Chapter twenty-three: Mask Men
Chapter twenty-three: Mask Men
Camilla
There was no evidence and the police have labeled it as hallucination. So then how is she real? What is happening right now? And then it clicks and the realization hits me.
Adriano, Gregorio and Domenico, they were the mask men and Demenico's voice sounded familiar, he was the one who grabbed me. I recognized those blue eyes just now and Adriano was the one with the gun. Gregorio was there too, kicking down a man until there was no life left in him. This can't be true but unfortunately, it is the truth.
Just like me, they looked startled but for different reasons. They have been caught and now I don't know what to do. I jumped up when I felt a hand touch my shoulder but the large hand moved with me, it was Adriano.
His touch was keeping me on a spot, he just stood there behind me as the fear accumulated in my mind. How did I not know? How did the police not know?
His breath on my neck is chilling but I can feel the heat of his body through my clothes. It was causing goosebumps to form on my arms and it is not the good kind anymore, I was terrified. His eyes changed their color and looked murderous. He wanted to kill me.
No one at the table moved, they just stood there stunned. While Gregorio and Domenico look grim, the girl looks intrigued by my presence. What the hell is going on? Adriano moved first but I couldn't bring myself to do the same.
My emotions are getting whiplash right now and my mind spins a million miles per second as his face lowers beside me. I feel the scratchy brush of his cheek against my skin and my senses become flooded with the expensive masculine scent of him.
For a split second, his lips touched the tip of my ear, sending sparks of both lust and fear through my body and he whispered his first ever word to me.
"Run!" A chilling voice said in my ear.
I heard the command but my body does not obey. My feet remain glued to the ground and my heart continues to bang rapidly against my chest. How can this be possible?
My brain struggles to comprehend the fact that I was indeed right about what I saw. The alarmed expression on both Gregorio and Domenico's faces confirm my fearful thought.
They are murderers, all three of them including the one standing so close to me that I can feel his body each time his chest rises and falls.
How did the police not realize this? The test conducted by the forensics came out negative, meaning there was no trace of blood in the area that was tested.
"Are you deaf? I told you to run." He growled into my ear, taking a step back from my body.
His voice was calm but it only made this whole interaction that more unnerving. It was as if he were encouraging me to escape just so he could have the inevitable chase of it.
Although his actions shocked me, I have to admit that I was thankful for it. I could finally breathe again without his presence stealing the air from my lungs but still, I didn't do as he asked.
That is probably exactly what they wanted, for me to run to a place where no one is around so that they can kill me with no witnesses. Gathering all the courage I have inside me, I turned around to see a perfectly composed Adriano staring down at me. His gaze was cold and his eyes were just as dark as they were when I saw him inside the building and he had the blood of the victim splattered across his face.
I expected him to be angry or even worrisome at my realization but instead, he just stood there. It makes me feel uneasy because it is not what I had expected from him. His eyebrows raised slightly at my defiance but I didn't move.
"Oh what? Now you don't want to run?" He questioned, seeming to be more amused at my unwillingness to leave than annoyed.
"Domenico told me that you were quite good at running."
As much as I hate myself for it, my eyes shifted away at his statement. Although I have figured out the truth, his words really caused the reality of the situation to sink in. They have already spoken about me. They killed a man, tried to knock me out and then I had to fight for my life that night.
This was all too surreal for me and I just had to pray that somehow I would make it out today alive. Not being able to respond to his words, I instead took a step backwards, moving down to the bottom stair.
My choice seems to surprise him, but I couldn't care less. I just need to get as far away from them as I can, even if it means I have to stay at the venue for now. Trying to contain my overwhelmed fear, I purposefully moved towards a large group of people. They can't hurt me if there are others around. It is better than leaving now and accepting my death.
To both my luck and disappointment, the majority of people were gathered in the same place. Lucky because it left me covered and disappointed because I couldn't have left without those three noticing my exit.
The girl may be a threat as well, who knows?
Looking at the table where Gregorio and Domenico were, I noticed that Adriano was now there too. In between two of them stood the girl whose eyes still haven't left me. Why is she with them and how is she not scared of them?
Gregorio's eyes were searching the crowd and when he found me looking at him, he took a step in my direction. Adriano quickly grabbed his hand to stop him from moving any further. He was confused but Adriano kept his eyes on me, like a predator stalking its prey.
The thought alone sent a chill down my spine and through my body. Looking into his eyes, a menacing smile formed on his face as if this were just some sick game to him.
I don't know what made me do what I did, but I picked up the camera from my partner beside me and captured a picture of the four of them, just to show I wasn't going to let them push me around. I know I am going down but I don't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me scared, especially Adriano. He seems like the biggest asshole of them all.
My action left them surprised, their attention is now completely on me. But the shock was quickly replaced with amusement and a brief conversation between them all. I knew it was about me by the way their gaze remained fixed on me.
No matter how hard I try to appear composed, a million thoughts are running through my mind right now. They have almost become uncontrollable. Is she their girlfriend? How did they clean up the scene so quickly? And then another realization hit me, my phone.
If all of these were real, then how the hell did my phone turn up in my room? The thought of one of them coming to my room while I was sleeping caused an unsettling chill to pass through my entire body.
Then again, did Susan know what happened? I really hope not because I don't think my heart could take that possibility. I started to get that familiar burning feeling in my chest and I know if I don't calm myself down now, I will end up throwing myself into a panic attack in front of all these people, in front of them.
Turning away from them, I took a moment to close my eyes and give my best attempt at blocking them out. I inhaled and exhaled through my mouth and my heart rate began to steady slightly but it doesn't fully remove my current fear.
What is even worse about this whole thing is that I have already grown likeness towards Gregorio. He was comforting in a sense which was crazy considering he is a murderer but still I liked him.
It seems he already knows who I was when we were at Susan's place. He introduced me to his brothers, Adriano and Domenico even though they already knew who I was. If he were as close of a family member as Susan made him out to be, I can't help but wonder if she knew. Besides, they were talking before I showed up and when I mentioned that about what transpired between me and Robin, she told me she knew everything.
Pulling out my phone, I dialed her number and picked up on the third ring.
"Hey, how.."
"Did you know?" I cut her off, just needing to know the truth.
"Did I know what, dear? Are you okay, you sound a little stressed?"
"Did you know about the hotel? About Gregorio and what he did?"
The lines went silent and I feared that her lack of response answers my question.
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