Alessandro 16+ / Book 1

Chapter 12: No

I follow with slow steps as they force me outside into the freezing night air, which sends cold shivers up my spine, terrified for the outcome and the harm that may come my way, but I try to pretend brave because they all are and it will be a shame if I am not.

Being frail and a coward is not an option in my family.

Sitting on top of the chopped wooden log, I watch my three older hermanos stands before me with looks that make my stomach contract in a tight ball.

All my hermanos snigger at me as if they were given a joke, but I know it is me they are laughing at, whispering together.

Thinking how of a fool I am when only I want to be like them.

Good enough, strong, perfect, and loved by mother.

My eldest hermano, Raphael, takes a pistol from under his leather jacket along with a silencer.

Seeing the gun horrifies me and has me reconsidering my idiotic choice. "I-I don't want to do this anymore," my nine-year-old voice murmurs to my hermanos that already made up their minds.

Harming me was always a game to my hermanos, and I foolishly let them because I have no choice.

I have no choice because I want to fit in and be loved by my mother, so I have no choice but to do what they want.

I am weak, powerless, disgraceful, and unloved, and I don't want to be that anymore, so I do whatever it takes to earn love from them.

Anything to be like my hermanos, but I can not help but be terrified by the sight of the gun, having second thoughts.

"Stop being weak, Adrienne," Sebastian scolds with a bitter chuckle at me.

"You're so fragile and will never be as assertive as our mother if you don't be fearless," Rafheal tempts, knowing how much I want mother to see me as she sees them.

They are what the mafia wants.

"I am scared," I whisper in fear, starting to sob tears that I have been holding as I stare at my hermano placing the silencer on the black pistol that is already loaded.

"It's just a game. We are not going to hurt you," they all snicker as if they are lying.

"Come on guys, for real, it's just the bottle we are aiming at," Antonio grabs the glass bottle and places it on top of my head, the weight of it terrifying me even more. "It's just a game, and we aim perfectly."

Shaking with tears rushing from my eyes, I watch as he moves away, not wanting him to leave as I fear what the next seconds may be.

Raphael points the gun at my head, and quickly my eyes shut, tears running from them.

The safety of the gun going off makes me jerk with fright, my lips quivering, my heart speeding, trumpeting against my rib cage, threatening to burst through.

The tears that keep coming come even heavier, and my body shakes with dread as my stomach squeezes. "P-please?" I choke out.

The gun fires and my hermano shows no mercy.

-

The girls inside the bathroom scream in fear and horror, jolting me back to reality, and I step back in terror, my heart pounding in my chest, as my eyes widen with sudden realization.

Alessandro...Axel!

My feet hasten towards the bathroom door, quickly turning the door knob and pulling it towards me, feeling my heart inside my mouth, expressing the fear that dribbles me.