Salvation

Chapter 24

"Wake up it's time to go. " A soft voice woke Sylvia up.

She didn't say anything when the man picked her up in his arms. The whole house was quiet as they walked outside. Door after door, hallway after hallway the man carried her outside.

"Where are all the guards?" She whispered, surprised that no one had stopped them.

"Let me worry about that." He replied. Sylvia's nostrils filled with the scent of outside air. Her eyes watering, she was out of the damned house. He let her down.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Jason, now get going before we get caught." He gave her a pat on the back.

"I'll come back for you Jason, I'm getting you out of this shithole as well." She managed to breath out as she started walking to the exit.

"Should we be trusting a man that just stormed into our house giving us a tip off? " Giovanni asked his friend.

They stood outside the house the man had sent them to. They were across the street, all of their men armed to the bone. He stared at the house of the man that had ruined him. Him and Giovanni were at the front of the line, waiting for the time the man had told him to attack.

"Who the fuck is that?" Giovanni asked, a person was stumbling towards them.

Sylvia was holding her side, trying to walk as fast as possible. She fell to the ground, her legs not holding her up anymore. She started crawling to the ground. Her eyes watered when she saw all the men outside the house.

Her eyes landed on him. Lucio. He was there, he was there. She began crying, crying as she clawed her way closer to him. She saw his eyes widen, he was running towards her, he pushed Giovanni out of the way. A smile on her face as he ran to her. He was running back to her.

He reached her, dropping to the floor in front of her. His eyes were filled with tears. He pulled her face gently towards him, kissing her lips. Her arms found the way around his neck.

The world stopped spinning, it was just the two of them. They couldn't hear, feel anything other than each other. They tasted the saltiness of each other's tears, hear the sound of their fastened heartbeats, feel each other's presence, getting drunk on it.

They pulled apart, their foreheads connecting. He stroked her hair softly, he hoped that this wasn't another of his sick hallucinations.

"I love you. I love you. I love you." Sylvia chanted. Lucio kissed her again, savoring her, holding her as if she'd disappear.

"Please don't leave me Luc, please don't leave me." She mumbled into their kiss.

"I-I'm sorry." He sobbed, caressing her cheek.

"Just take me home, take me home." She breathed out.

Lucio scooped her up in his arms. Her head rested on his chest. They passed through all of their men, he didn't care about anyone else but her. He gently placed her into the passenger's seat, he didn't let anyone else into the car as he drove, he drove her home.

Once they were home, he opened the door picking her up again. He carried her to the house into their room, placing her gently on the bed. He laid next to her, keeping her as close as possible.

His eyes asserted her body. He saw the burn marks on her collar, her lashed back. The dried blood on her thigh, mixed with a white substance. His heart broke, anger taking over his emotions.

"We'll deal with that later Lucio, please hold me. Speak to me, nothing more." She whispered, noticing him tensing up.

"I went crazy without you here." He mumbled, she managed to let a small chuckle escape her.

"I think the guys contemplated on locking me up when I told them I was seeing you." She raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were dead Syl. My mind started playing games with me." She gave him a sad smile.

"Lucio are you disgusted by me?" Her voice came out quieter than a whisper.

"Why would I be disgusted by you my love?"

"He.. Lucio I didn't want to." She began breaking down.

"You're not disgusting Sylvia. He violated you, he did horrible things to you and none of that is your fault. Nothing is your fault. You're a survivor, you're the strongest person I've ever met in my entire life. " He mumbled into her hair.

"I feel awful Lucio, it hurts. I keep trying to figure out what I did to deserve this."

"You did nothing wrong, absolutely nothing. He is fucked in the head, you did nothing wrong. It's not your fault Syl, it's not your fault."

"Do you still find me beautiful?" She whispered into his chest.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met, nothing will ever change that. Not some scar, not old age, nothing will ever change that, you'll always be my number one." He kissed her forehead softly.

"Will you hold me tonight? "

"Always, Sylvia, always."