The Shadows We Keep

CHAPTER THREE

A man dressed in all black, with a thick long coat, and a black mask, walked into the living room.

"This was almost too easy." He continued, standing in front of my father. "I mean I guess I can call it easy when I've been planning it for 12 years."

"You f*****g bastard! How dare you come to my home, guns blazing?!" My father rasped, trying to hold on a face of bravery, but his face was so pale, he looked like he'd fall unconscious any second.

"Always such an aggressive animal." The man replied. "You'd think that a man like you would be lonely and miserable, maybe that way I'd understand why it was so easy to be the unforgiving cold devil that you are."

My father grinned. "So that's what this is? Now this is exactly why I never leave any survivors. Bastards like you always have a way of coming back to bite me in the ass."

The man didn't hesitate to punch my father in the face, sending him falling to the ground in fits of bloddy coughs. He stretched out his hands to one of the men who gave him a gun.

"You have some nerve saying something like that. I'm going to make you pay for everything you took from me." The man rasped, his voice in a controlled rage.

"I'm going to make sure you die an agonizing death, Gabriel. You might be a monster, but I know how much you love your family. Now let me tell you what I'm going to do, I'll kill your wife first, making sure you watch, and then every one of my men will f**k your daughter till her p***y rips apart, and then if she isn't already dead, I'll kill her myself." His voice lowered, and I could sense the smile in his tone. "Do you know what is going to be favourite part, letting you live for a couple of days so everything that will happen here tonight will haunt you, even in your after life."

I froze at his last words. I was….I was going to get r***d? I glanced up at the men around me, they were up to ten of them. How could they….how could this man be so cruel?

I could see the fear in my father's eyes now. "Your business is with me. Leave my family out of it."

"But how would my revenge be complete if I don't hit you where it hurts the most?" He raised his gun, and pointed it at my father. "I'm making sure I'm going to take everything from you. Right now, all your Underbosses, your Capo, their Consinglieres, they are all dead! Every single one of them, at this exact moment. Your entire legacy is going to burn in one night."

He laughed maniacally, waving the gun in my father's face. "Don't look at me like that. You're at fault for having so many enemies. All it took was gathering those enemies, some expert planning, and of course, 12 years. I made sure everything was perfectly set up for this night to be a success."

"Now." He continued, turning his attention to my mother. "Let's get this over with."

"No!" I screamed, trying to break free, trying to get to my mother. But the guard's grip on my hair was too tight, and I could only struggle and watch in horror as the masked man pulled raised his gun.

"Mum, no!" I screamed again, my voice hoarse with desperation. My mother's eyes met mine, and I saw a flash of fear and sadness before the masked man pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot was like a punch to the gut. I felt like all the air in my lungs had been sucked away as I stared at my mother's body, unable to process what had just happened.

She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. She was just…still

A wave of grief and rage washed over me, and almost immediately, I let out a soul ripping scream. "Mum!!"

I screamed and screamed, my voice echoing through the room. Without warning the guard yanked my hair again, forcing me to look away from my mother's lifeless body.

"Shut up!" He growled.

The masked man let out a chuckle. "There's nothing more satisfactory than screams of despair."

"How... how...mum." I stuttered, my eyes drifting to my father. His eyes were closed, but I saw it, the bloody tear that trickled down his cheek.

"Your mother's death should be the least of your concern." He nodded his head at the guard behind me. "Now."

Adrenaline spiked in my veins again as I thought about what was going to happen to me. I'd rather kill myself than let any of these brutes touch me.

The guard let go of my hair, and tried to grab my arm, but I was quick. I wiggled out of his grasp, and headed straight for the masked man, picking up the nearest vase I could get. But even I knew I wouldn't get anywhere close to him, because he pointed the gun at me, and again, with a cold precision,he pulled the trigger.

"Ahh." I yelled as my body jerked backwards.

I stared down at my stomach and watched as a tiny blood dot quickly spread into a large patch like wildfire.

"f*****g b***h!" The guard behind me yelled, and to send me in a more agonizing pain, he hit me hard on the back of my head with his gun.

I fell to the ground immediately, everything becoming blurry and disoriented.

"Stop!" My father groaned, his voice laced with pain. "Do what you came here to do, enough with the games."

"You won't ask me to spare your daughter?"

"I know you won't, so I'm not going to give you that satisfaction."

I tried to focus on their words, but my head was pounding, and my vision was fading. I was going to die. Why?

I still had film school to go to, What's going to happen to Jasmine? She couldn't afford the rent of our apartment alone. Mum, I wanted to see my mother again. I wanted to tell her I loved her, even though I didn't say it enough. I wanted to apologize for leaving and going so far away.

"Dad..." I whispered, barely audible for anyone to hear.

I had a view of him on the floor, the masked man standing in front of him.

"Don't die yet, Gabriel. I'm going to show you the last face that'd haunt you in hell."

He took off his mask, but his back was to me, so I couldn't see his face. But he must have been someone important, because my dad's eyes were wide in surprise.

"You.."

"Yes, Me." He pointed his gun at my father, and a loud bang filled the room.

My father's body jerked once, before going still. I couldn't scream, neither could I cry, and I could feel the darkness enveloping me in an agonizing pain. The last words I heard...

"Burn the house down."

…before everything went dark