2. Devil

ISLA

~•~

Everyone in the living room looked up at me.

“Run, Lala!” My brother screamed just before someone punched him in the stomach again.

I was sick. My father was lying lifeless on the ground and my brother had been beaten so badly that blood was coming out of his mouth.

“Run!” My mother repeated, but my legs were stuck to the ground. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t run and leave my family alone. They were all about to die.

I watched in horror as one of the men pointed their gun at me. I watched him as he pulled the trigger.

“Isla!” My brother screamed.

The bullet didn’t hit me. It hit the railing instead and the sound was loud enough to knock me into my senses. These men came here to kill my family, including me. I couldn’t let every one of us die. One person had to be alive to avenge them.

With that thought in my mind, I took off.

“Follow her!” I heard their leader order just as footsteps started to climb up the stairs. “Bring her back here.”

Knowing that my room was the only escape route I had, I quickly ran in there and locked the door. In less than a second, they started banging on the door. I was scared as fuck as I looked around the room, wondering what I could use to hold them off. There wasn’t much that could work but as soon as I set eyes on my couch, I started pushing it to the door.

I didn’t know if it was the fear or the adrenaline but I was suddenly ten times stronger and had no issue pushing such a huge couch. I placed it against the door, making sure it was just under the handle before rushing towards the window.

I could still hear the noises outside and they were scaring me even more. I wondered how they managed to infiltrate our house. I wondered if my brother and mother were going to survive, but I knew I had to get out of there first. I needed to find help.

There was a tree right in front of my window which I used back in the day to sneak out a lot and as I went down this time, I wasn’t sure who or where I was going to get help from.

I took a peek around the building and saw that there were a lot of heavily armed men around. They were blocking the gate and while I wasn’t familiar with every man my father hired, I knew they weren’t ours. If they were, my father wouldn’t be lying lifeless on the floor at the moment.

There was no way I could get past them. I didn’t know how to use a weapon. I couldn’t fight. I could barely even run.

“There she is!” I heard one of the men yell out from my window and in the next second, he was jumping onto the tree.

I didn’t have the time to think twice about it and started crawling through the dog hole at the back of my house.

I heard a gunshot and then I felt pain in my arm, but I didn’t let it stop me. As soon as I went through the hole successfully, I started sprinting.

I ran and ran and ran. I didn’t know where I was going but I was running. I kept entering several alleyways, hoping to lose them if they were chasing me. I didn’t know if they were behind me or not. I was too scared to check.

I didn’t know why the streets were so empty at such an early time of the day. On regular days, the streets were bustling with crowds even at midnight. When I ran out of the house, I was hoping I would eventually see someone who could help me keep those men away but everywhere was closed. Every shop on the street was closed. Every home was locked and even the lights were turned off.

The only way I could see where I was headed was because of some streetlights that were still on. It made me wonder whether anything special was happening tonight. Why was it so dark outside?

When I was finally out of breath, I came to a stop in a dark alley. I didn’t want to take the risk and stay in a bright place when those men could still be after me. That was when I felt an excruciating pain in my arm.

“Shit.” I hissed as I touched the spot on my arm that was aching. My eyes widened when all I could feel was blood. I couldn’t even see the wound but I was certain a bullet was lodged in there somewhere.

I needed to get it out. I needed to stop the bleeding. I needed to do anything to prevent myself from dying before I got the help I needed.

Tears were running down my face and my vision was blurry as I tore a part of my singlet and tied it around my arm. I wasn’t even dressed properly. I was in a singlet and pajamas. Who would have thought my night would end like this? As if pointing it out was the trigger, I started feeling cold immediately.

I shivered, taking several deep breaths. However, I knew I couldn’t leave myself to die here tonight. I had to do something.

Those men said Mr. Rossi was their boss, but I didn’t believe it. I didn’t want to. If Lorenzo was after us, then nobody could save us. He was the most feared man in the underground world. Even his father was scared of him. If he was the reason I got shot today, then no one would come to our aid. No one wanted to offend him.

But maybe, they were lying.

Maybe they wanted to carry it out in his name to scare us. They wanted to protect the person who sent them. That had to be the truth. Lorenzo was close to our family. He was friends with my brother. He wouldn’t hurt us like that. I refused to believe it.

I didn’t know how long I stayed in that alley but as soon as I made up my mind, I resumed walking. I knew where Lorenzo lived. I had been to his place a few times to pick up or drop something off with my brother. I had never entered his house but I knew where it was.

I was taking a risk. I could show up in front of his house and he’d finish me off, but I had no choice. I was hoping those men were lying. I was hoping he could save us.

I didn’t know how long I walked for but I eventually arrived at his gate in one piece. My legs were aching from all the walking and running I’d been doing on bare feet all night. I barely had any energy in me as I banged on his gate.

The side gate opened immediately and a tall intimidating man came out, eyeing me with disdain. “Why are you making so much noise here?”

“I’m Isla, Casper’s sister.” I introduced myself, despite being out of breath. “Tell Lorenzo I need his help please.”

“Casper’s sister? You sure?”

I nodded. “Please hurry up,” I begged him.

He was still wary of me but he agreed and closed the gate in my face. A few minutes later, the side gate was opened again and this time, the devil himself came out.

I opened my mouth to speak but my voice was drained. I was talking but I couldn’t hear myself because my ears were ringing and before I knew it, the world was getting darker and darker as I slowly slipped into unconsciousness.