I sat upright, my eyes darting around. I tried to locate Matteo. He was sitting in the corner, a large cut on his forehead and his eyes fluttering closed as if he had been knocked out just recently. He was choking unresponsively. I crept over to him and touched the blood. Still warm, which meant it was recent. He wasn't dead. "Come on, wake up," I said quietly. No reply. I shook his shoulder gently. Still nothing. "Matteo, what just happened?"His eyes opened slowly, the widened with fear. "Where is he?" He jumped to his feet and ran to the gate. "Where did he go?"
"Who?"
"The... the man! I have to find him, I know what happened to everyone!"
I tilted my head. "Are you okay...?"
"No, don't call me crazy." He turned to me, his arms tense. "I saw it. I heard it. And then I was struck with a knife."
"You need to lie down for a minute." I took his hand and dragged him back over to the wall, urging him to sit. "What happened?"
His lip quivered. "Uh, there was a man, he came in the cell from the sky and had a black cloak over his whole body... But I couldn't stop him..."
"That's not important," I said, "What did he tell you?"
"He... He told me that Cross will be taken, destroyed, and burned... That you must be killed because you and Jayden are the only people who can stop them... And then he took out the knife..." He trembled. "It had blood of another on it..."
My heart rate sped up nervously. "Jayden?"
He nodded. "That was my guess. I said his name, and then I was cut... punched in the throat, left to die..."
"And he disappeared?"
"Where could he have gone?"
"Wait, let's start with the small stuff," I told him, wiping off the dripping blood from his forehead with my sleeve. "I'll bet you there's a group out there... They want my family's money, and Jayden and I have some sort of advantage against them that could destroy all of it, that's why I'm locked up. But how you are involved, I don't understand."
He took his finger and pointed at himself. "I am not who you think I am, Isla..."
I backed away slowly, becoming suddenly defensive. "Then who are you?"
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm on your side," he reassured me. "But neither can you or Jayden know anything. I cannot give you my true identity."
I put my head in my hands. "Why though? Why can't we know anything?"
"That, I can tell you," he said. "You are the ones who inherit your parent's wealth, by decision of theirs, and they own more than you think. They are in charge of the Italian government. They could destroy or build anything they want. They have all the power, though many don't know it... Not even their own children." He nodded to me. "But, they are planning to give up their position and donate the control willingly. Everyone that knows of this wants a piece, understand?"
"Yeah..."
"But they won't give anything until you come of age, then they planned to give you the choice of donating everything or not. So technically you and Jayden have all the power, and they won't stop until you are dead."
I paused. "My brother and I could... could own Italy?"
He nodded. "Yes. Exactly. The two things that drive these groups of people are greed and insanity, and those things do NOT mix well. You see what danger you guys are in now?"
"So I'm basically facing a death sentence."
"Yeah."
"But originally, the main problem was Jayden and I not being allowed to see each other."
"Because that would give you the benefit of ruling the country. If you had never known of one another, then this wouldn't be happening."
"And where do you come in?"
His eyes locked into mine. "That is not what you need to know. All that's really important right now is that this is much more than a war for money and political control."
"So what is it, then?" I asked.
"I can't tell you."
"Then I don't trust you."
He rolled his eyes. "Isla, I'm the same age as you. What could I possibly do to counter-act your decisions?"
"Kill me."
"Killing you isn't going to help anything," he sighed. "But helping you disappear could." His eyes lit up at this idea, which made me think of it as impossible and terribly awful.
"No, I'm not going to disappear because of a money dilemma," I said decidedly. "Why can't my parents just figure this out?"
"Because they're not the problem!"
"So Jayden and I are?"
"Yes! Now no more questions, I don't want you knowing everything yet. That's what's so dangerous, and you have to accept that fact."
I threw my hands up in exasperation. "I don't get what harm I could do! It's not like I could 'end the world' or anything!"
He pursed his lips.
"Wait, what?" I moved closer, my head spinning from confusion and anger. "Could I?"
"I can't answer you, Isla. I'm sorry."
"Okay, whatever. Let's focus on the main thing: escaping..." I looked around for possible options, but I found nothing except perhaps breaking the solid metal door.
"One thing you have to make sure of is creating alliances," he said. "Right now it's two against one hundred."
I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"
"You and Jayden are up against terrorist groups, and they're 'sponsored' by the other governments. So actually, more than one hundred. I'll bet you it's about one thousand."
"The other... The other governments?"
"Yeah. The municipal governments of Italy, and the surrounding countries. Not the federal, though, because your parents own that one. But they're not necessarily on your side. They really don't want any part of this, because it could cost them their lives."
I nodded slowly, my eyes falling to the ground. "So how do I fix this?"
"You can't," he said. "You deal with it."