Lia has stepped her foot into an unknown territory. Let’s see what sight greeted her eyes.....

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The doors of the elevator slid open and with a thundering heart, I came outside. The place looked quite creepy, like I had stepped inside a jail or something like that. It did not help that it was eerily silent, which was soon broken by an ear splitting scream.

I was petrified. Although all my instincts were telling me to run back and never set my foot here again, my nosey self was insisting to just take a peek to quench my curiousity.

I guess I should have listened to my sane advices!

I followed the sound and what I saw shook me to the core. Ermanno was there, plucking out the eyeballs of a man tied on the chair. Many of his body parts were missing and all his body was matted in blood. I knew that it was all his doing.

The man was begging for mercy, but he didn’t show any. And what terrified me the most was the neutral expression resting on Ermanno’s face.

He wasn’t feeling even a bit of remorse for doing that to him!

The sight was so gross and soul shaking, I could not contain the scream which left my mouth. I had a very weak heart. I had always been away from violence and the sight was enough to haunt me for the rest of my life.

My scream drew his attention towards me. Many other men present in the room turned to see the intruder. But my eyes were only fixed on the man tied to the chair.

Ermanno cursed something in Italian, which I didn't get. My eyes moved to see him. He was covered in blood, blood of that man. Even his sight was enough to make me shiver out of pure terror. His face clearly showed surprise. He must not had expected me to see him.

He took a step towards me. I instinctively took several steps back, whimpering. A pained expression crossed his features. He instantly threw the weapon in his hand and raised his hand in surrender. But it did nothing to lessen my fear.

I knew he was a monster. And I saw it with my own eyes that day.

He spoke in a gentle voice, "Relax. I won't hurt you. Don't be afraid."

But I didn't believe him. Why won’t he hurt me? I had just seen his monstrous act and he wanted to believe him?!

I turned on my heels and sprinted back towards the elevator. I heard footsteps following me, but I quickened my steps and managed to enter inside. I hurriedly pressed the only button available. Just as the doors closed, I saw a panicked looking Ermanno running towards my direction.

The doors closed before he could stop and I was too much grateful for that. I couldn't let him anywhere near me. All my body was shaking out of fear. I had never seen such a gore sight in my life.

He was a monster!

I was afraid what he would do to me after I had witnessed his real face? Would he kill me too for being a witness? Would he torture me? Would he punish me?

The doors slid open and I was again on my feet, running as fast as my shaky legs could move, towards my room. A shocked looking Francesca tried to stop me by calling out my name, but I ignored her.

Ermanno must be on his way to catch me. And I could not escape him. I was in his mansion, I would be caught in no time. But I didn't had the option of leaving the mansion. His guards on the gate would catch me.

The doors of my room came into my line of sight and I hurried my steps. Going inside, I locked the door securely. I also placed the heavy table kept in the corner in front of the door for support.

Then, I hurriedly proceeded to lock each and every window present in the room. My breathing was laboured due to all the exercise I had done, along with fear which had chilled me to the bones.

Clutching my hair from the roots, I sat down on the floor, panting heavily as sobs erupted from my throat. Tears satrted making their way freely out of my eyes as I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, in a protective manner.

I was startled by the loud and repeated knocks on my door, followed by the voice of that monster, "Open the door, Rosa."

If I were in a normal situation, I would have swooned over the nickname he had given me, Rosa. But now was not the time. I could only panic hearing his voice.

He was here!

I could not escape him!

I would definitely be caught!

He was a monster!

What would he do to me after I had witnessed his monstrosity?!

I had never cursed myself so much in my life for my curiousity, then I was doing it at that moment. If only I had listened to my instincts and had not poked my nose around, I would not have caught myself in that situation.

If only!

But I knew that it was too late for crying over the spilt milk. Loud knocks continued to sound, followed by his urgent voices.

“Please open the door!”

“I promise I won't harm you!”

“Just let me in once, Rosa!”

“I need to explain!”

“Rosa!”

“Bambino, please give me a chance!”

(Baby)

“He was a traitor! He was betraying me!”

“I am sorry you had to see all that!”

“Please Rosa, open the door for once!”

But I did not believe a single word of his. He could be manipulating me.

Just where had I landed myself to?!

I should have known beforehand, that he was in a Mafia. There must be many skeletons in his closet, many secrets buried in the mansion. I must have been cautious before roaming around so freely.

From all the continuous crying and my exercise from that gory place to here, had worn me out and I drifted to sleep on the floor, curled in a foetus position. An instinct to try to save myself from any harm. Not that it could!

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I was woken up by a loud knock, along with someone calling out my name. I groggily rubbed my eyes and looked around my surroundings. I found myself lying on the floor. Then, my brain registered the horrible sight I had witnessed that day. I shuddered at the thought. Everything was still so clear, so vivid in my memory.

Again a gentle voice of a female sounded through the doors. It was Francesca.

She was calling out to me, “Rosalia dear, please come out. It is already dinner time.”

I shouted back, “I am not hungry. Please go!”

“Don't be stubborn, sweetheart. You must be hungry. If you are afraid of Ermanno, then do’t be. He is not at home and won’the come back tonight. I promise,” she informed me.

His name was enough to terrorize me. Chills ran down my spine and my hands trembled at image of his cruelty. I was so right.

He was really a monster!

Licking my dry lips, I called back, “P... please don... don’t force me. I re...really don’t want t...to eat. I...I just want to b...be alone.”

She finally resigned, "Alright. If you are insisting, I won't force you. But if you want to talk to anyone, just remember that I am here for you. Okay, dear."

"Okay," I meekly replied to her.

I then, heard the sound of retreating footsteps. My mind again drifted back to him. He was not at home, that meant that there were chances that he was again torturing some poor soul.

But my main concern was that how was I going to stay clear of him and not see him. It was his own house and I could not be cooped up in that room all my life. I would have to come out of it, eventually.

So, what was I gonna do when I would meet him? Or what would he do with me? Would he kill me? Or torture me? Or would he be kind enough to let me off the hook? But him and kindness were polar opposites!

Argghhhh!

Seeing his real face had made my resolve even more stronger, and that was to find a way to get out of that trap of betrothal. I knew being with him would affect me too. After all, company of the people around you affects you. And, I couldn’t let a monster taint my humanity.

Sighing, I concluded that it was of no use to think what would happen when I would face him. Rather, leave it on the time when I would cross my path with him.

I got up and went to change into my night clothes. Then, I sat on my bed and started watching movies on the television present inside the room, to distract myself. I didn’t remember when I drifted into a deep slumber.

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Hello my lovely readers!

How was the chapter?

She saw a glimpse of his monstrosity... What are your thoughts?

And not to forget, she was shook with the scene.

Stay tuned to see what happens when they meet again!😉😉

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~A...