ALESSANDRO'S POV

There were no windows, any source of sunlight blazing through the day. It was early in the morning, hours past sunrise yet there was no evidence of time, no sign of what lingered in the outside world.

They kept prisoners underground, sophisticated to death with the little amount of air and oxygen reaching their cages. They treated them less than dogs, he'd told me, explaining more about his own blood.

I've never got to hear his whole story, learn and discover what drove him to be a good one, why he would take such a risk, a crazy and dumb risk just to help us, to show the good in him after living with them for years.

It made me wonder, what could they possibly have done to him. He didn't have scars, he never spoke of his family, there were too many things to assume and imagine but my only focus was the room I was getting close to step by step.

I didn't know how or why I trusted that man's words, how he knew where they kept her and why he told me.

I didn't recognize him. I had little time with light but nothing clicked into my head, telling me, reminding me of a face so broken, marked and cold.

He was old, older than my father and the walls. For some reason, they felt the need to lock him here, long enough, until his death.

I gave my head a quiet shake, pushing away the thoughts. It was only three rooms away.

These cages were covered and built with brick walls and not steel like the other cells. At the very end, with my last count of seven, Akila's room stood ahead of me.

A door. They put it in a room with a door. Four walls and a roof on top of her head, unlike the rest who suffered in the cold.

Surprisingly, the door was u locked but I was no fool. They either knew someone was coming, I was coming or they wanted to mess with her brain, tying her in a room where she could escape yet she couldn't.

My heart ached, not with pain but rage, or maybe both, it shook and shivered against my chest, unable to process the idea of Akila, Akila tied up and chained, tortured, touched.

But there she was, one lamp hung from the ceiling, lighting where they held her as the dark roamed around her, hissing to the air and whatever came close, as if it were protecting her.

I didn't know how big the room was, how some guards found me and called more in. I didn't know and I didn't care. I stared, I buried my eyes on her body, her bloody forehead, her bruised knuckles and dried blood running down her jaw and neck. Her legs were tired, and her hands were together behind her back.

I've seen so much, so much death and torment, so much cruelty and agony. I've felt, I've felt sadness and grief but this, her in that place, in that figure I no longer recognized. The longer I looked, the longer I traced her beautiful face, red and purple, buried in her closed eyes and cheeks.

A part of me broke, a part of me lost and ran away but now, everything was gone, it all faded away once my eyes landed on her, reached for her and she never met them.

I came this way, I sacrificed and was ready to die saving her. I was too late. They had hurt her, wounded her deeply after I promised to never leave her side, I promised she'll never witness this again, she'll never get abused, hit by any set of hands.

Seeing her, watching her, looking for any sign of Akila, the Akila I met a year ago, the Akila who awoke from the dead and Hell just for revenge, to expose blood and dislocate bones.

She wasn't there. There was only a grown version of the girl, the innocent girl thrown and left alone, sobbing quietly so she doesn't get punished, or used.

My hands started shaking and my knees buckled. The ceiling was falling and the ground was partnering in half. It all felt and seemed over, and maybe it was, maybe it was meant for us to go the same day, the same way in one last breath, in one last heartbeat.

"She's alive." Some animal in me growled, shifting skin to protect her, to protect what little was left of her.

Even if she was alive, I knew the Akila who would wake up, lift her chin and flicker her long lashes, she wouldn't be the same. Never after falling back into that hole, that state it took her everything to run away from, to escape and burn yet the ashes rose, they formed and caught her, bringing her back after many years with the taste of freedom.

They wanted her back and she had no choice, no chance to fight back before it was late and the sun had set, setting Hell loose.

My blood burst in my veins, forcing my legs to turn, destroying whatever stood on the other side. If we die today, I'll make the worst of it because we don't surrender, we don't fall in a battle, in war. She doesn't fall without pride, without a promise.

It went silent for a long moment, I understood their trick before strong light broke into the room, revealing every corner and space, revealing The Twins, standing by the door, behind them four guards.

I heard stories, tales, some evil and some happy endings, some called them legends and some called them wicked, dreadful and soulless.

Dissimilar to their cousin, bronze burned in their eyes, their matching eyes and hair, so red, so brown and dead.

Their hair moved the same, as black as the night sky, they wore it short, tapping beneath the collarbone. They stood shoulder wide and lean, the same hint of grin curled their pale lips.

The one on the left possessed the feminine features, her eyes siren, shaped differently from her mirror.

Same clothes. Same coats. Same crowns on their dull hair. Crowns made of gold, gold and a variety of stones, gems and pebbles.

"You made such an entrance," The female heir started, "taking down our guard single-handed." Her brother continued and I stopped myself from showing any relief, masking my surprise, they didn't know Armando was here.

"We expected more," Her one eye glanced back behind me where Akila sat, where they put her. She saw the flex in my jaw and smiled, "Pity." I was sick, tired and drained that death seemed like the right way to go, to end this pain, this rage and the images, what I've seen that day because I knew if I got out, if I survived in another alternative universe, they will hunt me down, taunt my people and set demons to banish our kind.

Too much, it was too much that death sounded easier, for our story, our timeline and universe and maybe in another one, in centuries, in a new Alessandro who loved his Akila so dearly with everything he'd had left, he will know what to do, he will do anything to prevent this from ever happens in their story.

He wouldn't be like me, my lost fight and strength, lost and empty, empty and lifeless without her, without a world where I couldn't have her, kiss her, tell her and tell her, how much big, how much short and little we had, how unfair, how brutal life did us, wrecked our faith and fate, our power, our fire and blew it out, every flame, every ignite, the wind washed it away in one hit.

May we meet in Hell, reunite and start over if that was what it takes, if that will bring her back to me. Through blaze and ash, I shall find her again and show her, love her the way she deserved since her hazel eyes opened, shook this world and trembled the ground because she was so much, too much for morality, for humanity.

Her mind, her force needed more, more land to spread and unleash their nature.

If Hell was the key, then I must finish them quickly and go back to her, die under her knees as our souls fly away, taking our last breath, our last second on this planet, a planet that was never enough for her vitality and might. A planet that was never enough, timeless for my love.

"I'm sure you were a memorable person, Mr Santoro." Her voice was high, pitched loud and girly if you may call it, "Too bad she won't remember."

My lungs flared up, spilling my raw emotions bare to my enemies, our enemies. "What?" I focused my gaze on the male twin who spoke last, a grin dancing around his face.

"Oh Alessandro," My name rolled off her filthy tongue, I've never hated the sound of it more, "When our men found her, she fainted and hit her head." She wasn't explaining, no, she was trying to break me. "Hard, her memories were lost by the time she woke up." Her brother finished.

I didn't want to listen, believing that it might be true. Her face was distant, cold, lifeless.

It didn't vibrate with her death stare, her tanned skin and her dark red lips. "Take a look yourself, if you must." He gestured with an arm expanding, permitting me. I almost laughed through the ache reaching down my heart and tightening.

After a deep breath, my body slowly turned, standing a dream steps away from the chair they tied her to. I wanted to rip their throat for tying her up but I had to see first, hear her.

The world slowed, rotated patiently, giving me all I needed, the need for her touch, her voice, her words, telling me it was a lie, they were lying, she was okay, she was getting back up like she always does. 

No one—nothing interrupted, bothered what was forming between us. In the distance, there was a bond awakening from the dead, unravelling after a moment of silence, of no life, no light.

It wasn't tension, it was something thick, heavy skin and stare firing right back at me the closer I got to her.

Warm air blew out of my mouth, shoving some pieces of her hair. My hand stretched out, hesitating and shaky as I made contact with her skin.

The voices in my head kept screaming, begging me to stop before everything descended because if it were true if Akila truly lost her memory, I would collapse and fall on my knee with every part of me, with each second I've loved her for.

But my fingers went on, gently brushed against her chin and held her jaw, trying to send life down her skin, warmth, anything to bring her back.

Cold. Her skin was cold, colder than usual when it was her, her flesh and blood that never warmed her freezing body that she got used to.

Shivers dominated my arms wholly at the sudden feeling, the sudden memory of her touch, the one I missed when she was taken away only a few hours ago. It felt longer as if every wave mattered, every click counted and separated us.

And as I mourned our laughter and time together, she must have forgotten then. Her eyes blinked, numerous times until they fluttered open and they stared into nothing, an absolute void. Perhaps she was seeing things, perhaps she was in another world, another body that didn't belong to her.

She leaned into my hand, rubbing her cold cheek deeper into my palm, absorbing my warmth, taking it away as I kneeled next to her, watching her. She never looked back.

Suddenly the room grew louder, a voice and laughed, laughed at me for thinking she would know, recognize any of this, any of me.

"Seize them." The Twins barked in harmony, and in one breath, more soldiers stepped in, heading for us.

Her chin lifted in my grip, forcing her eyes to meet mine. It was what was left, the last thing I would do before dying. Admiring those pairs of hazel that belonged to someone, to a woman who I've met, fought against and lived with.

Hazel carries many stories, hiding many secrets and knowledge to tell in another life, another reality where we meet once again, and live.

The three words never made it past my hitched breath, I love you, was my last promise, my last vow but it didn't echo, it got washed away by her voice, "Happy anniversary."

Chains shattered, falling to the ground in small pieces. "That wasn't sweet." Her thumb wiped away under her lower lip, removing more blood as she stood up and faced me, "My blade," Her right hand unfolded in front of me, and my mouth dropped open. "I want the blade before they attack, Alvaro."

Despite my blank mind, I moved and pulled her blade out of my chest, carefully setting it in her grip. She wrapped five fingers around it and smiled. Her lips edged to one side, landing her gaze on me one more time, "I love you."

And she advanced, she punched the first hit and I chuckled. Putting aside my shock, I took position on her right side, ready to finish those bastards and go home.

But a smile couldn't leave me alone for the sake of that woman. Alive. I breathed in and out. She was alive and she was remembering, she remembered all along.

The Twins vanished, no sight of them in the area. We left the room and ran down the hall, more men chasing us.

I was out of weapons at that point, Akila held her sharpened blade drowned in blood and grasped it around her wrist. "This way," we changed directions, sprinting to a narrow alley I hadn't walked into earlier.

We kept running until a wall blocked our path, on each side there were two pairs of long stairs located on opposite ways. "Take the right." I didn't have a chance to protest, she took the left side and climbed up the stairs leaving me nonetheless to follow her orders.

At the end of the endless straits, there was a door. Wide and made out of dark brown wood, but there was no handle.

So I did the first thing that came into my head and hoped it would work. I cracked my knuckles and punched through the door. I first went through the thick layers of wood, creating a hole big enough for my arm to slide in and open the door from the other side.

The moment my door opened, Akila knocked down hers, using the force of her right foot that hung in the air for a few seconds as she looked at me, my body, checking for any injuries when she should be taking care of herself before me.

She observed my less catastrophic technique and shrugged, setting herself off, running once again.

I sighed deeply, not given the chance to comprehend what was happening. She was there, she was fighting back, and she was alive.

An army full of armed men arranged in front of us, shielded with armour and strapped with different faces of weapons.

Right when we stopped running, fat within the rich halls, a new set of footsteps echoed back at us, waving and calling.

And there they were, Armando, Kira and Emilion, running towards another door a black metal door Akila and I started heading to, causing the whole army to carry on, catch up with us.

We made it far enough, we slipped through the doors, met with heavy sunlight and the morning sky. The sun radiated soft heat while the wind hurried in, flushing my cheeks and messing my hair.

The five of us stood outside, looking and searching for any way out, for any more guard we had to take down.

It was quiet, too quiet.

My eyes wandered around, we were in a garden surrounded by glass, glass doors and windows. From the inside, anyone could see us but from our view, the glass appears black and empty, making it impossible to capture a visible figure in any dimension.

I took a minute to check on the others. Emilion was dripping in sweat but breathing, Kira's hair was all over the place and Armando was smiling like an idiot. "I thought I'd have to leave without you." He teased and joked even in the worst scenarios. "I guess you won't."

The glass broke, falling into shards splattered over the grass, reflecting the bright shimmering sunlight above us.

Men from every angle seized us. There was no way out, no plan or idea would help us in the slightest.

Our only escape that wasn't made of glass was the walls, the hard solid circling the entire castle from any outsider.

Everyone raised their head, eyes glued to the sky, watching the helicopter flying through the clouds.

A sound of cheer broke in when a rope ladder fell out of the helicopter, right between us and the Romanians. I knew who flew that thing.

I only knew one person who was obsessed with planes and flying machines just as much as I admired and fixed cars, my dear chaotic cousin, Adriano.

The wind unbalanced the lightweight ladder but Akila jumped in the air and snatched it back in her hold.

She climbed up first, then Emilion helped Kira up before following after her.

I was the last standing, memorizing the soldiers' faces, their scars, and their orders. They were not set to kill us, they were ordered to make a great scene and scare us.

There was still no trace of The Twins, they'd disappeared once Akila got up and decided she didn't lose her memory, once she opened her eyes and decided she was not done with the world.

I didn't test my luck and gripped the ladder. It was a silly thought, silly hope that you should never, never trust.

Adriano took off, going upwards as I hung into the horizontal pole when the rope tore apart.

My body pushed against the air, falling back to gravity. For a beat, I felt peaceful again, I was stuck between dreaming and falling, I was dreaming of her and falling for my death.

I could have reached out before it ripped but it all happened too fast. I thought my death would be better now, it would save them time and war, and it would serve the world and my enemies. I could have done many things that moment, yet I was only drawn to one thing, letting myself go. 

What I didn't expect, what I didn't see, didn't feel as the ladder partly went above where I should've been and partly fell with me, was a hand.

A hand that gripped me so tightly, wrapped and held onto my wrist, clenched and carried me so I don't go down, so I don't end my own life for the sake of theirs, for the sake of hers because if they took me, it would stop, all of it.

I'd be dead and the Romanians would rule, vanishing everyone and anything that stood against them.

And my friends, they would look after one another and take care of each other. She would hide and keep them safe for me until the end of our life when I would be waiting for them, where I would have waited years they lived longer, they learned and saw new things, more life even if they had to give up power, even if they must live the rest of their age hidden and non-existent.

It was better than dying like this, dying in this place, dying in my place.

My wishes were not answered, and I thought they may never get answered as long as she lived, as long as she owned my heart and protected my soul, every part of me, refusing to let go, refusing to give me up the way I was always ready to sacrifice myself at last.

I got pulled up when my eyes saw triple everything. Black spots grew bigger and the world became blurry before my eyes closed SHUT.

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