My Mother
528 Words
Part 5
“Mom?”
Elena's voice trembled in the darkness.
No answer came.
She reached for Dante's arm.
“That's her. I know it is.”
Dante immediately pulled his gun from his jacket.
“Stay behind me.”
A single light flickered on.
At the far end of the warehouse stood a woman in a long black coat.
Elena couldn't move.
The woman's hair was longer than she remembered. Her face was older. There were lines around her eyes that hadn't been there in Elena's childhood.
But those eyes...
Elena knew them.
“Mom?”
The woman looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Elena.”
Elena ran toward her.
Dante grabbed her before she could get close.
“Wait.”
“Let me go!”
“That could be a trap.”
The woman shook her head.
“No. He doesn't know I'm here.”
Dante narrowed his eyes.
“Who?”
Before she could answer, the warehouse doors suddenly opened.
Men rushed inside.
Dante pushed Elena behind a stack of crates.
“Stay down!”
Everything happened at once.
Dante's men moved into position while the attackers scattered through the warehouse.
Elena's mother ran toward them.
“Mom!”
Her mother reached her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“I thought I'd lost you forever.”
Elena began crying.
“You're alive. Why did you leave me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You let me think you were dead!”
“I had no choice.”
Elena pulled away.
“You always say that. I deserve the truth!”
Her mother looked toward Dante.
“Not here.”
Dante approached them.
“Then where?”
Her mother's face became pale.
“Because if he finds us here, none of us will survive.”
Dante's expression hardened.
“Who are you talking about?”
She looked directly at him.
“The man who killed your father.”
Dante froze.
“My father?”
His voice became dangerously quiet.
“What do you know about my father?”
Her mother swallowed.
“I know who ordered his death.”
Elena stared at her mother.
“And who was it?”
Her mother looked at Dante.
Then at Elena.
“It wasn't the Black Serpents.”
She paused.
“It was someone much closer to you.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Before she could answer, a gunshot shattered the silence.
Elena's mother fell.
“Mom!”
Elena screamed.
Dante caught her before she hit the floor.
Blood stained her coat.
Elena dropped to her knees.
“No… no, no, no.”
Her mother reached weakly for her hand.
“Listen to me…”
Elena grabbed it.
“I'm here.”
Her mother's eyes filled with tears.
“Don't trust…”
She struggled to breathe.
“Don't trust…”
“Who?”
Her mother looked past Elena.
Straight at Dante.
Then she whispered:
“The man closest to him.”
Her eyes closed.
Elena stared at Dante.
For the first time, she wondered if the real enemy had been standing beside them all along.
End of Part 5
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