Mia Figlia

Chapter 9 ✔️

PoV Stella

The taxi dropped me at my place. Well, not exactly my place since this was not the neighborhood where I had spent the last couple of months. How should I call this? An upgrade? The space in front of the building was clean. The walls were immaculately white. No broken windows. The house owner seemed to care about his tenants. I sighed and entered the building. Curios how my apartment would look like, but still not understanding why someone had moved my stuff. Further, I had a weird feeling that it had something to do with the Italian guy from the playground. Italians. I felt surrounded by them since the attack. The nurse at the hospital who had told me where I lived, the taxi driver, the guy on the street who had just watched me outside. All of them were Italian. Wait! Someone had watched me. What the heck! Grumbling I opened my door. I had to find my daughter fast and had to disappear again with her. Something was not right. Why should anyone who was not involved with my family, or his family want to keep an eye on me? Exactly, nobody would want to do this.

Finally, I noticed my surroundings. My keys dropped to the ground. The apartment was flooded with light. The walls were cream colored, and the wooden floor had a warm honey-like tint. The furniture was a lot better than my own. Not the expensive stuff, but nice closets, tables, chairs, and a big sofa. Someone must have spent hours to get the kitchen that clean. It looked safe to eat from the ground instead of using a plate. Creepy. Fresh fruit on the counter and lots of healthy stuff in the fridge. Yes, creepy. Especially since I had been in the hospital for weeks. Someone had not thought this through completely.

Shrugging it off I explored the apartment further. The bedroom was decent as well. A nice big bed and a closet which was twice the size of my old one. But what irritated me the most, they had removed everything that would remind me of Isabella. They had taken away any sign of me having a daughter. No toys, no clothes, and worst of all, no pictures. My legs trembled, I slumped to the ground. Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to calm my racing heart. I slammed my fist on the floor.

Bastards! Sure, I did not mention Isabella at the hospital, no matter how often they asked me about my past to evaluate my memory. The Italian nurse in particular had bombarded me with questions. Suspicious at that moment, and even more suspicious now. Guess I had to find out who was behind this. Getting my little girl back would be tough but not impossible. Mister Italy wanted to challenge me? Well, challenge accepted. And he was not going to win.

I opened the closet to grab some clean clothes but stopped mid-movement. What the fuck? I did not have this much stuff before. Speechless I stared at all the shirts, sweaters, and pants. In a corner I noticed a plain black dress. Seriously? Was all of these his 'payment' for taking away my daughter? He better made sure that I would not rip his balls off.

So, what should I do? My apartment was most likely bugged, perhaps there were hidden cameras as well. Luckily, I did not have a phone neither a computer before, therefore they could not use that against me. But now I needed some tech stuff for my research. Sure, I could go to the library, but it did not feel safe. A prepaid smartphone would work better. Particularly since I knew someone who could make sure that nobody hacked into it. I grinned. Time to contact an old friend. The one who had helped me to fake my own death. He lived in this town as well and I knew where he worked.

In the hallway, I put on some new sneakers which looked comfortable. Then I grabbed my keys and a jacket, locked my door behind me and headed towards a small café. Luckily, it was not far away from my new apartment. They did me a favor by moving me into this neighborhood.

While walking, I noticed someone following me. Footsteps, in the same beat to mine, even if I varied my pace. Years of paranoia paid off. My senses always warned me if something was odd. If I had to guess, I would say that an Italian looking guy was behind me. Most likely I would know soon enough. Time would tell if I could use this in my favor.