My throat burns as if it had been coated with acid all the way down the esophagus. My entire body aches, my head hurts as if a bus just ran over it and crushed it like a nut under its wheels.
My eyes shoot open when I hear commotion around. I slowly gaze around trying to take in my surroundings. I see white walls and dim lights. I take in my current position and find myself under a bed. The sound of heavy footsteps rings through the room.
"Are you sure she is in this room?" a gruff voice questions.
"Yes boss, our sources confirmed it, she has to be here," another raspy voice answers confidently.
"Common Suka, we know you're here. Come out... come out wherever you are" he sings the last bit tauntingly. His demonic voice sends unpleasant chills down my spine.
I clasp my hands tightly over my mouth, desperately trying to silence myself as my entire body shakes with my involuntary sobs. My mind is now completely blank.
My breath hitches when I feel a hand on my leg clasping it in an iron grip and pulling me outwards. Before I can manage to scream, a rough hand is slapped across my mouth muffing my cries for help. Their satanic aura makes me shudder in fear.
I miserably try to escape his grasp but he has held my hands in a visor's grip. My eyes focus on the other strange things in the room... He is dressed in scrubs, his surgical mask hiding his identity.
I stop my struggles completely when I feel the cold bite of metal on my neck.
"Hurry up and inject it!" the man holding me captive instructs his subordinate harshly.
Complying with his instructions, the man standing opposite me pulls out a syringe from his pocket. I try to move away at the sight of the terrifying object. But I feel the metal at my neck forced deeper as if to warn me to stop my struggles.
Despite the warning, I cannot get myself to ignore the advancing threat of the vicious object which contains an unknown substance.
The stranger holding the intimidating object, now takes fast long strides toward me, reaching me in two steps.
Inspite of my countless attempts to free myself from the man's grip, I could not succeed and his companion mercilessly jabs the needle into my arm.
I let out a bloodcurdling scream when the needle breaks my skin. All my screams and cries for help are futile as my captor mutes me completely. I watch in dread as the liquid from the syringe is drained into my body.
'Where on earth are the hospital staff?'
'Why can no one hear me?'
'What happens now?'
"Shhh, go to sleep little Suka. It's probably the last time you will get the chance to rest in such a peaceful slumber." He caresses my faces roughly with the back of his knuckles, his ring scraping my skin.
I start to feel my world fading away into the haunting darkness of an imposed slumber. After a moment or two I stop fighting the drug that is now running in my veins and surrender to the darkness.
I open my eyes again. I look around at the unfamiliar setting. The lockers on the walls suggest that it could be a school. I look around and my eyes lock with the eyes of the man crouching in front of me. His malicious hands caressing my face with a gun shoved in my back.
"They will be glad to finally meet you again suka" he keeps repeating over and over again.
I clutch my head in pain, the repetition of his words causes a sense of distress within me. My head feels like someone is hitting its walls with a sledge hammer.
"No! Stop! I said STOP!" I scream in pure anguish, but he pays no heed to me and he continues to repeat those unbearable words.
Suddenly the men from before appears besides him, their odious smirk on full display. Just like before they're dressed in scrubs with one holding a scalpel in his glove-clad left hand, but their facial features still invisible to me.
"No, no! This can't be real, you all aren't real! No!" my face stained with tears as I desperately try to move further away from them.
All of them laugh in unison, and they seem to regale in my misery and are enjoying my pathetic state. Dread sets into me when my back hits a wall of lockers, and eliminating all my hopes of escape.
As they advance further towards me, the voices in my head get painfully louder. The pain is punishing, but is unnoticeable amongst the fear I feel.
A few step ahead, and now they are standing right in front of me. As the man with the gun aims his deadly weapon at me, the other moves even closer to me with their scalpel ready to strike at any moment. My hands involuntarily come up towards my face in an attempt to protect myself.
Moments later, I don't feel anything, and I try and open my, once tightly, closed eyes... only find my attackers... slowly fades into... thin air.
First their legs then their hands, slowly their satanic laugh too fades into the darkness. That demonic smirk never fails to leave their face. That was the only expression visible to me that made things even more terrifying.
Momentarily, everything around me starts spinning and the walls start fading and I feel the ground disappearing beneath me.
I find myself drawn into the darkness by a strong muscular arm.
My panicked gaze is drawn towards the very familiar tattoo I spot on the unfamiliar arm. After a moment or two I can't seem to see anything around me other than the pitch black surroundings closing up on me.
_______________________________
"No! Please don't" I thrash around the soft surface I'm lying on.
Strong arms restrain me, making my panic rise. My eyes refuse to open and remain stubbornly glued together.
I hear a soft voice whisper some soothing words to me. The whisper, though comforting, was completely beyond comprehension, but somehow seems to calm me. A sense of security suddenly envelopes me, and I have a comforting feeling after the terror I had just witnessed.
My heart beat starts normalising after sometime. The darkness that surrounds me no longer frightens me. I feel the hands restraining me slowly releasing me from their grasp. Slowly I start to regain control of my body again.
I gently open my eyes only to shut them when the hash rays of light pierce my eyeballs. It takes time for me to adjust to the lights. Once I get comfortable, my eyes open automatically once again.
I take in the unfamiliar room I'm occupying and my mind immediately goes into overdrive. As I look around, my frightened gaze lands on the five sets of familiar eyes staring right at me with worry and curiosity swirling in them.
I feel sweat trickle down my forehead and my breathing becomes laboured. My eyes burns with tears accumulate and ready to spill any moment now, but I refuse to let it go.
In no time I feel a large hand helping me to sit upright and rubs my shoulders in soothing circles. I look up to meet Lorenzo's worried gaze.
No one say a word, a cloud of comfortable silence settles around the room like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. But still I can sense their curiosity and the thousand question they want to fire my way, but they hold themselves back. I for one greatly appreciate the silence and take the time to sort out my thoughts.
"Hey you okay Anjo?" (Anjo - angel) Lorenzo's soothing voice echoes through my ears, breaking the silence. Although I heard him very clearly I couldn't answer.
'Am I really okay?'
'Why am I unable to answer him?'
'This is the first time in three years that I had this nightmare'
'It must have been triggered by the events of today'
'I just wish all of this would just ends'
'That wasn't just a nightmare, it was a memory, a memory I wish I could forget forever'
As my thoughts kept racing in my mind like a bullet train, I realised that my head that was sloppily bandaged by Jack is now firmly around my head. I'm jerked out of my reverie when I sensed another person's right next to me.
Mateo
"You know sometimes it's better to get things off your chest when the wounds are still fresh, because it causes a lot more pain when old wounds are reopen" I stare at Mateo with uncertainty vivid in my eyes. His words are nothing but truth, but the task is easier said than done.
Mateo is a person of a few words, but when he speaks his words are worth listening and considering. I know I should take his advice and enlighten them about my past and of the event of today, but an unknown force within me stopped me.
"Where are we? And why are we here? " I ask in a shaky voice, glancing around the unfamiliar room.
"A cousin's place, it's safer here" Jason says answering my question vaguely.
At his words events of the past few hours came rushing back to me. All the emotions I felt in the last couple of hours all came flooding back, breaking the dam and setting my tears free. The pain I once felt in my head returned with twice its power causing tears to flow more freely.
I'm pulled into a chest, my tears staining the person's shirt. No one in the room comments on my sudden outburst, but then again, I feel they sensed it coming any way. I hated myself for being so weak and letting my emotions get the better of me, but I couldn't help it, all this is just too much for me to handle.
"Let it out amor... Bottled up emotions are the cause of more than half of our problems" by the voice I knew that the person holding me is Noah.
His arms held me tightly as I sobbed my heart out into his chest, he gentle strokes my head carful to stay clear of my injury. I hate being vulnerable in front of people, it made me look and feel weak, but with them it made me feel safe.
After a few more minutes, I calm down, my tears slowly drying up and my sobs slowly turning into a whimper. Still in Noah's arms, I turn my head towards the others ready to apologize for my unpredictable behaviour, but a single warning look from the lot is enough for me to keep silent. I search their eyes for even one judgmental look from any one of them. But find none.
"You don't have to be sorry for any of this Passarinho, none of this is your fault." Owen's firm voice rings throughout the room. I give him a feeble nod in acknowledgement, not having the energy to say anything more.
"Take some rest, it's been a long day. If you need anything, Liam's room is right across yours and the rest of us will be downstairs," Xavier instructs, his voice a noticeably softer than usual.
One by one each of them start moving out of the room but not before hugging me and whispering a 'take care'. I appreciate their consideration and worry but right now all I want is to be left alone with my thoughts. I know it's not the best option, but silence and being left alone is exactly what I need at the moment. Mateo is the last one left in the room, he stays seated and holds his position silently.
"I know it's hard... We all have been in your shoes, maybe not in the same way, but we have. And out of personal experience Irmãzinha, I'm telling you that it's better to confide in us than to bottle up all your feelings. We may not be able to fight your demons for you but we sure can help you do so yourself without being hurt in the process," and with that he kisses the crown of my head and leaves the room.
With his words on repeat mode in my head, I reluctantly try to fall back asleep. After about another ten minutes of me trying to fall asleep, I give up and stare blankly at the ceiling.
'When you show your emotions you become vulnerable'
'When you become vulnerable you are at that the mercy of those around you'
Mum's words brought back the memories of that night, the pain, the loneliness, the fear, everything came rushing back.
'Can I trust them with my biggest secret?'
Author's Note:
A small announcement, chapter 10 has some very important changes made to it, so please do check it out.
Russian Mafia?
Or
Polish Mafia?
Vote for which mafia you would like to see as the rival and enemy of the Santos.
So do you think Astoria should take Mateo's advise?
Thanks for reading
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Writing this chapter was the most challenging task until now, so I really really hope you all liked it. Do share you thoughts on it.
And don't forget to......
Comment &Vote
~Kia