Walking to the table at the back of the room, I looked at all the weapons laid out. There were so many. Different style. Big and small. I had never been to the basement before, but I heard the rumors around the mansion.
Taking the big knife with the spiral blade, I walked back toward the man. The man I loathed with all my being.
He whimpered in fear and started to shake his head and tried to move away, but he couldn’t. He was strapped to the chair at my mercy.
Actually, I wasn’t going to show him mercy. Mercy was no longer in my vocabulary.
Holding the knife tightly in my hand, I pressed it hard against his cheek. Pulling it down, I made a big gash. He tried to scream again.
I stared at the blood and my heart pumped faster. Adrenaline filled me and my mind begged me. More. More. More.
I made another gash on his other cheek. And then on his arms. Big, long, deep cuts. Blood was everywhere. Then on his chest. So deep that I could see his bones.
He couldn’t move anymore. His head was hanging down as he bled. I could see that he was quickly losing consciousness.
But I wasn’t done yet.
He was still alive.
His heart was still beating while my mother’s was not.
He needed to die. He needed to feel the pain.
Roaring with anger, I pulled the knife back and then plunged it deep into his heart, twisting it painfully. Mercilessly.
His head snapped back and he thrashed against the chair. His painful eyes started to go dull, slowly losing all signs of life.
A few seconds later, he was no longer breathing. His dead eyes were opened, staring at me.
I pulled the knife back from his chest and looked down. My hands were covered in blood. There was not even an inch of my skin that was clean. Blood. It was everywhere. On me. On my clothes. It blinded me.
I gasped as I realized what I had just done. But I didn’t feel any remorse. I felt alleviated and satisfied.
But not full satisfaction. The others still needed to pay.
And I was going to find all of them, one by one, and I was going to kill them all.
I heard the door open behind me with a bang. I swiveled around to see my father running in with a few of his men. Their eyes went wide at the sight of me and I heard my father’s shocked gasp.
“Alessio!” he screamed, running toward me. He stopped in front of me and snatched the knife away, throwing it on the floor next to the bloody dead man.
“What have you done? Oh, Alessio, what have you done?”
I stared into his eyes. “I will avenge my mother,” I said, my voice scratchy.
My father’s eyes widened in surprise and he stared at me in complete shock. I understood why he was in shock. That was the first time I had uttered any words in three years. Since that night when everything changed. The night that I lost everything.
“I vow to kill all of them. Every single Abandonato,” I said. I couldn’t recognize my voice. It sounded so foreign even to my ears. My father didn’t say anything at first. After a few seconds, he stood up tall and his expression changed.
“Okay,” he replied, his voice hard and deadly cold. Emotionless.
With that, I walked away. I didn’t look at his men, but I kept my eyes forward, my shoulders squared with purpose and my chin held high.
This was my life now.
My mother had been wrong.
I was no longer her sweet, gentle, quiet boy.
I was a monster.
As I walked out of the room and into the dark corridor, I quickly pushed the thought of “my angel” from my mind.
Angels didn’t exist.
I didn’t have an angel, for a monster could never have an angel.
***
Present Day
I woke up with a start, the memories still flashing in my head. They were painful and I quickly buried them deep inside me. I didn’t have time for weakness. I couldn’t think about the past.
I didn’t know why I had that dream—why the past came crashing back, but it made me want to rage.
Closing my eyes, I calmed down. I locked away my feelings and the memories.
No weakness.
Chapter 20
Ayla
I was almost half asleep when I heard a knock on my door. My eyes snapped open and I sat up with a start, my heart racing.
“Ayla?” I heard Maddie’s voice on the other side of the door.
I closed my eyes in relief and brought my hand up to my chest, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart.
“Yeah. I’m coming,” I called out, my voice heavy with sleep.
“Okay. Hurry. It’s almost time for lunch.”
I bounced out of bed and quickly fixed my dress and hair.
Opening the door of my bedroom wide, I saw Maddie leaning against the door. She smiled when she saw me. “Hey there, sleepyhead.”