Mafia's Mate

That day

>>Clio (The day she ran from her high school after injuring her bullies)

A feeling of unease settled upon me like a heavy fog. The air seemed to be charged with an inexplicable tension, and an eerie stillness filled the space. The dim lighting only added to the unsettling atmosphere, casting elongated shadows that danced on the walls. The sky had turned dark due to the clouds but it wasn't raining.

With each step, the creaking floorboards echoed through the house. My heart was strangely calm as I made my way to the kitchen as if my emotions had gone numb. A Lot had happened that day, maybe that's why. The kitchen was dimly lit by a single overhead light, casting elongated shadows across the countertops and cabinets. The silence was almost deafening, interrupted only by the faint hum of the refrigerator, followed by a fainter sound of liquid droplets falling.

I walked to the middle and stopped when I noticed a weary figure sitting on the floor, right by the kitchen table's side. With a butcher's knife in her hands, she trembled with blood all over her front, staining mostly her apron. The knife had red thick liquid streaming down it, stopping at the edge before they jumped down to the crimson pool on the floor.

"Mom," I whispered and she froze.

Then she raised her head and looked at me.

"Clio," Her voice was trembling while my gaze traveled to the body of the man lying on the floor.

"Mom," I felt my throat get dry, "What have you done?" The fear was grasping my bones, seeping into my soul

My mother didn't answer me, she kept staring at me. At my disheveled appearance. The buttons of my shirt were hanging loose while a few had popped off. I had zipped up my pants back up but the belt button was broken so that part remained awkwardly open.

My hair was a mess but I knew that none of it was her focus.

"Clio," My mother's hands began to shake even more, "Why do you have blood on you?"

"Why is there blood on you?" I asked back and then saw the body lying on the floor, "Who is that?"

Tears streamed down her face and contempt filled her eyes, yet she was able to answer me clearly, "He killed your father,"

The announcement came so casually, it felt unreal.

But the news made the world swirl around me.

"What?" I hadn't noticed up until that point that there was another trail of blood. Left by a man who was bleeding out but couldn't make it far. From where I stood, I could see the feet of my father, just on the other side of the door frame that was between the lounge and the kitchen, "No,"

My world came crashing down and a dangerous thought crossed my mind.

Has this got anything to do with why the bullies chose to try and expose me today??

"No!!" I ran towards the lounge, "Dad," I crossed over and kneeled next to his body, "Dad!" I placed my hands on his back and shook his body, "Dad! No!" The air hung heavy with an unspoken foreboding, and a shiver traced its way down my spine. There, sprawled in an unnatural stillness, "Dad, please... Please wake up!"

Time seemed to dilate, stretching the seconds into an eternity as I grappled with the surreal scene before me. The room morphed into a nightmarish stage where tragedy unfolded without warning.

The shock gave way to a visceral wave of anguish. My breath caught in my throat, Tears brimmed in my eyes as my heartbeat just dropped.

No...

I was in denial

No

"Dad," I shook him again, "Please don't leave us!" I shook him more violently while my mother remained in her place, sitting on the cold floor with her dead-looking eyes on me. She didn't say anything. Maybe because she knew no words could mend this situation.