Something needs to be done!
If Alita stays put, she would end up dead, if she also runs away, Gio will end up dead.
She walked to her room, grabbed a few more stuff she thought she might need, and went to the dinner table. She sat mute, absolutely silent, listening to the lowest sound she could.
Poor Gio! A poor child that was made an orphan the same day he came to the earth. He didn’t get to smile at his parents, enjoy Christmas with family and go on holiday with grandparents now he is hiding in the dark.
The dark he had always been afraid of is what he took refuge in.
Mentally, Alita visualized Gio shaking in the dark with his eyes close. he looks sweaty and his bag pressed to his chest like an anchor. His tender heartbeat was loud, threatening to explode any given second.
With Gio’s phone in her shaking hands, thinking about what to do, her mind went back to Gio.
‘I will come back for this’
Her mother’s promise repeated itself to her for the fifth time. She shivered and look towards where Gio is and shook her head scared! Her eyes widen in terror as she remembered her mother’s empty promise.
“Fuck!” She yelled as she sprang up.
She walk to the window and see everything almost normal as it was before. Even when things seems okay, deep down, she knew nothing was good. The message explained everything and no one need to tell her that she is in danger.
“This can’t be happening Mom!” She cried “This can’t be freaking happening dad!”
She collapsed on the wall and slid down slowly, almost like she a under a slow-motion potion. She raised her phone to her face and sigh.
Ready to end all the trouble she caused herself, she unlocked Gio’s phone and pressed the searched button, father Lorenzo’s contact popped up and she punched it, so hard that the screen might have broken if she haven’t used her index finger.
“Peace is unto you my child” father Lorenzo’s calm voice rang out.
Indeed peace claims Alita for a few seconds. She closed her eyes, pushed out heavy breath with her mouth half-open then peeped through the windows to see if there would be any eavesdroppers.
She walked to the door and twisted the key, locking her inside the house.
“Help!” She managed to say.
Everything went still for a second then back to normal as Alita heard sounds of locks from the background.
“Father!” She whispered, “Father are you there?” She sniffed.
‘Not now, Alita’ She told herself.
“Hello?” She sounds uncertain.
“What’s the matter, my child?” Father Lorenzo said almost immediately. His voice seems hushed and restrained “Tell me you don’t want to ask me for help to escape because I can’t help”
“Excuse me?!” Alita gasped.
She moved a few steps backward as tears began to flow freely from her green eyes. She looked at the phone like it had suddenly become a weapon that could kill her.
Her voice seized while her brain tried to form the right words or words at least. She let herself drop hard on the floor, hurting her knee as she began to cry loudly.
There seems to be no more room for courage, which also includes no room for restrained tears.
“How did you know about what is going on?” Alita choked on her tears. “What are you talking about?”
“I- I should be the one asking you the same” father Lorenzo blurted out, it seems like he didn’t have enough time to think about his utterances before taking.
Alita went mute, totally silent. Not knowing if to slap herself awake or wake up from her daydreaming and call it terrible fiction.
“Alita Roberto” father Lorenzo’s dry voice sounded through the speaker.
He waited for a while, hoping for Alita to say something or make a sound but none came.
“Alita are you there?” He then sound worried. An inaudible voice was heard from the background before he spoke again.
“Heaven knows I wish I could help,” he said regretfully “But life is like crypto, it raises and fall unpredictably”
Although, it was then known to Alita that she is no longer trapped in her trance or nightmare but she still doesn’t understand what was really happening.
She exhaled sharply, totally unaware of what had taken over her as she stood up and walked to her bag, and pulled out a dagger. She flipped it open and brought out her left hand, placed the sharp side of the blade on her wrist, and closed her eyes for the last time.
‘I will come back for this’
Her mother’s last words haunt her.
She dropped her hands in disappointment and began to cry again. Not really sure of why she was crying, she just felt like everything was still a bad Christmas period nightmare.
Funny enough, a story could not just be told on how she narrowly escaped being raped by her ex-boyfriend she still loves so much, almost got killed by the killer, and now been stalked and threaten in daylight.
She couldn’t just get to join the stories together to tell why she had to be so unfortunate and psychic.
‘I will come back for this again, her mother’s voice said.
She stared down at the dagger and fresh tears flow down her red cheeks. Her green eyes are hot and wet, having dried tears makes that almost look like a map.
She absentmindedly touched her neck and flinched. She touched it again as if searching for something before she bent and look at her empty neck. Her mother’s necklace was gone.
‘I will come back for this’
Then it hit again, this time on the right spot. She wiped her tears and took hold of the dagger Strongly as her life depends on it.
Her late mother pledged to come back for the same necklace and she never did! Not just because she didn’t want to, but she couldn’t at that moment.
“I have a choice,” she told herself as she stumped back to where she had hidden Gio.
Of no doubt, Alita had no idea of what she would do but she at least want to make a change.
Not just like her mother, who wasn’t given the chance to rethink her last words to her children. She couldn’t also let that be her last words to her little brother that she had always lived for.
She didn’t give it a second thought before she kicked the door of the basement open. She rushed to her knees as Gio fell onto her open at a and began to cry. Make sure not to forget it open.
“I can’t leave you” she sniffed.
“Were you trying to leave, Sorella?” Gio pulled away from her “You wanted to leave just like mom and dad”
“Nessun modo!” She placed both bands on her chest. Her brows arch and almost connected “No way Gio! No way!” She fired.
She moved closer to him, both crying.
“I own mum and dad their last respect” she pulled him slowly again to herself “I love you with my life and I will make sure to protect you”
Nothing else could interrupt such a powerful moment.
Even as Alita hug her brother and cried, she still didn’t feel better. The solid guilt in her heart springs back to life.
Deep down, she wants to tell him about their parents. How they loved them both even when Gio was not yet born, she wished she could tell him how they spent their last days together, and how they died. But she couldn’t.
She fears it would break him more than he is already broken. She moved a step away from him and cupped his face. Her green eyes locked with his hazel green ones, reminding him of where he got such color from. His father!
“Gio” she whispered “Mum and dad never died in the snow” she started.
Gio looked at her like she had gone nuts or out of her mind, he placed both hands on hers that seems to be on his face and crooked an eyebrow, his mouth slightly open.
“What are you talking about, Sorella” his broken voice muttered.
“They were both ki-”
The door swung open and two scary-looking men pointed torches at them, blinding them from seeing their faces.
“Catchy- chatchy,” one of them said.
Without thinking, Alita threw her dagger at one of them, the second tried to restrain her but she kneed his pintle and dragged Gio along.
Fear!
Fear was all she could think about. Fear was all that kept coming to her mind as she tried to hide from someone that was coming from the opposite direction.
The dagger she had thrown, had it missed the man or had pierced through his forehead to his brain as she had aimed?
“I can’t kill him” she muttered
She couldn’t just get herself to think about becoming a murderer, at least not now!
What if the police come and find a dead body in her apartment? what would happen to Gio when she goes to jail?
She couldn’t just get herself to think well or watch where she was heading to. She just wants out! She just wants to fall and in reality, fall off the bed and laugh about it being a bad dream.
“Sorel-” Gio’s distressed call jolted her back to reality.
Alita turned around sharply, only to meet with a painful hit against her head and everything went blank!