Her Family

Chapter - 34

Marcello strolled on the streets of Italy like he knew the place. This land was familiar but also unfamiliar. Memories pooled in his mind as he walked along. The little shops, and houses, and trees, all reminded him of something, Love. Sure a lot had changed but his heart was still there in those lands, in those memories.

He walked into a series of empty streets and reached a lake. The sun had completely set and the darkness prevailed. He was reminded of a time when darkness meant mystery and not pain. His eyes longed for something, searching the green scapes of land.

He dug his hands into his pockets to keep from the cold. He went further near the lake. The moon glistened in the reflection of water.  He saw his face in the water, his lifeless eyes, sunken cheeks, the dark bands under his eyes. The reflection revealed scars, not only physical but emotional. He'd come back again to the land that took everything away from him.

He sat on the grass and leaned back. He closed his eyes hoping the the wind would take him away.

A little boy was running around with a ball in his hand. His cheeks flushed with his smile a mile long. He ran away from his sister with the ball.  She being older caught up with him. She leaped onto her brother in an attempt to catch him. The siblings rolled across the soft grass, laughing and giggling the entire time. 

They played catch with each other. The ball bounced from their hands merrily as if it could feel the joy they had.

A woman, their mother called for her kids. She had prepared a picnic for the family to have by the lake. The father went searching for his kids. He smiled to himself seeing his kids bond. He sneaked around and caught them by their waist, hoisted both of them on his strong shoulders, and walked over to his wife. The kids burst out with laughter enjoying the ride. 

He put his kids down gently on the picnic blanket and kissed his wife softly. She smiled softly, content seeing her beautiful family.

A family full of joy, love, affection and hope. A heart full of joy and eyes full of life. Not an ounce of fear or terror was seen in their eyes. 

As if life couldn't contain the joy it took everything away. The happy family was gone and only a broken child remained. An empty heart with walls built up so high that no one could break in. The insufferable pain felt made an armor to protect the broken soul.

A lone tear trickled down Marcello's cheek. His chest heaved up and down with shaky breaths. He calmed himself down and embraced the silence.

After a good two hours, he walked back to the hotel. He was never good at managing emotions but today he felt a little lighter. A micro piece of his soul had been placed back. He sunk into his bed and dozed off.

Marcello got up in the morning and got ready. He went to the downstairs restaurant to see Jake stuffing himself with food. 

"All that for you, eh ?" Marcello asked pointing to the enormous spread of food. 

"Yeah. The food's real good here, I've got a big appetite. and I ain't need to pay," Jake said.
"You were gone for a long time Mar, You okay now ?" he asked.

"Yeah," Marcello said. He had a croissant and coffee. Both the guys checked out and waited in the lobby for the car.

"You got everything ?" Marcello asked.

"I've got an undetectable recording and camera device disguised in my shirt button. A gun in my waistband," Jake replied.

"I've got a couple knives strapped and a gun. There will be a weapon search, we'll probably lose the guns there," Marcello said.

At precisely 8, a black SUV arrived. Only Carlo was in. The guys got in and Carlo drove off to the warehouse. He parked the car on some barren land. Marcello and Jake got out, surprised to see no building in sight.

"You'll need to lose your vision and hearing for the next part," Carlo said. He put a closed balaclava-like mask on both of them and noise-cancelling headphones. He made them walk for about 20 minutes.

 The constant crunching of twigs and leaves under his feet said that they were in deep forest. Marcello sensed that they had gone downhill. The damp, earthy smell, sudden cement floor all confirmed that he was in an underground chamber.

They went further into the tunnel, and went up an elevator. Both men were pushed into a room. Jake stumbled a little but Marcello held his ground. Marcello was surprised that there was no weapon or spyware search before entering a confidential meeting when such high level of security was ensured. It all seemed pretty dumb and useless.

The headphones were taken back, the balaclava was roughly taken off both their heads. Both Marcello and Jake couldn't see clearly for a moment. Once their eyes adjusted to the light they came in face with the one and only, Italian Mafia Donna, Adrienna Morana Moretti.