CHAPTER 1: THE MAFIA
VERA
It began with a drizzle on my legs, face, and arms while my mind lingered in a sleepy fog. But the tapping continued, bringing me back to consciousness.
Water poured in from above, soaking my bed, blankets, and everything else, and then, as if waiting for me to notice, my roof collapsed with a resounding crash.
A scream ripped through my throat as I leaped out of bed at the last second, only to slip and land on my side as gallons of water poured into the room. My heart raced in my chest as I stood up, slipping and falling before finally getting to my feet, adrenaline taking over as I stumbled out of the room.
“Noa!" My son's name was the only thing on my mind as I rushed to his crib to find him awake.
“We have to get out of here!” My hands trembled as I picked him up, and a voice rang out through the rain. “Miss! Are you okay?”
“No!” I yelled back, grabbing the nearest blanket and wrapping it around Noa. “The bedroom's roof has collapsed!" I exclaimed, unsure what to do as the floodwaters approached. Just then, a loud thunderclap rumbled overhead, shaking the walls.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the room, and I pressed into a corner, a terrified sob ripping through my throat. I'd always been terrified of lightning.
“Shh, baby, it's okay," I whispered in a trembling voice as Noa let out a piercing cry, and right then, the man's voice rang out again, followed by a loud pounding on the door.
Running to the front door, I waded through the now-flooded hallway as rain continued pouring in. The man's eyes widened as he ripped open the door to take in the mess.
I mumbled, “The roof just collapsed. There's water everywhere." My voice rang out hollow in my ears, and the man's expression turned grim as he asked what items I wanted to save.
“You can stay at my place tonight. We’ll figure this out in the morning," he said, and my mind spun, not knowing what to do. My clothes and other belongings were floating in the floodwaters. There wasn't anything to save.
“Noa's stuff," I finally said, pointing to his small stash of blankets and clothes that were still dry for the time being, and the man quickly gathered what he could while I tried to keep my baby calm.
He threw the bags over his shoulders and grabbed the blankets before turning to face me. “Let’s go. Come on,” he said, and I moved toward the door. But as I opened the door further, I felt a chill run down my spine, not from the rain, but from the voice in my head reminding me that I didn't know this man.
I had only exchanged one greeting with him when Noa and I arrived two days earlier. Now, I was about to head to his place in the dead of night with my son. Every instinct told me this was reckless, possibly even dangerous. But what choices did I have? The house had been destroyed, and I had no place to go.
As if reading my mind, the man introduced himself as Timothee, and before I could respond, he promised not to hurt us. So I pushed through my doubts and took another step, but I paused again when I stepped onto the porch and saw the scene that greeted me.
Six black SUVs lined up in my driveway, and before I could process what I was seeing, the doors flew open. Men sprang out, and instinct propelled me forward as I made the sharpest turn of my life.
Tim stumbled out behind me perplexed, as he watched me run. He said something, but the sound of car doors slamming shut and boots hitting the ground drowned out his words. I screamed at him to run, to save himself, as I grabbed his arm, pushed him back inside, and slammed the door shut.
“Who are they? What's going on?" he yelled, fumbling to push a chair against the door, but I told him there was no time for that, darting to the window in the back of the house. The window was too high to safely jump through, but it was our only exit. So I yanked it open just as the loud bang of the front door being kicked in echoed throughout the house.
The wind and rain beat down on my face, but I couldn't feel or hear anything over my heartbeat pounding against my ears.
“We have to go! Timothee, come on!”
With my arms tightly wrapped around my son, I pushed myself through the small window, my eyes fluttering shut as I fell, bracing for the impact.
We crashed, and a puddle beneath us broke our fall, but it was anything but gentle.
Pain erupted from my side, and my head snapped back, disorienting me, but my grip on my son tightened instinctively as I struggled to stand.
“Miss!" Tim's frantic voice echoed above me before the sound of bullets pierced the night, and my body reacted faster than my mind as I scrambled to my feet, my legs wobbling beneath me as my baby's terrified cries broke through the storm. “Give me the baby!" Tim yelled, arms extended, face pale and soaked. But I didn't.
“No!" I choked out, stumbling ahead. I couldn't let go of him, and right then, a wall appeared out of nowhere. The impact knocked me to my knees, causing a sharp pain in my hip, but I didn't have time to pay attention. So I got up right as Tim grabbed my arm and dragged me forward. “The car! We need to get to the car!” He shouted, but I didn't hear him. I could only hear a voice in my head screaming: He found us. He found us. How did he find us?
“Get in! Get in now!” The urgency jolted me back, and I immediately jumped into the car.
Noa's wails were deafening, his fingers clutching my shirt as if he understood the danger we were in, and Tim rushed in, slamming the door and inserting the keys into the ignition. The engine roared to life, and the tires spun on the wet ground before taking off.
However, headlights soon illuminated the darkness behind us. They were coming!
“Who are these people?!” Tim shouted in a shaking voice as he sped toward the gate, but I first apologized for putting him in danger. I had jeopardized all of their lives by coming here. However, he ignored that, asking once more who the people were.
“The Mafia! My baby daddy wants me dead!”
“What?!”
I didn't have time to explain as the car lurched violently with a deafening blast that ripped through the night, and before I knew it, we were airborne.
I held my son close as the car flipped and whispered, “I'm so sorry." Everything spun in a sickening spiral before the startling crash, which was followed by the smell of burning metal and smoke... and then nothing.
