I was freed from one monster, only to be thrust into the arms of another.
It has been exactly a year since I lived through a nightmare, a year since I was rescued from my own home. I didn't have enough time to heal before I was told that I was going to be married off. I begged. I begged for a whole year, and in the end, I still found myself in a room, alone, in a white wedding dress, about to walk down the aisle to marry a man I did not know. "You'll be fine." I heard him call out. I glanced up, only to see that he was staring down at me with nothing but void in his eyes. "You promised that you would protect me." I accused as tears blurred my eyes. "You'll be protected here." He dismissed before he gave me his back. "I hate you." I whispered, feeling my scarred heart break in my chest all over again. "I hate you for what you'd allowed to happen to me, and I hate you for what you're allowing to happen to me now." I added, hoping my words would hurt my coldblooded father. I knew I had failed miserably when he glanced at me over his right shoulder. "I'll give you ten more minutes to finish up. I'll wait outside." He said before he pulled the door open and slightly limped out. My entire body shook, fear enveloping me like a thick blanket, nausea making my stomach twist and spots appearing in my vision. I wanted to escape. I've been wanting to escape for 365 days. But my injured leg wouldn't let me go too far, and neither would my fear of people. I've thought about ending my life one too many times, but I never forced myself to do what my captor had tried to do once. I raised my shaking hands up to my face, and wiped the fallen tears. No matter how long it's been, I could still feel every single cut, bruise, and bump that had enveloped me. No matter how healed some of my wounds were, each of the faded scars burned as if they were freshly cut. I could still feel the monster's hands on me, stealing the innocence I once had. And now this. A sob escaped my lips as I realized that my fate was sealed. How unfortunate does one have to be to live a life like mine? A single knock came from the door, and I knew it was my father giving me the final warning. Suppressing more of the sob that wanted to escape my lips, I pushed myself to my feet and immediately winced when pain shot up my right leg. It started with the dull sensation of pricking of needles from my toes, traveling up my ankle, painfully thundering all the way up to my knee, and exploding at my hip. Some injuries are never meant to heal. A large bat swinging towards my right leg popped into my head, and I let out a gasp, forcing myself away from the memory. "I'll make you look just like your worthless father..." Was what he had said when he swung the metal bat over and over again. Another impatient knock came from the door, and I knew my time was up. I slowly limped towards the door, stopping mid-way to glare at the full-length mirror. It would be an understatement to say that I looked absolutely horrible. My hair was bound on the top of my head, revealing every inch of my face and the horror written all over it. Confusion was mixed in my eyes, my brain rotting at the thought of my father thinking it was a good idea to give me away to a man from another city, a man who might be just as bad, or even worse, than the man who destroyed my entire life. I tore my eyes away from my reflection and wiped my tears once more before limping towards the door. I didn't bother to reach for the flowers. The white roses mocked me, and I was not willing to let them mock me more by walking down the aisle with them in my hand when they represented young love and innocence. There was no such thing as love in this marriage, and my innocence was stolen from me. I didn't need the roses to remind me of them. I opened the door and came face to face with my father again, the great Victor Viper. I couldn't hold his gaze for more than a few seconds, too afraid that my hatred for him would consume me whole. He didn't bother to offer me his arm. He already knew I wouldn't touch him, nor would I touch anyone else. My Aphephobia had been a controlling factor in my life for the past year, and he was well aware of it. "Come." He ordered in an emotionless voice before he started walking away. I followed after him, trying to stop myself from falling because of how weak my knees felt. I kept my gaze down. No amount of thinking about my safe place was able to calm me down. When we reached the door of the main room, the need to hold my breath until I could no longer keep consciousness was unimaginably great, anything to get out of this situation. The coward in me stopped me from doing so, and I was left hopeless when the doors swung open, revealing a room filled with a few people and empty chairs, and two men standing in front of all of them. One was a priest that would officiate the marriage, and another was... I had stifled the gasp that bubbled up my chest and had to drop my eyes to stop .uh0 my head. I'd seen him only once, and I was unable to get it out of my head. I only knew his name. Jacopo Nicolo. I just didn't know he was a scarred man. No, he's not just scarred. He was a burned man with two different eyes, one light, and the other cloudy. My stomach hit the floor. The man who had taken my life from me was a scarred man, and he had taught me how ruthless men with scars were. This one looked much worse than the last one did. And I couldn't stop myself from already imagining all the cruel and awful things that were waiting for me the second I became his wife and his prisoner.Ezabella Viper... I didn't think I would be able to fall asleep after Jacopo left, but I must have underestimated how exhausted I was. I ended up sleeping in, and by the time I finally woke up, I realized that I was no longer alone. I looked over my shoulder, my heart drumming in my chest at the sight of my husband looking at me. Jacopo was lying behind me, one hand draped over my waist, his hand pressed against my baby bump. "Good morning." He whispered before he leaned closer to press his lips against my cheek. I turned around to face him, cupping his cheeks with both of my hands to inspect him. He came back to me. Jacopo had a few scratched on his face and neck, and some even on the back of his hands, but other than that, he looked perfectly healthy. "Are you okay?" I asked, needing him to confirm his safety before I can breathe a sigh of relief. "Couldn't be any better." He replied before dropping a kiss to my lips. "Is it over?" I asked, and Jacopo nodded his head. "It's
Jacopo Nicolo...I sat in the passenger seat of Elijah's car, looking at the car in front of us as we drove to where our people said Elizabeth would be."This better be the end of it." I heard Jacopo mumbled."If you'd let me kill her last time, it would have ended." I shot, earning myself a glare."Let it go, will you?" He replied, shaking his head.Well, at least he and I agree on one thing. This mess needed to end, and I was going to make sure that I watched with my own eyes as it does.The rest of the ride was silent. From what Dante told us, Elizabeth was pretty much alone now. The vipers who used to help her because of her brother were long gone thanks to Victor. The motorcycle club wannabes were also gone thanks to Kevin and the cops he sent their way to dismantle them. The money she was getting from the Fimbars was gone thanks to the bullet buried in Anthony Jhon's head. Now she's left alone, in an old motel, with nothing to her name. All alone and waiting for us to
Sleep did not come easily that night. Finding out that the child Helena was pregnant with being Anthony jhon's, almost being held at gunpoint and injured, and then finding out that our apartment was set on fire and the man and woman who were staying there as decoys dying... all of it was too much to handle. And still, after a few hours of tossing and turning, and after Jacopo finally came to bed to hold me, did I finally manage to fall asleep. However, my mind would not rest. The dreams I was seeing, well, more like the nightmares I was seeing forced me to wake up. I was too disturbed to the point that it took me a few minutes to realize that I was once again alone in bed. "Jacopo?" I whispered, my heart drumming in my chest, trying to beat its way up my throat. "Jacopo?" I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and pushed myself to my feet. After turning to light on, I looked around the room. Where did he go? The door opened, startling the life out of me. It surprised me how jump
The gunshot caught the attention of every single person in the mansion. It forced a yelp out of the lips of the ladies gathered up in the dining room. It forced the guards outside to react and enter the room with their weapons drawn. And it even made the ladies in the sitting room scream, their voices audible from all the way there. I'd covered my head with my arm, my body cruled on insticts, and my back turned to the gunshot. The defening silence that followed after the gun shot, the doors slamming open, and the screamins ringing the mansion was broken by Connor's next words . "The next bullet will not miss you, Helena." He snapped. "So I suggest you stay put." I froced myself to look up, fearing that I might see the pregnant woman hurt and bleeding. But all I saw was her frozen once again. Connor still had his glock pointed at her, but I could only assume that he missed her on purpose, and the shot he fired was just a warning shot. Thank goodness she isn't hurt and his warnin wor
Ella, Cilvia, Dalinda, Helena, and I poured into the dining room, and before Dalinda could close the door, one of the men in black stepped forward and blocked it with his foot."We are instructed to be in the same room as Mrs. Smith at all times." He commented.Dalinda, even though she looked like she wanted to argue, gave Ella the chance to make the decision."I was hoping we could speak without too much crowd..." Helena commented, and I could hear the anxiety in her voice."Well..." Ella started, but another voice cut her off."What is going on here?" Connor asked as he appeared from behind the other man."We just want a little space to talk." Ella replied.Connor looked at Ella first before he glanced around her to look at the rest of us."We won't take long." She added, giving Connor a pleading look.Connor let out a sigh before he nodded his head."Give them a second, will you?" He said to the man in black."But Sir, we were informed that..." The man started to argue, but Connor
Ezabella Viper...Looks were being shared the rest of the day, and I could tell and understand that Helena and Piper Fimbar were the topic of everyone's hushed conversations. I could also tell that the two Fimbar women were aware of it but chose to keep their silence. After we finished with the paintings and Ella promised to send each panting to the owners home, we moved back to the sitting room to have tea before dinner, which Ella insisted the ladies eat before they leave.While everyone had their own side conversations, I would say that the mood was light and less tense than it was at lunch or in Ella's studio while we painted. Helena and Piper were sitting as far away from each other as possible, which provided more comfort for the rest of the group."So mystery is truly solved, I guess." Cilvia whisperer, drawing Ella's and my attention towards her."I guess so." Ella replied, sipping her tea and taking a glance around the sitting room over her cup. "I still feel weird about