Grayson’s number goes to voicemail again. My phone that was hidden in Dante’s room now sits in my hands. Staring at the map of the address I found on Dante’s phone.
My leg bounces up and down. It’s only a ten-minute walk. Panic rises as I wonder if something happened to Luca. What if Eva is already dead?
I can’t just sit here.
I put Luca’s cell back on the table next to my passport, slip on my sneakers, and head out.
It’s a normal, middle-class looking house with a little gate at the front. The address matches. I was expecting a warehouse or something creepy looking. All the lights are out and the blinds are down.
The bolt on the gate slips easily, and I walk hastily to the front door. My hand wraps around the handle. Please don’t be locked.
I pull down and the door swings in.
There is a staircase in front of me and a closed room to my left. I ignore the fear building inside of me and open it. Letting out a sigh of relief, I discover an empty room stacked with moving boxes.
Down the hallway, I come across the next white door. I open this and, again, click the light on.
“Hello, baby girl.”
I’m frozen with fear. I can’t even bring myself to scream. Shaking myself from the shock, I turn and run as fast as I can, my lungs burning as I reach the front door.
His heavy footsteps get louder as he chases me.
“You can’t run from me,” he laughs.
I launch myself down the steps and sprint out of the gate, keeping my eyes focused in front of me. The dim street lights are the only source of light as I race down the street.
My scalp burns as my ponytail is nearly jerked from my head. Smashing into him, he wraps his arms around my torso. I kick and flail in his arms. “Get off me! Someone help!” I scream as loud as I can.
His hand clamps over my nose and mouth.
“Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch,” he whispers.
He drags me back towards the house even as I fight him with everything I have. He grips painfully onto my elbows and pushes my back onto the metal of the car.
“Luca can’t save you. He will be a little busy right about now. He won’t have time for poor little Rosa.”
“What have you done, Dante?” Agony rips through me at the thought that he may be hurt.
He lets out a malicious laugh before tossing me into the backseat. It’s only then, when he slides into the driver’s seat and the lights are on in the car, I see the dried crimson stains on his shirt and hands.
I muffle my cries with the back of my hand.
“Time to go home. We have a wedding tomorrow, and you had best get your beauty sleep.”
The forever that was just in my grasp slips away into a nightmare.
