Resurfacing Past

Playlist for this Chapter: Rescue me by OneRepublic, I Don't Wanna Live Forever by Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik.

ONE YEAR AGO

* DOVE *

When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in the hospital room. Squinting my eyes I tried to get up slowly and sat up, taking in my surroundings.

I was in a small furnished bedroom, the only furniture being a small beige couch, a dressing table, a book shelf with some books and the queen sized bed I was currently sitting on.

The walls were an off-white color and I saw two doors in the room, one that must lead to the bathroom and one to leave the room.

Just then the door opened and a plum woman who looked to be in her fifties came in with a trolley of food. My stomach grumbled at the sight and her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Ah! You're finally awake!" She said, her voice having a thick accent to it so I assumed she must have been Italian the way she spoke.

"W-where am I?" I asked her and she gave me a warm motherly smile that seemed to relax me.

"The master brought you here two days ago dear, you were injured. Speaking of which, how are you feeling now?" She asked and I lifted the covers from on top of me and sat at the edge of the bed carefully when I saw the bandages.

"Better, thank you." I said and she smiled. "Oh I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked her and she pushed the trolley towards me.

"I'm Gabriella, the housekeeper here dear. But what is your name giovane bellezza? (Young beauty) She said and I frowned because I didn't understand what she just said.

"Uh.. I'm Dove." I said and she gave me a wide smile.

"Such a beautiful name! Oh I completely forgot why I came here." She slapped her forehead and pushed the trolley in front of me and made me a plate and handed it to me.

I saw the delicious pancakes and and fresh fruit and started eating almost immediately.

"This is really good, thank you Gabriella." I said and she patted my shoulder.

"That's great, now I'l send the maids in after a while so you better finish up and they'll help you get ready.

"Ready? For what?" I asked her frowning.

"The master wants to speak to you. He has been waiting quite impatiently for you to wake up." She said but my frown only grew deeper.

"Who is the master?" I asked her.

"That I cannot tell you my child. Now hurry up won't you?" She said and left me alone with my thoughts. Exactly 20 minutes later, two young maids came in with their heads bowed.

"Have you had breakfast miss?" The one with the black hair asked. She looked to be around my age so I smiled at her because both of them seemed to be very tense.

Did I do something wrong?

"Yes, I have. And please, call me Dove." I told them and their eyes widened.

"No miss, we wouldn't dare, you are the mistress of this house after all, the master would have our heads." The other one with dark brown hair said and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Mistress f the house? What does that mean?" I asked them but they shook their heads.

"Sorry miss, forget we said anything, we have to get you ready and we don't have much time." They said and I nodded skeptically.

What in the hell?

"Alright... But I need your help because I'm still hurt and I don't know your names." I told them and they gave me a faint smile.

"Of course miss, I'm Emily, and this is Lucy." The black haired girl, Emily, said and I nodded taking their hands and going into the bathroom with their support.

They helped me take a bath and then dressed me up in a navy blue winter dress that matched my eyes.

"Where did these clothes come from?" I asked Lucy who was now braiding my hair.

"The master got them miss. You look very beautiful." She told me when she finished my hair and I smiled.

"Thank you, you're very beautiful too." I told her and she blushed lightly and thanked me, before the door was opened suddenly and a man walked in.

The maids bowed their head quickly and I looked at the man carefully who took in my appearance and smirked.

"Leave." He said and both the maids left the room. I would have said the man was handsome if not for his creepy and evil smirk.

This is Giovanni... The guy from the hospital.. Is he the Master of this house?

I got up from the chair with some difficulty and looked him in the eyes.

"Why am I here?" I asked him but he shrugged.

"No reason darling, just thought you'd be safer here."

"From who?" I asked and he grinned.

"No one in particular."

"What is this place?" I asked him again but he shook his head.

"Can't reveal the location now can we darling." He said and in two long strides he was in front of me, caging me between the dressing and himself, so that his breath fanned my face. He reeked of cigarette smoke, and I averted my gaze from his eyes, looking down.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with you darling, I can see why Ace was so attached to you. We're going to have a lot of fun." He said and grabbed me by my arm, dragging me along with him and took me outside the room an across the hallway.

I could feel the again in my injuries since I wasn't fully healed yet but he didn't care or slow down.

There were guards everywhere, and house staff that looked at us with wide eyes as we passed them. We went to a door at the end of the corridor and he pressed a button, opening the doors which I assumed was an elevator.

"W-where are you taking me?" I asked him when the elevator started moving and he smirked at me.

"To give you a taste of what Ace does for a living. And me too." He said, his lips curving into an evil grin when he grabbed my arm again and dragged me across a dimly lit place when the elevator opened.

"Stop. I said stop, please, you're hurting me." I winced at his strong grip on my arm that would probably leave a bruise, and we went inside what I assumed was a cell, and immediately a metallic smell engulfed me, making me gag.

Blood.

I panicked and tried to pry my arm out of his hands but his grip hardened as he shoved me towards a guard who caught my arms and turned me to face a man who was tied up in a chair, unconscious.

My eyes widened in panic as I looked at the blood flowing down the side of his head but the guard kept his hold on me.

"Why am I here? Please let me go! What did I do to you?" I pleaded with him but Giovanni clicked his tongue.

"Nothing personal darling, it's just business." He said and signaled to one of his men who threw a bucket of water on the unconscious man who woke up with a start, his eyes darting around the room rapidly but then stopped at Giovanni and widened in fear.

"Glad you're awake Emilio, now we can begin the show." He said and grabbed a knife from the table and walked towards the man slowly.

"Now tell me. Why did you steal the guns from our warehouse in Sicily?" Giovanni asked him but the man shook his head.

"It wasn't me, I swear, please, it wasn't me!" He pleaded but Giovanni shook his head.

"Really? It was you in the cameras. We have proof. Now tell me, why?" He asked but the man just shook his head again.

"I did go there but I swear I didn't steal anything, I was framed, you have to believe me." The man begged but Giovanni chuckled.

"Ah, what a shame if your pretty face got ruined." He said and suddenly struck the knife across his face, leaving a large cut on his cheek from which blood flowed freely.

The man screamed in pain and I closed my eyes, unable to take the sight but my eyes were forced open by the guard.

"Come on now darling keep your eyes open. We can't have you missing all the fun, you're our guest of honor!" Giovanni said as tears pricked my eyes and started to flow down.

Just then the man screamed and when I looked his way the knife had been stuck in his thigh. I hissed in displeasure while Giovanni chuckled.

A guard came and whispered something in his came and Giovanni's face turned one of displeasure before he composed himself and looked at me.

"Now my darling, you will give me some answers truthfully and this man's life might be spared." He said and my eyes widened.

"W-what? What do you want from me?!" I shouted at him and he chuckled.

"Love the enthusiasm. First, how did you meet Ace. Come on now, don't be shy." He said and inched closer to me, running his bloody knuckles on my cheek.

"C-Café near my college. I-I bumped in-into h-him." I stuttered and he seemed to think for a moment.

"And?"

"I-I bumped in-into him multiple times at different places." told him and he regarded me carefully and grabbed my chin, pulling me to look into his eyes.

"Proof?" He asked

"W-what? I don't have proof but you have to trust me! Please! I didn't even know him, he just popped out of nowhere!" I exclaimed and he nodded once, narrowing his eyes at me.

"How did you meet Jake?" He asked.

"N-Nico introduced me to him at the same café we met." I said and he cocked his head to a side and looked at me intently then dropped his hand from my face and went towards a table, picking some kind of dagger and going back to the man.

"Now, next question. Why did you leave Ace?" He asked me and my heart started to beat even faster than before.

"H-he was engaged to someone else. Some girl named Sofia." I said and looked down, only to hear deafening screams from the man.

My head snapped up and I screamed at the sight. Blood, so much blood as Giovanni gauged his eyes and the man screamed in pain.

"Lies! All lies!" He shouted and came to me, grabbing me by my neck and pulled my face closer to him.

"I want the truth. Why. did. you. leave Ace." He repeated, clearly angry while I whimpered in his hold.

"Please, I'm telling the truth..." I struggled to get the words out, choked by my own sobs and in one sift motion he puled out a gun and shot the man in the head and I shouted.

"No! Please! Why did you do that?! He was innocent! You sick monster!" I screamed and his grip tightened.

"Shut up you bitch!" He shouted and slapped me on my face, hard. And before I knew it, my body gave up and my eyes closed before my head hit the hard floor.

"Dove!" I heard his voice and latched onto it, pulling myself out but I was stuck in the dark abyss, so I held tighter, gasping for air desperately.

* NICHOLAS *

She squirmed and screamed, trying to get out of my hold but I held onto her while she thrashed around.

"Please, no he was innocent! Please don't kill him, please! I'll tell you everything! I didn't want to leave Nico, I didn't please you have to believe me!" She screamed while I calmed her down.

"Dove please, I'm right here, look at me." I held her face with hands and made her look at me, her beautiful blue eyes filled with fear and so much pain.

"Look at me, Nico, I'm right here, I won't leave you ever again, please, come back to me." I whispered and she stopped moving around as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Nico?" She whispered and I nodded slowly, when she suddenly embraced me, sobbing into my shoulder.

"Please don't leave me Nico, please I'm so scared, he killed them all, he killed them all and made me see it. He made me see it." She said into my shoulder while I rubbed her back slowly and kissed her head.

"It's alright love, it's okay, I'm here. He'll never get you now." I whispered sweet nothings into his ears until she calmed down and fell back asleep.

I'll make sure your beautiful eyes don't have to see anything like that again.