"Enzo...," I whispered hoarsely.

He instantly rushed towards me, sitting beside my legs. Enzo gently took both my hands in his and held them.

Fucking hell.

I'm back here?

With the person from whom I escaped 3 years back?

What happened to me?

I scanned myself.

I was lying down on the bed, in Enzo's room. It hadn't changed a bit in 3 years. Still the same...

Bandages were wrapped around my arm and a non-stick bandage over a gauze where I got shot.

All the events that took place few hours ago came flooding back.

"Wake up."

I groaned and my eyes fluttered open. I sighed as I found myself tied to a chair, my wrists restrained to the arms.

"Slept well, babe?"

I frowned. Looking up, I met with the gruesome face of Karl, the 2nd in command in the German mafia.

I froze.

Damn that bastard.

The last thing I remembered was being hit on the head with something hard and cold. Next thing I know, I woke up in a warehouse.

"Where am I?" I growled.

What he said next, made the blood in my veins run cold.

"Sicily."

"What?!"

My jaw hung wide.

He got to be kidding me.

Out of all the cities in the world, I had to land up in Sicily. "And why would you bring me here?!"

My nightmare would most probably still be here.

I took a deep breath. "Why did you kidnap me?"

"Ah, it's simple. I need to finish what I began in the past...," He smirked.

There was an evil glint in his eyes which didn't go unnoticed by me.

Finish what he began in the past...

No. I can't go through that again.

I shook my head, trying to focus.

"And then, I'll kill your parents and you, and the American mafia will be taken over by us, the Germans," Karl continued.

"Seriously?" I asked with a disgusted face, "You do know that telling your plan to others, especially the one whom you're plotting against, isn't such a great idea?"

He grumbled after realizing I was right, but didn't like that I pointed it out.

I opened my mouth to say something but I found my face whipped to the left. My cheek throbbed with intense pain.

What the hell?

Did he just sl-

"Well, well, well."

The voice sounded painfully familiar.

I looked up and growled at whom I saw.

Luther.

The German mafia leader.

Asshole.

I bet he was behind my kidnapping.

He didn't change much from the last time I saw him.

Anger cursed through my veins as I remembered that night...

He was not ugly, as you'd expect kidnappers to be. He had soft caramel curls and striking blue eyes.

"Now aren't you a beauty?" Luther whispered, gently caressing my cheeks.

"Yeah, but be careful, this beauty can also be lethal," I whispered back dangerously.

His lips curved up in a smirk. He cleared his throat and took a step away from me.

"So, do you miss Aoi-"

"Don't say her name from your filthy ass mouth, you bastard!" I yelled, pure rage cursing through my veins.

He raised his brow, the smirk still plastered on his face. "Do you regret it?"

Huh?

Regret what?

He noticed my confused face. "Do you regret not being there for her?"

I growled, gritting my teeth in anger.

I knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to get in my head.

He was a master manipulator, but so was I.

"Tell me, Xena, tell me that you didn't feel guilty that day..."

"Stop," I muttered, shaking my head.

"Tell me that you didn't feel guilty when you saw her lifeles-"

"SHUT UP!" I roared, my eyes blazing in fire.

He flinched, but soon grinned.

Luther raised his fist and punched me hard on the face. Karl already slapped me before so this punch pained like a bitch.

I raised my face and successfully gave a harsh glare to Luther and Karl.

One thing my dad and I had in common were our intense dark glares. It could send the devil running away.

And one thing my mom and I had in common were our manipulation techniques.

"Inject her," Luther ordered.

Karl nodded with a smirk and walked towards me with an injection in his hands. I wasn't scared of needles at all, but what concerned me was what the injection contained.

Before I knew it, the needle pierced my skin. I bit my lip to prevent the small yell and bore the stinging prickle.

I tried to fist my hands, trying to contain the intense pain, but my couldn't.

Fucking hell.

I frowned and tried wriggling my toes but it remained immovable.

Luther chuckled evilly and then in struck me.

That drug in the injection paralyzed me.

I couldn't move...at all.

Both the assholes continued punching and kicking me, and yet I couldn't move a muscle.

By the end of 2 hours, I was exhausted.

Physically, and mentally.

My body ached in pain. My cheeks throbbed, blood trickling down my lip sand arms.

I could slowly feel the drug wearing off...

"I'm tired," Karl breathe out, after kicking me in the stomach.

I spat out blood and my head hung low in extreme torment.

"Already?" Luther smirked.

Karl nodded.

"Fine...let's give this bitch a break," He snarled, rolling his eyes and walking out of the warehouse with Karl at his tail.

Once the drug fully wore off, I could move.

I took a deep breath and scanned the warehouse.

I had to find something, something which would help me escape.

There is always a loophole.

Always.

You just gotta find it.

My eyes wavered across the area, stopping at the shiny object beside my foot.

A knife.

Why are all the kidnappers stupid?

I chuckled at their idiocrasy, but groaned when my abdomen wracked in pain.

I extended my leg as far as I could and tried to pull that knife towards me.

The blade cut my foot and I shut my eyes tightly, trying not to just lash out with all the unbearable pain.

I placed my foot on top of that knife and dragged it towards me, tolerating the torment afflicted to my body.

I tried lifting my leg up, trying to take the knife, but I cried out as a jolt of ache rushed up by thigh. Luther had stabbed my thigh with a dagger earlier, but frowned as I didn't cry or scream.

Gulping hard, I slowly lifted my leg and dropped the knife on my lap.

Lengthening my fingers, as they were bounded, I reached to my lap and grabbed the blade. With a quivering hand, I managed to cut the ropes tied around my right wrist.

With my free hand, I did the same to my left.

I rubbed my wrists, trying to ease the soreness.

I had to escape.

I got up from the chair but collapsed down on the ground with a cry.

I gritted my teeth and took the support of the chair to get up. With trembling legs, I limped towards the backdoor of the warehouse and swung it open.

"Hello, Xe- SHE'S ESCAPING!"

I swiveled around to see Karl, standing with an exasperated look, and Luther rushing in furiously.

Shit.

My gaze fell at the gun to the right of my foot.

I instantly bent down to pick it, my back throbbing as I did so, and gripped the gun.

But it was too late. I saw Karl raise his gun.

I was about to pull the trigger when a gunshot was heard.

BANG!

The ringing was loud.

I felt the massive heat in my abdomen. My mind hadn't caught up with it yet. I staggered and fell on my knees, blood oozing out of my stomach.

The sonorous, ear-splitting ringing sound got worse. It seemed to louden second by second.

My eyelids shut slowly, the last thing I saw being Karl's smug face.

"Aoife," I whispered brokenly.

I shut my eyes as my arms lay limp on the ground.

Blackness all around...

Was I in hell?

Not surprised.

"Shena."

I turned around swiftly...and there she was.

Her brown, silky curls reaching down to her shoulder, her blue doe-eyes gazing up at me with a toothy grin.

"You need to get up," she whispered, talking small baby steps towards me, "get up, and fight. Like a true warrior."

"I-I can't," I breathe out.

"Shena," she frowned, "you were my role model. This is not the Shena I remember. My Shena was stwong, bwave, and not scared of anyone. She would fight against anyone. She could fight against anyone, and she'd win."

"A," I sighed, "I can't."

"Yes, yes you can. If not for yourself, at least do it for me. Please."

My lips quivered hearing the determination in her voice.

"Do it for me, Shena..."

Determination cursed through my veins, the bullet wound long forgotten.

I managed to peel my eyes open.

Karl and Luther were walking towards me with proud grins.

I extended my arm to the right, trying to find the gun I saw earlier. My fingers grazed over something cold.

I gripped it tightly and in a flash, aimed it at Karl.

I didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet pierced right between his eyes and he toppled over, face-down, blood gushing out of his head.

Luther stared at Karl's body, wide-eyed, before dashing towards the door.

My mind was fuzzy and I couldn't see anything clearly.

My head was spinning but I managed to pull the trigger.

A piercing shriek made me grin, despite the torment I had gone through.

I saw blood oozing out of Luther's right leg, but he continued limping towards the door.

He ran.

Like a coward.

I'd deal with him later.

Fuck, I was shot.

I cried out loud as soon as I took a step forward.

It pained like a bitch.

I took off the sweater I was wearing and wrapped it around my waist extremely tightly, stopping the blood from flowing out.

I was only in my bra and tracks.

Well, at least I chose a good bra today. Didn't go in waste.

I managed to stagger out of the warehouse, into the deserted streets of Sicily.

Hold up.

Hold the fuck up.

I knew this area...

It seemed vaguely familiar...

My eyes landed on a high bridge few meters away from me.

Oh, fuck.

It was the same bridge I saw 3 years back...

Right outside Enzo's estate.

I was back in Sicily, and to make matters worse, I was just 5 minutes away from his house.

Great.

Just Great.

I had 2 options:

1. Just die right over here.

2. Go to the Enzo, the person I had been hiding from for the past 3 years, for help.

The option was pretty easy to choose.

Sometimes, people go to their enemies for help. During desperate times.

Gritting my teeth, my body aching in pain, I swaggered forward.

My mind faintly remembered the way to his estate, but I managed to successfully limp my way there.

I stopped in front of the huge iron gates.

"Excuse me? Who the fuck are yo- Donna!"

My eyes met the brown orbs of the guard behind the iron gates, who was supposedly guarding the estate along with few other men.

Donna?

Guess the Italian mafia folks remember me.

"Enzo-Enzo," I whispered, my voice breaking painfully.

He nodded frantically, eyeing my condition, and opened the gates for me.

He placed my arm around his shoulder and supported me as I limped past the fountain, and in front of the mansion door.

He quickly dropped my arm. "Uh, please don't tell Don I touched you," - muttering that, he ran away.

I leaned against the door frame, not having energy to do anything anymore.

My mind was fuzzy...

My body ached...

My cheeks throbbed...

My stomach felt heated with the bullet...

A loud ringing, sonorous sound deafened me.

The sound became more prominent second by second.

It felt like standing right under the church bell and having a the best hearing.

Not being able to bear it anymore, I rang the doorbell.

During desperate times, people go to their enemies for help...

The door swung open and my heart stopped beating.

"Enzo...," I whispered brokenly.

Not being able to bear this excruciating agony anymore, I shut my eyes, letting darkness engulf me.

"How are you feeling?"

I felt myself being dragged back to reality.

Enzo towered over me with a concerned face.

I opened my mouth to say 'I'm fine' but ended up coughing profusely due to the dryness in my mouth.

He instantly ran to the mini fridge beside his dresser and took out a bottle of water.

Enzo helped me as I drink huge gulps.

"Enz-Enzo," I breathe out tiredly.

Oh, fuck.

It struck me.

According to Enzo, I was dead.

I died.

Me.

Dead.

Shit.

I shouldn't have come back.

Maybe I should act dead again.

I held my breath.

Ugh.

He literally heard me whisper his name.

"Xena," he replied back, sitting down beside my legs, "It's time for some answers."

Well, fuck me again.

😉