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CHAPTER FIVE

last update Last Updated: 2025-03-20 16:55:59

He came again. More times than I could count, and everytime he did, he always brought some kind of token. Flowers, junk food the hospital would never allow. It was almost like he was baiting me, trying to get me to lower my guard, trying to get me to trust him. But I couldn't, not him, not anyone, not ever.

He never stayed too long either, thirty minutes at most. It was enough for me to get info that he let me gain. His name was Matteo Morandi, didn't sound like a name I've heard before, but I was never good with remembering. He owned properties, car stores, and my father had been an acquaintance with his father. He had lent him some money once when his business was going under. Since Matteo's father died, he placed it upon himself to pay my father back. He was a mysterious man, who kept things about himself vague.

"Why did you save me?" I asked. 

I didn't know how long it has been since I was here, and I didn't care either. I felt hollow, empty…

"You keep asking me a question that I don't have the answer for." He replied. Even though I couldn't see him, I could almost picture how he looked like, tall, maybe dark air, a chiseled jaw, sharp eyes..but that was just my imagination running wild. For all I knew he could be entirely different. But his voice, it was deep, smooth, and commanding, like he was used to being in charge.

"I just want to know the truth."

"You keep asking me a question that I don't have the answer to." He repeated, his tone firm. "Accept your reality, Gabriella."

I trailed my fingers over the scar on my stomach. "You should have let me die."

A moment passed before he spoke. "Maybe."

Tension seemed to slip into the air, and I could feel the weight of his words. Regret? Doubt? Or the acknowledgement of the complexity of the situation?

"I don't trust you." I said, after a couple seconds of silence. "You might think you're fooling me by dropping little details about yourself, but I'm not buying it." 

His presence seemed to shift, like he was leaning forward. "It's smart that you don't."

"If you're going to kill me, then I think it's rather sick that you brought me to a hospital to heal, and try to get better."

"If I wanted you dead, I would have let the fire finish you off." He said.

A shiver ran down my spine as I thought about that night, but I kept my tone steady. "But you didn't."

"No, I didn't." He agreed, his voice low and even. "And that should tell you something."

I raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what?"

He stood up and leaned towards me. "It means I'm not your enemy, Gabriella. At least, not yet."

I sighed, blinking into the darkness that loomed around me. "I really don't care what happens. A part of me had died in that fire, and all that's left is this emptiness."

"That's all everyone ever has." He whispered. 

Silence followed, and I could tell he slipped into a memory. I wonder what it was, how bad it was. 

"Times up. I have to go." He finally said, his tone sharp. "By the end of the week, we're going to be leaving Miami. If word gets out that you are alive, Gabriella, you're going to really wish you were dead."

He didn't wait for my reply before he left the room, locking the door behind him, leaving me in silence. 

                                                            ****

The week passed by quickly, and when my room door had opened, I knew it was time. The nurse had come in earlier to help me with a change of clothes. So I waited by the edge of my bed, my nerves heightened. I had been safe in this room's bubble for weeks, and now I was finally stepping out, into the unknown. For all I know, Matteo could be working for the masked man, and this could all be a trap. 

But the voice that sliced through the air, wasn't that of Matteo. "It's time to leave." 

My entire body tensed. "Who are you?"

He snorted. "Matteo sent me to pick you up. You ready?" 

"Do you always chew that loud?" I asked, slightly irritated by how loud and annoying he chewed his gum.

I could almost feel him roll his eyes. "Apologies. Now, are you ready to leave?"

"I'm not leaving until Matteo gets here."

"He sent me here to get you." The man said again, laying more emphasis on each word. "I'd be in trouble if I don't."

Subtly I kept my hand at the stand beside my bed, ready to hurl anything at him if he got too close. "Matteo should have known I wouldn't leave with anyone that isn't him."

"If he could get here, then he wouldn't have sent me." The voice replied dryly.

"I'm not leaving this room with someone I don't know." I said firmly. "Go tell Matteo that."

"Okay, fuck this." The voice said and began heading towards me. "I'm not being paid enough for this shit."

He grabbed me by my arm with so much force, and hurled me to my feet. "We are leaving."

"No! Let me go!" I screamed, and at instinct, picked up a vase and slammed it on his head.

His grip on my faltered and I used that opportunity to scurry away, and head for the door. But I didn't get close because he grabbed me by my hair, and pulled me back. 

"You psychotic bitch! Are you trying to get me concussed?!" He snarled, gnashing his teeth loudly.

But I wasn't scared of him, I was scared of the memories he had triggered. In the darkness, images of that night flashed before me. My mother's lifeless body, My father's face in pain, me on my knees, being held down…. this couldn't be happening again. I was frozen, helpless again…help me! help me! help me! help me!

At that moment, the door swung open.

"What the fuck are you doing, Carlos?!"

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  • The Shadows We Keep    CHAPTER FIVE

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  • The Shadows We Keep    CHAPTER FOUR

    I was burning. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I couldn't stop the screams. They were my screams, but I couldn't stop them. "Your entire legacy is gone!" The masked man screamed before pulling the trigger, killing both my parents. "No!" I jolted awake, my body screaming in so much pain. My stomach throbbed with a dull ache, like a burn that was eating me up from the inside. My body was too weak to move, and I glanced around the room, but something was off. Why was everywhere so dark? Trying to steady my breathing, I touched my face to be sure I was awake. I was sure I was, and I was sure my eyes were open, so why couldn't I see anything? "Hello?!" I called out, reaching forward to try to grab anything, but all I could feel were the sheets beneath me. "Is someone here?!"I heard the sound of a door opening, and a woman's soothing voice cut through the air. "You're okay." She said, her hand grasping mine.I turned my head towards the voice, desperate to see who was speaki

  • The Shadows We Keep    CHAPTER THREE

    A man dressed in all black, with a thick long coat, and a black mask, walked into the living room. "This was almost too easy." He continued, standing in front of my father. "I mean I guess I can call it easy when I've been planning it for 12 years." "You fucking bastard! How dare you come to my home, guns blazing?!" My father rasped, trying to hold on a face of bravery, but his face was so pale, he looked like he'd fall unconscious any second. "Always such an aggressive animal." The man replied. "You'd think that a man like you would be lonely and miserable, maybe that way I'd understand why it was so easy to be the unforgiving cold devil that you are."My father grinned. "So that's what this is? Now this is exactly why I never leave any survivors. Bastards like you always have a way of coming back to bite me in the ass."The man didn't hesitate to punch my father in the face, sending him falling to the ground in fits of bloddy coughs. He stretched out his hands to one of the men w

  • The Shadows We Keep    CHAPTER TWO

    How the hell did a gun get to my room?!I pushed my hair back, my eyes never leaving my mother as she cocked the gun. My own mother, who liked to sit in the garden on sunny days, who loved to wear sunflower straw hats, was handling a pistol like it was nothing. "What is that doing in my room? How did that get there? How are you doing this?!" "Don't be silly Gabriella, everywhere in this house is armed incase of something like this." She pulled out another gun, and handed it to me. "You know who your father is. Everyone wants him dead everyday, and if you weren't away so much, you wouldn't be so startled."I scoffed, stunned at the woman standing in front of me. Her mannerism and sweetness had suddenly vanished, replaced with a cold calculative persona. I didn't even notice when she moved closer to me and placed another gun in my hand.I flinched at the feeling of the cold metal on my skin. "I don't…"I got cut off by the sound of more gunshots and loud thuds. I tried to push my mind

  • The Shadows We Keep    CHAPTER ONE

    It was winter break. I could still remember the first drop of snow had settled down on my window pane as I sat and watched. Snow didn't fall much here in Miami, and when it did, it was never for long. Christmas was more beautiful in New York, more lively. I should have stayed back with Jasmine instead of coming here. But what choice did I have, especially after my mother had cried her eyes out over the phone the night before I got here. She was always so good with emotional blackmail."Oh come on, you can't tell me that you're upset about being in your big ass mansion, with a whole bunch of food,and a complete family to spend your Christmas with?" Jasmine said over the phone, I had face timed her the moment I unpacked all my stuff."Don't get me wrong, I'm not being ungrateful, I'm just saying I would rather spend Christmas with you. I hate the fact you're all alone in the apartment on Christmas day." Jasmine was supposed to head home to meet her family in Scotland, but then there wa

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