Omertà

Chapter 20: Two Months

Double update!!

"Annabelle, you awake?" Ryan asks, knocking on the door the my bedroom. I'd been living with him for about two months now and we'd decided to make his a permanent living situation. I sold my apartment a few weeks ago and I got a job to help Ryan pay rent. A few weeks into living together, Ryan admitted he'd been looking for a roommate for a while now and asked me if I wanted to make my stay permanent. I decided I could use a fresh start and agreed.

"I am now." I grumble, sitting up.

"Hurry up, or you won't have time to shower before work!" He calls as he shuts the door to the apartment on the way out to his own job.

I sigh because I know he's right. I stand and grab a comfortable grey sweater and black leggings and make my way to the bathroom. After my shower, I take a few minutes to examine my body. My stomach wasn't noticeably bigger, but there was a small bump that I could see when I turned to the side. I rubbed my hand over the small bump a few times and stared at it blankly through the mirror.

I had made a decision to birth the baby and then give it a better life. I knew I had to keep this from the Esposito family because I knew what they'd do if they found out. They'd take me back and keep me with them long enough to take the baby from me and throw me back out into the streets. That's was the reason I had to give up the baby. They'd ruin it and corrupt it.

I couldn't let them do that.

I quickly finish getting dressed and rush out of the apartment. I lock the door quickly and check the time. 9:07. I was late.

I hurried down the stairs and out of the door of he building. It would take me fifteen minutes to get to work with my usual route and I had to be there in eight. I knew a shortcut but it was sketchy.

Sighing, I decide to take the shortcut. I needed this job and I couldn't show up late since it'd put me at risk of getting fired. I walk quickly down an old street past a few abandoned houses. I hug my sides, walking faster. I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. I turn a corner and look behind me. No one was behind me but I still felt uncomfortable.

I shook off my thoughts. I was just being paranoid, nothing is going to happen to me. Still, I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the busy street only a block ahead. I pick up my pace just as a door opens and two arms grab me and pull me in.

I scream and kick, trying to break free, but someone places a repugnant cloth over my mouth. Red flags and sirens sound in my head and I try not to breathe in, but eventually I cave. Shortly after, I feel my body get heavy and my eyelids droop until all I see is black, and then nothing.

When my consciousness rolls back around, I become aware of a few things. For one, my arms and legs were bound to a chair. Secondly, there was a thick, black material covering my eyes. Lastly, I had the feeling that I was not alone. It was the way my body tensed and the hairs stuck up at the back of my neck that truly alerted me to the presence.

"H-hello?" I stutter, my voice hoarse and dry. "I know you're there."

I wait quietly for a few minutes, but no one answers.

"Please, I don't have anything to offer." I hear a deep, bone chilling chuckle, but other than that, I get no response.

"Just tell me why I'm here, I didn't do anything!" I yell, growing slightly hysterical.

I shriek when the blindfold is ripped off of me, taking a few strands of hair with it. I blink up at the man only to find him masked.

"You know why you're here." He has a thick, Italian accent. Of course he's in the fucking Mafia.