RAVEN

I looked at myself in the mirror, disgusted at what I saw. A few Bruises started being noticeable on my stomach and a very evident cut was on my right cheek. I had managed to sneak out of the house without my brothers seeing my bruises. Now sneaking back in was gonna be the problem. It was gonna be hard to hide this.

I was starting to wonder if he did this on purpose.

When we had come home yesterday from the game, Alessandro had stayed and slept over in one of the guest rooms.

After last night, I'm not sure what to think of him again. To know that all he does is comes into my life and ruins it is just sickening. I was starting to consider telling my brothers but then remembered Alessandro's threat.

'You're a selfish girl'

'No one wants you here

'They all hate you now that you're back

Is that what my own family thought of?

I was starting to believe it now.

Did I even belong here?

~~~

Something cold pressed against the temple of my head woke me up. I opened my eyes and was met by Alessandro holding a gun to my head, looking as serious as ever. I looked slightly to my alarm and saw that it was already midnight.

I almost heard a crack when he smacked the gun against my cheek, sure to leave a mark. "Get up," I slowly raised from my bed, raising my arms in surrender. He walked alongside me, the gun still attached to my head. We walked down the stairs and he started pushing me towards the door that lead down to the basement.

My eyes widened and my heart started lifting. My breathing started getting faster.

Was it too late to run now?

Was I going to die now?

He pushed open the door and nudged me further with his gun. I tried to hold on to the railing of the stairs but every time I did that he would hit me on the head with the gun. At the bottom of the stairway, there was a hallway.

It was dark and the only light that was cast upon the walls were those from a few rooms we passed. The hallway ended and we were in front of a door. He opened the door and pushed me inside.

The room was dark and eerily familiar. As I kept watching all around the room, Alessandro pushed down on the ground and put his foot down on my back, almost standing on me.

It felt as though an elephant at on me.

"Still weak as ever, I see." He chuckles cynically. I struggle difficulty out of his hold. I thrash around in pain as his foot starts getting heavier on my back.

My face starts to feel numb from the cold ground. I feel him start to take his foot off of me. He walks around in front of me and smirks sickeningly.

"I knew I would always see you like this again. I just had to wait for the right time. But it seems as though I don't have to wait anymore. now that you're back, I can do what I please with you. Even kill you." He smiles.

He circles me, just waiting to pounce at the right time.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask.

"You could've gone along with your life, free from any pain and torture. But your father was the cause of all this." He shakes his head, trying to forget my father out of his mind.

It seemed as though my father's name was poison in his mouth. I wonder what my father did to him that made him hate me this much.

"No matter how clever or talented you are, I will always find you."

He leans down, barely inches away from my ear, "And you know why that is? Because you, my friend, will always be a coward. You're Quick to talk but afraid to show action. No matter where you go you're always gonna cause trouble. Can't you see it? No one wants you here. They all hate you now that you're back."

"That's not true. Even though I didn't know of them, I knew they were searching for me for years."

"You're a selfish girl, you know that? You could've been safely tucked away at my house, where no one could see you. You were safe with me. You're lucky I didn't kill you over the years."

He leans away from and just as I think he is finished talking, a kick is sent towards my stomach. I shrink in pain but he doesn't stop there, he continues kicking me until I'm sure there will be bruises there.

He raises the hood of my nightshirt and pushes me against the wall behind me. He takes a gun out of the waistband of his pants and puts it against my head.

"I should kill you right now but that wouldn't be fun, would it? He pouts, sinking the gun deeper into my head.

"Do it. Do it now. It's all you've been threatening me with. Let's see who's the real coward here," I spit the blood in his face that had been dripping down my face. He takes the gun off my head and rests it at his side. He looks down at the ground, seemingly thinking of something.

I see his point to the door, which I think means I should walk out. I walk away and stop at the door when I hear him mumble something. I feel his presence behind me, almost burning the hairs on my neck. I turn and look at him in fear of what he could do.

"Quick advice," he looks up, still fiddling with the gun in his hand, "This is just the beginning, so don't bother trying to tell anyone because it'll be worse for you," He walks out, bumping my shoulder on the way. I turn and stared at the hallway wall. The narrow stretch of walk space that he had just walked on laid itself in front of me.

Maybe he was right. I am a coward.

"Ms. Castillo, would you mind sharing what's on your mind at this time?" I heard Mr. Amiri say.

"No, sorry about that, I just zoned out."

"Well maybe, you could zone out more in detention this afternoon," he smiled and continued with his lecture.

Asshole

The entire time I was in class, I felt as though I was going to jab my eyes out with forks. Mr. Amiri was watching the whole time, making sure that I didn't 'zone' out anymore. Finally, classes ended, and headed out to the hallway. On my way to detention, I bumped into Luca.

"Where are you going? Let's go home. Luciano and Lorenzo are waiting for us outside. What the fuck happened to your face?!" He asked worriedly

"Don't bother, I got detention, so you guys can go and I may have gotten into a little fight." I chuckle slightly at the 'memory'.

"What did you get in a fight for?" He asked, looking at me skeptically.

"Just some girl in my class making fun of me." I start walking away, trying to avoid this conversation until he pulls me back, "You won right?" He looks around to see if anyone heard him.

"Maybe," I lie. He grins and fist bumps me.

"Well, I'll have to tell Dom about this. I'll pick you up when detention is over," he said and started walking away.

What if he was at home when detention was over.

I didn't want to face him anymore.

It was just too painful to look him in the face now.

Was I going to face the same faith that my mother faced?

~~~