Inaya's POV

Dominic's afraid of his father. I didn't think he'd be afraid of anyone...

In my social work field, I've seen and met with kids who were deathly afraid of their parents, whether it was the mother or father they were afraid of.

Those kids' behaviours can vary. There are some kids who become shy, quiet and keep to themselves, while others become violent, dangerously rebellious and dominant. They like spreading the fear in others that they felt themselves.

Does that sound familiar?

I hadn't seen Dominic since last night. The house has been extremely quiet. A lot of the times I can hear him on the phone, pacing around the house, yelling and screaming at Lord knows which poor soul. But since last night, it's been pin drop silent.

It makes me sort of uncomfortable. Somehow, I found odd comfort in the horrible loud noises.

I take a seat in the living room closest to the main door and cozy up on the couch with my hot chocolate. The weather's been really chilly and the house can get cold sometimes because I'm sure it's hard for the furnace to heat up the whole house in a short time.

"Good morning, Princess!" Angela greets me, almost making me tip my hot chocolate over from getting scared. "Oh, sorry about that, sweetheart! I didn't mean to scare ya."

"It's okay, Angela. I've missed you! I didn't see you at the party."

"I'm so sorry. I was all over the place and by the time I wanted to see you, Benny told me you left." She tells me.

"Awe, that's okay. How are you?" I ask her.

"I'm great, how are you doing? Did you enjoy the party?" She grins.

I try to make sure my smile doesn't falter. "Yes! I haven't been to a party before where it was so fancy. It was nice."

"I saw you dance with Gabriel. He's a sweet boy." Then, a smirk appears on her face. "I also saw you with Dominic. That was a breath of fresh air."

My cheeks begin beating up.

"You're the cutest!" She laughs.

I offer her some hot chocolate and she settles down on the couch beside me.

"Angela..." I decide to ask her about Dominic's father. "You don't have to say anything if it's not your place but... Dominic's father..."

"Ah, you met him already? I heard he was in town." She sighs.

I nod. "He came by last night."

"That man... that man is something else." Angela shakes her head in disapproval.

"Dominic looked... afraid of him." I say.

"I would be too if he treated me the way he treated Dom growing up." She says.

I stare at Angela.

"Dominic was horribly abused by his father after their mother wasn't in the picture anymore. His form of abuse wasn't just verbal... my God, the poor child." Angel explains. I could tell it was making her sort of uncomfortable.

I gulp, I couldn't imagine what she's talking about.

"All the forms of torture, he'd basically use it on Dominic to 'tame' him. That didn't go so well because now Dominic is... well, anything but tamed." She frowns at the thought.

She's right. I don't know what kind of outcome the father was expecting. Angela wouldn't specify the type of torture or how Dominic was abused.

I'm sure it's not her place to tell me but thinking about using a child to test out mafia-proof torture methods makes me sick to my stomach.

Angela quickly stands up after looking at her phone. "I'm sorry, Princess. I have to go. My husband is completely useless and doesn't understand what a kitchen means."

I giggle slightly at that statement and nod. "Thank you for coming by. I appreciated the company."

"Anytime! Call me when—you don't have a phone." She frowns. "I'll make sure to tell Dominic to get you one!"

I smile at her in agreement.

I doubt he'll get me a phone. He barely lets me leave the house. A phone to connect with the outside world? Not a chance.

I go back to room to watch some T.V. I felt restless and I couldn't tell why. I couldn't ease up, it's as if something bad will happen and my spirit can feel it beforehand.

In the evening, around 9 PM, I hear the front door shut really loudly and Dominic is yelling in a foreign language at someone on the phone in, what I assume, is Italian.

"Che due coglioni! Fottiti!" The tone is his voice is nothing less than rage.

I have no plans on dying today, even though usually it seems like I do. So, I stay put in my room with some snacks.

An hour passes by and suddenly I hear the door again.

Is Dominic leaving again? That's not unusual. Or is Darcie here to—

My thoughts get cut off by a familiar voice. "Dominic Belcastro, you have really crossed the line. Get the fuck over here, figlio di puttana!"

My heart starts beating really quickly.

This can't be good.

I slowly leave my room to hide behind the closest pillar to be able to see down the stairs.

"Didn't I ask you not to come here anymore?" Dominic says in a calm tone.

"You're coming with me! You haven't been punished in a while, maybe that's why you're starting to act out like such a bitch." His father says angrily.

I was expecting Dominic to fight this. I'm looking at him, my mouth wants to scream to tell him to say no and stand his ground.

His expression is blank, the type of expression someone has when they're used to something.

This isn't something someone should have to get used to.

"Where's the room?" His father asks. "Where's the fucking room?"

Dominic only looks at a certain direction.

My heart drops to my stomach... that way... it's the room Dominic uses to torture...

"Follow me." His father says.

Five minutes pass by... no sound... 10 minutes pass by... not one bit of noise.

"Oh my God!" I jump off of my bed, onto my feet. "That room! It's soundproof."

No wonder I haven't heard a single thing.

"Okay, calm down, Inaya. It shouldn't matter what happens to him, not like he cared about your feelings..." But there is no way a single bone in my body is feeling calm. "Dominic can take care of himself. He won't let anyone hurt him. He's Dominic Belcastro, he won't—" I think about the empty look in his eyes when he was downstairs.

He's not going to stop his father from giving him this punishment. He's been conditioned to receive punishments from his father without fighting back, hasn't he? That has to be the case. After so many years of abuse, this probably is something that feels normal to Dominic.

My heart aches at the thought of the way Dominic's own father treats him and how he must be treating him now.

"Don't, Inaya..." I warn myself. "Don't do it."

I try to convince myself. "Should I return the favour? He did create chaos in order to not sell me that one time."

But he was also the one trying to sell me in the first place.

I know me, I won't be able to sleep knowing I let something like this happen right under my nose. I won't be able to live with myself if I don't do anything.

I open my room door and quickly run down the stairs.

"Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay." I whisper to myself as I try to figure out exactly which way that room was.

I found it. Oh my God, I found it. But am I on time? Did I get here too late?

I put my hand on the door knob; my heart is beating so loud that it feels like it's in my ears. My palms are sweaty and my mouth is dry.

I push open the door and I could barely gasp. My brain goes into a pause for a moment, not knowing what's going on or what to do. An ice cold breeze passes over me, rendering me motionless.

Dominic is on the ground, laying on his side with his hands behind his back. He doesn't have a shirt on and there's splatters of blood on the ground.

He looks close to death.

- - -

Terms:

• Che due coglioni: What the fuck?

• Fottiti: go fuck yourself.

• Figlio di puttana: son of a bitch.

A/N: school starts soon again, I'm gonna cry lol

Next Update: Saturday, December 28, 2019.