ERICAGabriel asked me to wait for a week but I couldn’t. A day felt like an eternity, how will I manage a week. But right now, what had me anxious was the pregnancy test sitting on the counter near the washbasin. Never in my life I ever thought that there would come a time when I’d love a man, want to marry him, want to have his baby and built a family with him. But now as I stood there in the bathroom waiting for the results, I wished it was positive and I prayed for all the things I didn’t want before. I wanted to have everything I never wanted with Antonio.When I was sure that enough time had passed, I inched forward, holding my breath as I peered at the small screen of the pregnancy test. And what I saw had me crying and laughing. I never thought the amount of happiness I'd feel in this moment. “Oh my god, Antonio...” I whispered, my hand going to my stomach. “You stubborn man, you fucked a baby into me after all.”A knock came through the door and I wiped my tears but it was no

ERICA“Are you really okay?” Ami asked for the hundredth time since I came to live with them yesterday.I smiled at her. But I doubted I was able to pull it off. I hadn’t slept last night and whatever fitful sleep I’d gotten, for once it didn’t bring me dreams of Antonio, but of monsters in the shadows. It happened because I came face to face with the man who had introduced me to those monsters in the first place. He was there. In Gabriel’s home. Under the same roof as me. The thought made me shiver and Ami squeezed my fingers, comforting me without knowing what affected me. I met her gaze and she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”I felt my eyes prickling with tears. Ami knew about monstrous fathers but I couldn’t bring myself to share what my father did to me. Antonio knew because he wouldn't leave it alone. He was stubborn and arrogant and obsessive to a point that no one could stop him when he puts his mind to it, just look at me— I was in love with him, needed him like air a

ERICA Unlike me Antonio slept fitfully. His sleep was riddled with nightmares and past memories. I knew it because I woke up twice from his distressed murmurs and the way he tensed in his sleep. The first time I didn’t want to wake him up but then the second time when I realised he was dreaming about me, it broke my heart. I cried as I heard his tortured groan and his whispered words filled with so much pain, that he didn't want me to leave him. I had to wake him up then, and I did so with gentleness that he deserved. When he opened his golden eyes to my soft touches and saw me, I watched relief filtering into his gaze. In his eyes I saw that he was also afraid of the possibility that this might be a dream. I kissed him with everything I have and when we parted, breathing heavily, I couldn't stop the rush of words that came out without a pause, “Ti amo, my Antonio. Ti amo tanto. Non voglio passare nemmeno un secondo della mia vita senza di te. Voglio essere tutto ciò di cui hai bisog

ANTONIOHissed conversation filtered through my brain pulling me out of the darkness. I heard the argument for a few seconds, gathering that Z was admonishing Summer for making him do this which made the possibility of Summer doing this without her husband’s knowledge a fact. When I opened my eyes I took in my surroundings, noticing the wide expanse of concrete floor with upper head lights and lifts at my back. They brought me to a fûcking parking lot. Hilarious. Z was the first one to notice that I was awake and I glared at him as pain throbbed at the side of my head where he had slammed the gun. Behind him I noticed two other men who stood sentry, probably guards Summer involved in her scheme without making her husband suspicious.“I should have killed you that day.” I said, noticing that they had used thick ropes to tie me to the chair. If I put my mind to it I was sure I’d be able to loosen them enough to slip out of them.“Pity, you didn’t.” He responded, crossing his arms over

SUMMERThe pain was encompassing bigger than anything I had ever felt. I want to die. Kill that vile piece of shit and commit patricide. I didn’t know how to survive with this knowledge. It was eating me from the insides like a poison injected in my veins “No!” I screamed, giving my pain an outlet as I threw the lamp against the wall of my bedroom. I hated myself so much in that moment, I wanted to grab a piece of that glass and end my existence.How did I not know?How could I not know?My sister. My little sister that I loved with everything in me and yet I was unable to protect her. I didn’t protect her when she needed it the most. Antonio was right. It hurt. Hurt more than the time when I suffered the miscarriage which had sent me into depression coupled with Erica’s kidnapping. But the miscarriage was a possibility, I had known it could happen and I was kind of prepared for it but I wasn’t prepared for this heart gutting pain that almost incapacitated me. I didn’t know what to