17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Matteo
Inotice the moment Luciana looks sick. It’s been hours since we were put in this hot, metal box. I’m amazed we’re still alive in some ways. The beating I took from Dante has left me breathless and tired but I’m pushing through it. For Luciana’s sake.
She slumps against me. “Luciana?” I tilt her head back and feel that it’s covered in sweat.
Her eyes are rolling back into her head from what I can tell.
There’s a tiny sliver of light coming into the box but other than that, it’s hard to see.
“Luciana?” There’s no room to lay her down.
There’s no way out of this box. We’re going to die in here.
“My foot,” she whimpers. I let out a breath of relief. If she’s talking, that means she’s alive still.
“What about your foot?”
“It hurts.”
She’s small enough that I’m able to reach between our bodies and pull her foot into my lap. Squinting, I try to get a good look at her foot in the darkness. A piece of glass is still stuck in her skin. Her foot looks red and swollen. It’s infected. Shit.
“You’ll be ok,” I lie to her. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it, baby. Ok? Don’t worry about it.”
“Ok,” she whispers, leaning on me. Depending on me to take care of her. I have to get her out of this or she’s dead. But Dante is either determined to let us die in this box or kill us with his bare hands.
I pound on the door, which startles her to sit up. Luciana winces when she bangs her head on the roof of the box. “I’m going to get us out of here. Ok?”
“Ok.” She slumps against the box, no energy left. Despite how hot the box is to the touch, it doesn’t seem to bother her. That’s a concern. She’s going to die on me if I don’t get her out of here.
I manage to maneuver myself into a position where I can use my foot to kick the box. I don’t stop kicking and kicking and kicking until the door finally bursts open.
I crawl out of the box, gasping for air. And that’s when I feel a gun pressed to my forehead.
“Don’t even think about it,” one of Dante’s guards growls. “Get back in that box.”
“Matteo,” Luciana whimpers as she crawls out of the box after me. “Please. Don’t kill him. I need…” She slumps right onto the floor, her eyes rolling back into her head. And she doesn’t get back up.
“Luciana,” I gasp, rushing to her side. The guard stands there, clearly in shock. It’s then that I notice he’s the only one in the room with us. The other guard is gone and Dante is nowhere in sight.
I scoop Luciana into my lap and pry her eyes open. “Don’t fall asleep on me, baby. Don’t do that.”
A soft sound leaves her lips but other than that, there’s no indication she heard me. She’s dying.
“She has an infection,” I snap. “She’s going to die. Does Dante want her to go out like this? What were your orders?”
“To keep the two of you inside that box.”
“What happens if she dies on your watch? Do you think Dante will be happy with you? I got the sense he wanted to hurt her himself. How can he hurt her if she’s dead?”
The guard hesitates, knowing I’m right. We both know how much of a lunatic Dante is. “I… I have a first aid kit. Somewhere.”
“Do you think that will stop her infection? She’s going to die.”
“Fuck it.” The guard pulls out his phone and calls someone. “Dante? The girl has an infection. She’s on death’s doorstep. Either get here now if you want to do something to her or she’s dead.” He nods as Dante responds on the other end. “Ok. Are you sure? You don’t care? I should kill them both?”
My chest squeezes in panic. I have no weapon. Nothing to defend myself or Luciana with.
But right now, the guard is distracted and that gives me everything I need.
I gently lay Luciana on the ground while the guard speaks to Dante. And that’s when I strike. Lunging forward, I grab his arm and aim it at the sky. He pulls the trigger and the bullet goes into the ceiling, raining plaster down on us.
“What the fuck was that?” I can hear Dante ask as the guard drops his phone.
We grapple for the gun. If he aims it at me, I’m dead and then so is Luciana. I am her only chance. Despite my own injuries, I have to fight for her. I made a vow and I intend on keeping it.
My hands wrap around the guard’s wrist and I snap it. He shrieks as his wrist breaks. That’s enough to loosen his hold on the gun. I grab it from him and aim it at his head.
There’s no hesitation on my part when I shoot him. The bullet goes clean through his skull, instantly killing him. After tucking the gun in my belt, I run back to Luciana’s side. I check her pulse. She’s still alive but I doubt she’ll be for long.
It’s difficult for me to pick her up with my injuries. My stomach and ribcage is screaming at me but I do what I must. It’s the only way we’re going to make it out of here alive.
Once she’s safely in my arms, I trudge towards the stairs. It takes all my strength to walk up them while carrying Luciana. She’s dead weight in my arms. I have to hurry. There’s no other choice.
I stumble into the main room covered in broken glass and human shit.
Where did Dante even find this place? It’s fucking disgusting.
But then, I doubt anyone would come looking at a place like this.
The police tend to avoid these areas since they’re so run down.
The perfect place to bring a kidnapped victim to.
My feet are bare but in this moment, I don’t care if I step on glass. I just have to get the two of us out of here. I grit my teeth when my feet scream at me. A trail of blood is left behind from my cut skin. But I have to keep moving. I cannot stop.
I gasp when I make it out onto the street. A phone. I need a fucking phone to call for help. My body is weak and breaking down. I slump to my knees and carefully set Luciana on the ground. She makes another sound but still, her eyes don’t open.
“Please wake up, baby,” I murmur, tapping her cheek.
She doesn’t respond. I catch my breath. I’m pretty positive I have broken bones and I know my feet are at risk of an infection now too.
I just hope I don’t have any internal bleeding from when Dante kept kicking me. I can’t die. Not until Luciana is safe.
With a grunt, I pick her back up in my arms and walk away from Dante’s house of horrors. I just need to find a phone.
The problem is: this area is mostly residential. No businesses I can go into. It’s full of the elderly and everyone is asleep this time of night.
“Help!” I shout. “I need help! Anybody! Please!”
No one answers.
It’s then that I remember the guard had a phone. Shit. I wasn’t thinking about that. All I was thinking about was getting Luciana out of that house.
The last thing I can do is carry her back in there. With no other choice, I find a plot of land with some bushes scattered about. I place her behind the bushes to hide her in case Dante shows back up.
Then I hurry back to the house. I’m more careful this time in going back through the glass strewn room and down into the basement. The dead guard’s body is just lying there. I pick his phone off the ground. The call he made to Dante has been disconnected.
But I see a text: Dante is on his way. Fuck.
I call Gabriel’s number. “Gabriel. I need help. That fucker, Dante Zaneli, kidnapped me and Luciana. We’re at some house. I’m hurt. She’s hurt. We need help. I’ll send you the address. But you need to come soon.”
“I’ll be there,” he says without any hesitation.
I limp my way back out of the house and snap a picture of the address and send it to him. But that’s when I see headlights coming my way.
I dive against the side of the house and hope the darkness hides me, even just a tiny bit. The car keeps driving… until it stops right before the house and Dante gets out of the passenger seat. He storms inside.
He hasn’t noticed me. I drop the phone to the ground and limp away as fast as I can. The last thing I need is Dante tracking me with the guard’s phone.
But he’ll easily know that me and Luciana escaped when he doesn’t see our bodies down there. He’ll find us and I just hope Gabriel can get here in time.
I make it back to Luciana and crouch down behind the bushes. There’s no way we can outrun Dante – who has a weapon and strength on his side. I took the guard’s gun with me but I’m too weak to fight Dante off.
I pull Luciana in my lap and hold tight. I’ve never been one to pray but in this moment, I need God’s strength. I need a miracle.
A whistle off in the distance makes my hair stand on end. “Where are you?” Dante sings. It’s fucking eerie. “Where did the two of you go?” His voice is getting closer and closer. “Are we playing a game? I love games. This makes life so much more fun, doesn’t it?”
I grip the gun in my right hand and hold Luciana against my body with my left. If Dante comes near us, I’ll be ready to shoot.
“You left a trail of blood behind you,” Dante mocks. “I’m assuming it was you, Matteo. There’s no way Luciana could carry you. But you could easily carry her. So where are you two?” I hear him getting closer to the bushes where we’re hiding. He’s so close. So close.
“Found you,” Dante growls.
I glance up and find him looking down at us. Without any hesitation, I bring my gun up and fire. Dante jerks back, just barely avoiding getting hit. He backs away from the bushes but he now knows exactly where we are. I only have a few bullets left in the gun. I can’t waste them.
I set Luciana on the ground and aim my body around the bush to fire. I manage to hit Dante in the arm, knocking him back farther.
“You motherfucker,” he hisses, clutching his arm. I go to shoot him again when he fires his own gun back at me. I duck behind the bush, narrowly avoiding getting hit. “You can’t hide from me. I know where you are. You’re fucking dead.”
A car comes careening down the street and stops before Dante. Gabriel gets out, followed by Rocco. Dante fires at them and they take cover behind the car.
With a laugh, he takes off running. Gabriel aims at him but Dante dives into a doorway and doesn’t get hit.