The Fool

Chapter Forty-Four

Aurora was hiding in her closet behind a mountain of clothes, shaking in fear as each gunshot she heard felt like a stab to the heart. She had no idea who was alive. How many there was. Where they were. The noise was everywhere. She tried to calm her breath, biting down in her lip as tears welled in her eyes. She has been in situations like this before, she grew used to them, but this time felt like the very first time.

Levi finally got to the house, seeing the front door wide open. He grabbed his gun from his waistband and slowly began to make his way inside. He could hear gunshots, but they sounded distant, but he made slow and calculated moves nonetheless. He walked through the house, seeing bodies littered on the floor, a few of Croods men but there were more unfamiliar faces. He decided to make his way upstairs in the hopes of getting to Aurora. He was about halfway up the stairs when he heard footsteps so he turned around quickly towards the bottom of the stairs to see two men he didn't recognise. Instantly he shot at them the second he seen their guns pointing towards them. One fell to the ground as he put a bullet in his head but before he could shoot the other, the dropped dead anyway. Alaric walked in a second later, gun still raised at the gut that just dropped. He looked up at Levi and they shared a mutual look before Alaric followed him up the stairs. When Alaric reached him he put a hand in his shoulder causing Levi to turn and look at him.

"There's something I need to tell you" Alaric said seriously, in a whisper.

"Can't it wait" Levi gritted, eager to see Aurora and make sure she's safe. Alaric shook his head.

"No, Synn Reeds had nothing got to do with any of this" Alaric said quickly.

"Nows not the time for this Alaric" Levi hissed turning around to continue up the stairs, they were only a few steps away.

"Yes it is, cause I think I know who is" Alaric grabbed his arm again, causing Levi to look at him with a glare. It quickly softened when he seen a look of, almost fear in Alarics eyes. The last time Levi saw a glimpse of fear in his eyes was when he was a gossin. Back when they living with...

"I thought he would be the one to figure it out"

The two men stilled as the voice sent shivers down their spines. It was followed y footsteps that had them on alert. Both of them looked towards the top of the stairs, guns pointed as the only man they ever fear walked out straight from hell.

Antonio Knight stood there, grim as ever in an all back suit. He had aged massively since the last time the men saw him. There was backs under his dark eyes, wrinkles littered his salo skin, and his once jet black hair was now fully grey.

"You were always the quiet and calculated one" He said with a condescending smile. Both men were paralysed at the sight. "I had you fooled this long however" He followed up with a lighthearted chuckle, but there was nothing light heartedly about this reunion. Finally, a bit of sense knocked into Alaric and he clocked his gun, ready to shoot but before he could, he heard several guns being cocked all at once. Seven men emerged from the rooms upstairs, all guns pointing towards them.

"Not this time, I'm afraid" Antonio smirked. "How about we go for a little chat?"

~*~

Antonio was sitting in Levis chair behind his desk, the two men sitting opposite him, trapped at several gun points all around them. They glared at the man who took the time to light up a cigarette, taking a puff and blowing it out mockingly as he finally turned to look at them.

"I'm not here to kill you, ya know" He said raising a brow as their glares didn't waver once. " But I am here for revenge"

"Take the Mafia, I don't care" Levi said without missing a beat.

"Oh I know, I will be taking that. But then it's not really revenge if you want to give it up so easily, is it?" Antonio responded. Levi frowned, trying to figure out where he was going with all this. Alaric stared at him however, he had him all figured out, and Antonio knew that.

"I can take over the King Mafia right now and I will be much bigger than you ever made it" Antonio began to gloat. " I've been off the radar for a while now, thanks to you, but I've never stopped working" He smirked. He then looked at Alaric and raised a brow. This caused Levi to turn and look at his brother also.

"He was behind all the killings" Alaric mumbled, not taking his eyes off his uncle. Antonio's smirk grew, urging Alaric to keep talking. "All the targets were people he knew would have a problem with him when he rose from the dead again, so he eliminated them from the shadows, building his army and getting  them to do his first work for him" Alaric continued, voicing his suspicions which were confirmed with a nod of rhe heard from Antonio, a proud nod.

"When the fuck did you figure this out" Levi spat at Alaric, frustrated that he hadn't come to him about any of this sooner.

"I first got the inkling when Synn told me my name was on the list. Then I went back and looked at all the previous names and connected them with the old files we had and made the connection from there" Alaric explained heavily.

"Yes. You all were just my last final step. I even hired my best man to finish the job" Antonio butted in, taking another drag from his cig. "But even he turned out to be my biggest disappointment, just like all of you were years ago" This was the first time the look on Antonio's face changed to one of anger as he mentioned what happened years ago.

"Everything happens for a reason however. Synns fuck up made me realise that killing ye wasn't worth it." He shrugged. Both Levi and Alaric squinted their eyes at him. Even Alaric wasn't sure where he was going now. "When I found out you hired Mr. Reeds, I know the extent you were going to go to keep our Precious Aurora safe. That was when I realised that if I wanted my revenge, i had to take the thing that meant everything to ye, just like ye took my Mafia." The two men felt the blood drain from their face as they made the connection. Levi balled his fists in the chair as his look of confusion changed to rotten anger.

"I had to get Synn out of the way first though, and you helped me with that, thank you Levi" Antonio shot a pleasant smile his way, only taunting Levis anger more. He then turned to look at Alaric knowingly. "Because we both know that young boy would never let a hair on her pretty blonde head be tainted" Alaric gritted his jaw, trying to remain neutral and not let it show how much he was getting to him. Levi however, didn't care. He took one glance at Alaric and knew Antonio was speaking the truth, which made him even more sick to his stomach to realise that he still has that boy locked up in chains miles away from Aurora.

"Young love, am I right?" Antonio chuckled before quickly standing up and clasping his hands together. " So, where is my Principessa?" He looked between the two men expectinly, however, knowing none of them were gonna talk. He mocked a frown at their silence and shrugged. "That's okay, we already found her" He grinned, motioning with his hand for one of his men to open the door. The two mens stomachs dropped as the turned in their seat to watch at the door opened. All of them expected to see them same sight, Aurora standing their in the clasps of his men, vulnerable and scared put of her mind. But she wasn't.

The door opened and instead, three of his men were lying on the ground, gutted with blood all over them. Levi and Alarics faces dropped, glancing back to see Antonio's face full of shock, before it turned to anger. He walked towards the scene, striding past, then bending down when he reached the bodies and standing back up with something in his hand. Alaric and Levi caught a glimpse of the card as he held it up, its shiny finished glistening in the dim light like a god. Alaric sunk back in his seat, relief washing over him. Levi wasn't fully sure what was going in but his brothers reaction him put him at a slight bit of ease.

"Find them" Antonio gritted, crumpling 'The Fool' tarot card in his hand.