ANSWERING YOUR Q'S TIME!

Some of you wanted me to answer some questions, sooooo...

Why did Nona take Elliot knowing about Clara's secret so well?

Nona really likes Elliot, I'm pretty sure she was one of the first Clariot shippers, I think she knows that now they can be more honest and now she doesn't have to hide away from him either, she doesn't mind him knowing as she knows he's a nice guy and won't tell anyone.

Will Elliot, if they remain together, be the next Mafia boss, or is Clara?

My Mafia, that I've created, is not gender specific. Although Clara speaks of only the guys as they are the ones who are close to Franco, I like to think Franco keeps his distant from other women from fear of what happened with Clara's Mother, but there are women members. If anything were to happen to Franco, Clara would fill his shoes, even if she had a little brother.

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~Clara~

The way Elliot took my big secret was honesty such a shock, after my explanation he accepted me for who I truly was, the same girl but with a slightly different name and a slightly more daunting family. Nothing changed between us really, we seem closer than ever; we haven't kissed since that day with Hugo and it's weird because now they go everywhere together. Elliot is always at mine and I'm always at his, revising for the next exam or chatting about things such as the universe, we talk on the phone, we text. Nonna is always very suspicious of us, but I haven't heard that she let my Dad know that someone else knows my secret. The only thing that really has changed is that Elliot no longer calls me Mafia Girl, which I sort of miss to be honest. But now I can show him Nonna's photo albums and introduce him all the people I have learnt to call my family, because the only person he has met out of the more recent group photos is Milo. Milo's one of the youngest recruits going as well, he's nearly 29 and finished his training when I was 14. We sort of grew into the Mafia together in a sense.

It's the end of exams, most of the students of year 11 are walking around saying goodbye to their teachers, exchanging gifts from wine to hampers to thank you cars or a framed form photo. But Hugh, Austin, Chloe, El and I are spending it with Mrs Burberry, if you remember that's the one who the guys and I included now are all friends with. It's a relief to be done with exams, if I do end up going back to Italy, I'll have some qualifications to my name. Mrs Burberry herself has photo albums out, showing off her collection of form groups she had manifested over her time serving at this school and many others. She gathers us together to take a last photo with her as her eyes are filling up with tears. I hug her tightly and she sniffs on her shoulder. I look up to see Elliot watching me with a look of admiration, I smile and he smiles softly. Which sends my heart into disarray once again.

Chloe and I sit discussing the refreshments at prom, the held it just before the end of exams, the Friday night before the Monday afternoon so we had time to recover and revise. Prom proved to be better than I could've expected. We all went together, the boys in almost identical suits, myself in a light blue dress with a silver diamante belt and Chloe in a bright pink number. We all danced for the whole thing, Elliot danced with me at one point and to none of our surprise, Vanessa won prom Queen. Which she boasted about for the whole night. I sip my coke from the plastic cups that they gave out in the canteen and listen carefully as Austin gets involved and makes a point on how the nachos should've had more spice to them.

At that moment, the door nearly flies off its hinges as Vanessa bursts into the room, fuming, her face red and her hair frizzing slightly with how furious she is. Her shoulders rise rapidly as she looks round at us all. She marches her way over to me and points a perfectly manicured finger in my face.

"You!" she seethes, gritting her teeth and widening her eyes as I lean away from her. "You did this! You made Chloe say all those mean things to me didn't you?!"

I stare at her, my eyes too afraid to leave hers. I take a deep breath and shake my head.

"We were mean? Did you think about what you said to Chloe? How can you walk round her with your head held high with the burden of other people's misery sitting on your shoulders?!"

"Shut up!" she steps forward and yanks me back, her force sends my back and I nearly loose my balance. Elliot and Hugo are quickly at my defence, pushing her back and away from me.

"You're all defending her?! She's a slut, interested in all three of you!" she gestures to the three guys. Austin and Hugo share a look and roll their eyes. Elliot's face contorts with anger but Austin holds him back from doing anything irrational.

"Vanessa for god's sake, haven't you heard? We're gay" Austin retorts, wrapping his hand around Hugo's, Hugo blushes a deep scarlet and looks away. I smile momentarily at the pair, before returning my attention to her.

She doesn't have a chance to respond as Chloe steps in front of us all, she folds her arms and glares deeply at Vanessa.

"Get away from my friends" she says sternly, eyes narrowed and serious. Her eyes never leave Vanessa's as Vanessa takes a step back, mouth open and unable to say anything for a second.

"It was just a fucking baby Chloe! Get over..." but she's cut off.

Someone screams from down the corridor. Then someone else screams and a boy from English runs past the window, smoking billowing out from somewhere near him, looking over his shoulder with a look of pure terror. The room seems to be shaking, I grab Elliot's arm without thinking about it.

"CLARA DEVOTO, WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE, SURRENDER YOURSELF" a deep voice booms from down the corridor. His Italian accent thick but he speaks with perfect English. Oh crap. Fears runs through me as I feel Elliot tense from beside me, I shut my eyes and hug myself.

"Shit" I whisper, and I feel everyone look at me. I open my eyes and stare directly at the window in the door as a man appears. I jump from the table and run towards the window near the back.

"I need to get out of here! I need to get out of here right now, hide, all of you!"

"Wait a second" Hugo stands to his feet as Elliot comes rushing down the aisle of table and chairs after me. "It's you, you're Clara Devoto aren't you?"

"I can't explain right now, please get yourselves out of here, it's me they want!"

Mrs Burberry seems to spring to life, her shock evaporating as she pulls up the rug on the floor revealing a trap door. She fiddles with the handle and manages to open it. The people around her stare down at it, before she steps back and sighs in a worried manner.

"World war two bunker, no time to explain much more, quickly!" she says speedily to the confused faces, she ushers Chloe and Hugo and then practically pushes Austin in as he stares back at us, she jumps in herself and looks up at the two of us. "Are you coming Elliot?"

"I'm going with Clara"

"No Elliot you can't, you can't! I can't risk your life" I try to reason with him, but he shakes his head at me.

"Clara when are you going to learn? You don't have an option, we're a pair. I am not leaving you" he grips my hand tight and then pushes forward to yank open the window just as the door is forced open. Four men gather in and Mrs Burberry quickly closes the door and it brings the rug down with it before they notice. I watch in horror as Vanessa is grabbed and forced to her knees, one man at the front protrudes a gun and begins to aim at her. Tears leak from her eyes as she cries out, her hair limp at her shoulders, her whole body shaking.

"No!" I scream and run forward pushing the gun away from him and pulling Chloe to her feet, who turns to me with wide eyes as they all start forward at me. But my fluent Italian stops them "Non è quello che si desidera, il suo ricambio, ha fatto nulla di male, lei sembra niente come Clara!" I tell them to spare her for she is not Clara, she is not the one they want.

They part and nod at Vanessa, one man jerks his head impatiently for her to pass through. To my upmost suprise, Nessa throws her arms round me.

"Thank you so much, to you, I am ever grateful" she stares at me and then she sprints past the men and into the corridor, fleeing with her life.

The men stare at me, and I stare back, immobilised, they're shocked at my Italian, one squints his eyes and looks down at a piece of paper. I begin to walk away slowly as they all become distracted by it. I reach the window and Elliot puts his arms round my waist to hoist me out the window. Then one turns to me with wide eyes.

"È lei! Devoto!" a man with his long hair turns up screeches and they all turn to me with hostile expressions. They know. Elliot practically throws me out the window and follows suit as bullets rain down on us. Missing us both by some miracle as we run across school. My heart's beating fast as eventually Elliot slows down and hoists me onto his back.

I have no idea where he is taking me as he races across the car park, my eyes are filling up with the fear of it all, I can barely breathe but I take deep breaths. He puts me down and sprints over to where Gary, one of the groundskeepers is mending a loose door. He steals a hammer and rushes over to the nearest car, he smashes the window and I gasp as the glass shatters. He places his hand in the new gap and opens the door. He looks over to me and I take that as a signal to follow suit. I get in and he rushes round to the driver's side. I push it open for him and he climbs in and revs up the engine.

"Since when did you learn how to drive?!" I pant out, eyes wide as I stare at him. He smiles weakly as he looks over at me.

"Dad taught me in the summer, wanted me to try and past my test first time" what he's doing is illegal but as the four guys appear with back up at the edge of the carpark and he zooms out of the school gates I know it's worth it.

"Where are we going?"

"Train station? We could make a break for Scotland"

"Scotland? Elliot, what if there's a reason behind all this? What if they have my Dad?" the dread settles in the depth of my stomach and I look up at him to try and reason with him. He stares out the window, looking panicked, we receive terrified looks by the locals as I look at them through the shattered windows.

"There is no time Clara, you don't know that he's in danger"

"Nona could be though! Elliot we have to find her, we have to save her, we must-"I cut off as he breaks suddenly, a car has driven right in front of him and stops. Elliot tries to swerve round him but we find ourselves pretty much gridlocked from all sides. There's no escape, there is nothing we can do to get out and run. I exhale a shaky breathe, I look over to Elliot who is frantically trying to open the door, eyes wide and face red with the effort of trying to get out of the car. I lay a hand on his shoulder as men begin to surround the car.

"Elliot"

He continues to shove and yank at the handle, not giving in, its jammed. I admire his desperation, but there's no give to it and he's wasting his time.

"Elliot" I say in desperation.

He looks at me in an exasperated way. I smile weakly and intertwine our hands by the gearstick. He looks down at them, then back up at me. It's like those moments in the films when two people know they're going to die and so stick together or hug each other, waiting desperately for the end. He holds my hand back tight and I don't let my eyes leave his as the men begin to drill the door away. Two hands already on my shoulders through the window gap to hold me so I don't try and run. He smiles in response, but he's afraid, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't.

I should never have come to England in the first place. How did I let him go through all this? I feel selfish, I regret getting off that plane, I should've stayed where they could get me.

"Clara" he whispers, as the hands grab at him as the car door is moved away. "Clara, I lo..." but he never finishes as he is pulled forcefully from the car. I scream as I watch them knock him out. I too am pulled from the car debris.

The last thing I see is his body on the ground as something hard and blunt hits me round the head and I fall limp in my captor's arms.