The Shadows

Chapter Thirty-Eight

As Annabella succumbed to the darkness, everything seemed to slow down for the De Luca's.

Stefano and Alessio were desperately trying to get her to wake up and assess her injuries.

Antonio and Angelo were tying up the two people who took their sunshine not once but twice.

Adriano and Alessandro were ordering everyone about where to go and what to do.

All in all, the De Luca spiralled downwards into a dark hole that only one person would be able to get them out of. And that one person was in the back of an ambulance fighting to survive, heading to the same hospital that her twin was in, fighting for his life also.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Annabella's eyes first closed, she could feel everything going on around her.

Every part of her body that was in pain,

Every person rushing into the room,

People touching her face and body trying to help her.

Then it all went blank.

It was blank for what seemed like years, then the blankness began fading into a light gray, like you see in the older movies.

When shapes became more prominent, Annabella realized that what she was seeing was a memory.

She was almost 5 years old in the memory, and was sitting on the swings at the playground during recess at school.

All of the other kids were running around playing games with each other, but no one wanted to be her friend because of her clothes and the fact that she didn't really speak to anyone. And as kids are, they made fun of her. Bullying her every chance that the teacher turned her back, insults were thrown at her.

But she knew better than to speak up and ask for help.

Asking for help in that type of situation leads to the teacher calling your parents, and Annabella knew what was in store for her if her parents ever got a call from the school about her.

Her five year old self sighed as she looked away from all of the happy children, daydreaming about when she could escape the grasps of her evil parents.

That memory faded into another one from when she was 11 years old.

Annabella had just gotten up and left the house after getting yet another beating from her father for not getting him a beer when he needed one, even though he had a full one right beside him.

She had been walking down the streets near her house for a good 20 minutes when she heard what sounded like a young girl screaming for help. Annabella knew that no one else in this neighborhood they lived in would help her, so she started running in the direction of the scream.

When she finally found her, Annabella saw a horrifying sight.

A girl around her age, if not younger, was being cornered in an alleyway by two guys, who she knew were friends with my father.

It was very clear what their intentions were with the young girl, so Annabella began making noise at the entrance of the alley, hoping to draw them away from her so she could escape.

Annabella knew the repercussions of doing this if she got caught by one of them, but she didn't care. She only cared about making sure that the other girl was safe. She knew she could handle whatever punishment my parents gave me for this.

After making enough noise, the two guys spotted her and began chasing her.

Let her just say that the punishment was worth the young girl not having PTSD.

That memory began to fade and another began.

It was Annabella when she had begun to get closer to her brothers.

"Anna! You can't eat ice cream at 10 in the morning!" Alessandro yelled at her, while she was busy eating her chocolate and vanilla ice cream sandwich.

Her other brothers were watching in amusement. Even Adriano had a small smile on his face.

"Yes I can. What's gonna stop me?" Annabella questioned him cockily.

He sighed, irritated with her reasoning, but made no move to take away her ice cream.

"You're lucky that I love you Anna. If it had been anyone else, I would've killed them." He said as he walked over to give her a kiss on the head and walk out of the room.

Everyone was smiling at their interaction, and Alessio even managed to take a picture of her and Alessandro without us knowing. 

As that memory faded, another one did not begin. Instead Annabella was left in a dark tunnel.

She was trying to find a way out when a white light began to shine at what seemed to be the end of the tunnel.

As she started to run towards the light, hoping to get out of the black void she was in, a woman appeared in front of her.

She was wearing all white and had this glow about her. She seemed like what people would call an angel.

"Hello, my child." The woman said with the most soothing voice Annabella had ever heard. Like one of a mother speaking to her child.

"Hello, where am I and who are you?" Annabella questioned the woman in front of her.

"Well, I am your mother." She said,

Annabella, of course, did not believe her. Who would believe someone who showed up in the darkness of your mind after suffering a traumatic thing.

But something in her gut told her to believe the woman.

Annabella looked at her closer, and noticed that they had a similar face structure, hair color, and eye color.

Could this woman really be her mother?

As she was about to ask more questions, she raised a hand, effectively stopping Annabella from speaking and said, "All of your questions will be answered in due time, but you must go back now. Your father and brothers are worried about you."

Annabella nodded her head, then went to hug her.

It felt just as she had imagined a hug from a loving mother would.

Comforting.

Then she slowly disappeared and the void of blackness didn't seem as dark anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been 8 hours since Annabella was rushed into surgery after she flatlined in the ambulance three times.

Alessandro could tell that the doctors did not have much hope for her surviving, and it was taking a toll on all of the boys.

Their two youngest siblings were fighting for their lives and may not survive. And even if they do, the mental effect that this will have on them may be worse than the physical.

Their family sat in the emergency waiting room once again, anxiously waiting for the moment that they would hear what was going on with their baby sister.

Finally, the doctor came out with a very shocked face, standing beside the equally shocked Alessio, to give them the news on their princess.