Revenge.
I'm familiar with it. You have to be when you're the firstborn son of a notorious mafia leader. Death and vengeance have been the very foundations of my life.
So who in their fucking mind would be stupid enough to cross me?
My brother and...
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Mother visits me in my dreams. Although something about this dream feels different. It feels like it's really happening even though I know it isn't.
"Mother?"
I take a step toward her. Her back is to me. All I see is the back of her, her long hair floating around her. She turns around and her eyes meet mine. They look calm and serene. At peace.
"Thank you." Her voice echoes around us. I'm not sure where we are. It looks like we're surrounded in nothing. "You brought me my peace, son. I can go now."
"Go?" My heart races. I know she's been gone for a year now but it never really felt like she was gone. Somehow, in this moment, I know she's really leaving this time. "Go where?"
"To your father. I've been waiting for so long to see him again. But I couldn't go back to him until I knew I could tell him everything is okay. That our boys are okay."
My lungs seize tightly when she turns around again. I can't fucking breathe. "Wait. Let me come with you."
She turns around again and this time her smile holds a touch of sadness. "It's not time for you to come with me, darling. Your brother needs you. Your wife needs you. Your duties lay with them now."
Felix. Mariana. I look around as if I might find them here.
"Where are they?"
"Waiting for you. It's time for us to return to the ones we belong with."
"Mother." Panic makes my voice shudder. My breaths come out in desperate bursts. "Don't. I still need you. I don't know how to get back. I don't know how to make Felix stop hating me. You can't leave us."
"I never did." Tears gather in her eyes and her smile becomes watery. "Don't let Felix push you away. I have found peace but he hasn't. And if you need to get back...just listen for her voice. I'll see you soon, my love."
"Wait!" I watch with dread when a blinding light overtakes her, threatening to swallow her whole. I push the words out the way I failed to last time. "I love you."
She laughs softly under her breath, pure happiness making her eyes shine bright. "I know. Now go tell her the same."
Her? I lose my breath completely when the blinding light explodes and then she's gone. Not a whisper of her existence left. Fuck. Fuck, she's really gone this time. The backs of my eyes burn and I fight against the sob clawing up my throat.
Goodbye, Mother.
I look around at the emptiness I'm surrounded in, panic causing ice to form in my veins. Now what? I'm completely alone. I always have been but at some point it stopped being bearable. Being alone doesn't feel as comforting as it once did. I need...I need...
"—not leaving."
A new voice echoes around me and I search frantically for where it came from. There's something about that voice. I just know it could fucking save me.
