ARIA “Fabiano.” A purr resonated in the air. I saw Fabiano’s face hardening, his eyes darkening with the message of incoming storm before he blinked and smiled, slowly and viciously. “Mother.” He crooned, a mocking note in his voice. My head snapped, shock penetrating through me at his word. Mother. My gaze danced between the two, my mind registered the similarities between them that I had failed to notice before. Those eyes. They both had the same eyes. Grey like dark clouds filling the sky before a storm. “How nice of you to come here.” Fabiano widened his smile, “It must have been difficult, huh, mother? To come back from the Land of the Dead to haunt my ass?” “Fabiano!” It was a hiss this time, speaking of the anger that was growing in this room. Shivering at the tense atmosphere in the room, I backed myself away from the sick woman. As soon as my feet touched the floor, I went for my son. I bent over the crib, holding Saint in my arms, careful not to wake him up. I pr
FABIANO“Fucking bitch.”Fabiano hissed as pain curled over his shoulder, making him wish he had killed that whore of his mother.He cursed himself inwardly for not paying attention to the fact that the sick woman could have a weapon.He let his emotions control him and that’s where they got him.Massimo’s cry filled his ears, he growled in pain before looking over his shoulder. Something he didn’t like hit him square in the chest as his eyes fell on a horror-stricken Aria.“I am your mother.” Rosa screeched and it did nothing but increase the irritation and pain Fabiano was feeling.Groaning and growling, he lifted his head, throwing daggers and baring his teeth at the sick excuse of woman who gave birth to him.“You’ll beg for fucking death.” He hissed, watching as Rosa’s face paled and her eyes hesitated.Fabiano smirked inwardly.The woman wasn’t foolish. She knew what Fabiano was. A monster. A beast. She had a hand in creating him ad now, she was going to get a taste of the beast
ARIA THREE WEEKS LATER; I had heard her screams. They were painful, ringing in my ears but as I heard them, I felt nothing. No pity. No horror. No sadness. It was like I was an empty vessel. Her screams echoed in me and returned back. That’s it. I didn’t know what Fabiano did to her but it was nothing pleasant judging by the shrilling screams of her. The kept echoing inside me for some unknown reason. I wanted to forget them, the screams and cries that somehow wanted to harm me, hurt me but I wouldn’t let them. I wouldn’t. I promised myself. Slowly, the days started to pass. I listened to what he wanted. I obeyed him like a good wife. I realized that I should just stop talking. Me fighting him brought me nowhere. It was much easier to do as he said. When I did as he said, he would leave me alone sooner. I started to even write a diary. The psychiatrist my husband brought here had told me to do so. It was nine months ago. When I had harmed myself. Lina had treated me but sh
ARIA Sometimes, I wished I was dead. My son was the only one holding me back. He didn’t know but he had saved me. He still did. Every day, I fought the shadows for him. The dark shadows. They were so dark that whenever they came, they dragged me into darkness with them. Sometimes, it was so difficult to come out. Sometimes, I wanted to give up. It took too much. The struggle was paining. It hurt. A sense of emptiness filled me. I stared out in the garden. There was a portion where trees were thickly grown, sunlight barely touching the ground and that’s where I moved to. I wanted to be in shadows. The old me was gone. I just lived in her shadows. Once in the shadows, I sat down with my back against a tree. I made myself comfortable on the green grass, plucking some blades and twirling them in my fingers. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A familiar scene played before me. The evening when I saw Gideon for the second time. The first time was during that horrible night
ARIA There was something familiar about him. But I knew I hadn’t seen his face here before. Who was he? Was he a bodyguard? Just like I was studying him, he seemed to be looking at me too. His gaze lingered a little too long on me, tracing me features before they landed on the tattoo on my neck. His green eyes seemed to lose their warmth for a second before they gained their softness. He looked past me, and I knew he was looking at the mansion. He looked at me, more precisely, he stared into my eyes before his lips tipped, “So, will you, Aria?” That voice…I blinked my eyes, trying to force myself to think but I heard myself saying; “Will I what?” His green eyes sparkled, his smile widened like he had won some prize. And that smile made dimples appear. “Smile for me?” I frowned, wary of his weird behavior but didn’t move away from my spot. My eyes were stuck to the dimples. “I don’t smile for creeps.” He grinned, showing me his perfectly white teeth. That movement made his
ARIA I didn’t know how long I sat in the garden. The evening sun had darkened, the night slowly fell over. I had stayed past the time I was allowed outside but I made to move to leave. I sat on the ground, picking at the grass now.I felt like my mind was no longer working.“You should go inside now,” a voice said from behind.My back stiffened, my head turned in the direction but I didn’t look up.The voice was familiar, deep, timber.It must’ve been him.No one else was here.Footsteps moved towards me.“Come on.”His voice rumbled in the dark.I didn’t answer.“Ocean eyes.”I closed my eyes shut.I waited for him to lose patience and have his way with me.“Aria Whitlock.”My eyes popped open.It was the first time I had heard my name being said in such a long time.My eyes slowly turned in his direction and I glanced up.I didn’t even know his name.“It’s getting dark. You should go inside.”He looked at the mansion—that castle—that looked haunted in the fading light of sun.“I li
ARIAI was going to the garden for him.The unknown man. The one who made me smile.The one who smiled at me as if telling me that everyone was going to be alright.I passed the plants and went straight for the shadows. The place where I saw him for the first time. When there, I folded myself on the grass, against the tree and closed my eyes.“There it is.”My eyes fluttered open and I straightened, looking up at the source of the voice.“What?” I asked, staring at his eyes in awe.They were stunning. Beautiful. Enchanting.He smiled, showing me the dimples, “Ocean eyes.”My heart galloped for unknown reason, making me frown, and then started to thump against the walls of my chest like a heavy fist.He stared at me, the name whose name I still didn’t know, and sat down beside me.It felt weird.“Are you real?” I whispered out, keeping my eyes on him so he wouldn’t disappear.Because every time I took my eyes off him, he would vanish.“As real as the one residing in there.” He pointed
ARIA Fight for yourself. One last time. Follow the beam of light… …and defeat the shadows. I averted my gaze, blinking the stupid tears that had started to fill my eyes. His words ring in me, his gaze is still on me, unravelling me, unsettling me. It’s easy to talk. What’s difficult, huh? Just use your tongue, blurt out a few words and there, you’ve done it. It’s difficult to do something. Fight. I scoffed internally. My life revolved around that word. The word was the sun and I was the Earth. It used to give me life, it was the only thing I had. Now? The sun was dying. Or maybe it had died. The coldness. The darkness. I kept struggling, kept trying for what? A thing that was already dead. “Aria.” His voice spoke of the despair his eyes were reflecting. I met his eyes for a second before I jumped on my feet, stepping away from him. His eyes were wounded, like face crumpled like a small puppy. “Angel, you said?” I murmured, my gaze trained on him, “You came to help m