Page 12

Surfaced Secrets.

I struggled to close my eyes last night, because every time I did, I imagined her on her knees, licking herself off my pants. She aggravates me more than anything else in this fucked up world. I’m tired of her pretending like she doesn’t want the same thing I do. I see her. Every time she lays eyes on me, her chest rises and falls faster, her eyes linger, and she crosses her legs to avoid admitting to herself how much she wants this. I’m going to make her see just how much she wants me, but first I’m going to make her admit it with those pretty pink lips.

The damp air is cool against my skin as I serve the seven-day-old stew onto a wooden board and place it on the floor, edging it underneath the bars with my boot.

“Eat it,” I command, and the man grumbles, clinging to the bars in the corner of the room. His clothes have begun to unravel, covered in dirt, a ripped shirt with one sleeve clinging on by a thread or two.

“If you don’t eat, you die.” I wait, watching him as his soil-covered face meets mine, his eyes pleading with me to let him go.

This is the part I wait for.

For them to lose it completely. To break the thin wall between sanity and insanity from being stuck in a cold, dark place alone. For some, it takes weeks, and for others it takes months, but the requirements differ from person to person. Everyone has their tether to the world, to their sanity, and when you find that golden coin, there’s no coming back. I forget most of them, the ones we break, but sometimes, one of them will stick with you for a very long time.

Leaving the cell, I head to the back of the space, through the long dreary corridor of cages, and when I reach the end, the man lunges forward, his head clashing against the thick bars, his guttural growls serving as a warning to not step closer.

“Down,” I say sternly and he bares his teeth like a dog, growling as he clings to the bars, his fingernails covered in blood and dirt. Raising my lighter up to his face, his growls grow louder until I light the flame, and his pain-filled screams echo all around me.

What most don’t understand about retraining the human mind is that you need to know how to rewire every single neural pathway that has formed over time. In some, these pathways are stronger than others, taking longer to break, and sometimes, it takes less than ten thousand repetitions to turn a human into a wild beast.

What’s something that’s stood the test of time in both animals and humans?

Fear.

In my experience, there are three types of fear. Instinctual, learned, and phobia. Learned fear is my favourite because after certain experiences, humans are simple creatures, they don’t want to experience the same fear, so they do everything in their power to avoid it. Most know about the fight or flight response, but it’s not enough to turn someone into a beast. You need to eliminate the fight in them, and the only way to do this is to alienate them, make them suffer until they physically and mentally cannot fight back anymore. And when they’re at their end, give them an option to serve you as their master or die.

Some say taking a human life takes some of your humanity away from you, and if you asked me years ago, I would say this would be a lie. Today, I believe it to be the truth and this man before me is evidence.

“Your next meal will be in reach before you know it,” I tell him, shutting the lid to the lighter, and he turns slowly to look at me. The best thing about turning someone into a human killing machine is that you don’t have to do any of the work because they do it for you. They can understand you even though all they think about is ripping into their next meal.

This one hasn’t spoken. Not for months since I burned half the skin off his face, and I prefer it this way. It makes it simpler when they don’t question their next assignment. Dante believes we should be keeping them caged up all day and night unless they’re on assignment, but even animals need sunlight now and again.

Unlocking the cage door, I slide it open, and the man cowers into a corner as I approach him. Reaching into my pocket, I grab a handful of cut-up raw steak and his attention zeros in on it.

“There’s more where that came from, cane .”

He eases closer to me, picking up the pieces of meat and shoving them into his mouth, the blood trickling down his chin as he chews. Reaching for the metal collar, I clasp it around his neck and attach the chain, coiling it around my hand.

“Let’s take a walk.”

“I’m not waiting another fucking second.” Nicholas pulls his gun out and checks the bullets, flicking the magazine back into place.

“No, we need to wait for the revelry.” Dante swivels the largest ring on his finger as he speaks, while Ezra polishes the gold handgun in his lap.

“We cannot count on the Lucchese family to back us in this,” Nicholas warns, taking a step forward, clearly frustrated that he’s not getting his way.

I know what this revenge means to him. Enzo took his best friend, his brother, and to be fair, I’d want the same.

“If he’s been spotted, we should attack and we should do it now!” he demands, the hurt still evident in his voice. Darcy places her hand on his shoulder to calm him and he sighs.

“Dante, what are you waiting for?” Ezra asks, finally looking up from his gun, and Dante stands, turning to look out the window.

I know Dante wants to help the Casellas, but he also has his own family to think about. The decisions he makes now could condemn Falcon’s Keep to a dire fate.

“I’ve sent Santi and Nino to speak with Tommy. I can’t risk them, not when we don’t know what has happened between Tommy and Enzo.”

Nicholas lets out a frustrated grumble and slumps into the seat beside Ezra.

“I promise you’ll have your revenge, Nicholas, but I must ensure the safety of my family first.”

“Have they accepted the invitation?” I ask Dante, and he turns to look at me, the darkness beneath his eyes more prevalent than before. I know he’s burdened with a lot, being the oldest of the family, and I hate to see him like this, but he hasn’t spoken to me in a long time. Not like he used to.

“They made it quite clear that they’ll be here.” His jaw clenches as his eyes clash with mine, a warning flashing across them. “And we will be prepared for their arrival.”

NERA

The rock splashes across the water, skipping until it finally sinks into the depths. I spent most of my day with my mother and although she doesn’t remember me, I held her hand and told her stories of my time in America. She laughed at some of the things my friends and I had done, like skipping class to hang out with our boyfriends at the time. I enjoyed that it was easy to speak with her without the added pressure of her lecturing me for doing what people my age do.

“Care for some company?” a female voice says from behind me, and when I turn around, Darcy is taking off her boots and socks. I don’t know much about her, only what my father had told me about the Brayford family history. All I know is that her family wanted to overthrow the Casellas.

“Sure.” I smile when she walks to stand beside me, handing me another rock. “So, how do you know these thugs?”

She laughs at my question, her beautiful wavy hair blowing in the breeze. “Do you want the long version or the short version?”

“There’s a long version?” I take a seat on the sand, motioning for her to do the same. When she’s seated, she sighs, fiddling with the rock in her hand.

“Our families knew each other. Mine and Nicholas’s. My uncle wanted to overthrow them, and he basically did everything in his power to achieve it. Including stealing their older brother at birth and shipping him off to Italy to use him as a secret weapon when he grew older.”

My eyes widen and she looks up at the sea as she continues, “Raf doesn’t like to speak of it, but I know it bothers him that his half-brothers got to live a better life than he did.”

I glance at the sand beneath my feet in bewilderment. I didn’t know this about Raf, and it begins to make sense why my father wanted to take him in.

“You two knew each other back then?” I ask.

“We grew up together, but apart,” she answers, confusing me further. “We wrote to each other and became friends. The cross he wears around his neck is the one I gave him when we were little.”

There’s a pause as I try to make sense of her words before she speaks again.

“I think he’s lost,” she whispers, looking down at the rock in her hands. “And I don’t know how to help him.”

I purse my lips, unsure of how to respond.

“I don’t know what goes on here, but I can see he’s losing himself to it.”

She confirms my suspicions about the secret activities on Falcon’s Keep, and I’m even more determined to uncover them.

“I haven’t been back here in years, and I know something is different. Ever since stepping foot on the island, I could sense it.”

Her eyes meet mine with a warning. “Be careful, Nera. Speaking from my own experience, sometimes it’s better to let things be.”

She stands, and before I can speak, she’s heading back to the manor. I consider heading back too, but I feel a pull from the direction my father lies in rest. I want to visit him, I want to speak to him, to let him know everything I’m feeling, but I can’t bring myself to go there because standing inside the place he’s buried is admitting that he’s gone forever. It means admitting that he’s no longer part of the same world I am. Instead, I head to my hideout. The one place I’ve now learnt is someone else’s hideout, too, and I hope to see him there.

Making my way through the trees, the sky begins to darken and I curse myself for not learning from last time.

Shit.

I need to make it to the greenhouse before I’m soaked under the rain. Picking up in a jog, I weave through the forest, glancing up at the soft glow inside the greenhouse getting closer and closer, when I’m stopped in my tracks, my heart thumping loudly beneath my chest. Fear curls its way over my bones, and I force myself to swallow the saliva in my mouth.

I’m frozen as I stare at the man before me, the ripped material barely covering his body, which looks like it’s been torn by a bear. Cuts, bruises, and blood cover the majority of his skin. Raising my hands, I take a step back and his top lip twitches.

“M-my name is Nera…” I look around, no one else is in sight. “I’m Dante’s sister.”

The man doesn’t respond, his gaze firmly fixed on me, and I shiver at the craziness in his eyes.

“Who are you?” I ask and he bares his teeth, launching forward into a sprint.

Shit.

Turning on my heels, my muscles fire to run back to the manor. “Help!” The terrified scream rips from my throat, hoping someone will hear me, but being this far from the manor, it dawns on me that I’m most likely alone.

“Dante!” I scream at the top of my lungs, my pleas swallowed up by the thick forest. Glancing back to the man now running on all fours, the horror builds inside me as tears blur my vision, the urgency so powerful it overcomes me.

“Rafael!” My voice tears my lungs apart, my legs desperately working to outrun him.

No one is coming to save me.

Rain begins to fall, wetting the ground and distorting the forest around me, turning it into my very own nightmare. The chill in the air stifles my breath, creating a vice around my throat as the thumps of his footsteps begin to inch closer and closer. My mind reels with thoughts of safety, my only goal right now is to put distance between myself and him. When I glance back at him, he lunges forward, plummeting us both onto the ground.

“Get off me!” I block the snapping of his jaw with my forearm on his neck, his mad eyes darting between mine.

“Down!” The heat of flames lick at my cheek and the man tumbles off me within a second, curling into a ball on the ground, his wailing screams seeping into my chest. When I look up, Raf is standing there with a flamethrower, his face contorted in anger, staring down at the man on the ground.

“Go to the greenhouse.” He looks at me with brows knitted together. “Now!” he roars, and I stand shakily, padding around the man now immobilised on the ground, curled up in the foetal position, covering his face with both arms.

I don’t know what I expected, but I knew something dark had rooted itself in my home, and now, I’m finally about to get the answers I’ve been searching for.