The Sacred Meets The Cursed

Trouble trouble

Grace’s POV

I was frozen in my place for a while trying to make sense of what just happened. I saw few men rushing towards the direction the strange man ran to. One of the men from the group narrowed his eyes on me. It was super creepy, I was about to go back inside the building but was saved by a phone call from Aurora. I also saw a taxi approaching me. I rushed into the taxi and told him the location. I kept on looking around to make sure no one was following me. Is Venice really dangerous? I checked the data on the internet before coming here, except for minor problems there wasn’t any threat. Italy is known for residing mafia groups of all times but c’mon its 21st century, all those mafia things are only goods for books. That strange man might be in trouble with some locals. I comforted myself to prevent from overthinking.

I reached the location and the church was beautiful. I saw Aurora sitting on the corner bench alone looking into the distance. I walked slowly and sat beside her.

“You are here!” She smiled at me. “Thank you so much for pushing me to come here. I am pissing a lot of people but my heart needed this.”

“If you don’t mind me asking Aurora, what happened?” I whispered to her. The ceiling of the church was high and the room was huge. We were alone here and any sound here echoed by 10 folds.

“World isn’t what it seems from outside, Grace. There are so many evil things and sometimes it’s in your own house. I was fortunate to get away from all of this but 10 years ago I lost a huge part of me.” She chuckled darkly at the last word. “If you encounter even a small part of the underworld, run away as soon as possible. I might miss my home but I will never give up my life in New Zealand to return here.”

“What are you talking about? There is no underworld and you are telling me this now, I should have chosen some other place.” I am getting scared now and I don’t want to regret coming here.

“I am not trying to threaten you, and Venice is a beautiful place. Underworld is hidden because they have maintained their lives in shadows, you might never crossways with them. But as a friend, I want you to know that there is a part of this world which looks like a myth but is very real.” We stayed quiet after that. Angela came after a while and we both tried to act normal. The things she said, what I saw near my building are not getting off my mind. I have to stay safe and avoid any kind of encounter with so-called underworld people. I might like adventurous activities but this is not what I meant by that.

We went around town and had our lunch. Again, I could feel eyes on me but this time it was uncomfortable. I kept on looking over my back. I was having such a great time but as soon as I entered Venice all the bizarre things are happening around me. Aurora told me some great places to eat and places to visit on my weekend. Our last stop was a park and there we sat down discussing what was on the road ahead of us. Aurora still had one more year of college, whereas Angela was still contemplating whether to stay in New Zealand or return back to the States.

“You know what I might stay here as well. This country is awesome.” Angela winked at a guy who was chatting with his friends. That guy replied with a wink. Aurora and I could not hold back our laughter. Angela has her own way of having fun. The time for their flight was fast arriving.

“I am really gonna miss you guys. Thank you so much for such a wonderful trip.” I thanked them wholeheartedly.

“Aww, we are gonna miss you too.” Angela and Aurora replied. I was able to build such a pure friendship in such a small amount of time.

“I will come with you to the airport and anytime you guys are here or in LA give me a call.” We have already exchanged our numbers.

“No, no you should go get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day, we will manage our way to the airport. And if you are in New Zealand, you are staying with me.” We hugged each other and they yelled a taxi. I insisted on dropping them at the airport but they were adamant about going by themselves. The park was near my apartment, so I got a coffee and started walking towards my building. In this way, I will know my area.

As I reached the building, no one was around. But I could feel a presence around me. I decided it will safe for me to return later. I should go to someplace where there are many people. I tried to saw a way leading towards a small market and decided to turn my way to the market. As soon as I turned on my heel, somebody held my wrist and pulled me to an alley. Oh god!!

Whoever pulled me covered my mouth with their rough palm, I opened my eyes and saw the man who narrowed his eyes on me when that strange blue eyes man ran away. I wasn’t being paranoid, somebody was following me. What do they want from me and why are they behind me? I need to stop overthinking and defend myself at least to run away. I opened my mouth and bit his hand hard.

“Ahh!!” He screamed in pain and pulled but raised his other to slap me but before that, I kicked him at the place where the sun does shine with my boots. The hand which was in the air to slap me went to cover his sensitive place. “Puttana!” He growled, I am sure that is a swear word. Ah, who cares? I sprinted out of there but within few steps, I was held back by other men. So, he came with backup. The fear was already rising in my heart and now it knew no limit. The man I kicked came near me.

“You think you can run.” His English was terrible, I could barely understand him. He barked something in Italian and I was thrown into an SUV with tinted glasses. I kept on struggling against their hold and I saw one of them taking out an injection.

“Oh no no, please let me go. You want money, take my card and everything.” I was yelling at this point. I kept on yelling the same thing over and over again but it all fell to deaf ears. He brought an injection near me. “Please, let me go.”

“Shhhh! It will all be over soon, amore.” This person’s English was fine and I could understand it. Before I could reason with him, he injected me with the drug. I kept on fighting to get away but it was all in vain. “We need you all prepped up for our boss.”  I tried to fight the drug and be conscious but it was getting difficult with every passing minute. I pushed my eyes open but it was burning, so was my throat. I can’t stay awake for long. I tried to get my phone but it was thrown out by someone. My mind was hazy and the last thing I remember was someone’s phone ringing.  

I can’t feel anything and I have no idea where I am. In between, there are some glances of getting out of the car and being tied up. Unconsciously, I pressured my mind to remember something important that can help me to… Where am I? I opened my eyes and closed them again as my vision was blurred due to a restriction. My hands were tied and eyes were blindfolded and my mouth was covered with a cloth. I pulled on the restrain on my limbs. My clothes were intact, my bag was missing. There was an eerie silence in the room, my senses except for vision were heightened.  The only sound I could hear was the rapid beating of my own heart. I was constantly tugging at the zip ties holding me with this squeaky chair. God, why can’t anything go right for once in my life? I was here having the time of my life, and now I am stuck at someplace where my survival chances are very thin. I kept on struggling in hope of a miracle to break me free. Ahh! Who am I kidding, luck is never on my side? Venice was supposed to change my life in a good way, not like this. I don’t even know if I am going to make out of here alive.

I heard foreign sounds outside the room and I stopped the struggle to eavesdrop. Maybe I can get some clue of my location, they were talking in Italian. Somebody was scolding someone, whereas other were whispering. I could not make anything out of it. Then suddenly they all went quiet when another set of footsteps walked up to the door, unknowingly I too stopped my struggle and leaned towards the sound, I heard the creak of the door open and a gush of air hit me. I started to struggle again, cursing under my breath. There is someone and I could feel eyes on me but one was weirdly very domineering.

Damiano’s POV

She is nowhere to be found.

My eyes widened and I saw nothing but red. No, they can’t lose her. Where is she? Is she safe?

“What do you mean?” I asked in a very low tone. Everyone stood straight without making any eye contact with me. “I asked you a question, Giovanni!” The only thing keeping me here miles away from her is that I know that she is safe through my men but now every bit of my body is pushing me to get on the next plane to the US. This is the third time this is happening. First was her 21st birthday, where she was so drunk; I didn’t even trust my men to protect her. Then she went to college made a boyfriend. I knew I could not have her but seeing her with someone else, that pain was gut-wrenching. But at least all those times she was under my protection.

“She returned to LA but suddenly her room was empty, only her parents and brother were seen.” He averted his eyes to the floor.

“Send every damn man and woman we have in States to look for her. Marcus, prepare the jet for my departure.” I ordered and rushed towards my room. Marcus and Giovanni followed me. “I remember giving you a task Giovanni and I sure remember it wasn’t to follow me,” I said sternly. Marcus gestured him to leave. Giovanni bowed and returned.

“Boss! Damiano! Listen to me. Don’t do anything that will compromise our family or her safety. We will get her back safely, okay. You need to calm down.” Marcus tried to reason with me and I hate to accept it but he was right. If the word gets out that Damiano Augustus is going crazy over a girl, she will be in great danger. I need to release all this pent-up anger.

“Get Isaac out of the cellar, I will be there,” I said and got in my room. I washed my face and pushed back my hair. Love, please take care of yourself.

No amount of torture sedated the rage inside me but at least I got Vasili’s plan out. I know people like Isaac, they are the ones who will always be loyal to their boss but when they meet the devil, some things are bound to spill out.

“Scatter all the men around Italy, if Vasili gets out of here safely; the righello cartel needs to consider their position,” I ordered my men. For us, the position, name, and pride of the family are most important.

“It has been a week, a fu*king week?” My voice boomed in my office. I returned back to Venice to keep an eye on the search myself. We have to be very careful to prevent anyone from knowing which is slowing the search but this is too slow. “You all are supposed to be the most capable men on the planet and you can’t find a girl.”

“We do have some updates but the sources are unconfirmed. She left States one week ago and came to Italy,” What? She is here! “Then she was last seen in Rome but again we lost the trail and sir apparently Diana was here in Italy as well.”

“What? What is going on? This much has happened in my home territory; from Vasili, my girl, and my sister, I am not aware of anything. Once everything is done, we will need some changes here.” Someone knocked on the door.

“Boss! There is a piece of important information. Our local gang caught a lead to Vasili and they have got her tied up.” He said in one breath.

“We will go to Rome, you go take care of that,” Giovanni said and I agreed.

My head was filled with all kinds of thoughts. Vasili has started to recruit women as well now. I gestured to Kol to open the door. There was a girl tied up in the chair, her face was covered.

“Remove the blindfold.” They removed her blindfold and exactly at that moment my breath hitched in my throat.