Uninvited Guest

The words I just heard made me feel tense and lost. My mother, who we all thought was dead, was back. And I knew she wanted revenge. My mother, from the powerful De Luca mafia family in Mexico, was forced into an arranged marriage with my father. It was a union built on duty and responsibility, not love. She had betrayed the family by falling in love with someone else, and my father friend, Jose, had shot her in the chest after killing her lover.

"I know you're shocked, but I had to warn you, your mom has gone crazy," my dad announced, his voice trembling as he took shaky steps upstairs.

I sat frozen at the dining table, unable to move. Then, my phone rang. I hesitated, seeing an unknown number, but I picked up anyway. "Hello, my betrayal son," my mother's voice said, her words dripping with malice. My heart stopped. I heard her mocking laughter. "I'm going to make sure you all suffer as much as I did." She promised, her voice cold and calculating, before ending the call.

I felt shivers run down my spine. My mother was psychotic, and I knew she was capable of anything. She had even tried to kill Leonardo to escape. I was trapped in a living nightmare, With a sigh I ran to my room and took a quick bath. I took out my phone to see a message for Namiro.

From Namiro:

Dad told me Venita is back, don't worry Rom we are going to hunt her and kill her for good.

I smiled at the message, this was Namiro's way to make me feel better, we all know if there is one thing my mom- Venita is good at, it's hiding. I kept my phone on the nightstand, I would respond to her tomorrow right now I just needed to sleep.

One week later

It's been a week of searching for Venita, but she's proven to be a master of evasion. I sighed as I entered the hall room, where Jose had called a meeting. Yes, Jose - he shot Venita and is now working with us because she had marked him for death as well.

"How can someone just disappear from the radar? I've sent my best spies, but they can't find her!" Jose slammed his hands on the table, his frustration palpable.

I sighed, knowing it wouldn't be easy. Venita had connections in Mexico through the ancient De Luca family, making her a formidable foe.

"Jose, calm down. This is what she wants - for us to be on edge," my dad said, sipping his glass. His calm demeanor was a stark contrast to Jose's outburst.

"So, you're saying it's possible that it wasn't the rival gang that attacked me, but Venita?" I asked, my anger rising.

My dad smirked sinisterly. "Yes."

Leonardo's eyes narrowed. "What are you up to, Dad?" he asked, suspicion etched on his face.

My dad stood up, a sly smile spreading across his face. "We attack her in Mexico."

The room fell silent, the implications of his words sinking in. "How? We don't know her base," Jose scoffed, disbelief etched on his face.

My dad chuckled. "Oh, do we not?" He winked at us, and we burst out laughing at the realization that he knew her whereabouts. I love having an upper hand.

"I wasn't called the Lord of the South for no reason.” He praised himself.

“So when are we leaving?” Leonardo questioned as he sat. “This night” my dad replied, we glared at him for the short notice. “The earlier the better, the won't expect us,we do a clean job” my dad declared, we all said cheers to that as we separated to get our shit together.

I had been keeping Namiro updated on the situation via phone calls. She was currently in Paris for a delivery and wouldn't be joining us on the mission. She was disappointed to miss out, but it was for the best - Venita was a formidable and dangerous foe.

My dad signaled for me to get ready, and we prepared our weapons. We took a commercial flight to avoid raising any suspicions with immigration, using fake identities as a precaution. Once we arrived, we checked into a hotel room close to Venita's base. My dad booked three rooms, saying he and Jose would share one, which raised my suspicions, but I pushed them aside for now.

In my room, I calculated the odds of success, my mind racing with the possibilities. I wanted my mom dead - she was a threat to us all - but I knew it wouldn't come without a cost. I checked the clock: 9:53 PM. It was time to move. We took an Uber to Venita's base, following my dad's directions. As we arrived, I instructed my men to take position with their sniper rifles, keeping watch from a distance.

We burst into the compound, guns blazing, and quickly took out the guards at the entrance. "Strip them of their uniforms and change into them, fast!" Jose ordered, and we quickly swapped clothes with the fallen guards.

"Leonardo, find us an escape route," my dad whispered. "Mario, find your mother. Jose and I will handle the guards. Good luck!"

As they joined the guards, Jose yelled, "They went that way!" and the remaining guards gave chase, pursuing us in the opposite direction.

I nodded to Leonardo, but he ignored me and took off to complete his task. I hesitated, then began searching the offices, peeking into each room discreetly. After searching five rooms without luck, my anger grew. Then, I spotted the basement door, which I hadn't checked yet. My heart raced as I wondered if my mom might be inside.

As I opened the door, I was met with a shocking sight: a group of sickly, pain-ridden children, all under 14 years old. They gazed at me with wide, frightened eyes, their hands clasped together as if in prayer. I stepped inside, scanning each of their faces, and was struck by how familiar they looked...

"Can you talk?" I asked the boy who seemed to be the leader, the only one brave enough to meet my gaze. "What do you want from us?" he replied in a thick Mexican accent. I sighed in frustration, my search for my mother had led me to a group of children instead.

Just then, one of the other boys whispered something in the leader's ear, and his expression softened to one of pity. "You leave now," he urged me in broken English, his words laced with a sense of urgency. I shook my head, my mission clear. "I'm here for Venita. Do you know where she is?"

The boy burst out laughing, and I was taken aback. Was he crazy? "You stay, you die," he growled, his anger palpable. I stood up, my rage boiling over, and pressed my gun to his head. "Tell me where she is, or I'll blow your skull off," I snarled.

The boy looked me dead in the eye, his words dripping with scorn. "She knows you're coming. She flew out of here. She bombed us for honor." His poor English was confusing, but one thing was clear: Venita was gone. I sighed in despair, lowering my gun.

"What are you guys doing here, then?" I asked, suspicion creeping into my voice. I noticed the marks on their skin, indicating they were part of the De Luca family. The boy smiled sadly and stood up, and I pointed my gun at him once more. He lifted his shirt, revealing bombs tied to his chesst.

"She will bomb us in 10, to die and kill you for honor," the boy told me, his voice emotionless. I was horrified - my mom was crazy, but willing to kill her own family just to get rid of us? That was a new level of sick.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, my suspicion growing. The boy sighed in frustration and pointed to two of the younger boys. "She didn't bomb them. Take them with you, you have a minute." I quickly grabbed the two boys, who screamed and cried for their brothers.

I needed to find my family and get out of there fast. I wasn't my mom, and I wouldn't let innocent kids die. I hid as I noticed guards approaching, but breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was Jose and my dad.

"Did you find her? Whose kids are these?" my dad asked, confused. I quickly filled them in. "It's a trap! Take these two kids and get the hell out of this house!" I screamed, handing the shaking boys over to my dad. "We need to go, NOW!"

"Have you seen Leo?" I asked my dad and Jose, but they shook their heads in unison. "No!" they yelled back. I cursed under my breath - that kid was going to kill me.

"Go now, hurry! I'll find him!" I screamed, taking off towards the tunnel. I yelled Leonardo's name as I entered, spotting him up ahead. "Let's go, it's a trap! Now!" I screamed, and we both sprinted as fast as our legs could carry us.

We were almost safe when an explosion rocked the ground beneath us, and the force of the blast sent us tumbling outside the building. I turned back to see Leonardo, relief washing over me as I saw he was alive - before everything went black and I collapsed.