Once upon a time, an angel and a devil pressed their hands together and started the apocalypse. ~ Unknown.
Footsteps. Footsteps were echoing behind me. I looked back, but nobody was there. The steps halted and all there was left was me and the eerie silence. I carried on with my journey to my home. Home. Although it never really felt like my home. I was pulled out of my thoughts when a shadow appeared ahead of me but disappeared almost as quickly as it came, like the blink of an eye. Curiously, I kept on walking. I glanced at my phone, and it read 9:30 pm. If I were like anyone else, my phone would be blowing up with hundreds of messages from worried parents. However, I knew I wouldn't be getting even one word from my parents asking where I was and why I'm late for dinner?
You see, my parents wouldn't have even noticed I wasn't at their home, they are too consumed in work even to notice. I have always wondered why they had a child if they were never going to be there. Why? I was once again pulled, more like dragged out of my thoughts when a large hand clasped over my mouth with a chemical on it, chloroform? I thought. Everything around me became blurry as I struggled. The last thing I saw before the darkness consumed me were the bright, luring and piecing green orbs. The orbs that belonged to my captor. The orbs I knew I would never forget.
11th July 2014, that was three years ago to this day. Engraved into my mind. 11th July 2014, the day I long to forget; the day my downfall began. Not being aware at the time I would never recover from it. Just as I had thought, my parents hadn't known I was abducted. Just like they still don't know now, two years since I had escaped. I spent one torturous, unforgettable year with that inhuman, monster. A sharp tap echoed through my room. Steadily, I opened my window, and the wind whistled through and there it lay: a small piece of paper. Cautiously, I unfolded it and there, written elegantly in perfect cursive, were seven words I had dreaded to read ever again. The seven words that confirmed my escape was too good to be true. He's back.
La mia Leonessa, ti ho trovato - V.M. Written entirely in Italian, I knew it was him.
"Dinner's ready Valentinia!" I heard Katy, my maid shout.
She may only be my maid, but she's the only thing close to a mother I have ever had and the only one that knew about him. As expected, when I walked into the dining room, my parents were absent. Again. I had got used to it now; they were never here. Katy noticed I wasn't eating and asked,
"You haven't touched your meal, is everything okay, Nia?"
"Headache, I think I am going to lie down," I replied, while rubbing my head.
Lies. When really, I had lost my appetite when I had got that note.
"Okay, then you go and rest." She said, "Oh, and don't forget tomorrow; your parents are holding that business event to promote their new business associate."
Great, just what I needed to hear, not knowing tomorrow would determine my future.
***
There I was stood ready to plaster the fake smile on my face, just like I had every time my parents held these things. As I walked into the room, I suddenly had this feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
"Valentinia come and meet our new business associate." My father interrupted my thoughts; his expression was stern, an underlying warning telling me to behave.
As I walked to him, my eyes were captured by the man's who was stood across from my father, the green eyes that had haunted my dreams for the past three years. I froze. He had a smirk plastered on his face. A shiver travelled down my spine.
He whispered in my ear,
"I Found you."
Translations:.
La mia Leonessa, ti ho trovato:. My Lioness, I found you.
Word Count:. 811