CHAPTER ONE

TESSA

My body ached.

My legs felt like giving up after standing for straight twelve hours. You would think the night shift at a hospital would be easier because most patients would be asleep and all you'd have to do is to monitor their vital signs and check in on them once in a while throughout the night.

But today was far from a normal nightshift. Having emergency accident patients brought in an hour before the end of your shift with just two doctors on call put the workload on the nurses.

I was more than ready to be done with this shift. I let out a sigh of relief as the cool night breeze hit me as I stepped out of the huge hospital glass doors, the scent of antiseptic still clinging to my scrubs. My body ached badly and at that moment, all I could imagine was the comfort of my bed. Not the one here in Italy, but the one back home in London.

It had only been two months since I moved here to work after nursing school and I was still trying to adjust to life here in a totally new country, surrounded by new people every single day and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my family. But I have to do this. I need to make them proud for all the ways they supported me.

I dragged my feet across the dry pavement before crossing the road when no incoming car was in sight. The roads felt familiar. I'd walked these same alleys through and fro from work. I had every bend and turn already embedded in my vision that my legs even knew the way before my body registered, until the once familiar roads were no more.

‘There's meant to be a pharmacy just around here,’ I murmured to myself, slowing down my steps as I searched the turn I just took but the well lit pharmacy was nowhere to be found. I turned my back to check my surroundings and to my horror, the roads were different. It wasn’t the same ones I took everyday.

I retreated back the way I came from but each turn I took just confirmed the obvious. I was lost.

I wrapped the cardigan tighter around me as a cool breeze swept across the empty street. The streetlight flickered, some working and casting faint shadows on the ground while some were dead.

‘Okay Tessa, it's fine. Just walk back and check the signs,’ I whispered, trying to calm the panic almost rising in my chest. I felt for my phone in my pocket and the thud in my chest diffused when the screen lit up and my location popped up on the map.

‘That's good. I'm not so far, I just missed a few turns,’ I murmured and kept walking with the map as a guide.

The further I went, the darker it got. I kept checking my phone and I was on the right track but why did the roads still feel so foreign.

I came across a dark and lonely alleyway with tall buildings on either side. I checked the map once more, dread filling me just at the sight of the darkness but according to the map, the alley was leading back to the main road so without much deliberation, I stepped in.

The darkness stretched out before me, my shoes scraping against the gravel. I clutched my phone tightly in my hand, the flashlight helping to illuminate the road ahead.

Almost ten minutes into the alley and no clear exit in sight. Just then I heard some voices echoing off the walls. They spoke in Italian and although I could understand a little of the language, I couldn't quite grasp what the discussion was about.

I made my way towards the direction where the voices came from, hoping they could give me a clear direction to the main road because apparently, I was wasting time here with this map.

I neared an abandoned building where a metal barrel burned just outside, its flames being blown around by the wind. For a moment, I thought it might be some college students having a late-night bonfire party, especially with the voices I heard nearby. But no, the voices I heard were deeper, more mature.

The voices got louder and more frantic like whoever they belonged to were in a heated argument. At that point, I got a clear view of some men all in black suits, their backs facing me as they engaged in whatever discussion they were having.

A second thought popped up in my mind. Was asking these men for direction truly a good idea? But before I could ponder much on the thought my heart froze as one of the men shifted to reveal a man dangling through the chains that bound him by the wrist. He was barely conscious with the way his head hung limply.

“Oh God,” I gasped, clapping a hand over my mouth.

These were definitely not college students!

My immediate reaction would have been to run. To get away from whatever the hell this was but my feet wouldn't move. They stood rooted to the ground. I couldn't bring myself to take a step back. My eyes were as wide as saucers as I stared at the scene before me.

The sharp echoes of some footsteps brought my mind back to the scene in front of me. A man materialized from one of the closed doors. His strides calculated and his entire demeanor eluded one of power.

The other men made way for him as he stood in front of the man that hung half dead. His muscles flexed with ease, screaming to escape from the confinement of his shirt.

“Per favore... ti prego...” the chained man begged weakly.

“Silenzio,” the man in charge said sharply. His tone was laced with anger.

More dialogue followed but I barely made out anything of it. My hands were trembling and I bet the thudding of my heart could be heard from a mile away.

A million thoughts rushed through my mind but each disappearing as fast as it came. I caught sight of a gun, being aimed at the man in chains and before I could make sense of anything happening, a loud shot rang through the entire building. I felt a wave of ringing in my ears at the sound, silencing every other noise.

I took a step back, and then another and another, all the while trying not to let out a sound but I failed terribly at that. My chest tightened at the sight of the man who pleaded till his last breath as every ounce of life disappeared from his body.

And then it just dawned on me what I had just witnessed. Murderers! They took a life without as much as batting an eyelash. They did it without hesitation not paying any mind to his countless cries for mercy.

A creaking sound under my feet made my breath catch in my throat. I stood still, hoping that they hadn't heard the sound.

But I knew I was in deep danger when his eyes shot up to where I was. Those eyes that heartlessly took the life of another now glared towards my direction but luckily, the wall shielded my small frame.

“Who's there!” A loud voice thundered.

My eyes shut tightly for a minute, not daring to take another look. In the next second that followed, waves of gunshots erupted towards my direction. I let out a loud scream and without thinking further I ran as fast as my feet could take me.

The gunshots spiraled out of control and quick footsteps were almost at my tail but I kept running, not daring to look back at the men closing in on me. Every sense of direction was lost when I lost my balance, falling on the rough street. Pain shot through my hands and knees but they were nothing compared to the fear that gripped every fiber within me.

I crawled my way towards an unused truck I saw at a distance, using it as a shield. My eyes adjusting to the darkness once more.

“Abbiamo perso il suo capo,” I heard one of the men say and I understood what it meant. (We can't find the person boss).

The boss didn't look pleased at all. He brought out a gun from his suit jacket, aiming it directly at the man that just gave the information. “Trovate chiunque diavolo fosse o la vostra testa sarà sul tavolo. Tutti voi,” he thundered, venom dripping from every word he spoke.

A wave of “Sì capo,” erupted from the men as they scurried away in the opposite direction, the man they referred to as ‘capo’ heading back into the abandoned building.

I took that cue to run, ignoring the crippling pain that shot up through my legs. I ran like my life depended on it. Well technically, it did. And I didn't stop or look back or even pause to catch a breath until I saw the familiar roads I was used to.

I quickly hailed a cab, getting in as I let out a desperate breath, the activities of this early morning dawning on me. My hands wouldn't stop shaking and my vision blurred.

What the hell had I just seen!