Last ordinary day

ALESSIA’S POINT OF VIEW

The hallway outside our apartment felt wrong.Too quiet unlike other days.

I slowed my steps instinctively, tightening my grip around the small hospital bag hanging from my shoulder as unease curled slowly in my stomach. The fluorescent light above flickered weakly, casting pale shadows across the narrow corridor, and suddenly the exhaustion weighing on my body didn’t matter anymore.

Maybe it was because I had spent the last six hours at the hospital after Ethan collapsed from a severe asthma attack or maybe it was because I hadn’t slept properly in days.

The front door to our apartment was slightly open and I froze,my heart skipped once...then twice.The door was never left open.....Never. I made sure I locked it before I left the house earlier today.

A strange chill crept down my spine as I stared at the small gap between the door and the frame. Darkness waited quietly beyond it.For one second, I considered turning around,calling the police or running but everything Ethan needed was inside. His medication,His clothes and besides… maybe I was overthinking again.

Slowly, I stepped forward and pushed the door open.The smell hit me first was Whiskey,Cigars....and then blood.

My breath caught instantly,The apartment was dark except for the dim kitchen light glowing faintly in the distance. Shadows stretched across the floor, long and distorted, and then I saw it.......Blood.

A thin streak of it smeared across the tiles.

My pulse slammed violently against my ribs.

Every survival instinct in my body screamed at me to leave, but my feet moved anyway, slow and unsteady as I followed the silence deeper into the apartment.

Then I heard it...aweak groan.The sound barely resembled a human voice anymore and fear exploded inside me.I walked closer and the world stopped immediately I saw a scene that broke me.

My father was on his knees bruised and bloodied .One side of his face was swollen beyond recognition, dried blood staining the front of his shirt while fresh crimson dripped slowly from his mouth onto the floor beneath him.A sharp gasp escaped my lips.

“Dad.......”His head jerked upward immediately.The terror that crossed his face when he saw me was instant.

“Alessia…” he choked out weakly.That was when I noticed them.....Four men.They occupied the room like predators born for violence, their presence swallowing every ounce of air inside the apartment.Expensive black suits,Tattooed hands,Cold eyes and all four of them looked almost identical.

For one horrifying second, my brain struggled to process what I was seeing.

One sat lazily on the couch, a glass of whiskey balanced loosely in his hand while blood stained the rings wrapped around his fingers. Another leaned silently against the wall, arms crossed, his expression unreadable in the shadows.The third stood directly behind my father with a dagger resting carelessly against his throat but it was the fourth man that truly terrified me because he looked calm.....too calm,One tattooed hand rested against the armrest while his dark gaze remained fixed on me with unsettling stillness.

Nobody spoke,The silence itself felt violent then father suddenly struggled against the hands holding him down.

“Run,” he rasped desperately.

“Alessia, run.....”The blade pressed harder against his throat.A broken sound escaped me instantly.

“Stop!” I cried, stumbling forward before fear could stop me.

“Please don’t hurt him!”The man holding the knife tilted his head slightly, amusement flickering briefly across his face.That single look felt colder than outright cruelty.

My chest rose unevenly as panic clawed violently through me. I could barely breathe beneath the weight of their attention. Four pairs of eyes locked onto me at once, studying me in complete silence like they were trying to see beneath my skin.The man sitting on the couch finally spoke.

“So,” he murmured smoothly, swirling the whiskey inside his glass.

“This is your daughter.”Something about his voice sent ice down my spine. father lowered his head shakily.

“Please…” he whispered.

“I tried to get the money.....”

“You failed,” another one interrupted coldly.

The room fell silent again.I swallowed hard, what money is that??.forcing myself to speak despite the fear strangling my throat.

“Please,” I whispered.

“Just let him go.”For a second, nobody reacted.Then suddenly.....One of them laughed, dark and mocking.

“Let him go?” the one with the dagger repeated slowly, as though testing the words on his tongue.My stomach twisted painfully,The calm one finally stood and somehow that was worse.

He moved with terrifying control, adjusting the sleeve of his black shirt before walking toward me slowly. Every step felt deliberate,measured and dangerous.

I wanted to move backward but I couldn’t .He stopped directly in front of me.

Close enough for me to smell smoke and expensive cologne beneath the metallic scent of blood.

“You want us to let him go?” he asked quietly and I nodded immediately.

“Yes.”His expression didn’t change.

“Your father owes us millions.”The words shattered through me.Millions?I looked toward my father in disbelief, but he couldn’t even meet my eyes anymore.

“He stole from us,” another voice said coldly from behind.

“And then he disappeared.”My pulse thundered violently.

“No…” I whispered instinctively.This had to be some kind of mistake,It had to be.

The dangerous calmness in the man’s eyes never shifted.

“Do you know what happens to people who steal from us?”I couldn’t answer.Fear had completely hollowed me out from the inside.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“Debts get paid.”Then his gaze slowly dragged over me and something in the room changed,Something terrible my father noticed it too.

“No,” he said immediately, panic flooding his broken voice.

“No, please..........”

“Looks like your daughter will be paying your debt instead,” the man finished calmly.The words hit harder than a slap and my breath stopped.

“What…?” I whispered.The man behind my father chuckled softly.

“Well,” he mused darkly,

“since you clearly don’t have the money…”

His eyes locked onto mine.

“We’ll collect something else.”Fear crashed into me so hard my knees nearly buckled.

“No.....dad ”Suddenly a sharp sting pierced the side of my neck.I gasped violently, my hand flying upward instinctively.What......The room tilted and my vision blurred almost instantly.

Panic surged through me as my legs weakened beneath my body.The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me whole… was the cold smile spreading slowly across one of the brothers’ faces.....Then everything went black.