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
ONEDIEGOLooking out the window into the dark and really busy night, I did wonder what people found beautiful about this city. Was it the overly crowded streets, the tall buildings and their always blinking bright lights? Or perhaps it was the noise from the cars and trains zipping past; maybe something in the air that I would never quite figure out.What exactly is beautiful about this dump? I have stayed here for 6 years and I still cannot see it.“Maybe I am just not open to it” I muttered cynically“Open to what?” a trembling male voice replied behind me.“All of this” I answered turning around“I do not know what people find so intriguing about this city that makes them so eager to come here and start their life; New York City, the land of dreams…more like the land of fucking nightmares” I muttered again“Please, I will tell you anything you want to know” the man stutteredI could see through the reflection in the glass that the man was trembling from fear. He was on his kn
TWOTHIRD PERSON’S POV“Coming back? He is coming back? Dad can you even hear yourself?” Alejandro was heard saying, his voice echoing in the den “Have you forgotten what he did? What he did to this family, the pain he brought to us? What happened to mamma?”“You know I haven’t but…”“Do not tell me you are even considering this Dad, come on” He interrupted, standing with his hands placed palms flat on the table that separated themHe had been in a mood since he was informed about the arrival of his brother and his anger was quite justified. It was his brother who they had practically ruled as dead for over six years now and the man who had been responsible for the woes that had befallen their family in the last three years including the death of their mother. It would be a tough pill to swallow for anyone including their father who lost the one woman he had ever loved.Alejandro had stepped up and played a major part in keeping the business afloat, keeping the family strong by any
THREEIRENEFucking hell… why does my head hurt this much, I groaned Yes, I remember…I was out drinking yesterday with the girls and that had definitely been a bad idea, I thought with my eyes still closed.I wondered what the time was as I rolled over to grab the tiny clock I always kept on the shelf beside the bed but it wasn’t there, I felt around some more and I could not even feel the shelf.I groaned again, prying my eyes open little by little because it felt like my head would definitely split open if I opened them too fast.When did my ceiling get this detailed, I thought again as my eyes finally opened to the point where I could see a bit.The hangover was really killing me because the ceiling looked so far away and for some reason I could not see the fan that was usually directly over my bed and then just like a flip was switched in my head and it suddenly dawned on me that I wasn’t looking at my ceilingI was fully alert now as I sprung up and sat upright on the bed, my he
FOURTHIRD PERSON’S POVThe female officer standing in the front of the building saluted as detective Green, coffee in hand approached the yellow taped area.“Good morning officer” Detective Green said“Beautiful morning to you too, detective; I hope you had a good night’s rest?”“I was just about to get started on the sleeping thing when I got the call; so what do we have?”“I haven’t seen a crime scene this gruesome in a long time sir and I do not have words to quite describe it…you will have to see it yourself” the officer said as she lifted the tape for Green to proceed into the building.“What do you think happened here?” He asked as they entered into the elevator“Probably a gang war or something you know how it goes with these guys they are always killing each other for one reason or the other.”“Who is on the scene?”“The question should be who isn’t” she replied as the elevator doors opened to a crowded hallway filled with different uniformed personnel moving around taking pi
FIVETHIRD PERSON’S POVAlejandro’s car had just pulled up to the cabin in the middle of nowhere; he had not stopped driving since he got into the car because for some reason, he thought better on the road and this was definitely the time for thinking.He had come up with the semblance of a sane plan although he did not quite have all the details yet but he knew he needed the one man he could trust the most by his side again.He stepped out of his black Rover and walked towards the cabin looking around carefully as he did; memories of what had happened there flooding inThis is not the time, he thoughtClearing his head strengthening his resolve, Alejandro got to the door and knocked a couple of times without getting any response; he knew he was inside the house and he was definitely getting ignored.Finally he heard someone walking towards the door and then a voice he had missed came through“You really should not be her, man; what do you want from me?”“We need to talk, right now!”
After a short period of silence Mateo spoke three words that left his brother in shock“I don’t care.”“You don’t what?”“Yes Alejandro, I do not care that Diego is coming back.” He said it so calmly this time as Alejandro watched the hate he had just seen in his eyes a couple of seconds ago completely vanish. “I have nothing to do with him and as long as he does not bother me on my island of solitude I am fine, I do not want to get dragged in again.”It had just dawned on Alejandro that he had been totally wrong on the prediction of his brothers reaction to the news, he had expected him to be more angry maybe throw some furniture or at least put up a significant fight in the matter but he sat right there in front of him as calm as a body of water that had not just been troubled.Mateo’s calmness made Alejandro extremely uncomfortable“So in essence what you are telling me is you will not be taking my side in this fight against our brother.”As Alejandro kept on talking about how the
IRENE“I do not want his attention it feels like he is all over me some times it is exhausting.”I said into the phone as I came out of my building and got into the Taxi that would take me to the office, I had been on the call with Carla, my roommate for over 2 hours now. She had gone on a little vacation with her man for the past week and had left me with nobody to talk to so these morning sessions of exchanging gossip and new information was everything to me.“He is just trying to be supportive, I get that you are new to that so you do not really understand how to react to being loved.” She replied me but I could see her laughing through my minds eye.“Fuck you.” I said laughing out loud. “Danny is not it, he is too sweet it is getting really annoying.”“What do women want?” I heard Roddy; Carla’s boyfriend say, I hadn’t realized he was actually listening to our conversation.“Hi Roderick” I replied in the most sarcastic voice I could musterI wasn’t really a fan of Rody when we fir
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