Alexandra's POV
After the whole day of agony at school, I headed home towards my apartment. It was still bright for late afternoon. Perfect for strolling around. When I reached the left curb near the intersection, unidentified men surrounded me. My fighting instincts awakened.
I gulped. "Who are you? What do you want?" They covered their faces, as they dashed towards me with daggers and bats. I got into a fist to fist fight, punching one man to the other.
Before the other man went closer to me, I ran towards him and kicked him in his balls while kicking the other at my back. I held the man I attacked and punched his face, falling unconscious on the ground in an instant.
I felt at ease in learning I still had my excellent fighting skills until now. When I managed to defeat them at once, I panted, gasping for more air. Did Giovanni send these men to assault me by surprise?
At the moment, I heard a clap from someone behind the post. I glanced and saw someone I knew. "Stepfather?"
"How have you been, Belladonna," he said. He hid his identity with his disguise as a beggar I saw before thinking he was real. Yet, it was part of his plan to spy me of my whereabouts.
Thunder clasped, lightning struck revealed their selves in the darkening skies. Surprised by his appearance after three years, I couldn't speak a word. "Did the cat got your tongue, dear? You look great in those clothes. I never thought you'd look good in a school uniform, indeed."
Cautious of his next move, I kept my stance and focused my sight on him. "Why are you here?" Right, everything was over. The moment I slew the mafia boss, my connection between us was long gone.
He laughed and without a moment to lose, he grabbed my arm closer to him. "You think you can continue living like this? You think you can escape from me and your dark past? Remember, no matter what crap you're doing right now, you'll always be that murderer. The notorious assassin everyone fears at night, Alexandra."
This close, I stared at his aging face. I scoffed and spat. "My life as a killer is over, Monsour. Since then, you're dead. You promised me that after I killed the capo, you will give me my freedom after all."
"And you exactly believed that?" He giggled. Heavy rains dropped soaking us through our skins. The loud thunderstorms screamed while I faced with the man responsible for my dark past.
"Why? Was that bullshit?" I asked in fear. "Why do you need me again?"
He shrugged, showing his sarcastic response through his gestures. "Well, I said that to put you to work. You know, you've been slacking off. So, I needed to say something to motivate you a bit. And that worked. You didn't only kill the capo—" He paused and clapped— "You killed more than half of his men. All this time, they didn't know who managed to kill them nor the identity of the killer itself. They knew it was Belladonna, but they never knew it was you."
I almost slapped him but he managed to block it with his hand. His grip tightened as his glaring stares intensified. "You will never get the freedom you always wanted, my dear stepdaughter. You're always mine." He added, "I let you lose for three years and now it's time to get back to your job. To the place where you belong, Belladonna."
"I'm no longer Belladonna. I was born with a name. The name that my dad and mom gave me with respect. Not the one created by a monster!" I raised my tone provoking him.
"You ungrateful brat." He screamed and slammed to the ground. Facing up, I saw him grabbing his daggers in both hands and dashed towards me. I got up and flipped, landing in a fighting stance waiting for his offense. "You know you can't escape from me, Belladonna. Even if the government kept chasing me, I'll always have your protection against them."
I sighed, in bent knees, facing the ground. In tears. "Why would I? My life as a murderer is over. I don't want to get back again." Rather than serving these bastards, I'd rather die. Anyway, death has been my constant companion. My best friend since childhood. A harsh truth of my existence since I submitted myself to the world of killers.
Murderers.
Assassins.
At eighteen, before I retired, I took many lives way too young—an erratic childhood to keep. If not, the worst.
Something anybody could not accept by heart. Besides, who would care for a damned like me? Even my own mother left me. That no matter how I wanted to escape, that wish of living a new life will remain impossible. I'll always be Belladonna, a notorious assassin. The undeniable list of victims the police records proved it.
What if my father lived? Would that have prevented me from entering this dark life or not at all? Never in my life, I felt love.
Now at twenty-one, it remained surreal, an abstract image inside my head. How does it feel to love? From my real dad? I somehow felt it when I was only a five-year-old kid. At least, I did. Too young to feel such a profound thought. I grew up trained for numbness, destroying my ability to feel empathy and sympathy for others.
My life revolved into training turning myself into a cold living monster. Monsour trained me to kill without mercy for his own advantage.
"You owe me your life, Alexandra," my stepfather told me.
"You are mine, Alexandra," Giovanni said.
I wasn't prepared to make friends, to join social circles, to explore the world, to learn history. When I entered San Nicholas, everything changed. My perspective broadened. My hopes for a better tomorrow became brighter and clearer. I couldn't imagine losing those because of this bastard.
"Do you think you can defeat me? Remember, I trained you. So, you cannot be greater than I am. I am you. You are me. We're entwined in one cord. I'm part of your life. Your whole life. You can't run away from me no matter how much you try, Belladonna," he said.
"That will never be possible anymore," I said. Monsour advanced with a dagger, jumped higher and landed to me. As quick as I could, I avoided with my hands and kicked his arm hard, releasing the dagger in his left arm. I picked it up and ran to him with my killing instinct revived... again. I screamed as I got closer to him with the strength I poured on my right hand through the dagger I held.
I wanted to leave the dark past and if I needed to slay my own stepfather, I would. I spun and because of the heavy rains, he hardly saw me. He kept turning his head searching for me but because of his aging body, he couldn't avoid my fast move. I stabbed him from behind, near his spine and he turned facing me.
Recklessness overpowered me and confused his blow. I didn't realize he conned me into believing he lost his weapon, but he kept a spare underneath his long sleeves. Pain rushed through my body as I looked down, where blood gushed from my abdomen. He hit me.
I pressed it with my hand and time seemed slow as I faced him again. I screamed with my lungs out and attacked him with my last strength left from me. He blocked my hand with his arms crossed wounding him. He shouted and petrified seeing blood coming out from his arms.
Before he could react further, I dashed again and kicked his body. When he back landed on the swamped ground, I stepped on him. The weapon touched his throat. He smiled. "Kill me, Belladonna. Cut my throat if you can."
My hand shook, trembling as my conscience started confusing me. My mind kept telling me to dig the weapon deep into his neck and leave, but my heart said otherwise. Blood gushes from his skin as the dagger pushes against his skin. Tears seemed invisible as they flowed with the dropping waters from the dark skies.
"You can't kill me, don't you?" he said in a sarcastic tone. Before he could say another word, I threw the weapons away. I kept punching his face instead until he fell unconscious. Grunting in anguish, the pain deep inside me was way more painful than my wounds I got from the fight.
My legs wobbled and my walk staggered like a drunk man soaked wet from the rains. As I went further from the road, my sight started to blur and my breathing turned heavier. My hand kept pressing my wound in my tummy. Blood stains scattered along my arms and everywhere in my torso.
Albeit in deep thought, a loud thud startled me. I looked in an immediate response and saw Giovanni throwing the man on the wall. The killer grunted in pain while the good-looking fellow rubbed his palms together.
He turned, smiling at me. "You're reckless as always, Alexandra," a man's voice uttered behind him. I turned and saw a man underneath the blurry sight under the heavy rain. "If I weren't here, he could've attacked you, Alexandra."
"Giovanni," I called his name in a slurred manner. I rolled my eyes in an instant and stood. Before I walked further, he grabbed my hand and looked at me. His brown eyes fixed on mine and said, "What's your say now? Do you still want to pay back or I'll do things you won't ever like?"
"Like what? Printing my face in posters and humiliate me in public?" I said, almost stuttering in anger.
"What the f— I don't know what you're talking about," he paused and released an exasperated sigh. "You know I don't have to do those things to avenge. I'm not the type of person who would that to harm people. I'd rather send someone to fix things in silence."
"Like you did here? You sent men to kill me?"
"Of course not!" he said in a raised tone. "Why would I want to kill you like that?"
It was then I learned my stepfather did it and accused Giovanni in a wrong way.He paused. "Now we got into that topic, who was that old man who held you before? You know him?"
I went blank and avoided looking through his eyes. He grabbed my chin and put me in the most awkward situation by force. Our faces were too close as he could almost kiss me with his hand on my chin. I pushed him away but his grip was too strong with his hand at my back. "Tell me, who was that?" he repeated his inquiry.
"You don't have to know. It's personal. Besides, you're not my boyfriend yet to know these things, Giovanni." That was a great excuse. I didn't want him to know about how horrible my past was either.
Let Belladonna die and rot for good. I thought.
Before I could say another word, my body felt heavier. Staggering, I walked closer to provoke him. I collapsed in his arms. "Alexandra!" He uttered my name aloud but my world warped as loads of blood gushed staining my uniform diluted by rain. I couldn't understand a thing no more.
***End of Chapter 40***
***
PUBLISHED! Through her diary, Beth and Kaiser learns about the dangerous - almost life-staking - encounter between Alexandra and her stepfather, Monsour. Given, will the main characters have the same fate? Stay tuned for the next chapter.
If you like the chapter, give it a vote and share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you like the book so far, add "Accidental Quest" in your reading list. Follow me on Wattpad and on my official Facebook page to make sure you're up-to-date with the latest news about my writing.
Note: I will keep writing and publishing stories every day starting this year. That includes the ON HOLD stories - "The Rival," "Lies Behind Ties," and "Dangerous Roommate." So, make sure you're the first to know them. *winks*
Thank you very much!