Page 49 of Savage
Before I knew what was happening, she was torn away from me. She screamed as she was dragged out of the kitchen by her hair.
“Mo—” My face was grabbed roughly, and I was forced to stare up into gray eyes.
“You’re softer than I’d hoped. It was my mistake to leave you in her care for so long. Don’t worry. I will fix that.” He released me, and I fell back.
I was only seven, but I knew whatever was happening wasn’t good.
“Follow me,” the man said, snapping his fingers.
I followed him, looking around for my mother at every turn. He stopped at the front door in the middle of the split staircase. I could still hear my mother screaming for me. I didn’t know where she was. Men I’d never seen before moved about the house. The guards and maids who normally scoured the place lay on the floor, deep red puddles forming under them.
“Found this, boss,” one of the men said. He held the puppy my mother had gifted me only a month ago. It whimpered in his hold, trying to break free. Another appeared with everything out of my room. Even the pin my mother said had been left by my father. It was the only time she’d ever mentioned him and the only thing I had of his.
“See this, Elio,” the man said.
My favorite toys and, lastly, my puppy were placed in front of me.
“These are weaknesses, and you don’t want to be weak, right?” the man asked.
I shook my head. Yet, how were they a weakness?
A bang that sounded like thunder went off twice. I watched, frozen to my spot, as holes appeared in my puppy. It went still on the ground. As for my toys, they were set on fire, burning to ash.
Why? My hands shook, and I glanced at my mother. She stood there, staring at me with tears in her eyes. The man who held her jerked her back.
“You’ve made him soft. I will be taking him now.”
“He’s just a boy,” she shouted.
“That’s not what I agreed to when I allowed you to keep him.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Elio, let’s go. I will teach you right,” the old man said.
I didn’t move.
“Elio, baby—”
My mother’s bright green eyes looked back at me as more tears slid down her cheeks. A bang went off, and the light flickered from her beautiful gaze as blood dripped down her forehead. She fell forward and crashed down to the marble floor.
“Clean this up,” the old man said.
I was stuck there as he grabbed my face.
“Good, no tears.” He smiled. “Elio, a monster doesn’t need weakness.” He stood back up and snapped his fingers. “Let’s go.”
My gaze dropped back to my mother; she’d never get up. I knew that. And still, no tears spilled. I stood covered in blood; it was warm. There was something beautiful and wrong with the crimson liquid.
“You will be what my brother failed to be.”
Searing pain pulled me out of the horrid memory I’d forgotten about. I blinked and stared down at my hand as the old man put his cigarette out against my flesh. The burning smell was one I knew all too well. I showed nothing as I sat there. Once he was done, I turned my hand around, took the cigarette, and placed it in the ashtray.
He stared at me for a long while, and I prepared for the worst but hoped he moved on. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about my boys with him. There was no telling how I’d react.
“My son is still making a mess,” the old man said.
I nodded. It wasn’t a question, but I confirmed it all the same, more than happy to move on to actual work.
