- 8 7 -

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

I knew something was off about the house I was in. It seemed so... eerie. And creepy. Very creepy. And I'm pretty sure I heard screams from the basement. Screams of women.

Today was my second day here and after deciding to kick he door open, I found out it was actually unlocked, which was weird considering Ferruccio had locked it the last time he was here.

So naturally, my first instinct was to get the hell out of here.

But when I finally made it to the front door, a bullet whizzed by me, making me fall to the floor instantly to protect myself.

When I looked up, I saw Igor walking down the stairs with a smug grin, tucking his gun into the holster on his waist as I stood up slowly with a hand in front of me to protect myself.

"Thea, darling, what are you doing here?" He asked and I scowled as I glared at him.

"I'm cooking lunch for you, what does it look like, jackass?" I spat and his grin got wider as he walked to me, his chest nearly touching my outstretched hand as he glanced down at it briefly before looking back at me with a curious and calculating gaze.

"Put down your hand, we both know it won't do you any good." He said matter of factly and I stood straighter, my blood pumping.

"Is that a challenge, Malev?" I asked in a challenging tone when he narrowed his eyes at me before shaking his head softly.

"Did you eat breakfast?" He asked, referring to the steaming plate of food I saw when I woke up.

"I'm taking your silence as a no." He muttered and grabbed my outstretched hand and tugged me to him but I twisted his hand instead, making him grunt in pain.

I kicked him in the stomach, making him fall to the floor as I made a run for it in the opposite direction only for my foot to be pulled at as I fell to the floor, hitting my head.

I groaned in pain and clutched the side of my pounding head when he straddled me, holding my hands but his grip wasn't that tight nor was he putting all his weight on me so I used my legs to flip him over so that now I was on top.

He landed on his back onto the marble floor with an 'oomph' but before I could do anything else, I was pulled back my hair harshly and yelped in pain.

"Leave her be!" Igor's voice boomed when the man who had pulled me away from on top of him released me immediately and I fell to the floor.

The second my hands touched the cold floor two gunshots rang in the air and I looked behind and saw the same man who had pulled my hair on the ground with blood pooling out of his chest now.

Shit.

"Anybody touches her without my permission meets the same fate as him!" He shouted and I noticed his men bow his heads down in respect, or perhaps fear, while my heart thumped wildly in my chest as Igor helped me stand up after a stare down with me.

I knew messing with him right now wasn't the best idea so I let him pull me with him.

"Where are we?" I asked him as he walked back to the room I was in and I made sure to look properly around to see any places I could escape from, but to my utter disappointment, all the windows were sealed and all the rooms locked.

Great.

"The Milan Estate." Igor said and I frowned, the name somewhat familiar but I couldn't remember where I'd heard it.

"I'm in Milan?" I muttered to myself, mostly, but he heard it and hummed once.

"Ths is Feruccio's house." He said and I gulped at the man's name.

We entered back in the room and he shoved me inside, closing the door behind him and looking at me with an odd look in his eyes.

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked, almost fearful of the answer but put on a brave front anyway.

"What do you want me to do to you, darling?" He asked with a playful gaze, making me scowl as I looked around the room and grabbed the glass of water, emptying its contents on his face.

He closed his eyes briefly when the water hit his face while I smirked.

He opened his cold eyes, looking at me with anger simmering in them as my smirk fell before lunging at me, he threw me onto the bed.

My eyes widened as I tried to push him off me, my heart racing and my mind conjuring up various scenarios, all of which horrified me.

"S-Stop! Get off me!" I shouted and trid to kick him but he pressed his legs onto mine and held both my hands above my head with one of his hands.

The backs of my eyes started to burn with unshed tears as he held me captive as I writhed under him, the look in his eyes all too familiar.

I don't like this.

"P-Please, don't do this, Igor." I whispered in an attempt to get through to him when he sneered at me, using his free hand to stroke my cheek tenderly but with an underlying threat and danger I knew was just waiting to come up to the surface.

"So beautiful, and all mine." He mumured under his breath and my whole body froze, eyes wide as he leaned down towards my neck and started kissing me there.

Fuck, no.

"N-No, please don't." I whimpered, a sob finally breaking out of me and tears flowing down my face as he continued to assault my neck, sucking and biting the skin but all I felt was disgust.

I need Roman, I need him to save me.

I couldn't utter a single word nor scream, it as as if a lump had lodged itself in my throat and didn't let me speak or shout for help.

I cried silently when he pecked my cheek, wiping my tears away as he gazed at me.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" He muttered and I spat at his face, making him sigh in annoyance.

"Fuck you." I snapped at him, chocking on a sob as he got up from on top of me and cleaned his face with a napkin.

"Be a good girl for me and don't cause any trouble." He said, giving me a hard look before leaving the room and closing the door, but not locking it.

I curled up into a ball and hugged my knees to the chest as I lay on my side, utterly disgusted by myself and feeling so shameful as tears contnued to fall from my eyes without pause.

I silently cried myself to sleep with only one thought on my mind.

I let another man touch me.

"Was it right? Or left?" I whispered to myself and looked at the two hallways before assuring myself it was the left one and went down, finally making it to the front door.

Quietly looking around and making sure no one was there, I turned the handle but it was locked and groaned loudly, not caring if anyone heard me.

It's not as if I could escape now anyway.

Walking around the eerily quiet and lonely estate, I wandered around in search of something, anything, and even tried opening the doors but the were all locked and decided to go back to my room.

I was about to go back inside when my eyes caught sight of a doorway down the hall I hadn't yet tried opening yet.

Walking down the hall with one look around, I opened the door and to my surprise, it was unlocked.

I pushed it open and and went inside, closing the door behind me softly.

Looking around what I assumed was a child's room, and a boy's at that, I walked around.

My eyes caught a bookshelf and I ran my hand over the spines of the children's horror and crime as well as mystery stories and smiled, looking at the large window which showed the view of a beautiful and glimmering lake with a forest to a side.

Tearing my eyes fom the beautiful view, I looked at the neat bed and the silky blue sheets on it which looked fresh and clean for a place like this.

There was not a sign of dust in sight as I walked over the the study table, looking at the pictures placed neatly on it and my eyes widened as I gazed at them.

"Is that...?" I trailed off as I looked at the tan-skinned boy, not more than nine or ten years old standing in front of what seemed like a lake and a forest nearby, looking somewhere in the distance with a smile.

I looked back at the view from the window and recognized it as the one in the picture.

His eyes were squinting, two dimples decorating his cheeks and I knew instantly who this was as my hands ran over the picture and I sniffled.

"Roman..." I whispered, putting down the picture and picking up another one of the same boy being held by a woman, both of them smiling wide and laughing as the mother tried to hold his son in her arms.

She was wearing sunglasses and a hat and a beautiful summer dess, the boy dressed up in shorts and a white polo hirt, looking a little bit older over here with his ruffled wavy hair and the woman's curly hair.

It didn't even tak me a moment to know that was Roman and Lilac.

The next picture showed Lilac laying on the grass with a big smile as the sun shone down on her and she had a hand raised in front of her eyes to shield her from the blinding sunlight.

I saw a paper peeking out from a book placed on the table and put the picture down as it was and picked up the book, smiling through the tears as I glanced at the title.

It was 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens and I wondered how old he was when he read this.

I pulled out the paper, which was actually a photograph, opening the page it was placed in and read the first few lines on the page first.

"Love her, love her, love her! If she favours you, love her. If she wounds you, love her. If she tears your heart to pieces – and as it gets older and stronger, it will tear deeper – love her, love her, love her!"

My heart swelled for some reason and skipped a beat, only for my breath to fall short I gazed at the picture in my hand.

It was... me. But how?

I knew where I was and how old I was when this photograph was taken.

It was the day of my engagement party to Igor, and I was wearing a beautiful off-white dress, smiling at something.

I remember the moment, I still did.

I remember talking to my brothers and laughing at something they said when I felt somone's gaze on me and looked in the direction to find emerald green eyes staring back at me.

I kept the smile on my face, not knowing when a photographer took my picture without me knowing before my attention was snatched away by my fiance, Igor himself, and I shrugged off the weird feeling I got when I looked at those eyes, and that man.

But I had forgotten it, I thought.

I read the quote over and over again, reciting it to memory and clutching the book and picture close to my heart.

He loved me then, and he loves me now.

And I know he'll come for me.

As soon as the thought came, my eyes caught a bunch of newspapers peeking out from a shelf under the table.

I placed the book safely back, tucking the photograph back where it previously was before pulling out all the newspapers, skimming over the headlines as I felt my blood getting colder with each passing second.

Murder at The Milan Estate, Owner Unaware.

Missing Women Found Cut Up in Pieces in Lake Behind The Milan Estate.

Children Found Unconsious with signs of Abuse All Over Their Bodies Near Milan Estate.

Men Fed to Animals Near The Milan Estate's Forest.

Another Gruesome Killing at The Milan Estate.

Lilac Angelo Found Dead at The Milan Estate, Brutally Mudered. Husband and Son in Mourning.

My heart dropped when I heard footsteps from behind me and turned around swiftly, watching the murderer himself grinning slyly at me.

"I see you've found Roman's room." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around the room with a bored look before his gaze fell to the newspapers in my hands and catching the headlines, his grin only grew wider.

"And I see you've learnt about this estate's history." He said and my blood froze over, heart thundering in my ears as I watched him cautiously, my hands clutching the papers with a death grip.

"What is this place, really?" I asked with a shaky voice when he smirked, looking me over.

"This, my dear, is where all the horrors take place. And now, you get to see them firsthand." He said cheerfully when I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a step back when he took one forward.

"Not much, my dear. Enjoy your stay while you can." He said with a suspiciously calm tone as he walked out of the room, whistling to himself while I stood there absolutely terrified out of my wits.

I clutched Roman's book to my chest along with the newspapers and walked back to my room briskly, not once looking back and closed the door firmly behind me.

Sitting on the bed, I read through all the articles carefully, my fear growing with each passing second and each word that I read, swallowing thickly.

I put the papers away and hid the book under my pillow and laid down, staring at the wall aimlessly before sleep finally came to me.

That night was probably the worst night of my existence. Because that was the night Igor came in drunk and tried to force himself on me, kissed my neck, tore apart my clothes and shred my dignity.

The moment I heard the belt buckle being opened I tried to fight him off but he was obviously stronger than me but in his drunk state, he was also a little slow.

I smashed the glass on his head and pushed him away from me, running into the bathroom to hide and locked the door behind me.

I slid down the door and sobbed into my hands, only raisng my yes to look in the full length mirror in front of me and crying even more when I saw my torn clothes and the marks on my body he had deliberately left.

He pounded on the door while I trembled violently, shouting at me and threatening me.

"Come out of there or I'll break down this door!" He shouted, screaming insults and curses before he quieted down and I heard the bedroom door slam shut.

But I didn't dare open the bathroom door in case he was playing tricks on me and stayed inside all night, falling asleep with my knees hugged to my chest and my back to the door.

In the morning, I finally peeked out of the bathroom and saw a fresh pair of clothes on the bed and quickly took them inside the bathroom, taking a shower with scalding hot water.

I tried to remove the filth and his touches and kisses off from my body until my skin was red after rubbing and scrubbing it so much.

Today was the third day, and wasn't any better because it started with a harsh slap to the face by Ferruccio and then a beating with a belt.

He had shoved me into the bed an my head had hit the corner, making my vision blurry as I felt something warm trickle down the side of my face.

"You're a bitch, and a whore, just like your mother." He spat as he struck me again wth the belt and I yelped in pain.

I fumbled arund for something when I cut my hand on a peice of glass from last night and picked it up quetly, clutching it tightly in my hand as I felt it dig painfuly into my skin.

Only when he slowed down did I take my chance, lunging at him and slashed at his arm, making blood pool out of the deep cut when he hissed in pain and grabbed my hair, pulling my head back.

"I never got to fuck your mother, but I bet it'd be better to do you." He snarled in my ear and I thrashed around in his firm grip as he squeezed my throat and choked me while I fought to breathe.

I grabbed at his hand that was choking me while the other held his belt as he looked at me with a crazed look in his eyes that had me trembling violently before I heard a gunshot.

I was immediately released, falling to the ground and clutching my throat to catch my breath as I coughed violently, trying to breathe properly again when I heard him.

"Angel."