The New Student

Chapter 40

Maria's POV

A scream escaped my throat as I was grabbed by my father's men and dragged out of the room. I pushed, kicked, hit; doing whatever I could to elude from the situation. But to no avail, the men's grip was tight. Too tight to the point I knew a bruise would be left. But father won't care. He would think the men are doing their job given to them. 

I hate my father. So what if hate is a strong word. Wouldn't want to use a weak one for the amount of pain he has caused me. He's treated me like crap since the very beginning since he didn't get his precious boy. Did that stop me from teaching myself how to fight since he refused to do so? No. It actually made me want to learn more. 

I knew my efforts were useless and just drained my energy, so I stopped and just let them take me away. Once they reached my room, they threw me in and locked the door from the outside. That's how my door is; you can't lock it from the inside but you can on the outside. 

I remember the times where Mateo used to prank me and lock my door. I would bang on the door to be let out. Even sometimes going as far as to ram my shoulder towards it a few times to break the lock. 

I know now that trying to do so once more was a fruitless attempt. But was even a more fruitless attempt, was the guards locking my door. A stupid thing to do, seeing how I live here and know every nook and cranny of this place. Also, because I've learned to pick locks since I was eight. 

Standing up and adjusting my clothes to a comfortable area, I walk to the corner of my room, where a tall bookshelf awaits. It only takes one pull of the navy blue book in the left middle side for the bookshelf to move. Cliche? Yes. But useful? Most definitely. 

When you have the only room with it being lockable on the outside, you have to find someway out without others knowing. So, my mom and I built it a secret passage through my bookshelf. Knowing it would be too cliche, no one would ever actually think that I would have it in my room. 

One side of the bookshelf begins to back up, before moving to the side, leaving a big whole from its recent position to allow me to walk. I quickly run through, making sure to check if the door closed behind me. Once it did, I walked down the small pathway. It was dark and the only thing that lit up the area was the very little light coming from the other end. 

As I approached, the light begin to grow until I was basically beside it. The passage led me to Mateo's room, since he's the only person I trust here. The light was coming through a very small hole in the wall. That hole was covered by posters of different anime's that Mateo liked to watch, but what made it camouflage was the fact that it was posing as one of the eyes of the main character on whatever anime it was. 

I would do the same but it would look too suspicious, and the only ones who know about the path is me, Mateo, and our mom. If father ever found out, it would be the end of me. We actually have multiple secret passages all around the house, some my father knows about, but most he doesn't. It's funny how he was raised in this home, but knows less about it more than he knows.

I peeked through the little hole with one eye, checking to see if there was another presence besides my brother. When the coast was clear, I clicked the button on my right and waited for a click to be heard. Once the wall clicked, it opened slightly, signaling that it was now open. 

I push the wall that has now become a door and enter the room. Mateo was sitting on his bed reading a book but snapped his head towards me, noticing my entrance. He marked his book and quickly closed it, laying it by his side before sitting on the edge of his bed with a sigh. 

"He locked you in again, didn't he?" he questioned with a knowing expression. I lower my head but nod, feeling a rush of deja vu happening. Obviously, this isn't the first time this has happened. Let's just say I step out of line more than once around my father and we end up in the situations we are now. Nothing new. 

Mateo sighed once more before his eyebrows scrunched up in concern as he stood and made his way towards me. 

"You've been crying. Why, what happened?" he asked before looking down at my arms, noticing my bruises. "Did he lay his hands on you?!" Mateo raised his voice at his assumption. My father and I don't have the best relationship, but he would never go as far as to putting his hands on me. 

"No! No! But he did to someone else..." I trail off, so many emotions running through me that I struggle to get the words out. 

"What happened?" Mateo asked as he grabbed my wrist, bringing me over to his bed to get me to sit, but sitting was impossible in this situation. 

"You know about the prisoner dad brought in from his enemy?"

"Yes?" he questions, not knowing where I'm going with this. Well, here we go I guess. 

In less than one minute, I begin to ramble and tell him everything that has happened in the past 30 minutes that have felt like hours. I already knew Mateo was going to be pissed by the end of this, because he's, as he says, 'infatuated' with Naomi. 

There's no denying that Naomi is gorgeous. It's usually hard to tell since she constantly hides her face with a hood, but some can see her beauty better than others. AKA- my brother, and also Dylan. 

Once I was done, let's just say Mateo was fuming. If he was this mad, I'm scared to see how mad Dylan was when he found out she was missing. Mateo stood up before grabbing his gun from under his pillow. I raised my eyebrow in question as I saw him walk towards his door. 

"What are you doing?" I ask, assuming the worst. 

"I think it's pretty obvious." was all he said before opening and slamming the door. I quickly run after him, not wanting to make him do something he'll regret. I hope he wasn't actually thinking about killing his own father. His own blood. 

But I couldn't be more wrong.

He was already down the hallway before I could even leave the room. I ran with everything I had to reach him, all the while telling him to stop and slow down. Telling him to think this through before regretting his incompetent actions. 

"There's no way you're actually going to kill our father over a girl! You barely know her!" I try to persuade him once I finally caught up to him. 

"Try me."

My eyes widen at his response. After we took a turn around the hallway, I gradually slowed my steps before coming to a complete stop. 

"You're in love with her. Aren't you?" I ask in bewilderment. This makes him freeze, halting his brisk steps. As he stops, I begin to walk till I'm face to face with him, blocking his path. 

I'm greeted with nothing but silence. I step up, getting a little closer, boring into his eyes even though they're not looking at my own. 

"Aren't. You?" I ask once more, already knowing the answer. But I want to hear him say it; hear him confront his truth. No way you would shoot your own father just for the mere 'infatuation' of a girl. 

It's not possible. 

"You're in my way." is all he says before nudging me to the side with his shoulder and pressing forward. I turn around to look at him as he stomps off, rage flowing through the halls. 

The boy that left is no longer the brother that I grew up with, but a younger version of the man he's about to kill.  

With shaky hands, I quickly pull out my phone. I go straight to the contact I need before pressing the call button and putting it up to my ear. I begin to pace as I wait for them to answer, just hearing the annoying ringing tone. 

"Hello?" the deep voice says, anger being the only sounded I can really hear. Relief floods through me hearing his voice. 

"Dylan, come quick. I need your help."