"W-who is he?" I ask. "Why is he doing this?" My voice is a mess and I'd be surprised if my words were even legible.

My skin is cold to the touch, and as much as I try to wrap my arms around myself, I can only feel the cold, damp air stained within the cellar. I don't know how I'm going to spend five minutes here, let alone two days.

Thank god I just pigged out and ate so much.

Besides my ragged breath, everything is silent. It's like no one dares to make even the slightest of movement, like everyone fears what will happen if they do.

"Matteo Giovanni. But i'm guessing you already knew that." He says. The man's voice is laced with a thick British accent, and he sounds young. "He's doing this because we owe him something, because he's a bad person."

Confusion washes over me. I don't owe Matteo anything, I didn't even know who he was until the other day. "I don't owe him anything." I say, anger present within my voice.

"Whatever you say. But clearly you pissed him off enough to bring you down here."

"I stabbed him." I say without thinking. More saying it to myself than the man. Gosh, it sounds so ridiculous coming from my mouth. I stabbed a person. I would normally never hurt a fucking fly, and here i am, having just stabbed a man.

But it was in self defence. Sort of. He was kissing me, he was going to hurt me.

I let out a cold butter laugh.

He is hurting me. Placing me down in this dark cellar, restricting the amount of food I eat...

I don't want to know what he'll do to me the next time I put up a fight. I don't know how he'll react, he's so unpredictable.

"You stabbed him?" The man questioned as if that doesn't make any sense.

"Yes, I stabbed him?"

He laughs. "You're getting off lightly then. If anyone else did that, he would kill them without hesitation.

"What are you talking about?" I ask, I feel my heart rate increase. He would actually kill someone? I don't know why I'm so surprised, maybe I thought that despite all the prisoners he has here, and kidnapping me, he somehow still wouldn't be a complete murdering monster.

"Do you really not know who Matteo is, what he does?"

"Matteo is a celebrity businessman." I say, realising i sound like an idiot.

"Matteo is head of the mafia." The man chuckles.

I feel my whole body go stiff, every single inch of me grows cold and hot at the same time. I feel like I'm going to be sick. The mafia? This doesn't make any sense. "What?" I choke out. "What mafia?"

Had Dad known about this? Is this what he was going to tell me about at dinner, why he was so concerned that i knew him? Was he going to warn me to stay away? Dad probably knew him through his mafia connections.

I feel sick, like i'm going to vomit.

"He runs the mafia within New York." The man says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

The New York mafia? Why was an Italian running the New York mafia? This doesn't make any sense. I'm just caught in the middle of this mess. Will I even make it out alive?

"Who are you?" The man asks.

I drop my head into my hands and take a deep breath. Should i tell him my name? I don't know who this man is but he could be bad, i mean, he's locked down here in a cellar. Or he could be just like me, innocent and locked away from no reason.

"My name is Mia." I say. "What's your name?"

"Scott. It's nice to meet you Mia." His voice is nice to listen to. It makes me think i'm anywhere else but here. "I'm sure you don't deserve to be here."

"I don't." I mumble. "How long have you been down here Scott?"

"Not long, a few hours."

A few hours? And already he's had three of his fingers cut off? Matteo is a monster.

"Are you in pain?" I can only imagine how awful it would be to lose fingers.

"Not anymore. I've managed to bandage up the ends. It's just numb now."

"I--That's terrible. I'm so sorry, i'm sure you don't deserve to be down here just as much as me." I say trying to console him.

"I wish that were the case, Mia. But i have done some horrible things in my life, just like Matteo. Things that I cannot take back. If you knew who i was, i don't think you'd be so quick to talk to me."

"Well i don't know you." I retort. "And no matter what you have done, no one deserves to be treated as you have." It's true. No one should endure such horrible pain, even Matteo, despite how much I wish it would be inflicted upon him.

"You're so innocent." Scott laughs.

"I'm not innocent, I just have morals and values."

"Those won't get you anywhere in this world."

"Neither will hurting others." I yawn. I shuffle in the darkness, trying to find a comfortable position on the ground. I feel so physically and mentally exhausted.

No matter how much I try to make myself comfortable, it's impossible. The ground is freezing, and I think that I may just die of frostbite.

Will Dad be able to find me? Surely he can. But if Matteo is truly a part of the New York mafia, then he would easily be able to cover his tracks. It could be months before i'm found, if i'm even alive then.

I will be. I reassure myself. I'll be alive if I play my cards right. I can survive this, and I will survive this.

But will I ever be able to return to normal life after this? Dad would never let me out of his sight. He might even force me to go to Italy with his, and lock me up in his house for the rest of my life. He would never trust me to go out alone.

Shutting my eyes tight, I feel my cool tears slip down my face as I slowly fall into a restless and numb sleep.

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