9ARIAThe mouth-watering aroma of food woke me up. My stomach growled in approval as I lifted myself up, blinking away the sleep from my eyes.The woman whose name I still didn’t know was pushing a trolly on my side of bed. She left it there and left before I could ask her what her name was.“Serve yourself.” She uttered when she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.My eyes went back to the trolly that was filled with all the food that would’ve made me drool. But when my eyes fell on a bowl of hot soup from which steam was rising, my mind flashed back to the past.The mansion was on fire, my friend was burning inside it. The chunks of flesh and blood painting the floor.My appetite evaporated, my mind spun and I looked away from the bowl of soup. I ignored the way my stomach begged for food and laid down, turning my back to the dinner that was sitting on the trolly.Gideon became the dinner of vicious dogs.My stomach churned, my heart ached as I closed my eyes and
10ARIAFool. Fool. Fool.I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth in anger. I was angry at myself. Where was my sanity? How could I not understand the signals Lina was sending me? The warnings. How could I be so careless?“Tell me.” I cringed, grimacing when he nipped at my earlobe.My body was rigid as wood and I was aware that he was naked. But so was I. His hard flesh was flush against mine.“Fabiano.” My voice came out breathless and raspy. Behind me, he groaned like he was in pain.“I missed you.” I froze, eyes widening at his admission. “I went crazy without you.”You’re already crazy, I wanted to scream.His hold tightened on me; his hand roamed over my belly. My legs were trembling, if not for his hold on me, I’d have fell down on my knees long ago.“So soft,” He muttered, his fingers reaching up to my breast. I stared down at the lean, tattooed fingers over my skin.I gulped audibly.Panic had me paralyzed, I wanted to scream and shout at him to move himself away from me but all
11ARIA“You haven’t been eating properly.” He jerked his chin at my body. I hid my surprise because I was preparing myself for his attack. I had thought that he was going to lunge at me and then…well!I blinked rapidly, shooing away the thoughts and focused on him.“Why haven’t you been eating?” I didn’t flinch when his hands landed on my waist as he held me.Because every time I looked at meat, all I could remember was my friend’s pained screams as the dogs ripped his flesh.Every time I saw the steam rising from a dish, my mind took me back to the night when he had burnt down the mansion and my friend.I couldn’t swallow more than a few bites without the food coming back up in my throat.“Where did you go?” I asked, ignoring his question. He didn’t appreciate it, his eyes flashed mercilessly as he bared his teeth at me.Feeling brave, I stood there, water rolling down my body as I stared up at him with a brow raised.His lips twitched; my eyes followed the little movement of his li
12ARIANo. It won’t be. I was already broken. I had seen myself like that. Broken. It was a very ugly sight. The ugliest.“The more you rebel, the crueler my punishments will become. If you test me, God help you Aria, I won’t control my demons. I’ll let them free and I’ll let them feast on you.”I let out a broken chuckle as I stared at him.“Your demons control you Fabiano.” I paused, “You never controlled them. THEY CONTROL YOU.”“Maybe. What about you then, Aria?”“What about me?”“What do you do with your demons?”“I fought them,” I leaned forward, staring into his eyes, “I survived them. I control them. They don’t control me.”His lips twitched at my comments but he didn’t say anything.“You said everything breaks, didn’t you?” He nodded at me.I palmed his cheek, rubbing my thumb over his slight stubble, feeling the roughness under my skin, enjoying the way his eyes grew cautious as if he was afraid of me. He wasn’t. I knew he wasn’t afraid of anything.“You can break too then.
13ARIATHE PASTMATURE CONTENT AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.It was a dark night.The moon shone, playing hide-and-seek with the lone clouds that wandered across the dark sky dotted with the twinkling stars.It was getting late.Footsteps echoed as the soles of sneakers hit the asphalt footpath. The loud cracking sound made Aria halt in her steps, her face twisting as her body tensed, a shiver rolling through her spine.With stiff movements, she craned her neck, looking over her shoulder, praying to the God to let her make it to her home peacefully.When she saw the empty road and still things behind her, a sigh of relief pushed past her lips. Shaking her head at the dangerous thoughts that kept assaulting her mind, she resumed her steps, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.It had got late.Aria had gone to a classmate’s house, to help in the group project that was assigned to her and her groupmates by the teacher two days ago.It wasn’t her intention to be late but things had gotten mes
14ARIAMATURE CONTENT AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.Her eyes widened with terror.Her mouth fell open to let out a scream that would have woken the dead but the scream was muffled when a meaty palm landed on her face.Bile travelled up in her esophagus, her insides churning as the owner of the dirty hand appeared in front of her.Beady, dark eyes stared back at her, filled with the darkness that promised to taint her forever.A kind of darkness that vowed to diminish the innocence her soul held.A kind of darkness that would haunt the fourteen-year-old forever.She struggled as her senses kicked in, trying to free herself from the cage of the evil man but couldn’t.It was a lost cause.She was just a girl, shaken with terror at that moment, panicking when she faced a man who was easily twice her size and weight.She couldn’t stop it then.The sobs that would’ve melted a heart made of ice.The screams that would’ve chilled everyone to the core.She fought.She fought like the brave daugh
15FABIANOTHE PRESENTThree weeks laterSoft footsteps sounded in the silent room as the door opened before it was slammed closed.“Big Master.”Fabiano didn’t reply, he stared out of the window in his room, eyeing the stars and the trees. The weather was good. The mild breeze swept past the trees making the branches and leaves rustle.“Did she eat?” He asked without looking back at the maid.“Just a few bites, Big Master.” Came the reply.Big Master.Fabiano scoffed internally. He was the Big Master now. With his father was alive, he was ‘Little Sir’ and now that his father was dead, he became ‘Big Master’. It wasn’t like he was sad that his father was dead. He was happy. His father was a piece of ass who deserved to die the minute he took his first breath but damn! Life’s cruel. His father lived. He lived and ruined others’ life before he finally died.“Big Master?” The maid called out; her voice was robotic.Fabiano wasn’t surprised. He knew that the maid had been working for his
16FABIANO***Fabiano looked down at his wrist watch, checking the time for the fourth time. He was getting frustrated now.His little blonde beauty was still not there.She sometimes reminded him of the dolls little girls played with.Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Fair skin.But what made her so special and different from those lifeless things?The fire in her eyes and the fight in her soul.When he heard the footsteps approaching, his head jerked up. Excitement hummed through him. He wanted to see her in the red dress he had personally bought for her while he was in Naples.When his eyes fell on the figure, his mouth turned down. His excitement deflated like a balloon. Anger took a course through his veins as he stared at the blonde woman.She wasn’t wearing the dress he wanted her to.She was in some pajamas.‘Was it difficult not to look like a god damn beggar every day?’He was seriously regretting giving her the clothes. Maybe he should let her wander around naked, without a piece of