PLEASE READ TO THE END!

ALINA'S POV

I got my old school bag out of my closet, whilst gathering the essentials.

I packed some water bottles and some non perishable snacks I gathered when I was in the kitchen earlier.

I also put in his slice of cake.

I opened my bedside table and sighed as I stared at the stack of cash before me.

I picked it up and counted how much I had.

There was around $600 which I had worked my ass off for.

I thought about it long and hard before I put the money in the bag as well.

I put some paper and pens in the bag as well, not my fancy ones just my normal ones.

I no longer have my fancy pens.

I picked up my old phone and stared at it.

All of my contacts are in my new phone.

I have no use for it anymore, but it's hard to part with.

It's the first thing I ever bought for myself.

But Elias probably needs it more than me. It's not the best but it's fully charged and it's better than nothing.

I put anything else in that he might need.

It's currently 3:30am and I am sneaking out once again.

I make sure I am the quietest I've ever been, as this is my most important journey.

I make sure I'm not taking too long, as I can't loose the edge I have of the guards being occupied.

I know that everyone is upstairs as I heard their footsteps, all at different times, but all accounted for.

I hobble as fast I ever have in order to get to Elias.

It's not long before Elias comes into my view and I refrain from gasping in relief.

His face has some faint bruises and a couple of small cuts but they're nowhere near as bad as what I thought it was going to be.

His eyes are closed, so I step closer and poke his face a little.

He wakes up in a massive fright and I jump back myself.

I didn't come down here for a heart attack!

He looks around looking stressed but relaxes as his eyes find mine.

"Alina, you scared me! What are you doing here?" He asked me looking at me like I was crazy.

I didn't answer him as I went to untie him. His wrist were redder than before and they looked very sore, as some of his skin was broken.

He stared at me as he cradled his wrists. I saw some unshed tears in his eyes and my heart broke for him.

"Alina, you can't be down here! You need to leave!" He urged me.

"No Elias! I refuse to leave you. I... I know what.....my family does now. I can't stay in this house right above you, knowing you are getting hurt!" I argued back at him.

"Listen Alina, I know you're thinking that you're doing the right thing but you're not! If they find out I've escaped, it'll lead back to you, and I can't have that!" He told me.

"Have you actually done anything wrong Elias?" I asked him seriously

"No, it wasn't me. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time"

I stared at him long and hard.

"I believe you"

"Do you miss your family Elias?" I asked him.

"Yes, of course I do!" He replied.

"Well, you have a family that needs you and is no doubt looking for you. This is my family, therefore my issue so you don't need to stress about this situation!"

He stared at me.

"Listen Alina, it's not going to work, they took my phones, my money; basically everything. There's no way for me to get home unless they take me back. I appreciate you and this little escape plan but it won't work, I'm sorry" he said solemly.

I stretched my arm out in front of him.

He stared at the bag in front of him.

"Take it, it has everything you could possible need to get home."

He stared at me in disbelief, before slowly taking the bag from me.

As he did he quickly unzipped it before digging around in it.

I saw him pick out the money, the pens and the phone with a shocked reaction.

He lifted out the cake and froze. He stared at me with tears in his eyes.

"You're a blessing; a literal angel Alina, do you know that?"

I blushed as we smiled at each other.

"We need to move quickly, the guards are busy right now but they won't be for a while!" I told him whilst starting to hobble away.

I'm almost shoved to the floor due to the weight that has now settled on my back.

I realise that it's Elias hugging me. I smile at him before breaking our bodies up.

We need to move. We have no time to waste.

Before I continued I held my hand out for him.

He stared at it for a second before placing his hand in mine.

"We need to move quickly and I can't let you get lost." I told him and he nodded happily.

I dragged him as fast I could hobble. He had no complaints at the speed as he tripped a couple of times, obviously getting his bearings back after not walking for a while.

I wonder how long he's actually been here for.

We reach the exit and I stop. I put my ear on the door just to check no one is outside.

"Okay, so I'm going to lead you outside to the backyard. There is a little fence all around that is typically manned by the guards so in order for you to have some space to get away we're going to have to cause a distraction" I told him.

"What's our distraction going to be?" He asked me.

"As soon as we get to the backyard there should be some rocks. If you can pick them up and throw them in my direction, and loudly so it alerts the guards then you should be free to run" I told him whilst hyping myself up, trying to think of the excuses I can use when the guards see me out there.

I make sure Elias stays behind me as I ascend the stairs.

I see all of the guys still inside the kitchen and grab Elias' arms.

I drag him to the back door and look to see how many guards are out there.

I counted around 15, and they all had their backs to us which was great.

I faced Elias, and nudged him as he was still staring outside.

"I'm going to the right, so that's where you need to throw the rocks which are just in front of us. You need to go to the left, because that leads to the woods. You're going to have to find your own way out from there" I told him, as he listened intently.

I don't know any directions from there, so he was on his own.

I wish i took more time to explore.

"I am in your debt Alina Giovanni. Your debt only. If you ever need anything, and I mean anything then I will be there for you. I will come to repay this debt in any way needed" he told me with tears in his eyes

I didn't know what to say to that.

I hadn't realised at that time just how costly that debt was to some people.

"You have restored my faith in people Alina." He said as he pulled me into another embrace.

I hugged him back.

I felt as though I was hugging one of my brothers, or maybe even my dad.

"Promise me one thing Elias"

He stared at me, nodding enthusiastically.

"Stay out of people's walls"

He laughed at me.

"No promises" he replied.

After a minute of silence I took the lead of opening the back door.

Elias realised, and moved quickly, thankfully.

I saw him bend down discreetly and pick up a couple of stones. Some big, some small.

I closed the door as quietly as I could. I watched as Elias army crawled across the grass, staying hidden.

I had to hold in my laugh, as he looked like a a funky worm.

I ducked down as much as I could whilst walking slowly. If any of the guards caught our position we would be in some serious trouble.

I walked for a while and as soon as I was far enough out I indicated for Elias to chuck the rocks.

He chucked them over in my direction. Some went over my head and hit the grass, some of them hit the fence and one of them hit my head.

I fell over and winced and also screamed in pain.

I'll tell you, if his family is part of the mafia they might want to cut their ties with him now.

How can someone's aim be so bad!

It literally hit me in a different direction in which he threw it.

I mean that's good for us, but not for me.

I didn't actually want to get hit! That wasn't our plan.

I winced as I sat up touching my head, and feeing liquid trickling down it.

I backed up a little in fright as I realised all of the guards were in front and beside me with their flashlights directed at me.

I looked behind them to see a faint figure running through the woods, no one looking at him or stopping him.

I sighed in relief before wincing in pain again.

I could see the guard shitting themselves in front of me, as one of them talked on a walkie talkie, looking really pale.

I started getting up, hoping my cast wasn't too dirty.

I rubbed as much dirt from my clothes as I could whilst reassuring all of the guards that I was fine.

They looked at the injury on my head, and they all just assumed that the rock had come off of the roof.

That shows how bad Elias' aim is.

I didn't correct them, as their assumption made some sense; it was a windy night.

Not like someone might have escaped.

Some of the guards started looking up at the roof, trying to find something up there to explain what hit me.

I started to say my goodbyes to the guards ready to head in for the night, when I was turned around forcefully.

I came face to face with my eldest brother.

I tried pulling away but he held me in place.

"Are you ok? The guards said that you were hurt, so I came right away!" He said nervously as he searched my face.

As soon as his eyes caught onto my head, he barked at one of the guards for his torch.

They hastily gave him the light.

He shone it on my head and I shut my eyes from the blinding light.

Luckily the light wasn't on for long.

It wasn't on for long because he had stormed over to the guards and started screaming at them for not keeping me safe, when that's what they were paid to do.

I hobbled over so I could intervene.

They were all nice guys.

"Matheo, please stop, it wasn't their fault. The rock came out of nowhere, it's not as if they could do anything!" I argued

As soon as his eyes met mine, they softened.

He death stared all of the guards before indicating that he was watching them.

He then took me under his arm and led me back into the house.

As soon as we were inside he took me in his embrace.

I swear everyone wants to cuddle me today!

"Don't ever do that again Alina" he said into my head.

"I was so scared, terrified that something happened to you. What were you even doing out there?" He asked.

I was speechless. Was this even Matheo?

He noticed my shocked state as he dragged me over to a chair after collecting the first aid kit from one of the cupboards.

Only now I realised that we were in the kitchen and that the guards had vanished.

I bet he scared them all off.

He took my face in his hands, gently as he started cleaning my wound.

It wasn't deep, but it stung a little.

As soon as I winced he backed away as if I burnt him.

"I'm sorry, I don't ask if I could help you. Is it ok if I clean your cut?" Matheo asked me.

I just nodded, honestly speechless.

This was not the Matheo I knew.

He plastered my head before sitting before me.

"Why we're you on the garden at 4am Alina?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go on a little walk." I replied lying a little.

"You have a cast on Alina, it's not safe for you to walk around by yourself. You could fall and hurt yourself even further" he said with raw emotion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again I promise. I just wanted some fresh air" I told him.

He thought about it before nodding.

"If you ever want to do that just come and get one of us. We'd be happy to accompany you" he said referring to our brothers.

I nodded.

I started to get up from the chair in order to get back up to my room, but was stopped.

"Didn't we just talk about this?" He asked me.

I guess we did.

"But how am I supposed to get back to my room?"

Without any hesitance Matheo kneeled down so his back was facing me.

"Get on"

"On your back?" I asked.

"Yeah, for a piggy back" he told me like I was an idiot.

Sorry!

I reluctantly got on his back, and squealed as he stood up.

I only had one arm to hold onto his shoulder with so pardon my uneasiness.

Though throughout the whole journey Matheo made sure he had a good hold on me, even stopping sometimes in order to adjust his grip.

He layed me gently in my bed before bidding me goodnight, and kissing my head, exactly where my plaster was.

My eyes drooped as soon as my blanket was pulled up.

As I fell asleep, I was confused. My emotions were all mixed up.

My family were apart of the mafia, they hurt people, possible innocent people; children even.

They hurt Elias.

But they also care for me, I want to believe they love me.

Why would they bring me from one house of violence to another if they cared for me?

Could I trust them?

Matheo was nice tonight, but he broke my heart just a couple of days ago.

He was sweet and gentle tonight, but he's also been verbally abusive and angry.

I don't know what to believe anymore.

A/N -Elias will return! Please tell me if you enjoyed this chapter!!