Dante~The echo of gunfire ricocheted through the steel belly of the vault, deafening and endless. Smoke clung to the air like fog, thick and choking, tasting of gunpowder and metal. The fluorescent lights above flickered, a few already shattered from stray bullets, casting erratic shadows across the concrete floor. Chaos wrapped itself around every second.I pressed my back to a rusted column, cocked my pistol, and leaned out just far enough to squeeze off two more rounds. The sharp reports of my shots were swallowed up in the echoes of return fire."Shit!" I hissed as I ducked back, a bullet grazing the corner of the pillar and spraying dust into my face.This wasn't a just a hit. It was a damn ambush.Vargo was crouched behind a toppled crate a few feet away, firing blindly around the corner. The moment he ducked back, his eyes met mine."Shit! I'm out of ammo!" he called over the din, voice tight with urgency.I swore under my breath and checked my own magazine. Three rounds left.
Isla~A groan escaped my lips as my eyes finally fluttered open.My head hurt like crazy and my eyes burned. What happened to me? It took me a while to adjust to the sudden brightness of the room. And then it clicked! I was no longer in the dark, abandoned industrial site anymore.And Katya. I couldn't see Katya anywhere around.Seraphine. She must have tried to hurt her again.Panic coursed through me almost instantly, and I shot up from the bed, running toward the large double doors and banging frantically on them."Let me out of here!" I screamed at the top of my voice, not minding my already sore throat.There was no response. The door didn't budge.They had probably locked me in here to separate me from Katya on purpose.That only made me more desperate to break out"Let me out, you..."The doors finally swung open before I got the chance to complete my words.Seraphine walked in, calm and cocky as ever. She looked like someone with a devious trick up her sleeve, her posture el
Dante~"Five...""Four..." "Three...""Maria!" I suddenly blurted out without much of thought.There was immediate silence, like the calm one experiences after a storm."Maria Moretti!" It was my mother's name. A name I'd heard many times from my father's grieving lips.I didn't say it earlier because I wasn't quite sure. But with only two seconds left now, I didn't have much of a choice anymore. I had to call it.And if it doesn't work, I didn't know what else will.The silence stretched on for a moment longer, Vargo looking at me with widened eyes as his breathing came out ragged.We had both been soaked in our own sweat, within just 60 seconds. It was one of the few times I've felt so much fear.And it wasn't fear of dying. It was fear of not seeing Isla again, considering how I left without speaking to her."The password is correct!" The automated voice finally spoke up, making me release a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.The lights were suddenly back to their original y
Dante~My father had always been a really uptight man. He never really spent time with me and Nancy, never smiled, never joked around.He was all about business but somehow, he still earned my utmost respect.I had watched him grieve after we lost our mother due to complications surrounding Nancy's birth.I watched him turn to alcoholism as a way to cope. He would drown himself in glass after glass of the strongest liquor. I listened as he would cry behind closed doors and cuss out my mother for leaving him.My father got fired from his job, things began going bad for him. Yet, he never for one day raise his voice at me or Nancy. He never blamed us for his misfortunes. At least, not openly.Instead, my father grew more distant and colder. He said fewer words.It was almost like he had assumed a whole new personality, one that scared me back then. I was way too young to understand what pain could do to a man. It didn't kill my father, so it transformed him. Into someone way darker.He
Isla~I stepped out of the vehicle, shutting the door behind me.The abandoned industrial site loomed in front of me like a forgotten ruin from a darker era. Rusted metal structures towered above, some creaking with the wind, others standing still like silent witnesses to the decay of time.The entire place made my skin crawl. Ugh!My entire body was tense as I scanned the surroundings with wary eyes, looking for any sign of Seraphine or Katya.The wind howled through the broken windows and steel beams, making eerie whistling sounds that felt like whispers from ghosts. And I was never really a believer.I rubbed my arms, goosebumps rising beneath my jacket as a bitter gust bit into my skin. It was freezing out here, like winter had crept in early.I checked the address again on my phone. Just to be sure I was in the right place.And I was. Still, there was no sign of anyone. No lights. No sounds. Just darkness and dread.I turned on my cellphone flashlight and began walking, weaving
Isla~"Fucking stupid!" I hissed, knocking a nearby glass off the table.I was mad.Mad at myself for everything that happened tonight. How could I have been so stupid? How could I not tell the whole time, that Seraphine had been behind Katya's disappearance all this time? The rage burned hotter in my heart, the more I thought about it.All those killings Dante had shown me, it was probably still her doing. Seraphine.She was the one inciting this war against her El Diablo, making us believe he had been the one behind all those attacks. I bet he isn't even aware of what Seraphine had been up to.I was pacing back and forth in the living room, seething and barely unable to control my rising temper. Fernando stood by the door, a nervous expression on his face as he watched me. Kayla too.But none of them dared to say a word.I hated this. I hated feeling like this.Powerless. Unable to do anything.Even now that I've confirmed who had been holding Katya, I couldn't do a damn thing ab