welcome to Allora." His words didn't match his face, pretty much looks like he doesn't want me to be here.
"Thank you." I smiled, I do not wanna make this man mad.
"Signor Dominic!" I heard a cheery voice, turning to my right to see a happy looking man approaching Dominic, his arms out wide.
Dominic went in for the hug, both of them patting each other's back before pulling away.
"Long time no see, ah," His accent was also a thick Italian one.
His russet, reddish-brown skin looked flawless, his curly hair neatly set back as he wore a jolly smile on this full lips. His eyes were a golden colour but he had this look in them, no matter how happy this man looks, he has crazy in him.
"Rocco, meet Amara Torres," He introduced us and Rocco's eyes now diverted to me and I was right, he definitely has crazy eyes. "Amara, meet Rocco Ricci."
"Hello, bella," He gave me a nod and I smiled at him.
This place doesn't sit right with me.
Wait, I should check up on Landon, I should be with him, right now.
"Nice to meet you," I smiled back at him and looked over at Dominic. "I'm gonna go get Landon," I told him and he grabbed my wrist, gently.
"I'll come, wait," He told me. "See you inside, Rocco." Leonardo had walked away as I noticed him and Lorenzo in an intense yet calm conversation.
We walked over to Roman's car, seeing Roman standing outside as he spoke to one of the women from the group.
"Hey, Roman, sorry but have you seen Landon?" I looked around feeling a weird sense of anxiety that nagged at me.
"He was right here," He told me looking around.
That sentence never ends well.
I felt a sense of panic, a pang of guilt that mocked me as I looked around not seeing him anywhere in this massive group of people.
"Landon?" I called out feeling Dominic rest his hand on my shoulder.
"I bet he's here somewhere," He rubbed my shoulder as he looked around too. "Landon?" He called out and when we got no reply I cursed underneath my breath.
"Where is he?" I muttered to myself as I walked through the group of people, not getting any luck on finding him.
Where can he go? There's literally nowhere for him to disappear to.
"Ara?" I snapped my head around to feel relief, seeing him standing with Flavio.
"Fuck." I fumbled as I rushed over to him, engulfing him in a tight hug.
"Hey, I'm right here, you okay?" He rubbed my back and I rested my head on his shoulder.
I got on my tiptoes, whispering in his ear. "This place is fucking weird," I muttered. "Do you feel it?" I asked him as I moved back, his eyes full of worry.
"I do," He nodded, thank God I'm not the only one. "But we can't do anything about it, we have to wait for Alec and that's still a few days away." I sighed knowing that, going back down on my feet as I glanced at Flavio.
"I can tell you're worried?" Flavio furrowed his brows. "Either I or Dominic will be with you every minute, I know you had a lovely chat about this with Angelo and Roman," He told me and I nodded. "They're right." That doesn't make me feel any better.
"Flavio--"
"Listen to me carefully," He looked between Landon and me. "There's a reason why I don't like these people," I glanced at Dominic who joined our little circle. "They're sick in the head," He told me and Dominic quickly caught along on what we're saying.
"He's right," Ugh. "The two I introduced you to?" He asked me and I nodded. "Stay away from them, Leonardo's a diagnosed psychopath and Rocco... he's -- I don't even know what he is, he's just sick." Why couldn't they have told me this before?
"The only few people here that aren't as bad are," Flavio looked around. "Bria," He pointed at the woman with a sleek long ponytail, her features intimidatingly structured as no expressions were seen on her face. "She's the only person here that you can trust," Got it. "Then there's Enya," He pointed the other way; a tall woman who's medium tan skin was glowing, her black hair sleek and straight. "Then you have Allegra, she's the least worse of them all," A fair girl with blonde hair, the tip of her nose rosy and so were her cheekbones, her waterline red which made her seem like the 'innocent looking but I'll rip you apart' kind of person. "And last but not least, Mario." A tall, well-built guy with wavy brown hair stood at the front, looking around with an earpiece in his left ear.
"So: Bria, Enya, Allegra and Mario?" I asked and they both nodded. "Got it." I gave them a firm nod as I looked around again. "So the other ten people here--"
"Nope." They both answered in unison and I widened my eyes, nodding.
"Maybe Avalon?" Dominic eyed the woman who had had hands behind her back, standing tall with her brown hair in a low pony.
"Avalon is scary," Flavio pulled a look as he shook his head, eyeing the woman and I rolled my eyes.
"Please, have you met this one?" Landon sniggered, throwing his arm around my shoulder.
This is why Landon's a great brother.
Flavio and Dominic looked between us, then sniggered before looking at each other.
"He's right." Flavio nodded and Dominic agreed.
I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed; the room that was given to me was beautiful, Dominic walked me here as he took Landon to Flavio's room after, making sure he'll be safe with him.
I really don't want to stay here but I don't have much of a choice, Alec's coming in a few days so I just have to compromise. I would've felt a lot better if Maya was here too but I have no idea where that crazy bitch is and what she's doing.
Suddenly, the door opened and I locked up at Dominic who barged in like it was his room.
"Um, hate to break it to you but there's a thing called knocking?" I raised a brow as he turned around, looking at me with amusement.
"Really? I'm not really familiar with something of that sort." He sarcastically replied back and I smirked.
"I could've never guessed." My legs swayed back and forth, this bed's so high up from the ground, if I happen to accidentally fall of this bed in the middle of the night, I'll definitely break something.
I watched Dominic pull off his black, long jacket, familiar to the one Flavio was wearing but just slightly different material; his biceps bulging through his grey tight shirt.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, having a surprisingly normal conversation with him in days.
He looked at me confused, hanging his jacket behind the door. "You're sharing this room with me, silly." He smirked and my expressions have never dropped so quickly before.
"Uh, I think not." I raised my brows and he slowly walked over.
"You are not leaving my sight at all, so to assure myself you're safe, you'll be staying with me," He plopped down next to me. "This is where you say 'oh so fun! I can't wait to spend all these--" I cut him off as he did that annoying voice... I don't sound like that.
"I can look after myself, I don't need you hovering around constant--"
"Mara," He grabbed my shoulders, making me shut up. "You're a strong, confident, independent and powerful woman, yes, I know! I love that but please, I just want to look out for you... nothing else." His words made me dumbfounded, what do I come back to this with?
"I get that but I can--" Okay, I got cut off again.
"Put your guard down, for once, for me," His gaze was intense. "I know you can look out for yourself, I've seen you kick ass but just so I can have a bit of sanity knowing you're okay from these people... let me care for you," His last words really made me speechless now. "That's all I want, Mar, is to look out for you... I don't want to control you, I know that's what scares you... just let me care for you, let me look out for you and put your guard down for a bit." His thumb gently caressed my cheekbone and I felt like giving in to this but I had a small fear in the back of my head telling me not to fall for it.
"Fine but you're sleeping on the couch." I shrugged him off and went to leave, to exit from this situation.
I felt his arms wrap around me as he pulled me into him, hugging me tightly and I felt that comfort and protectiveness again.
"You know you fall asleep in my arms better," He teased and I rolled my eyes, even though he's right I am not agreeing to that.
"Don't push your luck," I groaned as he squeezed me. "I'm still mad at you for the way you acted all these days." He loosened his grip on me, sighing.
"Seeing my brother hovering over you, it makes me mad," He muttered and I looked back and down at him. "He's doing it on purpose, even though he's a grown-ass man he can't stop acting like a teenage boy." Dominic sniggered and I smirked at how he described him, which was a little too good.
"You two are stressful," I pulled away from his hug, standing in front of him. "It's like, I can't be around one without making the other mad," I shrugged and he smirked.
"What can I say?" He leaned back on his elbows and I shook my head.
"Nothing, don't say anything and just stay silent every time you're around me."