ESCAPE

I felt sweat drip over my face and run down my back onto the floor I’d just wiped. I cursed as I wiped the floor again.

Alejandro was a fucking bastard. I’d not seen hide nor hair of his staffers, there was no way he was cleaning the entire house himself.

My limbs were shaking by the time I was done with the third floor.

“Fucking hell!” I breathed out. I was a quivering and soaking mess as I collapsed on the floor. I looked up at the ceiling where the cherubs were painted, the sight no longer looked funny to me.

He was a devil, what did he need cherubs for? To justify his wickedness or restore some missing parts of his soul? I thought about my life in Philadelphia. It wasn’t the best but I actually enjoyed working at the bakery.

Anselmo was almost like the father I lost and he allowed me to work for him. I spent most of the time away from my parents, cooped up in a school that didn’t like me much. My hair was a shade of brown I’d dyed over and over again because ginger was a signal fire for bullying back in my school.

I turned to the side when I felt hot tears stain the sides of my face. I missed them so much. Even though I rarely saw them, they never hesitated in showing their love for me.

I’d already spent half the day just wiping at floors and I was sure there was so much to do but I couldn’t bring myself to stand up. One look at the size of the house left my brain quite scattered.

‘is this my life now? At the mercy of some merciless dictator that calls him self the son of the devil, someone who has no compassion for his fellow human and would rather use me for all his dirty work – quite literally.’ I frowned at my thoughts and stood up abruptly.

I surely couldn’t remain here. In fact, I would rather he killed me, I didn’t exactly have anything to live for. There was no way to go back to Phily.

‘Would you even go if you were given a chance?’ My mind asked.

‘If I managed to escape first.’ I replied myself.

I took a peek outside, expecting to see the hoard of men I’d seen the first time I’d arrived manning the entire house, there was no one. In fact, the entire house seemed too quiet, I realised.

Asides from his loud and irritating wake up call, there was no one else in the house besides me. I had nothing with me except the clothes on my back and it was perfect that way.

I looked outside one more time to be sure there was no one around and tried the door handle. The door opened with suspicious ease. There was no creak, no alarm… I felt my heart go up to my throat. Someone like him had to have security measures in place for break-ins and what not, or was he just that confident in himself that he didn’t bother?

I scoffed at the unbelievable man, that would surely be his downfall. Once I made it past the door without any siren blaring, I stepped into the yard.

It was quite the sunny day outside and Fibonacci’s slippers were no good for running but I had no choice. Fucking Alejandro thought I could survive just as I was, just as I’d come.

I brushed through my hair, moving pieces out of my eyes so I could see clearly. There was no car parked outside, no heavily armed men… it felt all wrong.

“You shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. The universe has perfectly aligned for your favour.” I scoffed at myself. This was no gift, and the universe never aligned for me or I wouldn’t be an orphan.

I walked warily, my heart pounding so loudly I couldn’t hear my feet moving across the gravel path. The large gate loomed in front of me and I panicked when it looked like it was locked.

“Fuck!” I banged my hand against the gate when it wouldn’t budge. I ran my hands through my hair again, thinking of my next move.

“You made it past the main door, the gate shouldn’t be a challenge for you. You’re fucking athletic.” I bounced on my feet a couple of times, thinking of how I used to climb trees in high school.

Adding tree climbing to a head full of ginger hair was a great advantage for me, it made escaping bullies much easier and it seemed like it would be saving me out of a ridiculous predicament, however reckless it might be.

It was already dark out, thankfully or I would’ve looked like I was a thief running away or a mental patient, either was not a good look on me.

Although, I doubted I would’ve attracted attention, seeing that Alejandro’s house was the only one in sight for at least a mile.

I studied the gate, taking into account where I could place my leg and the jagged edges I was to avoid. I was going to have scars but small enough that I didn’t bleed out before my escape.

I gripped the bars of the gate, one at a time, using my feet as an anchor so I didn’t land on my ass immediately I climbed. Breathing in and out, I made my way over the gate and started my descent quite easily.

I felt my lips widen with a smile, knowing what I had left was just a few feet. Who the hell had such tall gates in the first place? My hands hurt from climbing and my thighs had some scrapes over them but I didn’t mind it. Whatever came next, I would handle it because I had escaped the house of Alejandro Amato, a feat I was sure not many, or one could attest to.

I was halfway down when I heard a horn and then light illuminated my figure over the gate. I froze, holding onto the gate for dear life. There was a deathly silence that followed and I would’ve sworn I’d imagined the horn if I didn’t see my distorted figure shadow imprinted on a cleanly cut tree.

I couldn’t turn, couldn’t check who had arrived but the way my back burned gave me an idea or two

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” I heard Alejandro’s voice boom, alongside the slam of his car door.