The horizon was glowing with bright city lights, and the pale crescent moon shone like a faint silver claw in the night sky.
A young woman looked up at the blanket of stars above her as she stretched her slim neck from the car's window. She held still for a while, gazing at the beautiful and lucid sky.
Her lips formed a bright smile, and her black eyes twinkled in the dark like the stars in the crisp, cold air. She enjoyed this serene atmosphere. The small car park was empty and quiet, and she could hear herself breathing. For some reason, this cold night felt exceptionally warm.
Ping!
An incoming message on her phone mercilessly disturbed the pristine silence.
The women kept her eyes on the dark sky as she fished her phone from her handbag. She blinked when the crude light of the screen forced itself on her eyes, and squinted to turn the brightness down.
She scrolled down her inbox, her eyes moving up and down in sync with the scrolling screen. It wasn't the message she had been waiting for. She stopped scrolling and tapped on the conversation between her and her partner, Eros.
[Me: Darling! What time are you getting home?
04:16 pm not seen.
Me: I've just come back from the business trip and I even sprained my ankle. It hurts...
05:40 pm not seen.
Me: Come home early if you can. I have a surprise for you!
08:57 pm not seen.
2 unanswered calls by you at 09:01 pm
Me: Eros?
10:51 pm not seen.]
Serena's lips curled down as she continued to stare at the inbox until the screen turned off to save power.
She wasn't sure whether she was disappointed or worried.
It was very unlike him. They used to be inseparable. He could usually not wait to get back to her, and she couldn't remember him ever being late. She tried calling him again, but the bland beeping on the other end confirmed that his phone was still switched off.
his company notified her that he hadn't been to work in the past two days either. Even his secretary was nowhere to be found. It didn't add up at all, but she shrugged her shoulders to shake her worries off. She trusted him, after all.
Her mind told her that he was probably very busy with something important, while her heart warned her for something she couldn't quite fathom.
She sat up straight, opened the message from the disappointing sender, and typed a quick reply. When she turned around to gather the shopping bags from the back seat, her eyes fell on the fat, pink and blue coloured folder. Another bright smile danced on her beautiful features.
It was his birthday, and she had the best gift in the world to give to him.
She was pregnant.
She carefully slid the folder into a shopping bag and climbed out of the car. The car door made a muffled noise when she closed it with a gentle kick.
Tak! Tak! Tak!
The sound of her heels echoed against the marble floor, her ankle still aching from her little accident at work. She pushed against the locked door. Locked? Oh well, Marie must be out.
Marie was the caretaker of their villa. Eros told her that he has been working for them since he was a kid. Marie was a wise and kind woman and Luciana thought she would be the perfect nanny once their child was born.
She unlocked the heavy door with the elegant, ornate key. The hallway was shrouded in darkness, sending a shiver down her spine. The quiet and the dark that she appreciated outside didn't quite feel as comfortable in here. She activated her phone's flashlight and felt around for the switch.
As her eyes got used to the light, she frowned at the living room in surprise.
Everything was exactly how she had left it this morning. The breakfast plates were piled up on the dining table, the kitchen was a mess, and yesterday's newspaper with its completed crossword puzzle was still on the sofa.
What the hell is going on? A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she kicked her heels off and marched towards the cluttered dining table.
She didn't like her home to be messy. Her days at work were busy, and she had been relieved with the help she hired to keep her house clean and tidy. Why had Marrie not been in to do her job?
This was not Luciana's day.
At work, she had almost slipped from the stairs and If it hadn't been for a kind man to grab her arm on time she would've hurt more than just her ankle. She had hoped for a cozy night in with her husband tonight.
but Eros was still nowhere to be found, and her home was a mess.
After collecting the dishes in the sink, she dropped into a chair and poured herself a large glass of water. Sipping slowly, Serena was lost in thoughts when she suddenly flinched.
Creak!
The faint noise drew her eyes towards the slightly opened sliding door, which led to the lawn. Why was that door open at this hour? A foreboding, ominous feeling crept up on her.
Everything about today had felt odd. As she stood up, she felt a cold gaze on her back, as though someone was staring at her with frozen eyes. She was suddenly very aware that she had only turned on one light. The darkness pressed on her from all directions.
Nailed to the floor, she tried to see from the corner of her eyes, and she cautiously turned on her heels. With a stifled sigh, she finally released the breath she had been holding,
There was no one there. Somehow, the grand wooden staircase's shape seemed distorted in the shadows.
Why was she feeling like this? There was no one in the villa but her. Or was there? Had Eros come back to surprise her? Was he outside in the garden? Her heart fluttered at the thought, and she forgot all her fears for a second.
But what would he be doing outside at this time of day? Is he trying to scare her? She relaxed a little. So he wasn't taking my calls, and now he's trying to scare me. Very naughty.
Serena was on to Eros. She finished the rest of her water with a gulp and began to walk towards the sliding door that let the cool evening air in, grinning.
She opened the door a bit more and peeked out into the yard, but she couldn't see a thing. It all looked dark and dreadful with the outside lights off.
"Eros? Are you there, darling?"
Other than the familiar sound of locusts, she was answered by an unsettling silence.
"Eros, that's enough! Will you come out now?"
There was no reply, which made sense, because there was no one there. Serena's smile fell as the disappointment flashed across her face. What was she thinking? Eros has not been home for days. Had he abandoned her?
No, that's a ridiculous thought. He loved her, and she loved him.
Serena composed herself and locked the sliding door. But when her gaze moved back from the lock to the crystal clear glass of the door, she gasped.
"Heuh!"
Her pupils widened as she tried to understand what she saw in the reflection.
Thump! Thump!
Her heart began to beat wildly, and her back broke into a sweat when her quivering eyes focused on the figure of a masked man coming up behind her.
An intruder! Definitely an intruder!
She could feel danger in the air. Her instincts told her to run for her life, but strong hands got hold of her faster than she could move. They clutched her hair harshly.
"Ugh." A small whimper was all Serena could utter from the pain in her scalp.
He began to drag her away from the door by her hair. Despite being an excellent fighter, Serena couldn't fight back. She felt paralyzed by shock. Her heart raced, and her chest tightened; it felt as if the centre of her head — right behind her nasal cavity — was being pulled back. A sound roared through her reeling mind as her knees buckled, and seemingly black clouds pressed their way into her vision.
Something was utterly wrong with her. Had she been drugged? She didn't get time to think. The intruder slammed her head forcefully against the concrete wall.
"Ugh… W-what..."
Her mind was already drugged and wrapped in chaos, and now began to hurt like hell. It felt as if her skull was trying to explode into one million pieces. She couldn't even try to stand up anymore, and her mind flickered to the life in her stomach, desperate to protect it.
Warm crimson blood gushed out of her forehead and nose.
She was on the verge of fainting when the intruder yanked her up by her collar and held her wrist with his other hand.
She was close to him, very close. Goosebumps covered her body when his warm breath fell on her face. She could smell the familiar musky-minty smell as her clouded gaze leveled with the man's cold eyes. He continued to stare at her.
Serena clutched at his grip on her collar with her free hand.
"I-I beg you… P-please don't kill me..." Tears threatened to mingle with the blood as she continued: "I don't want to d-die… I want to bring my child into this w-world… Please..." she pleaded.
Time began to move at a lumbering pace, but the man's vacant eyes didn't budge. He stared at her without blinking. She could hear the ticking of the clock louder than she had ever heard it before, until the ringing of her phone interrupted it.
Both of their faces turned towards the phone. Serena was the first to look back at him and took the chance to struggle free from his grip on her collar. She bit the hand that had been clutching her wrist. Unbalanced and sick to the stomach, she ran to pick up her phone with incredible speed but stopped dead in her tracks.
it was as if the air was sucked out of her surrounding, leaving her suffocating.
her eyes fell on a man lying in his own pool of blood. his lifeless eyes stared back at her. a gutted scream tore out of her as she ran towards him with numb legs.
"Eros!"
she fell to her knees not caring how they hit against the hard marble. she felt numb and her ears were reeling from denial.
she tried to move him but her hands trembled uncontrollably.
A sob tore out of her throat as she gazed in to his dead brown eyes which stared back at her. there was a dark hole right between His eyes with precision and fresh blood tickled out of it.
"No..No..No...Eros! wakeup!" she was so shocked her mind refused to register the fact that her husband was dead. murdered in cold blood. she shook him but he didn't move.
he was gone.
why? what happened? she was going to give him the news of their first child. he was going to be a father. they were going to be parent to their beautiful child and together they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. oh how he longed for a kid!
"Wake up Eros...don't...leave...me..." her body shook with heart wrenching sobs.
this sight would have brought any living person to their knees with grief but the masked man slowly prowling towards was no human. the sight didn't faze his cold heart and he had no patience to deal with a woman grieving for her loss.
in one step he was behind her and grabbed her by the length of her hair.
Lucian's head was wrenched back forcefully as the man began to drag her away from her dead husband.
"No..Let go you murderer! you killed my husband! you fuvking murder!" she screamed at him.
the man threw her on the floor and before she could move her placed his boot clad foot right on her stomach and she froze.
her eyes widened. she didn't want to even think why he did that.
No! he can't do that to her.
"The Wren Clan will end tonight." the man promised in a whisper as he fished out a gun from his back and pointed at her stomach.
Luciana was horrified, "No! p-pease no! I beg you.." her voice laced with utter fear broke, "you already took Eros from me not my child Now too...please." she begged.
but the man had already made his mind. without a second thought and pulled the trigger.
time stopped as the bullet teared into her stomach mercilessly and Luciana's body jerked.
an excruciating pain sliced through her abdomen and she fell back on the floor. her hand moved to her stomach drenched with blood and she started heaving with shock and pain.
without a second glance the man left the dying woman on the floor and left.
he had done what he was here for.
he didn't care if the woman lived or died.
even if she lived, she would spend the rest of her life dead inside.