Chapter 4
-Isabella Di Luca-
It was dark.
Everything was dark, and darkness scares me a lot. I should be used to it by now. All I kept seeing in the bad man's house was darkness; the bad man always kept me in the dark, scary room, and whenever he would hit me, I would always pass out, and darkness is all I see again. I should be used to it by now, but I'm not. It's still scary; it's always so scary.
I want to cry. I think I am crying.
I don't like it here; it's so dark and scary, but I can't do anything or the bad man would get angry again and he would hit me again. I don't want to be hit again; it hurts so much. My body always hurts, but my heart hurts the most.
What bad thing did I do to deserve this?
I was a good girl. I try to be a good girl. I try so hard to be a good girl. But I'm still here, all alone in the world. No one cares for me; no one loves me. I don't understand. Maybe I did something bad, and I just don't know what it is, so I am being punished. Bad girls get punished; that's what the bad man would always say. So maybe I do deserve this because I have been bad.
I'll try my best to be good next time.
"I-Izzy promise... Izzy p-promise she w-will be g-good. No more d-dark, p-please, no m-more."
I didn't realise I was mumbling; I didn't even realise I was asleep until I could hear other voices and felt hands shaking my shoulder and stroking my hair.
I became even more scared, and my eyes finally snapped open.
"Isabella? la mia principessa (my princess), are you okay? You were having a nightmare."
There was a big, handsome man in front of me. My eyes widened in fear and confusion as I looked at him. Why was he looking at me like that? It's not the same mean look the bad man would always give me; no, this look was better. I like this look a lot better than the bad man's, but he's a stranger. Why was a stranger giving me a good look like that?
I don't deserve it. Bad girls don't deserve anything good.
I became more scared again, and I tried to sit up in bed to move far away from the big man in front of me, but I failed miserably as I felt my body aching, and I could only lay in the soft bed while looking at the man with unshed tears in my eyes.
I hope he doesn't hit me too.
"Oh, principessa, please don't try to get up or you'll going to hurt yourself even more. I promise you that you're safe now, tesoro." He said in a soft voice that I didn't expect, especially with how big and muscly he looks, then he offered me a smile.
He has a really beautiful smile. I like it.
But I didn't understand what he was saying or why he was saying that to me. I don't even know who he is or where I am.
Wait. Where am I? What happened? Where's the bad man?
I turned my head and curiously looked around, my mouth hanging wide open in surprise as I took in everything I saw, and I couldn't believe it. I thought I would be waking up in my dark, scary room again, but no, I'm in an actual princess room!
This room is so big, bright, and beautiful that the only answer would be because it's a room meant for a princess! It's a princess room!
But what is Isabella doing inside a princess's room? I'm not a princess.
"I-Izzy don't u-understand." I stuttered as I looked at the big, handsome man again, my bottom lip trembling as I hoped he wouldn't get mad at me for speaking without permission, but to my surprise, the big, handsome man only smiled again and sat in the white chair beside the bed I was lying in.
This is the softest bed I have ever slept on. Definitely a princess bed.
"Oh, of course. I know you have lots of questions, tesoro (sweetheart). Ask them all away, and I promise to answer all of them the best I can, but first I need you to drink some water first, si?"
He grabbed a glass of water from the small table beside my bed. I flinched when he got closer to me. This made him frown, but he told me that he was only trying to help me. I believed him, so he gently held the back of my head with his hand to lift me up a little, and with his other hand, he helped guide me to drink the water from the glass.
The water doesn't taste gross; it's yummy.
Once finished, he placed the glass back on the table, and I rested my head on the soft pillows again.
"Okay, are you ready to ask your questions, Isabella?" He asks, smiling as he sits back down on his chair.
Isabella. He even knows my name.
"Bi-Big m-man won't g-get mad at I-Izzy?" I nervously asked first as I brought my right hand up to my lips, and before I knew it, I was biting my nails again.
I know it's yucky, but I still do it whenever I'm nervous or scared. It distracts me, I think.
The big man lets out a small laugh, but I can see that his blue eyes (the same colour and shade as mine) looked really sad while he was looking at me.
Sad doesn't look good on him.
"Oh, mio dolce bambina (my sweet baby), I could never be mad at you. You can ask many questions you like, and I promise I-big man won't get mad, okay? But only ask one at a time so I can answer easily."
I hesitantly nod my head.
I guess I just have to trust his word if I want answers to my questions. Besides, he looks nice; he looks a hundred times nicer than the bad man.
"W-who is b-big man? Why d-does b-big man know Izzy?" I chose to ask first.
I want to know his name; I can't keep calling him big man. I only call the bad man a bad man because his name is difficult for me to say. He forces me to call him sir, though, but in my head he'll always be a bad man.
"My name is Lorenzo, Enzo for short, and I'm your brother, Izzy." Big Man said in the softest voice I've ever heard used by a man, and he paired it with a sweet smile as he looked at me teary-eyed.
"B-brother?" I dumbly stuttered, my mouth hanging open.
"Do you know what a brother is, tesoro?" Big man, who I learned is named Enzo, asked me kindly.
"B-brother... B-brother i-is part of fa-family." I answered after a moment.
But I don't understand it. A brother is part of a family, but I don't have a family.
"B-but... B-but Izzy d-doesn't have fa-family."
I terribly flinched when he suddenly extended his palm out to me, as if he were asking me to hold his hand. I thought about it for a while, but I ended up hesitantly placing my hand in his big ones. He smiled and gently clasped our hands together.
My heart suddenly feels light and warm. But I guess that's only because his skin feels warm.
"You have a family, Izzy, a whole lot of us. You have four brothers, including me; you have a cousin; and you have an uncle. We're your family, and we all love you so much, ragazza dolce." (sweet girl)
Family. I have a family. All along, I have had a family. I wasn't alone in the world.
But it doesn't make sense. Before bad man, they told me that my family gave me away, that my family didn't want me anymore, so they gave me away. I had been alone since I was a little baby.
"I-Izzy doesn't u-understand." I whispered and hung my head low, my heart breaking again and my head beginning to hurt because of all of the confusions and revelations.
"W-why d-did family gi-give Izzy away?" I look up at the big man, Enzo, who claims to be my brother.
If they really are my family and if they really love me, then why did they give me away? What bad thing did I do? Maybe I did something bad. But what? What could little me have done that was so bad for my family to decide to give me away?
Enzo squeezed the hand that he was holding, and he leaned closer to wipe the tears from my face with his other hand. I didn't even realise I was crying.
My heart just hurts so much.
How could my own family do that to me? What terrible thing did I do to them?
"We never gave you away. You were taken from us when you were three, and we have been searching for you ever since. We were so heartbroken when you were gone, principessa, and when I saw you again for the first time, I had never been happier. I missed you so much, Izzy."
I gasped and my tears stopped when Enzo suddenly and ever so gently pulled my small body into a hug as he began to cry himself while he held me.
My heart warms even more, and suddenly I don't feel as hurt and confused.
I wrapped my hands around his body and rested my head on his hard chest while he continued to cry.
Although there was still something I couldn't understand, I'm sure that Enzo is telling me the truth; he wasn't lying. I could just feel it in my heart with the way he spoke and the way he was holding me.
I really have a brother. A family. I'm not alone. I'm not alone anymore.
"No one h-has hugged I-Izzy b-before. Hug f-feels nice." I mumbled to myself, but I'm sure with how close we were that he heard me.
"I'm going to give Izzy lots and lots of hugs from now on." He told me, making a smile appear on my face.
It's been so long since the last time I smiled happily.
"E-Enzo promise I-Izzy?" I asked just to be hundred percent sure.
Enzo carefully pulls away from the hug and places my head back on the bed before giving me his beautiful smile and wiping his own tears.
"Enzo promise Izzy. And just so you know, Enzo always keeps his promises." He replied as he leaned down and kissed my forehead, pulling away to stroke my hair again.
I've never felt so cared for in my life.
Brothers are nice. I like having a brother. I happily thought to myself.
"Your other brothers are going to be so happy when they see you again. I can't wait until you meet them." Enzo tells me, smiling excitedly.
I looked at him quizzically.
"Like I said, you have four brothers. I'm the oldest; Alessandro is next; he's only a year younger than me; the middle one is Giovanni; and the last we have is Niccolo."
Wow. I have lots of brothers.
I hope all of them are as nice as Enzo. I hope they won't be mean to me. I'll try my best to be a good girl so that they will like me and accept me.
"Yes, I know, there's a lot of us, and you are our only girl, Izzy, which makes you our little princess." Enzo chuckled as he kissed the top of my head again, but I only gasped.
"I-Izzy a-a princess?" I point at myself.
"Of course, Izz's a princess. Izzy is our family's little princess after all, and we love our princess so much. You are loved, Izzy, and you are always going to be loved no matter what. Remember that, si?" Enzo looked at me seriously, his blue eyes showing so much emotion while staring at my face that it was almost impossible to look away.
Enzo is really nice to me; he feels warm, safe, and familiar, and I think I want to trust him. So, if Enzo says that I am loved, then I must really be loved.
But I hope Enzo will never leave me.
I hope I will never have to see bad man again.
And I hope Enzo can see how much of a good girl I am; then maybe he'll want to let me stay with him.
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