Leaving Home

Chapter One

Ok, so this is my first book that I've ever succeed in finishing the first chapter so comment and leave me some critic. Also I've reread this chapter and I know it seems kind of rushed but in the next chapter i'm going to slow it down so without further ado Leaving Home.

Chapter 1

The scream that pierced the night coursed through my throat shattering the silence. Death glared at me stopping my heart as instinct took over dodging the dagger that headed straight at my head. The confinements of my ball gown restricted my escape allowing the dagger to graze my cheek. A tear drop of blood trickled down my face. The pitch black darkness of the alley hid my attacker from view.

Fear pulsed through my veins as I looked for an escape. I fled. The blood pounding in my ears was all I could hear as I sprinted down the cobblestone streets. I turned around looking for my pursuer, but saw none. I stopped, letting the sounds that surrounded me float to my ears. Above me, his breathing was labored. He sounded like a horse that been run through the night. The dagger slid down my arm and into my hand. It was embedded in his chest before he got the chance to catch the glint of light reflecting of the silver of the sztylet.

He fell in front of me, taking his last breaths. "Who sent you?" I demanded. He made a sound resembling a laugh but blood coming from his mouth chocked him.

"Valentino sends his regards to your parents' demise." He made the chocked laughing noise again, but stopped when he started gasping for air. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. I stood there dazed. Who was Valentino? I left him lying in the street as I rushed back to the hotel. My mind was muddled. The flashes of memory invaded my thoughts causing me to gasp for air.

The men in their suits all crisp and starched walked up the pathway to the white brick house sporting green shutters. They banged the knocker three time on the maroon door, the sound echoing off the hallway walls on the other side. They could hear the patter of foot steps coming down the stairs towards them. As the door swung open a petite brunette with glistening violet eyes stared back at the men. "Miss Grabowski?" The girl timidly nodded back. "We offer our sincerest condolences but there has been a terrible car accident. You parents have passed away."

The door slammed shut behind me. I leaned against it putting my hands on my knees counting my heart beats trying to slow my breath. I looked up searching the room for any threat. The rumpled bed to my left was the same as I had left it, lavatory door still open, mustard shades still closed, and my father's army duffle bag, filled with my belongings, still packed and leaning on the musty wall.

I walked over to the toilet and stared at my reflection in the mirror. The girl staring back had wild eyes deprived of sleep, hair falling on her face, and wrinkles that aged her beyond her years. The person in the mirror was not her. The happenings of the night rolled through her head, the men, the dresses, the masks, the music, the dancing. Rafaele Bernardi. The man who killed her parents.

I thought back on all the things that had happened so far. People in Poland had told her it was just an accident. That people lose control of cars all the time. I knew better than that. If it was just a car wreck where were their bodies? Why would someone steal their bodies? The thought of what could have happened to them had me retching.

Everything I had been given that was in the car only led me to believe that this was more than just a normal car wreck. The fake passports, tickets to Italy, a book containing a name and four numbers, I knew Poland no longer could be my home. I had to follow my parents whether alive or dead to Italy. They had been planning to take us there, but why?