My mind was in an overdrive, mulling over every possibility as it made it difficult for me to breathe properly anymore. The elevator was taking too long and time was the only luxury I couldn't afford in the moment. I obliterated the thought of any comfort and skipped over to the stairs, climbing up the building as hurriedly as my healthy legs could take me.

If anything had happened to Luca, then it also meant Bria's life was in danger. I wasn't so sure about how long Marco would be able to hold all of them back since apparently, even Luca couldn't do so.

'He must have lost himself in the sea of emotions. Bloody stupid man.' I cursed at him under my breath and myself too.

I should have known better than to entrust his sister with a job like that. It weakened him and made him vulnerable in front of his enemy. I knew exactly what must have happened upstairs and it was all my fucking fault.

If only I wasn't so selfish...

If only things were different...

If only things were easy...

If only... if only I was still complete...

But I wasn't.

I wasn't complete, I was selfish, and things were the same and they were damn difficult. Everything was the same and there were only two ways to deal with it:

Run away, or fight it.

And anyone who knew me even remotely, knew this very well that flight was never an option for me. I was a tiger, a WildCat, and I always stayed on the battlefield till the very last. Nobody could make me quit.

I've always been a fighter... always will be one.

It wasn't long until I found myself entering the hellish hallway where the demon resided. As I entered the hallway and hid myself in the crevice of the wall, I peaked out carefully to see the body of a man slump on the ground before Roberto's door. Surrounding the body, there was a large pool of blood, apparently from the body itself, but when I recognized the clothing on the body, I froze.

It was the same black clothes Luca had worn....

'I was going to kill that man the next time I lay my hands on him.'

But before I could get to him and save him, I saw someone exiting the room in a hurry - well, a trail of people.

Heavily encased in a semicircle of huge, six feet something tall men, was an aging man, with graying hair present on his head, on top of his eyes as well as on his face.

He was currently heavily injured as I could see him limping, with fresh blood still oozing out of the wound on his right thigh. It was obviously impossible for him to walk on his own in such a state, and one of his bodyguards was supporting him while he limped his way hurriedly towards the elevator.

There he was - Roberto Alfonsi, the man who graced my nightmares every single night, the man who became my worst nightmare, the man who is still invincible after all these years, the man who will get to break out of his chains and leave unharmed yet again, for the umpteenth time, as I will keep looking at it voluntarily.

It hurt. So much. That the man who was destined to be under my feet was being let off right in front of my eyes.

My feet threatened to drag themselves out of hiding and confront him there and then.
They warned me that I might not get this chance ever again. But, I still couldn't move. I still couldn't let my hand even wander towards my gun, let alone picking it up and aiming it at that monster.

He took everything away from me until he couldn't take anything more, yet here I was giving him his desired freedom again and again, and then again.

I couldn't decipher in that moment whether it was fate which was cruel, or was it just me who was getting tired, even as I was half his age.

Why did I feel the nerves acting up whenever I thought about confronting him?

Why was it so difficult to stand in front of him?

Or even try to?

Was I alone, or just not willing to let this fire consume me?

But could I get out of this mess now, now that I knew I was too deep in this fire of revenge to ever get out without getting dangerous blisters and then finally burning myself completely?

Even if I did get him, even if I got my fucking revenge, I would still get burnt, and I would wait for that moment wholeheartedly, since it's not like I had to live my life for anything else.

Just one incident eradicated all my desires and plans for the future, and now I had only one motive. I lived for it and I will die for it.

Even though my subconscious mocked at me and told me again and again that my efforts were going in vain, and that all efforts in the future would meet the same fate, but I had faith in myself.

I had to have faith in myself.

Because there will come one day, when my efforts won't be just in vain, they will be very much authentic, very much real, and then will I be able to break free from this never ending cycle of nightmares and penitence.

There will come a day like that, when I will rejoice.

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