The Last Hope

19

Selina

I pace back and forth along the room while Rafael peacefully sleeps, unaware of anything, the night has already progressed significantly, it must be around three in the morning. I freeze as the door opens, my sister dressed all in black sneaking inside and closing it behind her, "are you ready?" she asks, approaching with a black jacket in her hands. "Sienna, what if he finds us outside?" I ask referring to Antonio, my voice trembling as she helps me put on the jacket. "Selina, look at me," I turn, meeting her gaze as she zips up the jacket over my thin sweater, "I'm the one who got you out of that hotel, right? And the rest of my plan was well established until the Ivanov brothers got involved. So don't worry, I know what I'm doing," she says, her gaze determined.

I nod, deciding to ignore the fear crushing me, and head towards my son to wake him up, gesturing to Sienna our bags with our belongings. "Mamma? What's happening?" he asks, struggling to open his eyes as I put on his jacket. "Nothing, angelo mio, we're going to play a little game, okay? We have to be very quiet," "are we playing hide and seek? Will Niko find us?!" My hands tremble at the thought alone. If Nikolaï catches us, I really don't know how he'll react, will he punish me like Antonio? A cold sweat grips me as I exhale slowly, trying to calm myself. "Yes, hide and seek, but we have to win, so no noise, okay, baby?" I lie to him, and he nods, smiling.

"Let me, I'll carry him," my sister says, handing me my bag and her backpack with a pair of sneakers that I quickly put on. I go out first, cracking the door open to check for anyone and any noise, and I exit followed closely by Sienna.

My sister leads the way down the stairs and heads straight to the living room, where she gently opens the large glass door leading to the gardens. I shiver in the cool air, the wind sweeping my strands escaping from my braid and swinging my sister's ponytail. She moves between the tall bushes and slips into a small path that I had never noticed before,"how do you know this route?" I whisper, following closely to not lose her in the darkness. "What do you think I've been doing for the past two weeks? I know this house like the back of my hand, well almost, I couldn't go down to the basement because of Hardman," she grumbles, continuing to penetrate the garden.

We walk for a good ten minutes, reminding me of how large the estate is, we eventually arrive at the foot of a high white wall, the property's boundary. I see my sister frown, glancing behind us, and I follow her gaze but see nothing, "this way," she calls to me, starting to walk along the wall, and I can't help but be surprised to see her barely out of breath despite the distance covered while carrying my son, who has fallen asleep again on her shoulder, moving gracefully. I, on the other hand, am sweaty and out of breath, stumbling more than once and catching myself on the wall. She finally stops a few meters ahead in front of a door that I would have surely missed in this darkness if I were alone. My sister feels the wall and eventually opens a lid behind which appears a numeric panel asking for a code that my sister quickly enters, again to my great surprise. The door unlocks with a slight noise, and Sienna opens it slowly, glancing outside before stepping out and gesturing for me to follow, we find ourselves on a dirt path at the edge of the forest.

A few meters away is a car with the engine running, I see my sister breathe a sigh of relief and walk towards it, and I follow hesitantly, wrapping my arms around my trembling body, whether from cold or fear I don't know. Sienna opens the rear right door, gesturing for me to get in, which I do after casting a last glance towards the large white mansion plunged into darkness, a kind of house where I could have surely lived. I grab my son, who snuggles against my chest murmuring, and glance at the driver whose face I can't see hidden under his cap.

My sister retrieves our bags, which she stows in the trunk before opening the second rear door and prepares to join us but freezes, her hand gripping the door, her gaze empty. "Sienna?" She raises her wide eyes, slowly turning her face towards the driver who doesn't move, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his back straight, his shoulders tense. "You bastard!" Sienna suddenly exclaims, making Rafael and me jump, she straightens up, slamming the door as the driver also exits, slamming his own door even louder.