DIEGO
My mind wasn’t fully sure about what had just happened as I struggled to keep my head as low as possible in the backseat with the glass shards that were raining all around me as the bullets went through the back glass.Finally we turned a corner and the bullets stopped flying past us. I looked at my fingers which were still tightly wrapped round the gun and it was visibly shaken, it was a surprise I hadn’t dropped it as I jumped into the car.Just like a switch my mind alerted me that I was in a car, an unknown car, who could have possibly risked their lives to save mine in such a moment as that.“Are you okay back there?” I heard a male voice come from the driver's seat.“I hope there’s nothing hurt. None of those bullets went through you right?”I aimed the gun directly at the seat in front of me as I got up to a sitting position so I could see who was talking to me. The face I saw through the windscreeIRENEI couldn’t help but think of what an idiot I was, I mean I had just made up my mind not to think about him again this was barely 6 hours ago but that was all I could think of for the past 6 hours at work and even now that I was in the cab on my way back home. If I didn’t know better I would have felt this was a spell.The conversation we had kept replaying in my head and everytime it did I analyzed every aspect of it. The words that came out of his mouth, the tone of his voice that soothing baritone voice of his, every slight pause he took in the buildup to what he was about to say. He talked so slowly like the world was at his fingertips and he had no reason to rush because it would slow down for him, I have to admit sometimes it felt like it actually did slow down. Those dark eyes of his were so peculiar I don’t think I have ever seen eyes as dark as those before on any human, coupled with how his gaze bounced off every aspect of yo
IRENEAs I pushed my way into the house trying desperately not to make any noise I couldn’t help but think about the fact that this was how every horror movie went, a suspicious situation that had no business being investigated and then poof just like that, dead. With every step I took my trembling got worse.I remembered I kept two bats in the house, one directly by my bed just in the unlikely event an intruder broke in when I slept in the night I’d at least see something I could use to defend myself with and one just a few steps away from the door. Now that I was in the house I could see it resting on the wall right there in plain sight and I made my way towards it, picking it up and proceeding to the sitting room area where sounds were coming from.The house was structured in such a way that I couldn’t see the sitting room immediately I entered the hall and had to make a turn to the left before I could see anything. As I got closer I coul
IRENEI don’t think I had seen that much blood ever in my life, it looked like it was everywhere. It felt so warm and sticky at the same time and looked so dark red it would have made an excellent color for a red wine if it had been placed in a glass, but then it wasn’t in a glass, it was right there all over the floor board where I knelt and now as I looked at my hands I could see it had covered it to the extent I could not see the lines on my palms anymore.A woman was screaming in the far distance at the top of her lungs, her voice sounded very familiar. I kept looking around to see if I could see who it was but I could not make out who was making the sounds until my eyes met the television, it was at that point I knew or rather it was at that point my brain processed what exactly had just happened and it began replaying it in my head.Coming back in a fit from the store I had been forced to go to get groceries I had decided to give the t
IRENEI slowly came to as I heard voices murmuring in the distance. I was completely wrapped in the room's darkness, and for a brief moment I was unsure of where I was. The ringing at the back of my head felt unbearable and I was struggling to remember exactly what had happened. It all felt like a blur to me but one thing that I was sure of was I had been hit at the back of my head and then I went down. Slowly the memories began to come back to me as my mind began to clear, crashing like a tsunami into my consciousness. In that moment my heart I could feel my body become twice its normal weight and it felt like I was being weighed down by the burden I had felt barely some minutes before I woke up.It dawned on me, a ruthless knowledge that pierced my heart like a blade. I could recall. My good friend's life had been cut short in that residence, and I had seen her lifeless body. Hers and that of her man. Oh dear God, who could have done this to us? Th
IRENEI kept on rotating the gun back and forth between them, my mind racing and coming up with conclusions on its own. I hated this new feeling so much and it was not a situation i liked being in, i turned my attention to Diego now as he stood there in the doorway.“You have always had that fight in you, I should have anticipated this. We both know your heart will not allow you to do anything with that gun so how about you put it down, we can sit down and talk this out ” He said, with somewhat of a smirk on his face.“Why do you say that? You do not even know me, you do not know who I am and you sure as hell do not know what I am capable of.” I snapped at him, the anger evident in my eyes. Who was he to tell me what I would and could not do? “I know you better than you think” he said again, this time his face had taken an extremely serious look. “Just give me the gun Irene.”He was walking towards
DIEGOI felt the pain before I heard the sound of the gunshot. I knew what had happened but for a brief moment I was in denial. As i looked down to my stomach i kept on thinking to myself There was definitely no way Irene had shot me.Looking down I saw the blood stain gradually begin to grow on my blue shirt exactly where there was a new hole.In that moment my world was blurred with pain as the blood flowed from my stomach, staining my clothes and pooling beneath me. Each breath became a struggle, and it was a fight to maintain consciousness. His vision danced with darkness, the edges of my perception fading into an abyss.I could hear myself utter the words “fuck” as my knees buckled and i fell on them to the ground. The gun slipped out of Irene’s hands as she stood rooted to the spot for a brief moment in shock, looking at her I knew she had not meant to shoot me. I allowed myself to smile at her to at least provide a littl
DIEGOThe sun hitting my eye made me squint as I woke up, instinctively I attempted to get up to close the blinds but the sharp pain that preceded my quick reaction sent me rolling to the ground. My guts felt like they were on fire, I then remembered of course they were on fire I had just been shot some hours ago. I must have passed out, I concluded as I picked myself off the floor to look around the room. I recognized the room of this safe house I had bought some years back. The safe houses had become a lot over the years due to my paranoia that I had forgotten how some of them even looked. Wait a minute this was not where we were when the shooting happened so how did we end up here?Looking down at my injury as I sat at the edge of the bed I realized this just confirmed my theory, it was not yet my time to die. Nick must have not realized I had woken up yet even after the loud bang, I finally gathered enough strength to walk ove
Nick had just gotten out of the apartment when he realized he had forgotten his coat but then again he knew if he went back up there he might be interrupting something so he decided to brave it and just keep on walking, the cold was not that much anyway it was already close to summer.He stopped by the coffee shop down the street to at least grab a hot beverage to keep himself moderately warm inside. As he sat eating the croissants he thought about how wild the past couple of days had been. He definitely did not think he would be saving Diego Gustavo anytime this week, everything had happened so fast and now he was close to one of the biggest clandestine crime bosses in all of New york. Things were beginning to take a wild turn and it would just become wilder from here hopefully he could make it into the inner circle.Collecting the coffee he had ordered to go he paid the barista and walked out of the shop taking one gentle sip and taking in the toxic sme
The room was bathed in a warm, golden glow as the setting sun cast its last rays through the curtains. The air was filled with anticipation and emotion as her father approached the door. With each step he took which brought him closer to the door, his heart seemed like it was going to come out of his chest. He had longed for this moment for what seemed like an eternity. For six years, he had clung to the hope of bringing his daughter back to the loving arms of her mother, his beloved wife.As he gently pushed the door open, his eyes immediately fell upon the touching scene that unfolded before him. There, in the center of the room, stood his wife, radiant and teary-eyed, holding their daughter tightly in her embrace. The daughter, now a young woman, had a mixture of emotions etched on her face—surprise, disbelief, and an overwhelming happiness that mirrored her mother's. His heart swelled with an indescribable joy at the sight of the both of them together at last, and a tear escaped
IRENEAs the truck rumbled through the bumpy roads, my heart pounded like a relentless drum. I struggled against my restraints, desperate to free myself from the clutches of my captors. This feeling of helplessness was something I despised so much, why was I always the one that ended up in these types of situations. None of my captors spoke a word to me despite all my yells and struggles, they just contained me at the back of the truck and continued driving. I couldn’t help but think about how Diego was faring, I was sure he would come for me. He definitely would.The thought of having to rely on him to get me out of trouble made me sick in the stomach, he was not going to be some knight in shining armor coming to save some defenseless princess every single time. I got irritated at myself for even thinking of it but a part of my mind still hoped that he was okay. These people were taking me somewhere in a strange country
DIEGOAs my consciousness slowly returned my eyes slowly parted and almost as immediately as it did I felt my head throbbing with a sharp, pulsating pain. I blinked several times, trying to bring the world back into focus. The room seemed to spin around me, and it took a moment to recognize my surroundings.The initial disorientation left me feeling vulnerable and confused. I instinctively reached up to touch my head, feeling the tender spot where I had been struck. The skin was sensitive to the touch, and I winced at the discomfort it caused. My fingers came away slightly sticky, and I realized there was a faint trace of blood on the fingertips.As I attempted to sit up, a wave of dizziness washed over me, causing me to hesitate. The pain in my head intensified, causing me to wince again. Slowly, I steadied myself , trying to regain my bearings. The room I found myself in was dimly lit, and I could barely make out the objects around me. Taking a deep breath, I tried to push aside t
DIEGOMy heart pounded as I felt the eerie feeling of being watched. I could feel the eyes on me and it was definitely not the eyes of random passers by who turned around to steal a glance when they saw a couple on a walk, no this was something different.I instinctively glanced over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of two shadowy figures trailing us at a distance. This was standard following practice, keep a distance and observe until it was time to strike or something. My mind kept on wondering if it was just me being overly cautious and there was nothing there perhaps just the fear of being back in the city when things had not been fully sorted out but then again I was never wrong about things like this and it was better to be safe than sorry. I had to know. Shooting a glance at Irene I knew I couldn’t put her life in danger again just by being neglectful of signs like this. At that moment I stopped on the road and pulled her in as if for a kiss on her neck. I saw the shock over
Diego approaches the door, peeks inside the tiny gap in the door, and then opens it to let Nate inside. “How’d you know we were here?” He said as Nate entered the room, he had a worried expression on his face. He was clearly upset since he was pacing back and forth across the room."There's a problem," Nate responded, automatically ignoring the query. He had followed them from the airport to the hotel, but there was no way he could reveal it to them. He could, but doing so would only generate suspicion, especially since Diego had promised to get in touch with him as soon as they landed.They had taken separate flights, and Nate had gone ahead to make arrangements for the supplies they would require during their stay here, including the weapons, money, and other items Diego had instructed him to procure. He entered the room carrying the bag of goods, which he set on the bed."Nate, what's the matter? Speak with us." Irene spoke while developing a worried expression on her face."Somet
IRENEDespite sitting next to each other in the plane seat, we hardly spoke to each other the entire flight. With the headphones on, he had cut me off, and for some strange reason, it stung because I thought I had done something wrong that I was unaware of. This was not how I typically was, but ever since I met him, he appeared to have cast a spell on me making me really weak for him, which annoyed me so much that I did not know why I felt the want to be in his books. I even gave him a kiss.Every emotion I was experiencing at the time was really bizarre, but at the same time, a part of me felt comforted because, for the first time in a very long time, I felt that my life had purpose and that purpose could be discovered by looking into my past. He had assured me that everything I had been told would make sense once I was in a familiar setting, and I was eager to fill in the blanks in my mind. Ever since I met Diego, I kept having visions of past events, and that had to mean somethin
TWENTY FOUR Alejandro sat at the head of a long mahogany table in his lavish study. He was deep in thoughts as his gaze was completely fixed on the message he had meticulously crafted. It had been barely a day since the blast that had claimed his father but then again he knew that with an organization like this time was very much of the essence. He had to swiftly and strongly place his feet down and take control or else all he had done to be in this position would have been a waste. He stared at the multitude of screens before him, displaying the faces of his extended family and members of the organization, the branches that had scattered like fallen leaves in the aftermath of the devastating blast. They had lost over 20 people in that fire and barely 24 hours later there were already struggles for power and factions were being assembled to seize power. His power. He shook his head in disgust briefly as he looked up at his brother who sat in a chair across the room. Mateo had not go
DiegoMy eyes fluttered open, as I found myself lying on the narrow bed of the guest room in the Safe house. I could feel my chest throbbing with a sharp pain. It felt as if my heart was trying to tell me something but then again I couldn't tell exactly what it was. Something significant had occurred, but the details eluded me. I reached out for my phone one more time to attempt my dads line but once again it was unreachable. This was very unlike him, the other times i had called him he had picked up extremely quickly. Could it be possible that he was angry at me? Do I send him a message? These thoughts kept on going through my head but I knew sending a message was not the right thing to do. I had to be sure it was him I was talking to, there was no one else i could trust or rather there was no one else that trusted me. A sudden jolt shot through my body again, causing me to sit up abruptly. The movement caused Irene, who ha
The massive explosion shook the entire building to its core and sent Mateo falling down the stairs. People were running around in all directions trying to make their way to the exit for fear of the building coming down. Mateo got up from below the stairs and tried to get himself together, he shakily made his way back to the top of the staircase attempting to reach the room in order to confirm what his heart feared the most. He trudged forward pushing body after body away as they attempted to run in the opposite direction from which he was going as he made it to the secret room. No no it can’t be His mind kept on denying it but on getting there he froze in shock because it was exactly what he thought. There it was, the room in which he had just left engulfed in flames beyond what a normal human would be able to withstand. He saw something else through the fire as well as someone, a figure crawling out of the room's window, he was not entir