Page 31 of A Game of Survival

As soon his body hits the grass I signal to Linc to make a break for it. We make a run for the gap in the treeline where the broken fence is knowing that will be our only way to escape.

"Silas Salvatore, running away from a fight!" Ronan mocks from behind me.

"Lincoln, keep going with Teddy, I'll be right behind you." I snap.

Lincoln attempts to object but I stop him. "Please!" I beg, glancing at Teddy in his arms. His lips thin into a disapproving line but he nods and continues to move forward through the trees all while reassuring Teddy that they will be with Lucille soon.

I turn from them and finally face the fucker who has ripped my world apart, walking towards him to put more space between them and Teddy. "Name a time and a place Ronan, I'll happily take you on. I'll happily fight you on neutral ground when you don't have an army of men to fight for you." I say as I stand a few feet away from him and his gang of men appearing behind him as he grins maliciously at me. I hope I can give Lincoln and Teddy enough time to get away.

"Don't fancy your chances against me now then?" He cackles. "Neither do I," he smiles, bringing his gun up before he and the six men stood beside him open fire in my direction. I’ve already turned and made a sprint for it back to the trees, zigzagging as I go to avoid being hit before the bullets barrel past me. I almost can’t believe my luck until I feel a sharp pain pierce through my rib and the air is completely expelled from my lungs. I do my best to move as quickly as I can to follow the trail Lincoln and Teddy took back to our car, making sure to apply pressure to the wound that's already emitted too much blood.

Lincoln is already in the driving seat with the engine running and as I slump myself into the seat beside him he puts his foot down on the accelerator before I even have a chance to shut the door.

"Silas, that was a close one," Linc laughs, but when I don't answer he looks over at me, his eyes quickly taking in the sight of my blood stained shirt. “Fuck” he spits, reaching his hand into the backseat with his eyes still on the road before throwing a jacket over me. “Don’t let him see” he whispers.

I’m unable to speak as my body fights the shock settling into my bones. I tighten the jacket around my stomach, pressing it onto my ribs and swallowing down the pain. My skin is sweating but I can feel my body growing colder. The last thing I see is the worried look on Lincs face as he races us back home before I close my eyes.

Chapter 19

Lucille

It's been three painstakingly long hours since Lincoln refused to say goodbye before he and Silas left, promising that they would deliver Teddy back home to me. I haven’t been able to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time while I watch the seconds on the clock pass by.

“What’s taking them so long?” I exhale. A question I had started asking about an hour and a half ago, which was noticeably starting to annoy my brother now.

“Luc, we knew this wasn’t going to be quick. The house is almost an hour away. Just give them time.” Max scolds, like I should know better.

“But what if something’s gone wrong Max!?” I plead, feeling nothing but utter uselessness flood throughout my body. “I can’t take this much longer, we should have heard from them by now. They should be on their way home at least.” I sigh, sinking down to my knees to take in a few deep breaths. I have so many emotions fighting for the top spot, all battling their way through, making this whole waiting game a whole lot worse. Every possible outcome in my head is wrong, something always goes wrong and the anxiety of it all is too overwhelming for me to think straight any longer. Teddy is coming home. I can’t let the seed of doubt creep its way through my body, like an infestation, weeding its way into every single cell, making it almost impossible to fight against. I close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing, silently praying that everything will be OK. If Linc believes this is the real deal, like he says he does, then that’s good enough reason for me to believe it, too. Right?

As I shake my hands, willing the pins and needles stabbing their way through my fingers to disperse, the door swings open with a bang. I stand so fast that my vision blurs when all the blood rushes to my head. I blink away the stars for a second until my vision clears, and I see the small body of a child standing in the doorway.

“Dad?” I hear the child call before I can fully register who it is.

“Alessandro, you shouldn’t run through the house like that.” I hear a female voice call from not too far behind him. Lincoln’s son is staring at me from the door.

“Did you hear me?” the female voice calls again, closer this time.

“Sorry, Cassandra,” Alesso replies, turning to face the middle aged woman dressed casually in pencil leg trousers and a cream blouse. She is now standing behind him, seeming slightly out of breath. I notice her tense immediately as she notices Max and I in Silas’s office and her hand rests out on Alesso’s shoulder.

“Is my dad here, Lucille?” Alesso asks, snapping me out of my bizarre need to question this woman for feeling like she has the right to put her hands on his shoulder. At the mention of my name I see her features soften slightly.

“Lucille,” Cassandra walks into the room, holding her hand out for me to shake. As she gets closer, I realize she is older than I first thought. Though her body looks neither old nor young, the age lines on her face tell me that she has been through much of her life with worry and that her soft hazel eyes had seen things no normal woman should see. It crosses my mind that if I end up with the chance to get to know this woman, there would be many stories she could tell me. But for now, I’m in no state to start sharing experiences. “I’m sorry, I should have realized who you were. Forgive me for being so rude. Only, when Alesso noticed Mr Rossi’s car outside, he assumed his father would be here and took off in search of him,” she explains. I take her offered hand in my own and give her a gentle, reassuring squeeze, nodding my head to let her know I accept her apology before turning back towards the door.

“I’m sorry Alesso, he isn’t here at the moment.” I sigh, giving him a feeble smile.

“Has he gone to find Teddy?” Alesso asks, sucking the air right from my lungs. I notice Max moving closer to me in my peripheral vision but Alesso doesn’t move. He watches me and I can’t blink fast enough to urge away the tears that pool in the corner of my eyes. I admit defeat and nod my head, letting a single track of tears fall across both cheeks. Alesso walks over without another word and wraps his arms around my waist holding onto me tightly.

“He’ll come back,” he whispers. “He always does.” As the words register, I realize it wasn’t Teddy he was referring to, and that thought alone, that this innocent little boy who has already lost so much in his life also has moments where he’s left wondering when, or if his father will ever return to him and it breaks what little resolve I have left. If my soul hadn’t already been splintered beyond repair, the enormity of those words would have struck me down. I place a hand onto Alesso's head, stroking my fingers absentmindedly through his hair as I look back to Cassandra who’s watching the moment pass between us with one hand raised, clutching above her heart and the other touching her lips. Her eyebrows are raised slightly, but the sympathy in her eyes forces me to swallow a thick band of guilt that's tightening across my throat. If Lincoln doesn’t make it home, I’ve left this little boy without a mother and a father.

“I’ll get started on some dinner,” Cassandra mumbles before she leaves the room leaving Alessandro, Max and I in a horribly uncomfortable silence before I feel the burner phone Kat gave me, start to vibrate in my back pocket. Alesso drops his arms for me to retrieve it, watching me expectantly to see who’s calling. My own heart drums rapidly against my chest as I flip open the device and it’s only when an audible sigh passes my lips that Alesso releases his own breath too.

“It’s Kat. Would you mind?” I ask, holding the phone out to Max. I don't have the strength in me to try and explain what’s happened, and I know she’ll have hundreds of questions. He hesitates slightly, not having spoken to Kat since their awkward encounter in his kitchen which feels like decades ago. But as the vibrating stops to then immediately start back up again he gives in knowing she won’t stop ringing until somebody answers.

“I’ll take it outside,” he says, glancing down at Alesso before he leaves the room. As I watch him step outside, I’m left wondering if that was for Alesso’s sake so he didn’t have to hear Max explain where his dad had gone or the fact that Kat might bite his head off and he didn’t want either of us there to witness it.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Alesso asks shyly. “Whenever I am sad, Dad makes a den on the couch with my duvet and we get snacks and watch a movie together. It always cheers me up,” he explains.

Little does he know, I do the exact same thing with Teddy too. Our favorite afternoons are spent on the couch under the duvet together watching Disney movies on repeat.

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