Blood and tears

ALINA

Lightening flashed across the stark dark sky, the wind becoming violent and turbulent with each passing nano second, swaying trees in its direction.

Though it was dark, I could vividly see that the sky was overcast with stormy clouds. Thunder rumbled in such a ferocious manner every now and then as lightening lit up the sky.

I laid on my bed, cuddled myself up like a ball and reminisced about my memories with Theodore.

It was four weeks already since that gory incident took place.

And Dante made sure to make my life a living hell.

It seemed his hatred for me soared beyound all heights and now just looking at my face got him so inflamed with rage.

I had endured a lot and I still am. If it wasn't telling me to stand under running cold water, it was starving me of food or locking me up for days in my room, hurling fowl words at me, humiliating me in front of his guards and visitors or threatening to shoot me.

Dante never for once raised his hands to hit me or punch me, but he found other ways to terrorise my life inorder to make me nothing but a miserable mess.

This was what he wanted right from the day he married me but I made sure not to give him the pleasure of watching me crumble.

I masked my sadness, clothed myself in glee every day and served him dutifully like I was happy doing so.

Probably that was what usually got him more enraged; seeing me condone all his mannerless brutality and still wake every single morning with a smile on my face surely got him feeling more bitter.

But nevertheless, when I was by myself in the comfort of my room or just alone in the entire mansion, I cried like baby, wanting to be free from this torment that Dante was putting me through.

My thoughts were always in dissaray and my body felt weary with each passing day.

Theodore was dead already and I was responsible. Dante killed an innocent man and buried him in God knows where for nothing!

I couldn't get the sorrowful image of Theodore's bruised body out of my head.

His cries for help as he was being beaten like a common criminal, the disturbing and gory sight of a bloody pool surrounding his face and body still stood fresh in my memory. It always flashed through my eyes like a movie on replay.

His awful agonising plea for help resonated in my ears every time and sometimes I had to scream out to stop myself from running insane.

It was an unending music on repeat. He pleaded for help and I just stood there, crying and being helpless as I watched Dante's thugs beat my friend to death.

I screamed and begged Dante to stop with his merciless beating, I was on my knees begging like my life depended on his survival yet Dante shoved me aside like a rag.

I didn't do enough. My tears came flowing out once more the minute the storm settled in.

Like a twirl of perfect dancers dressed in grey, the storm danced heavily to the heavens drum with rain drops splattering on my windows.

If I had warned Theodore more to stay away from me probably he would have been alive by now.

"Oh Lord" I cried onto my pillow, my nose runny and my eyes heavy with tears.

"Save my soul please. I can't bear this any longer" I prayed with quivering lips.

I was on the brink of loosing my sanity and everything I held dear to me.

Dante won't let me file for a divorce and he won't treat me right either.

I was totally alone in this battle.

And the people whom I was fighting for; my family, where were they?

They abandoned me and forsook me.

I was all alone facing Dante's wrath.

Crying more, I shut down everything going around me as the storm raged on and I could only focus on my own agonising tears.

Suddenly, my ears picked up faint urgent masculine voices.

I laid up immediately and cleaned my tears with the back of my palms.

Dante must be back with his goons from another death trip.

Narrowing my eyes to the digital clock on the wall, I noticed it was already past midnight.

I sighed and placed my rickety feet on the ground.

Dante expected me to serve him whenever he got back even if it was four in the morning.

And the punishment for not serving him was starvation.

My head spinned the moment I gained my balance on the ground and my body felt like a dumbbell upon my legs.

Covering up my sadness with a stoic expression, I wandered outside.

My hands trailed along the walls of the hallway as I made my way downstairs.

I could hear those distinct masculine voices and the sound grew louder as I approached downstairs.

It seemed some thing was wrong.

"Oh fuck" I heard Dante's baritone voice grit in annoyance.

"Dante don't be stubborn let's take you back to the..."

That was Enzo speaking but Dante immedately interrupted him.

"No! I'm going no fucking where. I'll stay here in my house" Dante replied immedately.

What was going on?

Next thing that hit my ears were Dante's groans echoing round the walls of the mansion.

My feets quickened on their own accord, rushing towards the edge of the stair case as Dante's groans became more louder.

"You are so fucking stubborn! Can't you see you are loosing a lot of blood?!" Luca yelled angrily.

Blood? Dante was injured.

I didn't know why but my heart skipped a beat on hearing that he was loosing blood.

Probably Theodore's bloody dying image had scarred me and I didn't want to see anymore gory sight of blood.

I came to stand by the edge of the staircase, my restless orbs watching what was going on from upstairs.

My eyes roved around for that one figure that had succeeded in making my life miserable.

Spotting him, I couldn't get a clear view as a result of his thugs forming a flank around him.

Shuffling my feets, I picked up the pace and briskly walked downstairs.

It was then my eyes fell on the ruby red liquids that had formed a pattern on the tiled floors of the mansion.

I felt a gag haul up to my throat and my stomach churned at the sight.

Slowly approaching Dante and catching his stare with my shocked and perturbed gaze, a gasp left my parted lips on seeing him.

Seated on a sofa was Dante with his white shirt now tainted and smeared with scarlet red blood all over it.

Not only that, I noticed where the blood was dripping from.

There was a large deep wound on his right arm, the flesh seeping out blood and tainting his shirt the more.

He was bleeding profusely, so heavily.

What happened to Dante?