His Light, Her Darkness

Chapter 57: When Lies Unravel

Mia Jones POV:

"W-what?" I question.

Matteo's words ring through my head, and I can't seem to wrap my brain around them.

Your friend Alice... Is dead.

Matteo's face shows sympathy and it absolutely disgusts me. "I'm sorry." He says, taking a step towards me.

"Who--How do you know?" My voice is shaking, and I can feel the sobs reaching up through my throat, about to erupt. What if Matteo is lying, what if... This can't be true. Surely I would know if she were dead, wouldn't I feel it?

Isn't that what happens? Why do I feel nothing?

"Mia, you have to know that there are many people who want to kill me..." He begins.

"What?" I choke. "How does that have anything to do with Alice being dead? Are you saying that you are the cause of her death? That makes no sense!"

"Mia, it may be best if you sit down..."

"No! You tell me right here, right now!" I screech. My voice is a mess and the tears have begun to spring from my eyes, racing down my cheeks.

"When people found out about you... They tried to get through to me, by attempting to kill you." He says slowly, allowing me to process every single word that leaves his mouth.

Suddenly the scene of Dante being shot, flashes before my eyes, as well as the car incident where the bullet only narrowly missed me. How many more times have I narrowly escaped death and not known about it?

"Once they realised that getting to you was going to be more difficult, they-"

"No." I say. "Do not say what you're about to say. Do not blame me for her death, do not tell me that I am the reason she is dead."

"You aren't Mia." He consoles, but it doesn't help. "They are trying to get to me, by getting to you."

I feel very sick all of a sudden. Alice was--is my closest friend in New York. She taught me everything I needed to know in order to survive in this strange and foreign country. She was like a sister.

And now she's dead. Just like that. Someone killed her as a means to provoke Matteo.

"How many more people are going to die, because you refuse to let me go?" I clench my jaw. My tears are still flowing freely. "Will it be my Mum next? Will they come for my friends in Australia?" I try to sound angry, but instead my words come out dejected and unsure.

I'm sounding broken.

"No, I will not let anything happen to anyone you know. That's a promise."

"Your promises mean nothing to me." I scoff.

Matteo says nothing, but he takes another step towards me, and another, until he is just inches away from me, and then he hugs me.

I fall apart in his arms, and he is the only thing holding me together. I cry and dig my nails into his back.

Alice is dead. If what he's saying is true, she is dead.

I've never known pain such as this. Never did I think in a million years that I would have to say goodbye forever to one of my friends. But here I am.

"I never go to say goodbye." I cry. "I never got to tell her how much I appreciated her."

"Shhhhh, I know, I know. It's alright. Everything will be alright."

I know what he is saying is just more lies. He lies and lies and lies, yet I let myself believe those lies for the sack of my sanity. I just need something to hold onto and he's the only thing close by. And as much as I hate him with every fibre, I just want to cry into his arms.