BOUNDED BY FAITH

ROSIE POV.

The rain was pouring, lightning was striking, the storm was roaring but not louder than my heart. The bridge trembled under the storm; the river below was raging as if it wanted to swallow every person on the bridge.

"Faster, Mom please!" They're right behind us!" I shouted, clutching my seatbelt. Three cars, maybe four, were following us.

They were screaming, "Hey, bitch, no one can save you! Haha!" Another one yelled, "Just have, some fun!"

I was almost crying. My phone was soaked by the rain. There were no signals, no help and my soul left my body the moment I lifted my eyes from the phone and saw what was ahead. Another car was speeding straight toward us.

The last words that came out of my broken throat were,

"Mom careful"

But my words died before they reached her.

And then 

A sound deafening, sharp metal against metal.

Glass shattered and scattered. The screams were lost in the storm. The river swallowed the blood, and the wounds were washed away by raindrops.

I wasn't on the bridge anymore. When I barely opened my eyes, I was almost in the river. On the bridge above, two or maybe three cars were twisted together, flames trying to survive the downpour. But my eyes, which were crying tears of blood, were only searching for one person.

"Mom! noooooo!"

She was unconscious and soaked not by the rain, but by her own blood. Her heart was no longer beating.

Then a soft, desperate cry.

I followed it, half crawling, half blind, until I saw her - a baby girl, maybe one year old, struggling to survive in the river.

I ran toward her and picked her up.

"Shhh, baby ohh" I whispered, my voice shaking. My hands were bleeding as I lifted her. She was so light. So warm. Her eyes were different. She held my finger in her hand and went silent but I wanted to scream for my mother, my world. Nothing was left. Everything was destroyed.

My heart was torn apart when I saw the men who had been following us on the bridge.

"Hey, hey, look there! She's there, you bitch!"

They were coming toward us. I didn't think. I just ran yes, I ran not from humans but from demons, whose eyes burned with pure lust. 

My whole body was trembling, shaking violently. My feet were bleeding. I'm sure they left bloody footprints behind me but I didn't stop. I ran for the baby girl who held my finger. How could I leave her here?

I didn't think. No one else had survived, and even if they had, those men were coming with madness in their eyes. I couldn't leave her. Not like this.

I just ran and ran, no matter that my body couldn't take it anymore. I ran for the baby girl for that pure soul I carried in my arms and I was sure if they caught us, I would kill us both rather than hand her over to them

I suddenly woke up, sitting straight with my eyes wide open in panic. My whole body was shaking, sweating and then a sweet voice gave me relief.

"Misthi, my baby," I whispered.

"Mamma, what happened? Why are you crying?" she asked, placing her small, soft hands on my cheeks.

"Did you see the monster in your dreams again?"

I gave her a weak smile. "Yes, my baby. He's too big, too horrific."

"What if he comes out, Mamma? Huhh" she said with fear.

I kissed her forehead gently. "If he comes out, your mamma will fight him for you."

"I know you're the best mother. My brave Mamma," she said, kissing my cheek.

I smiled just to hide the truth, to hide the pain.

Two years have passed. Everything has changed. But that fear, those screams, that crash, that night still haunts me every single night.

I have only one reason to live: my baby, my child. 

I don't know who she truly belongs to, and I don't want to know.

A fear haunts me all the time that someone might take her away from me.

And I would never let that happen.

Scene-In black mansion.

In another scene, in another country, in the black mansion, Rhys was sitting like the king of the world, and in front of him a man could barely sit up. His hands were joined, his whole body shaking, and his trembling voice came out of his mouth: 

"Sir, please spare my family, they didn't do anything, please, Sir."

Rhys gave a dangerous smirk.

"Seriously? After all of this you think I'll spare you? Huh?" He shot his other leg. The man's scream echoed all over the mansion.

"Ahhhhhhhh"

"Sshhhhh" Rhys whispered it was enough to bring peace. "Now tell me, who is closest to you? Your daughter, huh?"

The man, almost crying, stammered, "Si-sir, please have some mercy, please, Sir."

"Bring his daughter first,"

Rhys said while loading his gun. Two guards brought a girl; she was about sixteen or seventeen years old and in her school dress.

"Sir, please kill me-just kill me-spare her, Sir please have mercy"

A guard of Rhys spoke in a bold voice, "Sir, if you don't mind, I can take her first, then you can kill her-"

But before he could complete his sentence, Rhys's bullet crossed his head. The whole mansion fell silent.

Rhys reloaded his gun and put it to the girl, but suddenly the man's voice cried, 

"Sir-no! Please! If your daughter were alive today, would she allow you to do this?

The mansion went pin-drop silent.

Then Rhys put all six bullets in his head.

He roared, "She is alive! She is aliveeee! Did you hear? How could you take her name with your filthy mouth, huh?"

He started punching the man's face very badly.

"Alex-Rhys's younger brother-bro, bro, he is dying, leave him!" 

Alex shouted, trying to help. Rhys had lost control. He looked at the guards who were holding the girl and made them shiver.

Leave her," he ordered, pointing the gun at them. They immediately freed her.

Alex tried to calm him: "Rhys, please calm down."

Rhys said to Alex, "Drop this girl at her school. Otherwise, no one can survive here today."

Rhys went into a locked room and slammed the door behind him. The whole mansion seemed to tremble from the sound.

Alex warned everyone outside, "Don't even think about opening that door. And don't make a single noise. Let him be."

The room was painted in soft pink - untouched for years, Rhys sat on a bed covered with soft pink sheets, the room itself still frozen in time. In his blood-stained hands, he held a small, soft teddy bear.

Yes, the monster, the mafia king, the man whose hands were soaked in blood and who lived with guns and death was now clutching a child's toy, staring at it with tearful eyes. His whole body was shaking.

He whispered, almost in a broken, trembling voice, 

"Why, my angle why? You were the only one I had. Please come back. Please, my baby, please. I know you're alive but where? Where are you, my angel?"

His voice broke into a roar that shook the walls. "WHERE ARE YOUUUU, ANGEL!"

Alex opened the door and rushed inside. He grabbed Rhys tightly, pulling him into his arms. Rhys was crying like a child, his body trembling.

"Brother," he sobbed, "please please bring her back to me. I can't do this anymore. I can't live like this."

Alex held him tightly.

"Brother, she's gone," he said softly. "You have to control yourself."

Rhys screamed, "No! She's alive! I've seen her in my dreams! She misses me, she calls my name and I swear, I'll find her. I'll find her soon!"

Rosie pov.

I prepared breakfast as fast as I could because I was already late for school. I'm a teacher though I never wanted to become one. I once dreamed of completing my studies and becoming a doctor, but fate had something else planned for me.

Sometimes I work part-time in a tea café to make ends meet. I arranged breakfast on the table and called out, 

"Misthi! Baby, your breakfast is ready! Hurry up!"

She came running on her tiny feet and sat down. I sat beside her and started feeding her with my hands. Then Misthi gave me a bite with her little fingers.

"Aww, my baby," I said, kissing her soft cheek.

"Mamma, you know what?" Misthi said in her sweet little voice.

"Yes, my baby girl?"

"Today, Dad came to meet me."

The tea got stuck in my throat, and the cup slipped from my hand.

"What did you just say?"

Misthi continued innocently, "Mamma, he came to meet me at night."

Her words almost stopped my heartbeat.

"Say it clearly, Misthi!" I said in a trembling but firm voice. "How is that possible, hmm?"

"Mamma, he came to meet me in my dreams," she said softly.

God, her last words finally gave me relief.

"Mamma, you know what he said?" she asked again.

"What?" I whispered.

"He said that he misses me very much," she said, her little eyes filling with tears. "Mamma, I also miss him so much."

I wiped her tears with my thumb, my chest tightening.

"Do you miss him too?" she asked, looking up at me.

It wasn't the first time she had asked such questions. I swallowed hard. 

"Misthi... how does he look, hmm? Do you remember his face?"

A faint smile crossed her lips. She leaned close and whispered in my ear,

"Mamma, he's too handsome and you know what? His eyes are like a blue ocean - just like mine."

Before I could react, Reyna's voice came from behind.

"How long will you keep hiding the truth?" she said as she locked the door.

Reyna is Misthi's caretaker. She stays with her after I leave for work.

I turned to Misthi quickly. 

"Go to your room, sweetheart," I said, hiding the diamond heart locket she was holding in her frock pocket.

Tears filled my eyes as I faced Reyna.

"I don't know what to do," I whispered.

She took a deep breath. "Tell her everything, Rosie. Try to find the man she sees in her dreams."

"Never," I said sharply.

"No matter how much you try," she replied softly, "one day, the truth will come out."

"I'll never let that happen."

I grabbed my purse, locked the door behind me, and walked out. The moment I stepped outside, tears broke free. Crying never helped before but this time, I couldn't stop.

But both of them were unaware of the real demon in another mansion, Kian, the biggest enemy of Rhys, sat with one leg crossed over the other, smoking calmly.

Then a guard came rushing toward him.

"Sir... sir"

"Bark!" Kian interrupted sharply.

The guard continued, "Sir, the man he woke up."

Kian frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The guard swallowed hard. 

"Sir, the one who was in a coma for two years, the one who survived that night when our men followed that girl's car the night Rhys's daughter died."

Kian stood up, crushing the cigarette in his hand.

She didn't die," he said coldly. "She's alive."

Another man spoke carefully, "Sir, there are only two men who believe she's alive, you and Rhys."

A dangerous smirk curved across Kian's face.

"Because we both know our blood."