Metanoia

Chapter 25

Seven years ago, three days after Darcy Russo was kidnapped.

Darcy's cries for help could barely be heard over the sound of screaming and wails of pain that echoed through the cold, damp dungeon. 

She attempted to free her hands from the tight rope restraining her but it was no use, she was stuck.

Darcy's sobs were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the metal cell door clanking open. The black hood was pulled from off her head, finally giving her an opportunity to analyse her surroundings.

It took a moment for her eyes to readjust but when they did she was met with the face of an older man staring at her intently.

"Darcy Russo, oh have I heard so much about you," The man chuckled sinisterly. "You must be confused, my name is Ivan," He stated.

Darcy was confused. Not only did this piece of information not clear up the situation at all but the man also looked as if he wanted her to react. The name Ivan didn't ring a bell at all she thought.

"Hm, well you have your brothers to thank for your little predicament," He mocked, motioning towards herself being tied to a chair.

This caught her attention. How does he know my brothers? She thought.

"You see Darcy, I had a perfectly reasonable deal all lined up for your foolish brother but he decided his little mafia was more important than your life," Ivan said frustratedly.

The look of confusion must have been evident on Darcy's face because Ivan started laughing wickedly. "Oh! You didn't know," He continued chuckling.

"You didn't know that your brothers are in the mafia? Not even in it, they run it." He corrected himself, still finding this situation hilarious.

Darcy wasn't entirely sure what a mafia was so this information didn't get the reaction Ivan was looking for.

"Aren't you listening?" He said angrily, pulling his phone out from his pocket. After tapping on it for a few moments he approached Darcy's chair, filling her with a sense of dread and anxiety.

He pulled up a video from an ambush on his territory only a few months before the Russo brothers found Darcy in that dingy orphanage. 

Looking at the video, Darcy immediately recognised her brothers, Lorenzo, Arlo, Dante, Alonzo and Gabriele were all present.

Darcy began shaking, watching the video of her brothers ruthlessly shoot, stab and decapitate anyone they came across. 

"See, your brothers are bad, bad people," He said, stroking her hair in a 'comforting' manner but it only made Darcy feel revolted.

"They kill innocent people that were just doing there jobs," He sighed. He then moved from his position at Darcy's side back to in front of her and lifted her tear stricken face with his finger.

"Darcy your brothers are the sole reason you're down here, they gave you up in exchange for power," Ivan explained, completely lying through his teeth but Darcy was starting to believe him. She didn't know her brothers at all, she thought.

"See, they don't even care that you're gone," He said, showing her a picture of her brothers laughing and playing a card game. 

Darcy began crying harder at this revelation, unaware that this picture was taken hours before the Russo brothers even realised Darcy wasn't safely in her room.

After a few minutes of silence Ivan began talking again, "Okay Darcy, here's what's going to happen," He said condescendingly. "Since your brothers don't want you back, my plan to exchange you for resources has been fooled, instead we're going to extract their secrets from you," He stated matter of factly.

"I don't know anything," Darcy rushed out in between sobs. Ivan scoffed, finding that hard to believe but it was the truth.

"There's no point in lying Darcy, my men will get it out of you either way," He promised as he exited the room.

Darcy spent the next six years in that cell.

The Russian mafia had a very particular method of torture, they'd harm you until the brink of death and then heal you just to repeat the process.

They often used electro shock therapy as a form of torture to try and gain information from their enemies. No matter how many times Darcy would plead with them to believe that she didn't know anything about her brother's illegal business, she would still end up getting the highest voltage.

This was Darcy's most dreaded form of torture as not only did it bring unimaginable pain but it also effected her body long after it was over, leaving her disoriented and with frequent seizers.

Darcy became an empty shell of the person she used to be.

All the love and light was beat out of her, now she only harboured hatred and resentment towards her brothers, towards the world.

While Darcy was suffering in his dungeon, Ivan Volkov was undergoing his own crisis.

Expecting Lorenzo Russo's mafia to crumble after the loss of his sister, Ivan patiently waited for a weak spot to appear in Lorenzo's defence, but it never came.

Ivan sent assassin after assassin to Italy to kill the Italian mafia's leader but a photo of their dismembered corpses was sent back to him every time. He remained at an impasse for years until he had a genius idea.

What if he sent an assassin that they wouldn't dare to kill.