The sound of birds chirping combined with the rays of the sun, which came in through the window, falling on my face woke me up.
Groaning, I flip my body to the other side of the bed to avoid the sun rays touching me.Hold on. Sunrays? Birds chirping? My room doesn't have any window to let the sunrays in.I felt confused as I thought about this, trying to remember all that happened last night.I ran away from Daniel's house, then I ran into an alley where Daniel caught me once again.Memories of last night floods my head and I am filled with a new sense of terror.Gasping, I shoot up from the bed, looking around to figure out where I was. Daniel caught me! He'd surely punish me now.. He would…"Glad to see you're awake." A deep voice that clearly did not belong to Daniel said and my eyes shoots to the corner of the room where a man sat, his face not visible."W..wh.. who are you?" I stammered out of fear, pushing back to the head of the bed. Where was I? This is clearly not my room. Did Daniel put me in a different room in his house? Did he send one of his men here to rape me as punishment for trying to escape?My chest tightens making it difficult for me to breathe."I am pained to see that you have no recollection of who I am after begging me to save you last night." He says, standing from the dark corner where he sat and stepping into the light.I gasp when his face comes into view. He was attractive, really attractive. I didn't see his face clearly last night."Wh..wh.. where's Daniel?" I stutter, pulling my knees to my chest, trying to be as far away from him as possible."Daniel? Is that the man you were trying to escape from? I have no idea." He shrugs still walking to the bed.He does not know?Daniel would surely come to find me, I know he would. I need to leave this place."W.. what are you d..doing?" I stuttered staring at him cautiously. He was standing close to me now. Standing too close for comfort, I could feel the heat being emitted by his body and his cologne filled my nose.I don't even know him. What if he's a psychopath? Would he rape me? Will he hit me like Daniel did."But I'm curious about something.." He says, reaching for my face but subconsciously I flinch turning my face away.His hand pauses mid way, and I turn my head to look at him.He looked very angry as he stared down at me.Oh no!I made him angry, he would definitely hit me now.He stared at me for a few moments and I noticed how he kept clenching and unclenching his fists like he was stopping himself from hitting me, finally he turned away."Keep an eye on her." He ordered the man that was standing by the door, storming off and banging the door behind him.I look at the man who was ordered to watch me only to find him watching me intently. Feeling cautious and scared, I pull the duvet up to cover my body properly still staring at him.Who was that man? Did he really save me from Daniel? Or did Daniel tell him to lie to me just to bring up my hopes that I actually escaped before he crushes that hope. My gaze falls on the door and I was half expecting Daniel to walk in and mock me about my failed attempt in escaping from him.Either way, I have to find a way to escape, I can't stay here for long.I was thinking of the way to escape when the door is thrown open and a girl with straight long black hair walks in, and I shrink further into the duvet. Her dark eyes darts around the room before they eventually fall on me."There you are." She said giving me a type of smile that showed her fangs which frightened me."You. Get out." She orders the man at the door and he immediately complies.Closing the door after he leaves, she locks it before turning to look at me."What do we have here?" She asks and I gulp.I watch her cautiously as she walks to the bed, stopping at the edge with her hands on her waist."You know, if you wanted to blend with the bed. The first thing you should do is cover your hair. It kinda gives you away." She tells me, making me stare at her confused.What's she talking about?When she sees the confusion on my face, she sighs, shaking her head."That's what ever. Let's get you cleaned up."Without warning the duvet is pulled off me and once again, I subconsciously fold myself to protect myself, warning bells ringing in my head.Memories of Daniel in her place, about to rape me floods my head and I gasp for breathe unable to breath, my chest feeling constricted."H-hey.!" She cries out, surprised. She rushes to me, wrapping her arms around me and rubbing my back."You are safe. You're not in that place anymore. You're not going back to that place anymore." She tells me repeatedly, holding me and rubbing my back. Few minutes later and I was still in her arms, none of us saying anything to each other but just staying in silence."Are you alright now?" She asks me softly and I push myself off her, cleaning the tears from my eyes."I'm fine." I nod my head, putting as much distance as I could between the both of us.If she noticed, she didn't say anything about it."I probably came off the wrong way." She says apologetically, rubbing her neck. I stare at her in silence, not knowing what to say.I know she helped me now, but I was still cautious about her.I don't trust anyone in this house, I still need to escape from here."Hi. I'm Natalie. Nice to meet you." She extends her hand to me with a smile.My gaze moves from her hand to her face as I stare at her. Slowly and cautiously, I bring my hand out and she holds mine tightly."This is the part you say your name." She jokes, laughing lightly."Micini." I whisper, pulling my hand out of her grasp."Micini." She says, testing the name on her tongue.I look at her, hearing someone call me my actual name after so many years feels foreign.For eleven years, Daniel only called me little Red, like he was trying to create a new identity for me. One that wasn't me."Helloooo. Earth to Minny." Natalie says snapping her fingers to snap me out of my daze.Blinking my eyes, I look at her and she smiles."I was saying. We need to get you cleaned up. You have dirt and blood on you." She repeats what she said earlier while I was not paying attention and I nod in understanding.Yeah, I need to wash my body. Would they make me pay for the water? Or would they give me rations and tell me to manage it for days.Daniel always did that when he wanted to punish me."I'm going to get the tub filled with hot water. While I do that. I want you to strip" She says before she scurries off to where I think was the bathroom.Without wasting time, I pull the sweatpants I had on down stepping out of it. My shirt follows and I pile them up on the floor.I was about to pull down my panties when I hear a gasp behind me making me pause.I turn to see Natalie staring at me in horror.What?Natalie stares at me in horror with her hands covering her lips in shock.Why was she staring at me that wa… Oh.I finally realized I was standing before her, naked and vulnerable at the moment, my scars completely visible to her.I stare at her silently, waiting for what she would do, i waited to see that look of disgust on her face, just like everyone else that saw my body.I am shocked when she breaks out in a sob, and I stare at her confused on what to do.With tears in her eyes, she walks to me wrapping her arms around me and pushing my face into her chest.My heart rate increases because of the physical contact between us, my body itching to get her off me."I'm not going to ask you what happened, I'm not going to make you tell me what happened. I'm going to wait for you to feel safe around me and tell me what happened." She says still holding me tightly.Even if she had asked now, I don't want to tell her."You do realize your holding a naked female right?" I ask her still stan
After he left I found out he was Natalie's older brother Santino, but everyone calls him Saint. He was obviously not a Saint like his name suggested. He has killed more people than I could count and he has ruined the lives of many more. He was the devil himself.Well, that's what Natalie said, not that I cared about that, I need to stay as far away from him as i possibly could, until i run away from here. But where do I go after I run?"Hellooo, earth to Minny?" Natalia snapped her fingers at in my face, snapping me out of my reverie."Come on, start eating." She urged me, taking a bite from her food which was placed before her.I drop my gaze down to the plates staring back at me, glancing at her once more before I push the plate away. She looks at me, her brows raised in confusion."I'm not hungry." I murmur, an obvious lie. But it's not like she would figure out I'm lying….My stomach grumbles loudly at that exact moment making my face red in embarrassment.I look away from the tab
Morning came by faster than I had expected. I couldn't sleep after all that happened and Natalie stayed in my room for the rest of the night."Hurry up, hurry up!" Natalie urged me as she walked excitedly down the staircase.It was just breakfast, why was she so excited?Initially things were awkward between us, but soon enough we started talking about ourselves.Well more like she talking about herself while i listened.So the person we saw in the kitchen last night was her older brother Luca, who was younger than Santino.It was just Santino, Luca and Natalie. Their parents were dead and Santino owned everything around here.I felt eyes on me and I turned around to find one of Santino's men watching me intently, the conversation I had with Natalie last night coming to mind."Who are all these men on suits?" I asked her immediately they all left the room"Santino's men." She said taking a bite from the burger she ordered one to get her.Santino's…men? What does she mean.Natalie sees
We all sat in silence after Santino stormed off, no one wanting to say anything first.The sound of cutleries against plates resumed and Natalie and Luca goes back to their meals like that didn't just happen.They were accustomed to it.I look at the both confused on what to do.What Luca did was wrong, but I don't think he would accept it. I wonder what happened between them three, what did he do to the person that gave the name to him? But isn't that their mother? Or was it that father?"Micini for your own safety, never call him Santino again. Ever. We all call him Saint, so you should too." Natalie tells me without looking up from her food." I don't see what the issue is though. Is he feeling bad about what he did to her? Does that name remind him so much of her that he refused to go by the name??" Luca asked. I looked at him, my eyes widening in shock when I see he was clutching the knife tightly and his hands were bleeding."If you want to cut yourself up, do it where no one c
I was walking down the staircase unsure of what to do.Natalie had left for college earlier, and Luca went off to work.So it was just me here. Each of Santino's men I walked past watched me like they were waiting for me to do something, slip up and show the real reason I was here.Ignoring them, I went into the kitchen. I was bored and had nothing to do and Luca told me to make sure I ate by 1pm and it's fifteen minutes past.I was browsing through the pantry with a cookie in my mouth, looking for something to eat."What are you doing?" Santino asked from behind me and I stilled, cookie still in my mouth. I remained still, hoping that he would maybe leave or something if I don't answer to him."I asked a question." He says and I could tell he was holding back from snapping at me, the irritation evident in his tone.Straighting my back, I slowly turned around meeting his dark eyes."I-I…" I stuttered unable to form any coherent sentence.I felt nervous around him, but why?"You-you..
"I-I am sorry. I didn't mean…." I stuttered my spoon falling from my hands as they shake in fear.Why was he reacting this way? It's just a name isn't it? If he doesn't like it he should say he doesn't like it. Why is he-"You should learn to mind your business." He snapped at me. His reaction a complete opposite of how he was yesterday, I see him gradually putting back the walls he let down earlier." I'm so-" I reach out to him but he pulls his arm away before I could touch him, still glaring at me."What's that delicious thing I smell… Oh." Natalie walks into the kitchen, stopping when she sees us both. Santino glances at her, but he doesn't do more than that. "I feel the tension here and I'm about to back away slowly… " She trailed off as she starts backing away, retracing her steps when she came here.I give her a pleading look and she sighs, walking over to us. "You're scaring her. Stop it." She tells him as she sits beside me, putting her arm around me."Is she a child? Huh Na
A knock on my door causes me to look up, making me finally move from the curled postion I've been in for the past few hours.I wonder who it is, I'm not expecting anyone to come see me. Maybe they came to finally throw me out of the house, they all seemed really angry then. I kept staring at the door expecting the person to come in because the door wasn't locked.When the person knocks a second time, I am forced to voice out a ‘come in’, my eyes still on the door waiting to see who was at my door.Slowly the door opens, and Saint walks into the room slowly, his shoes clicking against the tiled floor. He sweeps the room with his eyes and his lips form a frown when he doesn't see me.“Micini?" He calls out, his voice sounding cold and yet my name coming from his lips sends some sort of heatwave down my body.Come to think of it, I don't think he has ever said my name.“I'm down here." I say, barely audible. I don't think he heard me. I'm about to clear my throat and talk a bit louder
_Santino’s POV_I leave her room just as Luca turns a corner, about to go down the staircase. .“Luca." I call his name and he stops, turning to look at me with a knowing smirk on his face and I fight the urge to wipe the look off his face with my fists. “I just knew you would chase after me." He says smugly, leaning against the wall with his arm folded across his chest.Luca is my younger brother with a seven years difference between us. He's not just my younger brother, he's practically my son because I raised him.After the death of our mother he started hating me and we drifted apart.He's only doing this to piss me off and I know it, he probably took an interest in Micini just because he thinks I'm interested in her. Not that he's wrong.“This is about Minny,isn't it?”He asks and my fists fold by my sides, hating the nickname he calls her. I see how you look at her.” He says and my eyes snaps to him, waiting for what he would say next.“I see the way your eyes follow her every