8 8.Child

Luca POV

I felt drowsy as I slowly opened my eyes. My head was heavy and I was nauseated. My eyes' weakness didn't even allow me to remain conscious for two minutes. I only saw the dim light high above and passed out again.

I was awoken by painful strokes on my legs.

" Wake up Mister, you've been dead too long," she said.

It was that stunning mysterious little shit who'd gotten me arrested and then helped me escape. Yeah, it was a set-up.

And how she managed to make me hang my legs up down this rope still was a mystery. For heaven's sake, she's a woman. Very petite thick to be precise. From her bio, she was the high-maintenance type and that explained so many things she could and couldn't do. She didn't even seem to have the energy to drag me from that truck.

Must be she's getting help from an unknown source.

I noticed that she had changed her outfit to an all-black no-nonsense-looking outfit. Her ankle-heeled boots made an echo in the extremely vast-looking room.

The room looked like an old abandoned basement, with a couple of punching bags hanging down the timber ceiling. Seems like it was once a wine cellar as the most exclusive vintages of Italy I supposed, were shelved in wooden racks. There were ancient-looking brackets for candles every few feet but seemed it was for so long they had not been used since no wax residue was left on them.

The light being provided by the single dangling bulb was quite dim thus straining my eyes. I could tell the floor was wet as some of the water splashed on my face (which was just a few inches above the floor) as she slowly walked in circles.

She pulled a chair and sat facing me and kept on holding my chin with a smile in mockery. I swear if I had a gun I'd shoot her there and then.

One minute she's scared of calling the cops on me and kidnapping me the next. Who was she??

"Child, I very well know who wants me dead. I don't know why he chose you though. Trusting just anyone is not his cup of tea. To make matters worse, you have failed him twice and are yet to fail even more. Do you know why?? Because I am Marley. He named me that for a reason...and I'll kill you first Flores. That's a promise," she said.

Okay, wait. Child? Did she just call me 'child'? Me? CHILD? I hated that word and everything that came with it. It surely took me from the present moment and straight back to my childhood. The one I hated to recall.

____________________

21 YEARS AGO.

My father entered the living room drunk as hell. This was the first time I'd seen him drunk. His shirt was torn and his shoes were filled with mud. I didn't know where my dad worked but I knew not in the farms of Texas. I had seen him leave every morning for work and he'd come back just as neat as he left except for his sweaty self that would be fixed by a hot bubble bath in his jacuzzi and the rest of the evening would be nothing but family time.

My mummy had always stayed with me when my father was away and if not at the amusement park we'd then be at home making the best out of the day.

But sometimes father left for weeks.

He'd be gone for far too long.

Mummy would sometimes cry herself to sleep I didn't know why...and I'd tell her to wait since daddy just went to work and he'd be back as usual.

But Mother did not stop. She drenched herself in tears for weeks.

When father came it would be hours of argument between him and mum. " They will come for you, Juan," my mom would say amidst tears. " I'm doing this for you and our son, Marie," he'd shout back. They'd be mad at each other, but just for that moment.

A whole new life would begin the very next day.

The sweet life with all the money, love, and attention we wanted from father. And that was our year's routine.

But when I saw him drunk that fateful night, I knew something was amiss. This was not my dad anymore.

And wait...apart from puking on the steps of the stairs as he ascended them, blood oozed from somewhere near his stomach. A chill ran down my spine and panic instantly flashed on my face.

He was staggering but trying to reach his room as fast as possible. As if he was running from someone.

I'd never seen him that desperate.

I immediately ran to him and with his feeble arms hugged me as we both fell on the stairs. I could feel the weight of his head on my tiny lap as he struggled to tell me to run upstairs and call Mother.

I was scared. Probably the biggest scare I've had my whole life.

All I could manage was a scream and questions asking what had happened to him.

Mother immediately ran down to see me in tears and Dad's eyes could tell it all.

"Carlo betrayed me, Marie, he was paid to tell them my whereabouts. He has also wounded me," he said pointing to his right. Mum moved his coat and I saw the source of the blood.

The sight of the black knife handle whose blade dug deep into his stomach gives me chills to this day.

He was in pain.

" Take Luca and go away mon amour, it is me they want.... don't let them find our son. This is the world I built for you... don't let them take it away from you Mon amour. Run."

"I'm not leaving without you Juan, we can still get away, Juan please stay with me..." My mum's combo of fear, shock and sadness made my heart sink to my feet.

For me ,the world had come to an end.