Tw: Nightmares, flashbacks, and MENTIONS of kidnapping and pedophiles
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I woke up in my bed, feeling disoriented and confused. I looked around, realizing that I was in yet another unfamiliar house, and the thought of all the previous foster homes I'd been placed in made me feel sick to my stomach. Memories of the ones where I'd been abused still haunted me, making it almost impossible to forget the pain and the scars that were left behind.
"Wasn't I in the car a few seconds ago? Why am I back here?" I ask myself as I try to remember how I got here but my mind remained blank.
Suddenly, I feel like I lost control of my body, I couldn't do anything. I saw myself. It felt weird, I tried to scream but nothing came out. Not a single sound.
The only thing I could do was to watch quietly. I watch myself drifting into a deep sleep, only to be awakened by my worst fear. I found myself back in my old foster home, one of the many homes where I'd been physically and emotionally abused by my previous foster parents. I tried to break free, but their grip on me grew stronger, and the blows of their fists grew more violent, slamming me against the walls and leaving bruises all over my body.
I wanted to interfere as the scene was playing in front of me but it was like my feet were glued to the floor.
All I could hear were my screams rippling through the air and the sound of the countless hits of fists punching against my body. The pain was unbearable, and I felt like I was trapped in a never-ending cycle of abuse that I'd never be able to escape.
I tried to put my hands over my ears but they were also stuck, they refused to move and I feel the blood in my limp body run cold.
-Do they even know I'm here? I thought to myself.
As my memory progressed, my vision became blurry, and everything around me was smeared in dark colors. The room I was in became distorted, and my foster parents' unbearable cackles echoed through my head. I couldn't shake the feeling of being trapped and helpless, and the memory became so vivid it felt like I was living it all over again.
I tossed and turned, feeling trapped in a dark abyss.
I watched as my old self tried to fight back, but their grip on me was too strong, and my fists too weak. The younger version of me cried out in pain as the punches continued, one after the other. The room around me trembled and shook, and the walls began to crack and crumble, sending dust and debris raining down on me.
I watched in horror as the floor beneath me gave away, and I tumbled downward into a dark, endless abyss. I landed with a thud, and the pain of my fall mingled with the pain of my memories. I lay there, alone and afraid, as my foster parents' laughter echoed in my ears.
Taunting me.
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I was woken up by somebody shaking my shoulder lightly. I flew up and out of my seat and hit my head on the ceiling of the car. I groaned in pain, I was still a bit shaky from the nightmare so I sat back down in the car seat to try and calm down a bit. After a while of trying to collect myself, I took a deep breath and looked to my side to see who woke me up.
Standing there was an apologizing-looking Lucas. I frowned when I saw the expression on his face. I could see a glint of pity in his eyes which filled my heart with hatred. I did not want people to feel bad for me. But before he even got a chance to say something, a worried Michael came running towards us at full speed.
"Nickolas! Are you ok?" I hadn't even gotten the chance to answer before he turned to Lucas and started screaming at him.
"Lucas! How many times do I have to tell you to be careful!?" why did he get so angry? I only hit my head. It didn't even hurt that bad.
"I'm sorry, I was just-"
"I don't want to hear it! You-" he got cut off by me.
"He was just trying to wake me up. It doesn't even hurt that bad." I tell him. I can see Lucas giving me a thankful smile but I just turned my gaze somewhere else.
-you can't get attached to them.
-they are just like the others.
-don't let your guard down.
"But he-." Jasper interrupted Michael this time.
"Michael breathe, I told him to wake Nickólas up. Now stop screaming at him. You are making a scene."
I look past Michael only to be met with queries eyes from a couple of people who had stopped to look at us but when they saw we weren't shouting at each other anymore they just got back to what they were doing before.
Pricks.
"Let's just go inside." Jasper sighed.
I jumped out of my car seat and followed as everyone started walking. But soon realized Lucas wasn't doing the same. I think he's still kind of shocked by Michael's reaction. I stood there for a while not knowing what to do. Should I just ignore it and run inside or stay here? I thought for a while when an idea popped up in my head.
-I am going to regret this.
I walk up to Lucas and he gave me a confused look. But then I just hug him. No words, no nothing. He immediately wraps his arms around me.
It feels really uncomfortable and I wanted to let go, but I thought that he would let go first.
We eventually let go of each other and he whispers something to me.
"Thank you, Nico." he gave me a nickname. Does that mean I'll have to give one back?
Will he get mad if I don't? Better be on the safe side.
"No problem, Luca."
He smiled at me and I smiled back. But it wasn't a genuine smile. It was just so he wouldn't see me as rude. Lucas didn't seem to notice the difference though.
"you are smiling," he commented in a slightly confused tone.
I immediately stopped smiling because I thought it was too obvious I didn't really mean it. He stops smiling too.
"no, no, no. I didn't mean it in a bad way. It is just that I have never seen you smile before. It's really beautiful Nico."
I can't tell if he is lying or not.
I think He means it.
I start to smile again and I can tell I made him happy. I think I like Lucas a little bit more than the others. But don't get me wrong, I hate all of them with a burning passion. It's just that Lucas is a little bit more trustworthy.
After a while of just standing there in silence, we decide to go inside the mall. The others were probably looking for us.
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Pov: Michael
Where are they!?
This is all my fault if I just hadn't snapped at Lucas this shouldn't have happened.
"There they are!" I don't know who said it and I don't really care at the moment either. I turn around to see Lucas and Nick running toward us.
I met them halfway and bring them both into a hug but let go quickly to look them in the eyes.
"Where did you guys go!? Do you two have any idea how worried we were!?"
Both of them looked taken aback by my reaction but I don't care right now.
"Chill, we were just having a conversation outside by the car," Lucas said.
"You could have gotten kidnapped, or worse," I almost whisper not wanting anyone to hear me and drag unnecessary attention.
"Who would want to kidnap some random kids outside a Mall?" Lucas ask. Oh, a lot of disgusting people out there do that on a daily basis. But that's not what I said. Instead, I said,
"You aren't just random kids."
"Then what makes us so special? Tell us, Michael, what makes us sooo different from everyone else?" he argued, drawing out the 'o' in 'so.'
"I can't tell you," I answer honestly.
"why?" this kid was really getting on my nerves. But I still can't tell them.
"let's just drop it," I say trying to change the subject before I snapped. But Lucas has never been the best to take hints. So of course, he kept going.
"No, I want to-"
"LUCAS, I SAID DROP IT!" it became silent for a moment. No one made a sound and Lucas finally accepted defeat.
"Let's just go home, go to the car."
"but we just-" Austin tried to interfere
"I said go to the car. Now!"
Everyone starts walking to the car. Maybe I was a little harsh but they have to understand that they can't just separate from us without saying anything.
Everyone got seated in the car and we drive home. Nobody dared to even make a sound.
When we get home, everyone sprints to their rooms immediately. Except for me, Jasper, and Matteo.
"let's go to my office," said Jasper. We follow him up the stairs and into his office and got seated on a sofa in front of a desk. On the other side was a matching armchair.
"Don't you think you were a little harsh? I understand why you did it but I think you really scared them."
"They can't know about it yet, they are too young to get involved."
"Michael is right, we can't let them know about the mafia."
"what do we do now?"
"yeah, they are probably wondering what we were talking about them getting kidnapped."
"We can always pretend that we meant that some random pedo could kidnap them."
"yeah, we will need to come up with something. If they find out, we're doomed. Lucas can't keep a secret even if his life depended on it, like this one actually does."
"I know, but right now the only thing we can do is to try and keep them safe so what happened with Nickólas doesn't happen again."
*crash
We all turn our heads to where the sound came from. Matteo runs out the office door to look if he can see anyone.
"No one there."
" It maybe came from the kitchen?"
"No, that is too far away. It came out of the hallway.
"Something may have fallen on its own."
"maybe.."
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Hello again!
I hope you enjoy the story so far. I am sick right now and have been for like two days but I'm finally starting to feel better. Hope you all are feeling good.
And btw, this is your daily reminder to go drink/eat something.🤍