The Spider's Emerald

- Chapter 3 -

- 5 years earlier - 

174 miles North of Rome sits Florence, Italy.

Florence sits in a basin surrounded by hills, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The greenery surrounding the city is bright and lush, encasing the city. The old architecture and monuments creating a maze throughout the city, the canal snaking through. 

Our house was in the outskirts of the city.

"Damn it. Good job Y/N." my mother exclaims

"Thank you mother." I respond brightly

I had my mother as knifepoint. My mother has taught me how to fight. She told me it would be helpful in the future. She trained me herself and we had sparring matches everyday for years since I was 9. I was now 12. I lower my knife and step away from my mother, a grin on my face.

"I'm very proud of you mia cara ragazza, you're improving so well." 

I beam, "Thank you I've been practicing."

We're both breathing hard. We walk up to the patio to the gym to put away the knives. Once I've put my knife away I head to my room to get changed.

"Y/N!" my mother calls out to me

"Si mother." 

"Once you've gotten changed why don't you join me out the back, and bring a book."

"Ok mother."

I continue walking up to my room. Once I get there I close the door and start to get changed. I get changed in a tight black top and ripped jeans. I grab a book and head outside. Once I get outside I walk over to my mother, who's seated at the lounge chair, book in hand. She's reading her book, her gaze directed down, her brown hair that was identical to me falling in front of her face. I sit next to her on the lounge chair and look out towards the horizon. 

The sky is a mix of orange and pink, tainting the clouds that are scattered throughout the sky. The sun is a deep yellow, setting below the hills further away. The greenery has a golden tint from the setting sun. There was a side table next to the lounge chair, on it was a cup of steaming tea and lilies. My mother had always loved lilies. 

"My love," my mother addressed me, "There will be a time when I am not here and there are many things I still need to tell and teach you. But there is something more pressing I need to tell you. It's about your father,"

My breath catches in my throat.

"Your father was-"

My mother gets cut off by the scratching of tires against the gravel coming from the front of the house. My mothers eyes harden. 

"Wait here Y/N."

My mother enters the house and I hear her open the front door, all the while her heels clicking against the tiles. I hear muffled discussion and I suddenly hear the crackling of electricity.  My mother yells from inside and I jump to my feet and rush inside. I get inside quick enough just to see my mum slumped against the floor panting hard. At the door were two armed men with guns strapped across their chests and tasers in their hands. They grabbed my mum and forced her into a seated position, placing duct tape over her mouth. I run up to her without thinking and before a guard can grab me I grab his wrist and give it a strong tug, hearing a satisfying crack. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain across my skull and feel the cool tiles against the side of my face. 

I force my eyelids open and let my vision adjust to the light. My visions blurs and my surroundings swim in front of me but quickly I can make out a figure.

My mom.

"Mother." My voice is muffled

What the hell? I try to move my hands but they just end up getting pulled at. My wrists, ankles and mouth have duct tape around them. I'm taped to a chair. Awesome. Sitting in front of me my mother is also tied up. We're outside on the front patio, surrounded by what seems like hundreds of tank-like vans. Soldiers are surrounding us holding guns To my right the front door bursts open and the two soldiers from before walk out holding a black briefcase I'm sure they didn't have before.

"We found it." One of them states

With that they hand the briefcase to another soldier and he disappears through the ranks. The soldiers walk over to me and my mother and rip the duct tape from our mouths.

"There's no one even remotely close by so don't waste your breath." They inform us

I sit there in silence breathing heavily, looking at my mother for guidance on what to do. There are tears in my mother's eyes, the tears overflowing and falling down her cheeks.

"Please don't do this I know I broke my promise but it's what was best I promise." She tells them

"Well you should've thought about that before you kept something from us and made the promise in the first place."

The soldier that spoke to her now looks out into the ranks. I follow his gaze and see someone raise their hand. I'm confused until I look back at my mother and see the barrel of the soldiers gun pressed against my mothers head. She looks up at me, still with tears in her eyes, now matching my own.

"I love you mia cara ragazza, stay strong for me."

With those final words I hear a bang and it takes a few seconds before my mum slumps to the floor, her eyes glazed over and unblinking. I hear someone scream and it takes me a while to realise that its me. I scream with tears pouring down my face and the soldiers untie me and drag me across the ground away from my mother. I struggle against them trying to reach my mother and hold her but their grip is iron tight. They drag me through the ranks until they finally toss me in front of someones feet, making me facing them on my knees. I force myself to stop crying and I wipe them away. My vision is still blurry but at least I'm not physically crying. 

I get up and face the man in front of me.

"Who are you?" I ask

"You can call me Commander. I killed your mother and for good reason too. My boss and I are going to take you to our facility and train you to be our assassin. You technically are our property as your mother made a promise to my boss that she would give you to use when you turned 10. She clearly didn't live up to that promise and here you are."

What? My mother never would've made a promise like that they have to be lying they have to be.

"Oh also I should let you know that once we train you, you will get your first mission assigned and if you can't execute it perfectly we will kill you. Without hesitation."