ROSALINE
"There" I was shoved into a room by a hefty man and the door was shut behind me immediately.
I shut my eyes tightly and gritted my teeth before kicking my feet hard against the door. I groaned in the pain that came from my action.
I turned back and saw that the room was empty. Empty dark, no windows.
I let my eyes roam the place until my gaze landed on the little girl in the corner. The girl who seemed to be about age four or five looked scared and she was cuddling her knees.
She pulled herself closer to the wall as our eyes met and I knew immediately that I could not get all shaky here. I had to be an adult, I had to be at least a source of hope for this kid even though I could not find that hope myself.
"Hey" I called softly, walking towards her.
She looked away, a small, scared whimper leaving her lips. I sighed softly and sat beside her, on the floor, quietly.
"I am not here to hurt you" I whispered as softly as I could and she slowly lifted her head up to me.
"Are... Are you telling the truth?" She asked and I nodded gently.
"I am really not here to hurt you" I assured her and looking at her face, I recalled Karl, the guy who had taken me away from his home.
Definitely, this was his child, this was the child they kidnapped to get him to bring me over to them.
How could they be so immoral, bringing such a little child into this? And still not releasing her to her father even after he did what they asked for? How could they have so brutally killed him?
"What's your name? I am Rosa"
"I am Diane" she replied in her soft voice.
"Diane, beautiful name. Just like you." I reached a hand out to her but held back.
"Can I pat you?"
She nodded positively in response and I smiled before gently patting her hair.
"Your dad is Karl, right?" I asked and she nodded very enthusiastically.
"Do you know my dad? Did my dad send you here to get me out? Is he on the way here to save me?"
I swallowed the hard lump in my throat, knowing that she would never seen her father alive again. I forced out a smile and nodded as answer to her questions.
"I know your dad and we are going to get out of here soon, okay?"
She smiled at me and I was relieved at her smile, relieved that she at least felt better even though I knew things were pretty much bleak looking at the moment. There was no way Russo could find me, I had no idea where I was and there was no way I could communicate with him.
"What about your mum?" I asked her gently, knowing that I could only return her to her mother after this. There would be no dad for her to return to.
"My mum? Dad says mum left to become a star when she gave birth to me. I know it means that she died, but it does feel better to hear that she became a star"
I ruffled her hair gently, giving her a small comforting smile. Dead mother, dead father. This little, beautiful soul was now an orphan.
Heavens! I looked away from her, feeling my heart clench with pain. How much would it hurt this little soul to find out that her dad had also become a star tonight?
"You know..." I moved my hand down to her small hands and held one.
"My own parents are stars too. They became... They became stars the same day because they loved each other so much and didn't want to leave each other."
"Really?" She asked and I nodded in affirmation.
"Why didn't you become a star along with them? You also love them, right?"
"Yes, I do. I love them but... To be a very bright star, we have to live life too." I hoped I was making sense to Diane.
"I will be a very bright star when I become a star. I will be with my mum's star."
"You won't become a star anytime soon, Diane." I picked her up and dropped her gently in my laps.
She rested her head on my chest and I wrapped an arm around her.
"We are going to be out of here soon. Help is going to come" I mumbled the words more to myself than it was to little Diane.
I looked towards the door, hoping that the door would open and Russo would appear at the door. If he was present, all my worries would be gone. Just a glimpse of him and I would be sure I was safe.
"Wherever we are, we would be found." I whispered, patting Diane gently.
After a few minutes, her breathing had evened and I realized she had fallen asleep. I sighed deeply and let the worry on my face grow even more evident.
How could I have lost the ring? I should have kept it more safely.
I spent the best few minutes worrying until the door opened and a man who seemed to be in his fifties walked in. He turned on the light and it was only then that I realised that there was a light switch in the room.
"Miss. Rosaline Caramia" he grinned at me.
"Who... Who are you?" I instinctively pulled Diane closer to me.
"Oh, of course, you do not recognize me. I am Giovanni, Rio's father. I sent you loads of emails, pleading with you to help save my son. Begging you to ask Russo to release my son to me but you ignored all of my mails and now you are here in front of me. Helpless, defenseless and of course without your protective Uncle!" The grin on his face had been replaced with pure anger by the end of his words.
"I was so fucking excited when Dark Caster asked me to keep you in my home. Of course, Massimo would never think I would dare keep you and that's the best, isn't it? He will never realise you are in my home."
"It... It's not my fault Rio died" I stuttered the words out.
"Then whose fault is it?! You could have asked for him to let be free?! You could have initially not gotten him into trouble!"
"He tried raping a woman with his friends!"
"And so?! Did he attempts raping you?!" Giovanni yelled back at me. I was breathing heavily, in and out with anger. How could he say such?!
"Your son once raped someone in college. You covered up for him..."
"Yes, I did. I wasn't going to see my son go to jail!"
In my present situation, I should be considering my choice of words, saying words that would help the situation but Giovanni's words enraged me so much that I could not think.
"Then I am glad he died! Glad he died!" Diane stirred in my arms and I put a hand over her ear.
"I don't know how bad his death was but I hope it was the worst thing on earth! And I pray he rots in hell!"
"You bitch!" He groaned and moved further into the room, closer to me.
He breathed in deeply, clearly trying to calm himself down.
"Rio is dead now and you are happy about his death while I mourn. Soon, you are going to be the dead one and I am going to be the one happy about your death and guess who is going to mourn? Russo El Massimo." He threatened in such a war that I felt fear seep into my body.
"But don't worry, I will take it slow" he grinned at me, making me feel really weirded out and scared.
"I will take your suffering slowly. Your death will be slow and your end drastic" he grinned and took steps back, moving to the door.
He held the door knob and stopped.
"And oh? The attempted gang rape? I just might have it brought to reality. The guys around will be glad."