She was just confused at first.

She just thought that the manor was a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. Luca didn't know. She should've seen it sooner, she should've seen their grimace, their hatred towards the place. Thinking about it now, Luca wanted to whine and cry about how naive she was, how she didn't notice it sooner. She'd even asked her family if they were going inside the place. It just seemed like something out of a fairytale.

Now, it seems like it came out of her nightmares, only this time, it was real and it was more mortifying than in her dreams. Luca was scared of having nightmares but this time, she was willing to have it as long as it was only a dream and that she'll wake up in her room with her family to greet her with kisses and hugs.

Her family here is cold and calculative, their gazes were sharp, their words were knifes and knives are dangerous, right?

Even Pierre, her sweet Piyah, but at least he was comforting her from time to time.

Still, that didn't ease Luca. Not one bit. He didn't help at all. She was still shaking. Her head was spinning and her heart was pounding so loudly as she try, trying to swallow the scene before her, trying not to puke at the smell of blood, trying so hard to be brave.

Luca feels vulnerable and alone and scared. Mostly scared. Terrified even. The room feels cold, it feels so painfully cold even though it was packed with people. People whose eyes were uncomfortably watching her like him. People who were killing innocent lives like him. People with a sick sense of humour like him.

Luca forced herself to calm down. Her heart was aching, her chest felt tight, like no air was given to her at all and her palms felt clammy and was shaking uncontrollably.

It felt so much like before.

There was no one to help.

I was tied...

Scared...

And cold.

I was hungry and desperate.

I wanted to go home

I want to go home.

Now.

Her family made her wander off on her own since someone told them that it was against the 'order' and that she'd have to learn and not be babied all the time.

Luca could remember Gabriele tightening his grip around her before whispering: 'Stay safe' before he placed her to the ground and made her wander off.

All on her own.

Luca thought that they were going to save her from this, that they'd be against the idea of letting her wander off on her own. Luca was so used to her brothers being there for her that it made her so scared when she lost them in this crowd, filled with the unwelcome stench of blood and the painful screams of the tortured.

Ah, the screams of the tortured. Their screams of pain, of terror...

Luca shuddered, hugging herself with the feeling of loneliness and sadness, as cold sweat pooled her forehead. She feels light headed. She doesn't feel so good. It was the kind of feeling where you could feel the symptoms of an upcoming fever. Luca felt feverish and she was walking without any direction, being careful enough not to bump into these people, trying to ignore the blood on the floor and trying to stay alive.

Be brave. Be brave. Be brave.

Stop shaking.

You need to be brave.

You have to be.

Stop feeling scared.

Brave.

For papa, for my brothers. For Pierre.

Luca stopped.

She stopped in the middle of somewhere, surrounded by strangers who could kill. Who knows how to kill. Who could kill her. But she couldn't take another step. Luca was trying. Really, she was trying so hard not to get overwhelmed with what's happening. But she was already losing the battle. A whine almost escaped her lips but she held it down.

That's the least she could do.

Suddenly, the eyes were there again, watching her with so much bloodlust that made the little girl shudder. Luca closed her eyes shut, the soft chats that surrounded her suddenly became blurred, unheard. Darkness welcomed her like an old friend and she couldn't be more happy to welcome it back.

Is her family hurting the innocent too? Are they also slashing their skins and letting them scream like the others too? Are they also bad guys? Were they bad guys all along?

It was like something clicked and Luca suddenly remembered what Kale had said to her before. His voice was low and he was whispering in her mind. His voice made her heart flutter with fear. With horror.

"Don't you see? They're also bad guys. They've killed loads of people. Lots and lots of them. We're not that different, Luca. Don't you understand? We're not so different!"

No.

That's a lie.

No. No. No.

That's a lie.

That's not true.

That's not real.

You... Are not real.

Shut up.

They can't be—

"Lu-Lu?"

The little girl's head snapped up and saw Matteo's worried expression. Matteo's familiar face, his eyes, his nose...

Someone familiar.

Luca was finally able to breathe again. The familiarity is so comforting that Luca actually needed it so bad that it hurts.

It burns.

And she needed it.

Stumbling towards him, her legs were shaking and she was internally crying with relief and Matteo, her good friend, Matteo, opened his arms until she collapsed under his firm embrace.

Luca clenched his shirt— which was thankfully blood free— and took deep even breaths, inhaling deeply, inhaling his familiar scent, his familiarity and exhaled shakily. She couldn't believe it. Luca couldn't believe that he's here. That she's in his arms.

Someone familiar.

Hugging him tightly, she couldn't help but finally let out weak whine in his ear as he hugged her comfortingly and just as tightly as hers.

"I don't wanna go..." Luca whispered, feeling the familiar desperation seep. "Matty... I can't— I don't.... Please... Please, I don't wanna go."

Matteo was scared.

He doesn't know why she's here, how she's here but seeing her so scared, so in pain and remembering the news that Luca was kidnapped, how and why just became a panthom question to him. For now, she needed him.

She needs him.

So, he held her closer, ignoring his friends' sharp gazes and just held Luca closely to him, protecting her from the eyes that stared.

From his world.

Luca knows that Matteo might be one of them. He might be one of the people who kills. Who makes innocent people die. Who taints the floor with blood but without her family's comfort, she can't just handle it. Luca is only six and she can't do it.

Not yet.

She can't do it.

Don't cry, stop!

Be brave, stop getting scared!

Stop shaking, stupid!

You are an embarrassment.

Stop feeling hopeless.

Stop it.

They're not bad guys.

They are not.

Or are they?

"Don't leave me..."

"Shh... I wont, I promise..."

Another liar...

They are.

And Matty is also bad guy.

_____

I hope you guys enjoyed liked it, confused by it and Yup!

Tell me what you guys think!

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