The dungeon was damp and cold. A far cry from the usual warm and soft bed the ten-year-old girl was accustomed to. The chains were so heavy and they stopped her from standing too much. It dug into her smooth skin and she shuffled in discomfort.
A dark blond-haired woman's heart clenched as she looked down at her exhausted and pain-filled ten-year-old daughter. She blinked up at her mother with her big doe green eyes, completely trusting her mother.
"Mom!" The relief was evident in her tone. They'd been separated for a few days. Her word brought more tears to the woman's already tear-stained cheeks.
Her daughter stood and ran to fling herself into the arms of safety in her mother's, but she abruptly halted by the chains on her hands that were connected to a cell wall. The ten years old girl let out a cry of frustration.
"Mom..." she silently begged for her mother to come towards and take her in her arms. To tell her that they would get out here, that everything would be okay, and that she loves her so much. Her eyebrows creased in confusion as her mother continued to stand there and cried silently.
"Are you okay?" The girl asked with the utmost concern for her mother.
"Yes, darling." Her mother forced a smile, trying to not choke on a sob. "Everything's fine."
The girl frowned. Everything was not fine. They were kidnapped by the men in suits and brought here by a white van. She had been blindfolded the entire time until she'd arrived here a few days ago
"Do it."
The girl flinched at the voice that came out of nowhere. She turned his head to look and her whole body shivered out of fear. A man with sharp dark blue eyes in a black suit stood outside the cell.
The mother's fingers tightened on the gun handle behind her back.
Slowly, her arm shifted from behind to her front. The ten-year-old seeing the gun in her mother's hand, her eyebrows creased. Why would she have a gun? Shouldn't she shoot at the bad guys?
The mother's entire arm was shaking as she lifted the gun in a slow motion until it stopped.
"W-what are you d-doing?" The little girl asked and trembled as the gun was pointed at her temple.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." She choked on her own words. This was the only way she would survive. It was her or the girl. The mother did love her daughter once but ultimately her selfish desire for herself overwhelmed all of her senses. Her love wasn't enough to stop her from living or saving her daughter. "The monsters made me do it."
"Mom?" The girl's voice cracked as the terror gnawed on the entire fiber of her being.
The mother pulled the trigger on a ten-year-old Ariana.
P E R D I T A
Ariana Romano felt the sense of a deja vu as she stood there paralyzed with a gun pointed at her.
"Got you." Instead of her mother standing there, a middle-aged man in a full black uniform stood there as he grinned.
Ariana internally slapped herself for exposing herself. She should have stayed in the wardrobe like Ace had asked her to. He should have ordered her to stay inside and her trained mind would follow the command without any hesitation. But like the stupid girl she was, she'd disobeyed his eldest brother.
When she heard the gunshot go off ten minutes ago, Ace instantly was on his guard and shoved her into a wardrobe door in her closet. Stay there, okay? Someone will be sent here to protect you. He had said to her and she nodded meekly. When he got the confirmation from her sister, he left after closing the door - trapping her in the darkness.
The only light source was the light beaming through the crack of the door. She held her breath as she heard more gunshots and loud footsteps, letting her know there was more than one intruder.
She couldn't breathe in that cramped space with that crack with a bit of light pouring in. It brought all of the memories she had been repressing.
Too small, too cramped. She hasn't been in this small space for months.
She could feel that ghost brush of its touch and the smell of rotting skin. Something bumped her and she almost screamed out loud. She quickly realized it was only clothes.
What's wrong with me, she asked herself silently. She never screams.
Curling into a ball the best as possible in the tiny space and she counted quietly. Counting helps, she told herself. To keep her mind off everything. She let out a strangled cry as she realized it didn't help anymore. Too used to the freedom she had, her mindset had been returning to normal.
She would suffocate to death if she didn't get out. And she did.
She decided to hide under the bed until someone came to protect as Ace had said. Painstakingly slow, she pushed the door open. It wasn't until it was two inches ajar that she peeked out. There was nobody in her closet. Releasing a breath, she got out of the wardrobe and closed the door behind her.
She whirled around only to come face-to-face with a man with a gun pointed directly at her temple. And that's when the snippet of her past life slammed into her brain.
The man looked into the mafia princess's eyes and felt satisfaction at what he found in there - terror.
Ariana did not freak out at the gun. She did not fear the man who was threatening her life. Rather, she was frozen by the resurfaced memory, that would be now engraved into her mind.
She was supposed to be dead.
Murdered by her mother. A mother who she had loved so dearly.
Maybe this was the end of the cycle. Dying by a bullet in her head like she should have four years ago.
The gurgling sounds coming from the man put a halt to her train of thoughts.
A shocked gasp escaped her when a fist tore through the man's throat and another hand curled to hold down his shoulder. His eyes bulged out of his sockets and blood spilled out his mouth endlessly. The hand disappeared, pulling back, forming a large hole in his neck.
A slam echoed in the hallway as his body fell forward to reveal a blood-covered Alex.
Alex winced at the state of Ariana. Her breath was coming in strained gasps, her face was unnaturally pale and speckled with blood. She stood there, frozen, as she stared at Alex.
He was frozen, too. He knew his current state. A scarred giant covered with blood from head to toe was recently witnessed torn apart through a man's windpipe with his bare hands. Any logical person would turn to the opposite way. He thought about all of the ways he'd have to coax Ariana into coming with him. If he could speak, everything would be easier.
He was shocked when she took the two steps slowly towards her on her own accord without him lifting a finger. Something flashed across her face and she rushed over to Alex, grabbing ahold of his hand. Alex looked down at the tiny hand that didn't even reach the half size of his own interwoven with his hand.
Ariana looked at his older brother. His heart faltered at her usual lifeless eyes now sparking with trust. He somehow knew it wasn't normal for her to trust or warm up to someone this fast and he swore at the moment he would do anything to keep it.
For years, he was dubbed as a monster and that was the truth. Everyone feared or was wary of him, even his brothers. Too many times, he had heard himself referred to be a creature because of his large frame and the scar across his face. A creature who would trap its prey in the hinges of its jaws if they ever got in the way. Along the way over the years, he had been reduced from a human being to a bloodlust creature and Alex didn't care because he didn't feel like it either and it was the half-truth.
Until now.
Looking into the familiar shade of green with a few specks of gold brown, Alex Romano felt like he was the boy he once was ago again. A boy who shared her sister's love for M&M candy. A boy who used to complain when it was time for Ariana's bedtime. A boy whose little sister was his whole world. The hero. A protector for his baby sister. A boy that he thought had died a long time ago.
Perhaps he didn't. Alex felt a scintilla of the former hero stirring in the deepest corner of his heart, guarded by steel walls. He was a protector then and he would still be one.
The difference was the man he is from the boy he once was is he was now capable of killing each breathing creature - innocent or not - if anyone lay a finger on her ever again.
He would drown the world with their fucking blood if that is what it takes.
Ripping away from their intense stare contest, Alex walked forward and tugged her in the process. He'd lost his gun when he'd dropped it before, wanting to feel their inside organs on his hands - being the sadistic bastard he was. Now he regretted it now he had a girl to protect. He couldn't leave her alone for a second, even to kill them with his bare hands. Stealthy and trained assassins could be hiding anywhere. They could spring out of nowhere anytime.
They had to hide until all of this passed, Alex decided. He never had to hide before today and therefore he didn't know where the closest safe room was. He never thought it was necessary to be aware of these kinds of stuff.
Seems like he had a lot of regrets today.
Ariana followed his older brother as he walked briskly, ignoring the leg cramps that were getting worse as she took another step with a lot of effort. Soon her own body would shut down on her and she would crumple.
A second later, her concerns were proven to be true when an explosion went off. The ground shook and the left wall of her side cracked into pieces, flying off. Some of them pierced the siblings' skin. Lucky, no flame-licked them, but it was close enough to rattle them.
Ariana couldn't go on her feet anymore. It gave up on her and she crumpled to the floor like a puppet released from its strings.
The last thing she saw was the fear and concern in Alex's wide eyes as he hovered over her. She escaped with the darkness where her haven was at.
P E R D I T A
Ace Romano was livid as he stood outside on a sunny day - the opposing how the day went - watching his damaged mansion. Parts of it were in smoke from the explosions. Inside, things were scattered over and glasses from the shattered window were all over.
For years, none dared to break into the Romano mansion. Either it is fear that stopped the, or the highest security the world has to offer is placed inside. Today, it's been turned off by hand. Someone close to the family.
The traitor.
Ace wanted to drag them over their heads, to get them insane with stress and fear, before he truly found the culprit. However, it backfired on him. He could not previse this situation and it almost cost his sister's life - Ariana who was currently resting in one of the vans was brought there in Alex's arms.
A billion dollars bounty on his sister's head had sent the assassins running to her.
The news came as shocking to him. Kodiak had let her go and in exchange, he got their father. Now he suddenly wanted Ariana dead?
Something about the situation rose each alarm in Ace's sixth sense. There was something he missed or overlooked. No matter how much he dwelled on it, there were no theories that made sense.
He was sure of something in this situation was that something was severely wrong.
If they were not his uncles or cousins, he would have tortured the answers out of them by now, innocent or not. All of his mortality went out of the window when it comes to Ariana. He was nearing to drop everything and torture them, though. By how their body tensed or stiffened each time they looked at him, he knew they suspected what Ace was thinking.
The only thing that stopped him was his father's love for his brothers and Ace's brothers' love for his cousins who treated each other like blood brothers.
Alex was looking at him as if to say just do it already. Elijah was giving him a pointed look as if to say don't do anything. They were like an angel and devil on Ace's shoulders, whispering in his ears.
He stared at the suspected traitor speaking with one of the cousins. His jaws clenched. This man betrayed his father once to take the place of the Don instead of Luca. He was caught but spared. Luca was unable to kill him out of love for his brother. He'd only received the ban from engaging with the mafia world and a broken nose.
Ace didn't blame his father. If one of his brothers ended to be the traitor, he couldn't bring himself to kill him either.
Alex would in a heartbeat, though.
It was most likely he was the traitor. People don't change.
"Put all of them in the safe house. Ensure there is no way for them to contact the outside." Ace ordered one of his trusted men. He had enough playing around. This would put the stop to the mess they got into today. And perhaps by putting the mole underneath Ace's close watch, he would catch the one faster. When he caught him, he would find his father and rescue him.
"What about Dante?" The soldier asked.
"He would want to be with his family. But regardless, I will talk with him first before I decide what to do with him."
He bowed. "Yes, sir. It is done."
"If the word comes out that the Italian Don is turning against his own family, there will be rebellion!" Elijah warned him unnecessarily when he left and earned a glare of disapproval from Alex.
"They fear me." Ace said coldly. "If it is not enough to halt them, they will suffer a painful death."
"If it's half population of the whole underground world raging against you? What then, hm? Kill them all?" A scoff came from Elijah.
"If it's what it takes, then yes."
Elijah saw an excitement glinting in Alex's eyes as if he hoped for this.
"We'll be staying in the safe house for the next few weeks, too!" He added, in hopes of changing Ace's mind. While the damage to the mansion is revived, they all were going to stay there for a time being.
"I know."
"Ariana will be with us, too!" Noah said in an outrageous tone, joining the heating conversation. The three brothers turned to see Noah approaching them. "You don't mean to put the traitor who wants Ariana dead on the same roof?!"
"He won't be stupid enough to kill Ariana if he wanted to. He's a Romano, Elijah. He may be betraying us but I don't believe he means Ariana any harm. We don't harm children." Ace replied. He was willing to bet
Little does he know that the traitor already harmed one of theirs.
"What if he wants to, though, huh?"
"He won't."
"Fine, play along. If he does?"
"I will protect her."
"Oh?" Noah scoffed. "Did you not learn anything yet?! Last time I checked, you failed to protect Ariana when she was lying on the floor almost freezing to death days ago. You failed to protect Ariana when she was tortured for four years straight. You failed to protect her when Cata snatched her away from your bed, right under your eyes!"
Noah's face was suddenly jerked a few inches away from Ace's cold face, which was quickly becoming seething and wrathful. Ace had his younger brother's t-shirt in a wrinkled ball inside his fist.
"Remember who you are talking to." He snarled.
"I'm talking to my brother!" Noah snapped as all of his common sense faded away when it involved his sister. "Don't bother to scare me. Ground me all you want! I don't give a shit. Just don't let Ariana under the same roof with them!"
Anyone who got close to them could feel the pure anger radiating between both of the Romano brothers.
Ace was seriously debating punching his younger brother right now for speaking to him in this way.
Or maybe for voicing the truth when he wasn't ready for it.
"Ace," Elijah said suddenly gently, hoping to smooth things over without any bruised or broken bones. "I know you want to save Father and think staying under the same roof will find the traitor faster. But this is Ariana we're talking about. Our little sister that our father gave himself for, remember? We can't risk her."
Elijah had warned him a few days ago. When his emotions got the better of him, he does things without any logic. This was happening right now. And it involves Ariana. When Luca returned, if he even returns at all, and finds out Ace put her in the danger to save him, he would be pissed off.
Elijah studied his eldest brother carefully and he visibly calm down, his once darkened eyes returning to their normal emotionless green shade.
"Who do you think I am?" He said, his voice void of emotion once again. "Of course, I have precautions taken. The mansion will be divided and heavily guarded. It will be impossible for them to go over to our side."
Elijah nodded, instantly calm down by the reasonable situation. Noah relaxed his tense muscles a bit, too. Elijah had something to add, however.
"I just hope this doesn't backfire on us."
There were supposed to have more actions in two chapters but I was too lazy to write them lmao.
So Ariana's going to be under the traitor's (and one of her monsters) roof for weeks - oops. How do you think Ariana will fare?
At least in this way, the traitor's identity will be revealed sooner.
P.S some of you seem to be confused about Ariana's monsters, she refers to the people who torture or participate in her captivity as 'monsters'. Hope this clears things up.