Trapped in the devil's chambers

       The house reeked of the stale smell of alcohol and regrets.

Aria learned life in a hard way, learned not to flinch at the sound of broken bottles but tonight was different. She trembled at the sight of almost every movement and she sat down covering her ears in fear as another bottle shattered against the wall.

Liquid dripped slowly onto the cracked floor as it formed a pool around her bare feet.

“Useless!!” her father slurred, yelling from the couch, his bloodshot eyes barely focusing on her made her more scared.

“Absolutely useless… Murderer!!”

Silence had become her shield as words only made everything worse.

“I didn't kill her, I didn't kill her, I didn't kill her,” she kept on whispering, trying to remind herself that she didn't kill her mother.

With tears in her eyes, she bent down to clean the mess, careful not to cut herself again. The sharp sting of glass under her foot made her whimper as she met eyes with her father who was glaring at her ferociously.

The sting under her foot was nothing compared to the ache in her chest, the years of suffering, torment and disappointment.

The phone suddenly rang. He hated the sound of the phone but tonight he fidgeted as he heard it.

“Who’s that?” he asked, eyes wide open.

She quickly got up to take the call but he pushed her back, slapping her on the face.

“Don’t take it!!” he yelled, breath quickening.

Aria held her face as she burst into silent tears.

Then the knock came.

It wasn't loud neither was it rushed.

It was deliberate. 

Three deliberate knocks.

The room went silent like a timer had been set, only their breaths were heard and if a needle dropped it would be clearly heard.

Her father froze and for the first time in one month she saw him sober up immediately.

“Don’t open it,” he whispered.

“Who’s there?” Aria asked, her teeth clattering and hands shaky.

Scrambling in fear, and for the first time in ages he took her hands she discovered his shooked more than hers. “Aria… go to your room… Now!” he said, eyes firm and resolute.

Before she could take a step, the door swung open.

Five men stepped into the room, dressed in all black, expressions unreadable and cold. The tallest one with tattoos didn't bother looking around the wretched apartment before moving forward to Russo.

“Mr. Russo – you’re late… again,” he talked, and the room went more cold like he dropped a bomb about to explode.

“Please, please… give me more time… I promise I'll pay, I swear on my wife's grave, I'll pay,” Russo begged, heart pounding as he scanned the room looking for an open door.

The man sighed. “You’ve been saying that for three years,” he said, brows tightening in annoyance as he tilted his head left…

Suddenly his eyes fell on Aria and he straightened back like a cobra.

Mr. Russo's eyes flew wide open in shock and he started shaking his head.

The man's gaze was sharp, making Aria feel naked.

“Mr. Russo, you have no valuables, no assets, no property, no money… Nothing,” he said as he scanned the cracked walls, broken bottles, fluctuating lights and a trembling figure in the corner. He paused with a calm that spoke dangerous.

“Father… I…” Aria tried to say but it was too late.

“But you do have a daughter, a beautiful brunette at that,” he said, lips curling in a sneer.

He turned to the others as they burst into fits of laughter.

Aria's throat tightened, face drained of its colour, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Her father's face went pale looking like life itself had gone out of him. “No please… She's all I have, she's everything to me,” Russo said, shedding fake tears which even made them laugh louder.

Aria turned to her father and suddenly she felt angry,her jaws tightened.He says that now when he just used her mother's grave in swearing.

Again she was silent; Silence was her armor.

The men in black said nothing as they moved towards father and daughter menacingly.

Aria wanted to cry and scream for help but fear had carved a hole in the only space where courage was supposed to dwell.

All she could do was whimper as the tall man extended a hand towards her which he used to drag her up abruptly.

She stood turning to her father who said whimpering and crying. “I’m sorry Aria… I promise to get you back,” he whispered.

The men left in silence, same way they had come, dragging Aria away, the door clicking locked as they stepped into darkness.

Mr. Russo sat trembling in fear as the shards of glass cut through his fingers and feet. He started thinking of all his other debts. Aria was his only source of income; he couldn't let her go like that.

The cool breeze hit Aria's face as they dragged her out of the house into the streets. Tears streaked down her face in helplessness, fear, disappointment, anger and sadness.

All too many emotions she couldn't handle.

Hours passed as they flew down the streets to God knows where.

She had heard of her father's debt but didn't know it would affect her in any way.

Her thoughts immediately went to the boy who once promised to burn the whole world for her sake, and protect her from all evil even her father's.

And today he was nowhere to be found, dead or alive, she couldn't say.

The night felt extremely long and in the midst of her turmoil, she felt an unseen presence watching her.

This night had decided her fate and tomorrow??

Tomorrow could be a reckoning she couldn't see but she could already feel it, it was going to be a day of turmoil.

All she could do was repeat what she knew best: “I will survive, I will survive it”......