Meeting Him

“What is this child doing here?” I hear a husky and powerful voice snarl at someone.

The voice alone is so commanding that I am forced to look up, to answer the demand that the voice has put forward.

As I looked up, I came face to face with a pair of beautiful but cold grey eyes, bottomless grey orbs that could pierce through anything. I have no idea who he is, all I know is that I am terrified.

The source of my dread right in front of me, with his perfectly pointed nose, thin lips, chiseled jaw, could have been an angel. But his eyes rage a war of their own, and despite those angelic features, he looks like the devil himself. The week-old stubble and boisterous jet-black hair sealed the despot look.

His imposing and frightening aura is like never-ending darkness, a black hole that will swallow you through. He just screams danger!! Instilling a strong sense of fear in everyone around, including me.

Unable to hold his piercing gaze any longer, I quickly looked down, releasing myself from the frightful grey eyes, only to be overwhelmed by a very bare bloody torso.

It’s like a piece of art with every muscle, contour, abs carved by a master and splattered with red, instilling fear and awe at the same time.

My trance breaks when that voice rings in my ears again,

“You, hey you, Stray I am talking to you!” he commands me.

“She is not astray. Well! At least not anymore!!” Set Agosti walks in from the opposite end. I never thought I would say that, but I am thankful for him intervening. This man is scarier than Set Agosti. Scarier than anyone I have ever met.

 “This is no place for a child to play Set! I ask again, what is she doing here?” he barks at Set, and his voice has so much fuel that everyone almost whimpers.

“What do you know about playing Lucifer? You never play!”

What a strange name, Lucifer. Although it suits him, he is terrifying as Lucifer himself,  but why would any parents name their child after the devil itself?

“You are no fun brother!” Set smirks

B-brother, Oh, no, so he is Set’s brother. Oh God, does that mean what I think it means? It is him, is he him…. I... the one I….to be…the tyrant, the Don of Cosa Nostra. No no no, I cannot, I don’t want to, this can't be happening to me.

I unconsciously step back, wanting to put more distance between me and my predator. I don’t want to be here, what if I beg him will he let me go? No, no I don’t want to be here. I muffle my sobs.

I am pulled out of self-pity by an almost growl-like sound, and I see the devil glaring at Set. He looks deadly, and everybody backs off, putting our heads down in submission, but Set looks unaffected and continues to smile casually.

Everyone and everything goes quiet, both the brothers are giving each other this weird look, it’s like they are communicating but not talking. If I didn’t know better, it would say that they are having a private conversation in their heads.

With every second as the silence prolongs, I can feel Lucifer Agosti getting madder and madder, his eyes become even more menacing.

“Unbelievable!!” He roars, breaking the deadly silence “A tribute! A GODDAMN GIFT for what?” he yelled deafeningly, turning to look at me, as on instinct I stepped back cowering in fear.

Lucifer is trembling with rage, but Set continues to stand there calmly.

“Relax Lucifer! You have already sent them such a lovely gift.” He says drily, looking around at the bloodied mess that we are all standing in.

Suddenly the man from earlier, the one in Don Luciano’s office who gave me a look over, steps forward & intervenes “I.. I..If I may Don, we just wanted you to know about the special work that we are doing here” he says, trying to sound confident & pointing at the club “th-this is one is as pure, as they come, fresh as a lily…uh uh… she is not from the rut, she is not even 18, a virgin”.

Of course!! He means me. I am unable to even bring myself to think about the repulsive words that are being used to describe me. Like I am some cattle being traded away.

But that’s exactly how I have been dealt with. How could father even give me away like that? I wonder if Nana & Maria knew about it.

Where did I go wrong? I did everything that they wanted me to and, even more, everything just to please them. All I wanted was their acceptance.

Never in a million years would I have imagined that something like this would happen. I feel disgusted with everything the mafioso, my father, and even my so-called family.

And this is when I realize that even if I ever escape them, I have nowhere to go, no family to return to, no friends to turn to. I thought I was lonely all this while, but now I am all alone.

The feeling grips my heart. I tell myself that I need a plan, I can probably run away from here. I try to calm my nerves and think of finding an opportunity to escape in between this mess.

As I focus back on the scene in front of my eyes, Set is staring at the man in the brown suit with a knowing smile.

“Oh, she is not even 18! Such a rare find. Isn’t it brother?” Set remarks slyly, keeping that knowing smile on his face.

Lucifer starts walking towards the man holding his gaze. The man lowers his gaze and steps back. With each step, Lucifer’s aura becomes viler and threatening, and the man continues to cringe.

“F-forgive me, Don Agosti! I didn’t mean to intervene…. I I know I spoke out of turn.” he almost whimpers under Lucifer’s gaze.

 “You even dared to say our names. Haven’t you heard  mutt ‘Agosti on your breath, can only mean…’” Set does not need to complete the sentence. We all have that lore committed to memory.

The man is trembling under Lucifer’s scorching gaze. He starts sobbing uncontrollably, not able to hold back. He is now on his knees begging for his life, but the next moment he does something shocking.

He takes out his gun, puts it in his mouth, and pulls the trigger, and there he is lying in a pool of his blood still holding the gun in his hand & the barrel of the gun in his mouth.

That man chose to take his life rather than face Lucifer Agosti. Why would someone do that? Who is this man, who has the power to instill such deep fear within people?

 “Good Riddance! At least now I can swear to Avo that we didn’t touch this one,” Set says with a bored face.

The brothers look indifferent, like nothing happened. Like someone’s life is worth nothing.

This is all too much for me to take. I have never known any person who has died, let alone see someone kill himself in front of my eyes.

I am trying to hold myself, but my body is not able to cope with the tension of the last twenty-four hours. All of this looks so unreal. I hope this is all a nightmare.

I feel my legs starting to give up.

“Let’s go,” Lucifer says casually to Set? Does he mean me too? Oh, God!

And those two words seemed to be the signal that my body was waiting for. I start to fall unconscious of space and time, hoping this is a dream. Hoping this will be over.

Until something strong grabs me, keeping me from falling. And that strong thing makes me feel something…My mind and body are too overworked for me to try understanding anymore and I let the darkness take me in.

Author's Note:  Thanks for reading the story, and giving it a chance.