Cataleya Valentina Velez:

I wake up because of the first rays of the sun and look at the time.

It's already five in the morning, so I'm just in time to get a quick shower before we have to leave.

I take a quick shower and head back to my room, looking at the empty bed. But it's not.

It's not empty because Neveah is sitting on it. 'What are you doing here?'

'I'm going to try to convince you to stay of course.' I roll my eyes and walk over to my closet. 'You woke up, at five in the morning, just to convince me to stay?'

She yawns and nods, before slowly standing up. Neveah looks terrible. As if the rest day she had yesterday only made it worse.

'I think you should let them go on their own, I mean you don't want to be around Rio anyways so-' She's right. I don't. But I'm not going to let them do this on their own, 'I think you should stay.'

'I think I should tag along, to make sure that they don't kill Hunter the moment they see him.' She shakes her head and takes a deep breath, before smiling at me. 'Tiago promised that he would get him to me so that I can finish the job.'

I nod and put on a simple outfit, before turning back to her. 'And what about the other Curzio?'

She rolls her eyes and follows me back into the bathroom.

'I don't know what to do about him, but I don't think he's that eager to kill Hunter, right?'

According to Celine, he is. According to Celine, Rio hates Hunter with every cell in his body. 'I'm still going so that you can get your revenge.'

The words sound weird, but her eyes light up a little. She's ready to get this over with. To get Hunter so that she can torture or kill him for what he did to her. To her family.

As much as I hate the thought of her torturing anyone, I feel like she deserves this.

The man I thought was the most innocent one at the party, is also the man who tortured and killed my best friend's family.

I still can't believe that it was Hunter who did this, who did all of that to get revenge on some old feud. I just don't understand how, but then again, there's not much I know about all of this.

'I honestly don't think it's a smart idea.' She mumbles, grabbing my arm to grab my attention.

There's no way I'm backing down from this. Especially now that she can't go. It would be much more fun if we could both go, but she's sick. So I'll go in her stead.

Not to kill or torture Hunter, but to make sure Rio or Leon won't.

'I feel like it is.' I chime, smiling at her before I start brushing my teeth. She looks at me, trying to come up with arguments she can use to keep me here, but there are none.

'What if you die?' I spit in the sink and slowly turn around to her. 'You think I'm going to die?' 'It might happen, I don't want you to die.'

'I'm not going to die.' I hope. No. I don't think I'll die. Leon and Rio will be there. Not that Rio would care if I die, but Leon won't let me die. I think. Right?

Plus, I'll be cautious. I'll take care of myself.

Yet Neveah looks at me with a distressed look. 'I'm not going to die.' I repeat, trying to convince her.

'I don't know Leya...' She pulls me closer and hugs me tightly, 'I honestly don't care if Rio kills him, you should stay.' No.

I won't give him that. I won't let him ruin this for her. He already ruined enough, I won't let him ruin this for her. No fucking way.

'I'm still going.' She sighs and slowly lets go of me. 'Fine, but you better call me every damn hour to tell me what the fuck is going on.'

I nod and grab my phone, showing it to her before we head back to the room. My little bag is still laying on top of the drawer in the room. She stumbles to the door, looking a bit dizzy, and slowly opens the door.

'As soon as I'm gone, you're going back to bed.' I state, not leaving it up for debate. 'Agreed.' She chuckles and looks at me for a second as if she'll never see me again.

But we'll be back tomorrow. With the person, she hates most in the world. Worse than she hates Rio.

We get to the hall, where everyone is waiting. Apparently, Neveah wasn't the only one awake to say something before we left.

'Ready to go, little one?' I nod and smile at Neveah, before dropping my bag so that I can hug her again. 'Please be careful.' She whispers into my ear before she pulls me even closer. 'I will.'

I slowly lean back and smile at her, feeling awful for leaving her. Especially while she's sick. 'I promise.' She nods and slowly lets me go. 'You better be better when we get back.'

Celine steps closer and nods. 'She looks worse than yesterday.'

'So what's wrong with her again?' I ask, curious as to what is going on with her.

She told me something was up, but she didn't really explain what it was because she was in a hurry to get a bunch of pills.

'Turns out she needs more vitamin D.' Celine says, looking at Neveah before sighing deeply. 'I'm telling you, I am perfectly fine.'

Like always Neveah is being stubborn again, too headstrong to admit that she needs help, even though she looks like absolute shit.

'Vitamin D you said?' Leon asks, moving closer to Neveah. Celine nods and raises an eyebrow at him. 'I can make sure she gets enough D-'

'As if you haven't given her enough yet.' Rio groans, staring down at his cousin.

Both Celine and I burst into laughter.

'I- what- no.' Neveah stutters, trying to hide the fact that they've been fucking all the time.

'You've been at it like bunnies.' Celine jokes, stepping out of Neveah's reach so that she can't hit her. 'So what?'

The fact that Leon isn't even denying it, doesn't shock me at all. Why would he deny making love to the person he loves?

'So we don't need that the entire time.' Rio sneers, making me roll my eyes.

It's not like he and Molly aren't at it every time they can, so I don't get where he has the nerve to talk about Leon and Neveah, but oh well.

I'm not starting something today.

Wait. Molly. Where is she?

I look around, but she's not there. Meaning she's either asleep or not in the house anymore.

Rio and Molly fought last night, but I didn't bother to stay around when I heard a few doors slamming. But never the front door though.

'Okay enough about that, you should go before you get there too late.' Kai says, smiling at them. Neveah nods, even though she looks like she's going to keep me here until they're gone. 'I'll miss you.'

Leon smiles at Neveah and nods. She dramatically rolls her eyes and smiles at him. 'You'll be back tomorrow, right?'

Rio heads out the door and walks towards one of the parked cars. 'Come here.' Celine wraps her arms around me tightly, while Neveah and Leon talk about something in a secretive way. 'Watch your back, okay?'

'I will.' I chime, slowly looking into her eyes. She genuinely looks a little concerned. 'I'll be okay.'

'I know, just be safe.' I nod and smile at her, 'I will.'

'Cataleya will be perfectly fine, she has the boys with her. I should be the one you're going to be worried about! How am I supposed to survive it with just the two of them.' Kai jokes, pointing at Neveah and Celine.

Celine glares at him, while Neveah chuckles. 'Watch out, or I just might put a bullet between your eyes, Davis.' Leon grunts, making Kai swallow audibly.

'Okay. Okay. You should go. Take care of Cataleya and promise me you'll both get back to me.' Neveah says, waiting for Leon to respond. I roll my eyes because I'll be perfectly fine without him.

I think.

No. I'll be fine. I know I'll be.

'I promise to take good care of little one, but we really have to go!' They give each other a quick kiss before Leon picks up my bag and waits for me to step out first.

I head through the door and walk down the three steps. Rio is not near any of the cars, he's not even in sight, so I turn back to Leon. 'Which car are we taking?'

'You pick since you're driving.' Oh. I didn't know that, but it's fine with me. 'Then you'll go shotgun.' He shakes his head and waits for me to pick a car. I slowly walk towards a black Range Rover and look at him.

'Start the car, I'll wait for Adriano.' 'You're going shotgun.' He looks at me and shakes his head. 'I am going to sleep in the backseat, you and Adria- oh, right.'

I roll my eyes and wait for him to move to the front seat, but he stays put. 'So I guess he's driving?'

'Fine with me.' I climb in the backseat and wait for Leon to hop in as well. For some reason, he takes his time. Even Rio gets in before him.

'You're stupid for coming with us.' He mumbles, looking in the rearview mirror until our eyes connect. 'You didn't seem to bother last night.' I sneer, not trying to show him that his words hit a nerve.

Because that's exactly what he wants.

Rio wants to hurt me, he wants to provoke me, to make me explode, to make me yell at him because of all the shit he says.

'I never said a thing about you coming with us.' His hands wrap around the wheel and I can tell he's getting annoyed as well. But I don't fucking care. 'Exactly, so don't even bother saying anything now.'

'You-' 'We should get going!' Leon jumped in just in time. Well, not really.

I kind of want to know what Rio was going to say. I want to know what his reaction was going to be to my words, but at the same time, I'm glad that Leon got in when he did. That way I wouldn't have to listen to Rio's vicious words.

'Let's go get mister Steel.' Leon chimes, quickly glancing at me. He nods, looking very apologetic that he left me in the car alone with Rio, but it's fine. I nod back and look outside, at all the trees and fields we drive by.

When we get to the private airport, we all jump out. Leon grabs my bag again and waits for me to climb up the stairs, while Rio quickly makes one last call before we leave.

I get all the way in the back, on the big couch, and look at Leon. He jumps on the couch across from me and stretches dramatically. 'Wake me up when we get there, alright?'

'That tired huh?' He nods and slowly closes his eyes. 'Neveah couldn't sleep, she was throwing up all night.'

He looks exhausted, so I guess he deserves some hours of sleep. But Shit.

She's sick and I left. She's sick and I left. She's sick and I left.

'But Elle's with her, so I think she'll be fine. If it was urgent, Elle wouldn't let us go. Trust me.' He says, slightly opening his eyes to look at me. 'She'll be fine.'

'You keep calling her Elle, why is that?' He chuckles and slowly turns to his side so that he can look at me again. 'Her middle name is Elloise, and I just like Elle more. She says I'm the only one to call her Elle.'

Just like he's the only one who calls me little one.

'Also, why do you call me little one?' I chuckle and watch as his eyes slowly close. 'Because you're short, way shorter than any of us. And it suits you.'

I want to ask him more. I want to talk to Leon for the whole flight, but he looks so tired. I can't bring myself to ask him any other things. It's just too much.

So instead I watch. I watch as his chest rises and slowly goes back down as he takes the deep breaths that signify that someone's sleeping. Absolutely adorable.

I make a picture and send it to Neveah:

𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜

Before shutting my phone off and putting it back in my pocket.

Rio enters the plane and walks over to us. He stares at Leon for a few seconds, before taking a seat in the chair that's apparently turnable. He turns it around to face us and looks at his phone again.

We immediately take off, no warning, nothing, and as soon as we hang in the air, I turn back to him. He's still on his phone, looking like he didn't even move an inch.

Ever since they got to Paris, he's been stuck to his phone again. Every single breathing second.

'Can I help you, Valentina?' Valentina... He still calls me Valentina. 'Can you stop calling me Valentina, it's...'

Why? Why do I want him to stop calling me Valentina? It's a name my father gave me, so why do I want him to stop using it?

'It's what?' 'Inappropriate.' I state, looking at the sleeping Leon, wishing for him to wake up so that I can talk to him instead of Rio.

But no. He's asleep. Probably dreaming about being with Neveah right now.

'Calling you by your middle name is not appropriate?' He asks, slightly looking up from his phone so that he can look at me.

'You and I both know that that's not why you call me Valentina.'

Finally, he lowers his phone, just to move to the edge of his seat and look at me. Dividing all his attention to me.

'And what's the reason I call you Valentina, according to you?' God, I hate him.

He knows exactly what he's doing and it's annoying me. 'I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you think that-' 'Come to the back with me.'

It's not a question, more a command. 'What?'

Is he suggesting- 'Come to the back with me.' I look at the back of the plane. The little cabin he always disappears in. 'No.'

'Why not?' Is he fucking kidding me? 'Seriously?' I ask in total shock. 'Yes, come on.' He jumps to his feet and strides over to me, one big step and he's close enough to touch me.

I move my hands around, looking for something to throw in his face if he gets too close, but I'm too late. He's already grasping my face with his warm hands, almost making me melt. Almost.

I would have if it didn't hurt the way it does. If it didn't cut through me the way it does. I would have.

'Don't you dare.' I sneer, looking into his eyes. His lip slowly curls up. 'Why not? You clearly want it.' No. I don't.

But the words don't come out, because he knows I do. Despite how much he hurt me, he made me an addict. If not to him, to the sensation he brings. To sex.

And I don't want to give myself to anyone else like that right now, not even to him. 'No.'

'Quit being so stubborn, Valentina.' Stubborn. There it is again. He's calling me stubborn for not giving myself to him, for not begging him to touch me after all those days. 'It has been a while.'

'Step. Back.' But he doesn't. He simply leans in closer, pressing me deeper into the leather chair underneath me. 'Don't-' 'Come to the back with me.' He whispers, slowly moving his lips to mine. 'Now.'

His lips are close enough to brush against mine and I can see the hunger in his eyes. The same hunger that burns through me. But I'd rather starve than kiss him.

So I press my hands against his chest and try pushing him away, feeling him lean back a bit. 'No.'

He rolls his eyes and steps back, finally letting go of me entirely. I feel like I can finally breathe. For a few seconds, before he turns back to me and wraps his hand around my throat.

I gasp for air and look deep into his eyes. If he didn't make me want this, I would have spit right in his face. And I should. But I can't.

'Let go of me.' 'You don't want me to.' I do. But he's right. I don't. And I hate that he can tell.

'I do.' He leans closer, almost pressing his lips against mine. 'You don't.' My eyes roam to his perfect lips, almost brushing against mine, and I fight the urge to kiss him right now.

'Rafael. Let go of me. Now.' I raise my voice a little, trying to see if that will do anything, but it doesn't. 'Why?'

What? My eyes shoot to his and I can tell the desperation in his eyes. 'Why what?'

'Why are you being a pain in my ass?' He asks a little annoyed. 'Because you hurt me and you continue to hurt me because of something I said-' 'Something you know I can't stand.' He sneers, tightening his grip around my neck.

'So you ruin me, use me in every way possible, but can't stand the fact that I fell for you?' My words only anger him more. But that's good. I want him to feel pain, to hate me because I hate him.

I hate him for hurting me.

'I told you not to, you promised not to.' He's right. I promised him. But I couldn't help it. He's too... Too sensational, too passionate, too warm, too perfect. 'I know but-'

'See, so don't come to me with that bullshit, because you promised.' I feel the tears well up at his words, he obviously resents me right now. But why? Why does he want me to come to the back with him if he hates me so much?

'Rio, please let me go.' 'Come to the back with me.' Again. He asks again. He needs me to come with him, otherwise, he'll either mess up the plan or be grumpy the entire time. He needs to release himself with me. But he has Molly for that now.

'No.' He rolls his eyes and looks at my lips again, making me want to look at his. 'You're desperate, aren't you?' 'Stop it.'

'Didn't you have enough fun with Molly last night?' His grip tightens again and I feel the tears disappear. 'Don't test me, Valentina.'

Warnings. He still warns me. Normally he would punish me for all the shit I do, but not this time. He doesn't get to punish me anymore. 'Maybe you should've taken her with you, maybe that would've helped with your little problem.'

'Valentina-' 'Go to hell.' He pushes me back against the couch and groans out of annoyance. Well, groans. It sounds more like a soft growl of anger, making me look into his eyes again.

He's ready to fucking kill and I wish Leon would fucking wake up.

I know I messed up for pushing Rio's buttons, but he deserves it. He deserves to get annoyed because of every little thing. 'I'll show you hell, Valentina.' He growls, putting more pressure on my neck.

My head starts to feel dizzy, but I know he won't let me go. Not until I say a certain something, but I won't.

We used that word, only when we had sex. Or that one time, when he kissed me. Right after it all went to shit...

So I won't use it again. I know he'll think about it differently, a way he shouldn't be thinking about it at all. So I won't use it.

'Why can't you just-' 'What the hell is going on here? Get off her, you idiot!' Leon pulls Rio off of me, saving me again. 'She deserved it!' Rio sneers, pointing at me while facing his cousin.

'I know she didn't.' I kind of did... 'Just get back to your seat and leave her alone, she's just as tired as we are.' Leon mumbles, slowly dropping back in his seat.

'Why do you care?' Rio asks, slowly turning to Leon again. Leon doesn't mind the angry glares that would make me tremble in fear and simply blinks before smiling brightly.

'Because you're bullying Cataleya and I don't condone bullying. Especially if you go bully my bestie.'

I almost laugh, almost, but Rio's anger makes me swallow any sound coming out of my throat and I watch as he rolls his eyes again.

Rio jumps to his feet and heads to the back of the plane, to the little cabin he wanted me to go to.

'Vaffanculo.' 'Ti amo anch'io!' Leon groans, before turning to his side again, so that he can look at me. 'Thank you.'

'Are you okay?' I nod and slowly bring my hand to my neck, hoping that his big hand didn't leave a mark. 'Are you sure?' 'Yes, I'm fine, What's up with him though?'

'Let's just say there's a lot going on and he didn't get the time to sort it all out yet.' A lot going on? So there's more than just this. I mean, of course there is, but what could be this bad that he would flip out like this?

'Didn't Molly do anything to help him?' Leon chuckles and looks at me before shaking his head. 'Not really, but it doesn't have to do anything with her.' Oh...

I just thought that he was desperate for a fuck, which might be a part of it, but it's not the only thing. It's not the big thing.

'What's going on?' I ask, moving to the edge of my seat. 'I wish I could tell you, but I know I shouldn't.'

'He won't hear you-' 'Little one, it's best if you don't know.' He mumbles, sitting up straight again. 'Want some water?'

'No, thank you.' Leon jumps to his feet and walks to my side, just a little more to the right, and bows down a little, to open something that's apparently a little fridge, before grabbing a water bottle.

He moves back to his seat and sighs deeply. Without opening it, he places it on the little table on his left.

'Sometimes it's better to know nothing, to be clueless about what's really going on.' He mumbles, before looking at me again. 'I don't think-' 'Trust me, most of the time it is.'

He grabs the water bottle from the table and takes a quick sip before looking through the little window behind him. 'I wish I could've kept you two in the dark.'

You two. He said you two. Not only Neveah but me as well. 'Why?'

'It would've been better if you two knew absolutely nothing. At least then you would be safe.'

The pain in his voice, the hate he carries, makes me want to hug him. And I don't like hugging people, especially to comfort them. It's awkward and I don't know what to say. But it just hurts to hear him talk about us like that.

Especially since he's in love with Neveah.

'I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess, Cataleya. I truly am.' The truth, an honest apology. Not that he hasn't been telling me this over and over. 'It's okay. We're already past that part and-' 'No. It's not okay. I dragged Neveah and you into this mess and I will never forgive myself for it.' Leon...

I want to tell him that it's fine, that I'm not mad at him for suggesting what he did. But it won't help. He already has his mind made up.

He feels responsible for what happened to us and I can't blame him. If they didn't fall in love, if they didn't even look at each other all those years ago, none of this would've happened.

But I feel like this is exactly how it's supposed to go. This is the path God carved for us and we'll get through it. I'll get through it.

'Enough about sad shit, tell me something fun.' He chimes, turning back to me.

He's right. We don't have time to mope around. So I tell him a story about Neveah and me in high school, sophomore year when we went to the dance together, just to be made fun of because we were the only ones who didn't go with a date.

He looks absolutely shocked when he hears about the girls throwing their drinks at us and us doing the exact same, but it was totally worth it. I tell him about the fight and about the threats from their boyfriends, because we for sure beat their asses, and they couldn't stand up for themselves. Stupid bitches.

'So you're small but vicious, noted.' He says, chuckling softly. 'I mean, they deserved it.' I say, shrugging it off before joining his laughter.

After a few more minutes, I feel the plane slowly go down and look outside. We're indeed nearing land.

When we hit the ground, Rio slams through the doors, ignoring Leon as he tries to talk to him, and instantly heading to the door.

I look at Leon who rolls his eyes and waits for me to step out first. We walk down the steps and head to a car, similar to one of Leon's cars.

'Do you want to get changed first, or will you be fine in what you're wearing?' Leon asks as we hop into the car. Rio is already sitting behind the wheel and looks at me. 'She'll be fine wearing that.'

'I can answer for myself, but yes. I'll be fine.' I state, smiling at Leon. 'Valentina-' 'Great! Let's go!'

We wait for Rio to start driving, but he doesn't move at all. Instead, he looks at me, ready to kill again. 'Adriano, we have three more hours. I suggest you hurry.'

Rio sighs deeply and starts the car, racing towards a different part of Germany than before. We stop in an old-looking village and get out of the car. It's a narrow apartment building that goes up at least seven levels.

'Go drop your bags inside, I have to talk to my cousin.' Rio demands, making me turn to him.

He's waiting for me to move, but I'm not going anywhere. Especially now that Leon helped me with Rio's anger, I'm not leaving him- 'Go, it won't be long.'

I glance at Leon and slowly turn back to Rio. 'Are you sure?' 'Mhm, I'll be inside in five minutes.'

Rio chuckles and steps forward, inching closer to me. 'You think I would hurt him?'

'I honestly don't know.' I answer honestly, not that he deserves it. But I'm not going to lie to him either.

Leon has been bothering him the entire day and so have I. So if he's going to yell at Leon, he might as well yell at me. 'I'll be fine little one, I promise.'

I look at Rio for another second, before grabbing my bag and heading inside. The house is old, like creaking floors and musty walls. I bet they don't come here often...

The wallpaper is slowly coming off, revealing the disgusting walls underneath. 'Hello, welcome. Let me take you to your room.' A woman, about my age chimes. She's wearing a maid outfit, just like the girls were in Barletta or Spain or anywhere else so far.

She grabs my bag and smiles at me, before turning around, towards a big staircase. As she walks up the stairs, it sounds like any of the boards might break at any second. I tiptoe up the stairs and take a deep breath when we reach the second floor.

'Here's your room for today. If you need anything, ring the bell and I'll send some people up.' I nod and watch as she walks back into the hall. She looks so young, so innocent. But she knows exactly who Rio is.

I think.

Which makes her not as innocent as she looks. And even if she is, I'm not taking any risks.

The last time I thought someone was innocent, they ended up being the killer of my best friend's family.

Hunter.

That's why we're here. To catch him. To take him back to Paris so that Neveah can do whatever she wants. I throw my bag on the bed, a wave of dust filling the room as it lands, and start coughing.

This place needs some serious cleaning.

I wonder why it looks like this, almost abandoned, as if it hasn't been used in years.

None of the other Curzio estates I've seen so far looked like this. And I wonder why this one does.

'Little one?' I didn't even hear Leon coming up the stairs as I turn to the door. He chuckles at me, probably because I look like an idiot trying not to choke on all the dust that's flying around the room right now. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, it's very dusty in here.' He nods and leans against the frame of the door. 'Yes. This is the first time we're here. Adriano bought this place yesterday. He's going to renovate it as soon as we're gone.'

I see... 'Everything okay?' He nods and smiles at me. 'Everything is okay. But we should go. We have an hour left to get there, so we need to hurry.' I nod and turn back to my bag, quickly grabbing the knife set he gave me for Christmas, before turning back to him.

'You brought it with you?' I nod and smile at him. 'You can never be too cautious, right?'

'That's very true.' He chimes, pulling me into the hall. We head down the creaky stairs and reach the front door. Rio's still standing outside, waiting by the car.

'Took you long enough.' 'Adriano don't start with me.' Leon sighs, jumping into the driver's seat.

I jump in the back again and watch as Rio jumps into the passenger seat.

'Ronald said that he was already in position, the others are too. So we should be fine.' I move to the middle to look at both of them. 'What's the plan?'

Rio stiffens and rolls his eyes, before looking at Leon. 'We should just leave her here.' 'No. Tell her the plan.' Leon sneers, starting the car.

And we drive, while Rio annoyedly tells me about the plan. Apparently, there will be more people, as protection, just in case.

'So you're going to stay close to Leon and not get in the way.' I nod and look at Leon, happy that I'm supposed to stay with him, instead of Rio. 'And turn off your phone, they might track it.'

'Alright, did any of you text the others yet?' Leon nods and parks the car in the middle of nowhere. I turn off my phone and look around. There's a big mansion in the distance, which looks just as abandoned as the apartment, but with a car in the driveway.

'That's it?' I ask, waiting for them to answer. Rio climbs out of the car, while Leon nods. 'Please stay close, okay?' I nod and slowly climb out as well.

There's just one car. One simple Mercedes, with nothing special to it.

'This can't be it, right?' I ask, hearing Rio groan. He's seriously regretting this and I get that I might be asking too many questions, but this is just suspicious. Too suspicious.

'Shut up and stay close.' Rio mumbles, inching closer to the house. We follow and I watch as Leon pulls out a gun from his left pocket. 'Come one.'

I stay close to Leon, just as I'm supposed to and look around, trying to see if there's anything else, any sign of anyone else. But there's nothing.

We reach the door and Rio slowly opens it. He's trying to be silent, but the door is old and creaks, making it echo in the empty halls. We slip through the door and walk deeper into the house.

There's music playing in the background, something German, and someone tapping their foot onto the creaky floor. But no other movement than that.

Rio turns around and points at a staircase. We look up, but there's nothing there, so we continue to check the ground floor first.

We slowly enter a dining room, that looks absolutely disgusting. Rats crawl around the table and there's moldy food everywhere. Someone must've been here the week before, but none of the food is edible anymore.

Everywhere I look are rats. Crawling between the dishes to get to the thing laying in the middle, something that looks like a head. But not a human head, a pig's head.

'Keep moving.' Leon whispers as he has to pull me away from the disgusting-looking table.

I nod and follow them towards the living room, the room where the music is coming from. There's an old tv in the corner of the room, with the same video playing over and over. The music is coming from the tv.

But what's on the couch almost makes me scream. A man, shot straight through the head, strapped up to the low ceiling with ropes, is sitting straight, with his face towards the tv. What the actual-

And the tapping. It's him. They strapped his leg to a wheel that's spinning on the ceiling, every time the wheel spins, his foot hits the ground, before being lifted up again.

'Don't touch anything.' Rio sneers, slowly walking around the couch to see the man from the front. The sight of the man is making me nauseous and I have to turn the other way to pull myself together.

If I puke now, my DNA will be here. That's not what we need.

So I take a few deep breaths and feel Leon gently rub his hand on my back. 'We could go outside?' 'No. I'm fine.'

I turn back around, trying to keep the pour man out of my sight and look at Rio.

He's holding up a piece of paper and sighs deeply. 'That asshole.' Oh no...

'What is it?' Leon asks, walking over to his cousin. I follow and look at the piece of paper in Rio's hand:

𝒩𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼'𝓂 𝒹𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝒸𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑜, 𝐼'𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊.

~ 𝐻𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒮𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓁