- 6 7-

- H E A T H E R - E L I A S -

"Mommy!" I yelled, grabbing my mother's attention whose head whipped back to look at me, a big smile spreading across her face and her soft, hazel eyes gleaming with happiness.

"Oh my baby girl, you caught me!" She exclaimed, faking a pout and I giggled, running around her in my new pink dress that she and daddy bought me.

"Caught you, caught you!" I squealed, pulling at her bright red dress that flared at the waist as she twirled around with me.

"Come on baby, dance with me!" She said grabbing my hand and pulled me with her towards the living room, playing the music and got into position with a big smile.

"Ready, sweetheart?" She asked and I nodded, mimicking her actions when the music began.

We both danced to the tune, twirling around the empty space and laughing to our heart's content until we were tired and plopped down onto our white couch, breathing hard.

"Tired?" She asked me but I shook my head.

"I could go again!" I said and heard her soft laughter.

"Of course you can. Keep smiling and laughing like that baby, and dance to your heart's content." She said softly and I giggled.

"I'll be a dancer when I grow up, just like you!"

"Of course you will, but you know what? You'll be even better." She said proudly and I smiled wide before jumping off the couch.

"Can we play hide and seek again mommy? Please?" I pouted at her and heard her chuckle.

"Of course sweetheart, go hide, it's my turn to find you." She said and I jumped up and down excited as she turned around with her hands on her eyes and started counting.

"One... Two... Three..." She started and I squealed, running away from her and upstairs in our cabin.

I hastily looked at the various rooms in the hallway and stopped at Alex's.

No, Alex would get mad.

Mommy says he's a moody drama queen.

Looking at mine, I decided it would be easy for mommy and then turned to Anton's room.

Perfect!

I ran inside and scrunched my face up when I saw a shirt covered in blood lying in his laundry basket and two guns left out carelessly on his desk.

He's so messy!

I'll tell daddy, and he'll scold him for being so careless!

Running into his wardrobe, I giggled when his fluffy and big coats tickled me as I settled at the back.

"Ready or not, here I come!" I heard her sweet voice echo in the house and covered my mouth with my palm to control my laughter.

A few minutes passed and I heard nothing until a loud bang was heard and I flinched at the loud sound.

Maybe mommy dropped something.

Thinking it must be a vase she dropped accidentally because mommy was really clumsy sometimes, like daddy said, she was a walking hazard.

She was so funny sometimes!

But then there were a few more loud bangs and what sounded like a door being slammed open.

"Find them!" I heard a deep and scary voice say and whimpered when there were more crashes and loud bangs.

Feeling scared, I remembered what daddy had told me to do in case something like this ever happened, to go to the safe room in his room or his office and stay there until he or my brothers get me.

Quietly, I peeked out the large wardrobe and carefully tiptoed out of the room, gasping at all the broken things in the hallway.

Did someone break in?

Feeling really scared, I tried making a run for it for daddy's office since it was closer than his room but someone caught my arm and pulled me back.

"I found a girl. Looks like he has a daughter as well." A scary and big man with tattoos and a black mask on his face said looking at me with an evil smile and I shuddered, tears forming in my eyes.

"P-please, let me go mister." I whimpered as he harshly pulled me along with him and chuckled.

"Or what?" He sneered at me.

"O-Or my daddy's going t-to h-hurt you. A-And so is A-Anton." I stuttered and his his deep chuckle.

"Shut it, kid. The boss is going to be happy when he sees you." He said lowly and I screamed and flung my arms around while he tried to pull me with him and slapped me when he couldn't control me.

I whimpered at the impact, my cheek stinging and hurting from the sharp blow as I felt something flowing down the side of my cheek.

"Stay the hell away from my daughter!" My mother suddenly yelled and hit the man's head with something, making him fall down to the floor with a thud.

"Mommy!" I ran towards my mother, but then froze in place when I saw her bruised cheek and bloody clothes which were a little torn and tears in her eyes as she hugged me tightly.

"Oh my baby girl, are you okay?" She wiped my tears and I nodded.

"I'm scared mommy, who are they? Where's daddy?" I whimpered.

"Daddy's coming sweetheart, I've alerted him. I'm right beside you baby girl, and I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." She said softly and kissed my forehead as we turned to the the stairs.

But just as we were about to go down, we then saw the trail of fire burning the stairs and coming up.

"Mommy, i-it's fire!" I yelled and she looked around scared before running with me towards the window.

Using a gun that was hidden in a drawer in her shelf, she told me to cover my ears and I did as told just as she shot a few times at the window, making the glass shatter.

Grabbing a chair, she removed the glass in our way and tugged at my hand.

"We're going to have to jump and run to the safe house baby, can you be a brave girl for mommy and help me out?" She asked, and I nodded frantically as she helped me up to the window.

I climbed up, feeling a sting above my left arm's elbow. I winced and hissed at the sudden pain that shot through my arm.

"Mommy, I'm hurt..." I whimpered and saw her scared eyes look into mine.

"I know baby, just a little longer and I'll bandage you up, okay?" She said.

I nodded, watching as she got up beside me and held my hand, counting to three before we both jumped down into the snow.

It was so cold, really, really cold as my mommy pulled me towards the small safehouse daddy had shown us a few days ago.

Typing in the code, she took us in and locked the door securely, pressing a red button near the desk.

"Don't worry sweetheart, daddy should be on his way back, we'll be safe here." She pulled me closer to her and kissed my temple while I shuddered because of the cold.

What felt like forever was only a few hours in reality that passed and I could see my nails turning a purple blue even when my mother was holding me close to her to keep out the cold.

"I-I'm r-really c-cold, mommy." I whispered, my breath coming out in pants.

"I know sweetheart, just a bit longer. Hold on for mommy, and then we'll have hot chocolate when we're out of here with daddy and Alex and Anton, okay?" She asked in my ear and I nodded.

I was a big girl, I could handle myself.

"With marshmallows?"

"With marshmallows, loads of them." She said and I smiled a bit.

"Daddy's coming for us, isn't he?" I asked looking into her warm eyes and saw her small smile behind the tears.

"Yes baby, he's coming." She whispered, placing kisses all over my face and holding me closer to her body to retain our body heat.

Just then, we heard someone type into the keypad and the sound of the metal door creaking as someone tried to push it open.

"Hush baby, I think that's your father." She said peering from behind the desk when a loud bang made us both flinch.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." A deep and manly voice spoke, making me shudder.

"Grace, dear, I know you're here." He spoke again and mom looked at me alarmed.

"Stay here baby, and don't come out, no matter what, okay?" She whispered and I nodded slowly just as she slipped out to face whoever had come in.

"Mommy, who is it?" I asked tugging at her dress when she smiled a bit at me.

"Italians, baby, don't worry, they won't hurt us. Hopefully." She murmured the last part under her breath but I heard her and frowned, watching her go while I peeked through the side.

"Where's my husband, did he send you?" Mommy asked the scary looking man with tattoos who smiled a bit.

"Your husband, is at a meeting, so I thought I'd pop in and say hi." He said looking around the safe house.

"You need to leave before he returns. And besides, you can't hurt me, you're under a deal with us." Mommy said somewhat fearlessly but I knew she was scared the way she was clutching her tattered dress tightly.

The man laughed a bit and so did the men with weapons behind him before I heard a click and the man in the front pulled out his gun, pointing it at my mommy.

I wasn't a baby to know what he was going to do, so I ignored my mother's warning and ran out, standing in front of my mother like protection.

The man's eyes snapped downwards to me and his eyes sparkled with interest.

"And who might this be?" He asked looking between me and my mother before smiling so widely I thought his face would break.

"Don't tell me she's your daughter. Looks just like you." He said and then bent to my level, squatting down and looking at me.

"What's your name gattina?" He asked me when I gulped, looking into his scary looking and cold, brown eyes.

"Heather." I mumbled slowly as a small grin tugged at his lips.

"Heather. What a pretty name." He said.

"C-Can you please not hurt my mommy?" I said in a small voice as he looked back up at my nervous and scared mother.

"Thea, baby, go back, please." My mother pleaded but I shook my head. I was not going to let them hurt my mommy.

"You see, Heather, your daddy has been a very bad friend to me, so I have to take something from him, because he took something from me." He said and I frowned slightly.

"Then you should talk to daddy." I muttered and heard his sigh.

"I'm afraid your daddy doesn't want to talk. So I won't talk either." He said and stood back up to his full height and pointed the gun at me.

"So I'll send him a little present instead and then he'll talk." He said and my mother's frantic pleads reached my ears while I felt dizzy from the cold.

"Leave my daughter alone, I beg you, take me instead, please." My mother cried, hiding me behind her when the man chuckled darkly and shook his head, clicking his gun.

"Alright then. I'll leave your daughter, as a sign of mercy." He said and looked back at me, his cold brown eyes showing madness.

"And when you see your father, Heather dear, tell him this: La misericordia, dicono, rende il mondo un po' meno crudele e un po' più giusto. Vediamo cosa ti fa." He said.

But before I could comprehend what had even happened, a loud bang made me scream and cover my ears before it sounded again, twice.

I opened my eyes, tears falling down at the sight of my mother laying flat on the ground with blood pooling around her.

"Mommy!" I screamed, looking around but the men were gone, and there was no other sign for help.

I bent down next to her, trying to stop the blood from flowing from her chest as she struggled to speak.

"Look at me sweetheart, look at mommy." She said while I cried, looking into her warm hazel eyes, full of love.

"I love you, so much, sweetheart. Tell Anton and Alex I loved them too, even your daddy. So very much. And I want you-" She started to cough as I held onto her soft hand tightly.

"I want you to grow up to be my brave little girl. Now, I want you to go behind the desk, press the red button under there and close your eyes, sing our favourite song until daddy comes for you, okay?" She asked but I shook my head.

"I-I can't, I can't l-leave you here." I sniffled when she tried to smile at me.

"I love you baby girl, stay safe, and I know you'll grow up into a wonderful and beautiful young woman. My brave baby girl, go, and don't look back." She whispered, giving my forehead one last kiss and smiling one last time until her eyes fluttered shut.

"Mommy, no, please, daddy will be so sad, please don't go to sleep!" I whimpered, holding onto her warm hands that were growing colder by the second.

And I stayed there.

I stayed there, looking at my mother's lifeless body for hours and hours until the doors were thrown open.

"Thea, darling, look at me." Anton shook me, his eyes red and then daddy who was looking at mommy with a sad expression.

"Dad, come here, she's in shock. Dad!" Anton yelled at daddy, pulling him to me who wiped away a few tears from his eyes before coming to me.

"Thea, my baby girl." He pulled me close to his chest, but I didn't cry.

I couldn't feel anything because I was numb, listening to my father's fast heartbeat as he cried while holding onto me and Anton ordered our men around and then Alex who sat in a corner quietly, looking at us until I felt everything go black.

"Heather? Heather wake up. Please, darling, you're dreaming." I heard Anton's voice but it was much deeper as I searched for him in the darkness.

"Anton, please, they have mom, you have to help her, please!" I screamed as someone tried to hold me down and in place.

"Thea, wake up..." I heard Ivan's voice tried to shake me awake while I looked for my mother desperately, clawing for air as I tried to breathe.

"Please, help her..." I pleaded, my cries drowning until my eyes shot open.

"Thank fuck." Anton sighed, hugging me close to him as Alex and Ivan stood close to my bed.

"Ana. Check her." Anton ordered and she immediately came forward in her night gown and checked me thoroughly.

"How are you feeling?" She asked softly but I didn't utter a single word, just sat there and stayed numb while everyone looked at me concerned.

"It was him." I finally murmured as the pin drop silence around us become heavy with tension.

"He killed my mother." I muttered, my hands twitching as I looked into Anton's red eyes.

"I remember, Ant. La misericordia, dicono, rende il mondo un po' meno crudele e un po' più giusto. Vediamo cosa ti fa." I whispered, feeling the words flow from my tongue easily and Anton's eyes nodded.

"Mercy, they say, makes the world a little less cruel and a little more just. Let's see what it does to you." Anton whispered, because he knew Italian when I gulped, swallowing the emotion in my throat.

"Heather? Who said that, darling?" Anton asked confused while the tears fell down from my eyes as I looked at both my brothers.

"Ferruccio Angelo killed our mother." I whispered and saw their shock stricken faces before I felt the world go black again.

He killed my mother.