RAVEN

I stretch across my arms, groaning a little. Although I had a nightmare last night, I slept like a baby. I look toward my alarm and saw that it was seven-thirty am. I felt around the bed for my phone, scoffing to myself that I had fallen asleep without charging it.

That is the worse feeling in the world.

After I fell asleep last night, Domenico had left me and I had woken up at around four in the morning. I was up on my phone until I fell back to sleep around five am.

I went to the bathroom and did my business and shower at the same time. After exiting the bathroom and dressing, I went downstairs to have breakfast. When I entered the kitchen, I saw only Domenico, Dimitri, and Damon sitting at the table eating pancakes. An extra seat was next to Damon where a stack of pancakes sat. He patted the seat and told me to sit.

"All your brothers are already at school and we won't be home either. We have a business meeting and won't be back home til' late, so you're gonna be home alone. I hope you're okay with that?" Domenico announced.

"Yeah, I'm okay with that," I nod my head, stuffing my face with the pancakes. After finishing the pancakes, they all left saying their goodbyes and farewells. Dom seemed to be the most hesitant of them all when leaving. He looked as if he wanted to say something before he was whisked away by Dimitri and Damon.

And now, I was all alone in a huge mansion.

With nothing to do.

I pondered whether or not I should bother the guards to play a game with me but decided against it. I then thought about exploring around the house some more since I was now alone without someone there to snitch on me.

Stupid Luca.

I had once snuck into Domenico's office to find some information that I could blackmail him with any time he had tried to ground me again; I ended being caught by Luca who then snitched on me and I still ended up getting grounded.

And you know what they say 'snitches get stitches and end up in ditches'.

And that's exactly what I did. I pranked Luca for an entire day which made me get grounded even more; for two whole weeks, I had to go everywhere he went and helped him with whatever he wanted. And let me tell you, it was a nightmare.

The first room that I checked happened to be Domenico's room which none of us were allowed to even step foot in. He would even go so far as to keep a passcode on his door, which I found out but he doesn't need to know that.

I enter the room swiftly and was met with a dark room. No light whatsoever was shining inside except for the dim light that could be seen behind his curtains, barely letting in just a speck of sunshine.

I draw the curtains away from each other and looked all around the room. The walls were a dark blue color, highlighting the sheets of his bed, which were the same color. I continue to look around the room and finally spot a book neatly hidden behind the pillows on his bed.

I pull it out from its hiding space and open it. The first thing I saw when opening the book was a picture, the same size as the page. The picture showed my mother and my father with all my brothers; only this time, I was not born yet and only showed up as a tiny bump on her stomach.

Here she was, smiling as if she was the happiest woman on earth, without even knowing that wouldn't even last a few more years seeing all her children grow up.

Only one person was to blame for all this.

Alessandro.

A murderer.

A criminal.

He was just a disaster waiting to happen.

Destruction was what he brought upon someone around him.

I often wondered how Matteo could still stand him after all these years.

Flipping around the pages, I found a few new written pages. I read through almost all of them. Some of them were about me. I continued reading until I reached the last page. I read through it and was in total shock.

Was he onto me?

The last page that was written on explained how Domenico was quite worried about me and how he had seen how uncomfortable I was around Alessandro. He also wrote that he was suspicious that I knew Alessandro from my assassin job.

I mean, he wasn't wrong, just missing a few minor details.

I closed the book and put it back exactly where it was. I then closed the curtains, putting everything back where it originally was. I then left his room and made sure to lock it.

I turned around and saw Luca's door to his bedroom.

What a coincidence.

I entered the room as if I was going to be caught by Luca himself but was only hit with a putrid smell. The smell of moldy pizza and sweaty socks greeted my nose.

I considered whether or not I should leave but then remembered that I should have sympathy for my brothers and do nice things for them.

Wouldn't it be nice of me to clean his room for him?

What kind of sister would I be to let him live like this?

He always said he liked his room smelly and dirty. All the messy ness from his room must've probably gotten into his brain and made him think that living like this was a good thing.

I almost shed a tear just thinking about how he would be so happy to see his room as if it had just been newly renovated.

I was second-guessing whether or not I should do this but I don't think that my brother should live in an unhealthy environment like this. It could be life-threatening to his health.

I'm sure he'll enjoy his new room.

By the time I was finished cleaning Luca's room and sneaking around, it was already lunchtime and I was beyond exhausted. I headed into the kitchen to prepare lunch for myself.

After lunch, I decided to take a nap to calm my nerve; it's been a long time since I've been alone.

~~~

A knock on my door resonated throughout my bedroom, waking me up in the process. I looked over at the alarm and saw that it was almost three pm. I quickly got up, really to answer the door thinking that it would be one of the guards or one of my brothers who came home early.

As soon as I opened the door, someone's hand flew straight to my mouth, pressing a damp cloth to my mouth. I soon realized what they were doing but was too late and eventually passed out.

A splash of water was thrown on me, startling me awake. I looked around to see where I was and was met with the same room Alessandro had brought me to. The room was much darker than before, the only light source that barely lit up the room was above my head.

I tried moving around but then discovered that both my hands were tied behind me with rope and my mouth was covered with duct tape. I grunted in frustration at weak attempts of trying to get out of the ropes.

"Nice to see you again," a voice echoed from behind me.

I was this close to cutting my ears off and stuffing them in my mouth.

What did he want now?

He circled the chair and stopped in front of me, my cast on his shoes, refusing to meet his eyes, "You told them, didn't you?"

Told them what?

I refuse to talk to this man after he just poured water on me.

The disrespect.

Does this man not know about personal space.

"Oh sorry, forgot you couldn't speak." He smirked evilly, almost ripping the duck tape off of my mouth, sure to leave a mark.

"Tell them what?" I grit out.

"I know you told your brothers about what's been happening. Dom's seemed to be suspicious of me the last time I came over and I know you said something." He shook his head as if he was disappointed in me.

Did I care?

Nope.

"I didn't say anything," I scowled at him.

"You see, that's why I don't believe you. After all these years, you're still a terrible liar." He chuckles to himself. A deadly moment of silence surrounds the room, almost suffocating me.

Just as I thought he was about to leave, he speaks, "You've always been in my way all these years, keeping me away from what was rightfully mines."

What the hell?

"Why do you keep doing this? What did I do to you that you had to kill my mother?"

No matter what I did in my life, it was like looking into the mirror with him as my reflection.

He was always a step ahead of me.

Burning and destroying everything in his path was what he did his whole life.

He tried molding into him himself.

Cruel.

Wicked.

Nasty.

But I knew deep down that I was a good person and would have made it out of that hellhole. It would have been a shame to just let her die like that, knowing that I stood there and did nothing.

Well now, I may just get my chance after all.

"As I told you before, this is all your father's fault,"

"What did my father do to you that made you have to bring this upon me for so many years?" I look him directly in the eye in both disgust and hatred.

"It was a bet,"

The fuck?

"What bet?"

"Your father and I made a bet years ago. Your mother already had your eight brothers and we made a bet. Your father thought that I was joking but I was dead serious. The bet stated that if the next child were to be a boy, he would hand over and allow me to be the new mafia don of the Italian mafia but if it were to be a girl, he would keep ruling until one of your brothers grew older. But then, you were born and ruined everything."

"After you were born, your father forgot about the bet and was delighted to know that he now had a baby girl. So I did what I do best, I threatened your mother to run away with you and stay far away from him. After that, your father was so heartbroken but all I could do was just laugh at how pathetic he was."

"Our father loved him more than he loved me. No matter what I did to impress our father, he would always choose him over me. I saw how your father was, having both a family and the mafia in his hands. And after all these years of living in his shadow and me not being able to be the new don, I killed him."

I looked up and saw him smirking, "That's right, I killed your father. He didn't die from some accident, I killed him, and guess who's fault it is? Yours.

I lowered my head in both anger and frustration, "So you're telling me, you killed my mother, you killed my father and held me hostage for years because of some fucking bet!"

"So it's my fault for being born?"

He stood there, his face void of any emotions, basically ignoring my question.

"Now, I'm gonna make sure you and your brothers don't get in my way again. The way it should have been years ago.

As he turned his back, and I thought this was it for me, that I would be facing the same faith my parents faced, but then I felt something sharp in my back pocket.

My pocket knife!

I had forgotten I had that in my pocket. I may have used it in Luca's room to leave him a 'surprise'.

He'll forgive me, right?

Sneakily taking the knife out of my pocket, I start cutting the rope as he turned back around now holding a gun. The rope finally falls off of my hand but I hold onto it to not cause any suspicion. He comes close to me and I clench the knife tightly in my hands, ready to attack at any moment.

He points the gun at the center of my forehead, smirking dangerously. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, loud muttering echoes from upstairs, distracting him in the process.

My brothers.

I shot up silently from the chair, knocking my fist against the back of his head, making him lose his balance, and dropping the gun.

I grab the gun up from the ground and now point it towards him. He smiles up at me and kicks my hand, making me drop the gun. He grabs the gun before I could and hits it against my head, almost giving me a concussion.

I groan in pain as he stands and points the gun towards my body. I frantically try standing back up but he kicks me in the stomach. I hunch over, hissing at the pain as he sends multiple kicks towards my body.

"You caused this." He wipes the sweat from his mouth.

"Your father caused this."

His hand presses against the trigger slightly, he looks down at me, smiling cynically. Just as he pulls the trigger, Luca's voice echoes throughout the house calling my name. An invisible force pushes further into the ground until it turns into pain. I curdle myself, groaning painfully until I see blood dripping from the ground. I follow the drips of blood is coming from and see it dripping from my shoulder.

I clutch it gently trying to ease the pain away as it shoots throughout my body. I then realized that Alessandro was still distracted by the sound of Luca's voice.

I trip him with my foot which causes him to land face flat on the ground. The gun slides across the ground and I rush to get it. I grab the gun and point it towards him, still clutching my shoulder.

He turns around, still on the ground, showcasing a gash on his head, blood seeping down his face.

"You can't kill me, remember?

"You're a coward and that's all you will ever be,"

I shake my head frantically trying to not let his words into my head.

"You-"

The loud gunshots must've echoed throughout the house because as soon as it went off, I hear my brother's voice shouting for me.

I drop to my knees in relief and happiness. A lone tear makes its way onto my lap, bringing me to my senses that I just killed Alessandro.

All the pain and suffering was now gone far behind me. It felt like I could finally breathe for the first time in years.

Alessandro's body laid lifeless on the group, the blood now decorating itself on and around his body.

Is this it?

Am I finally free?

I finally killed my mother's and my father's killer.

All my brothers burst through the door. I could feel that the shock was written on their faces as they behold the sight in front of them. All while they're looking at Alessandro's body, I didn't even look up, afraid to see the emotions on their faces.

A pair of feet walk into my sight, making me look up and see Domenico looking down at me with sympathy.

He bends down and hugs me in a tight hold, bringing my other brothers to their senses. They all surround me until I a sob leaves my mouth.

"It's okay, let it out. He's gone now," I hear Dom say.

I avenged my father and mother.

I'm free.

~~~