THEA

Chapter Thirty-Eight

A warm light hits my face and I smile, as the sun shines down on my body. The warm sand fills between my toes, and I lay back on my towel, the sand and sun warming my body. The ocean waves crashing fills my ears and I close my eyes and bask in it, the pure calmness I'm feeling. I grab a pair of sunglasses from beside me and set them on my head as I close my eyes and lay in the warm sun. Birds squawk around me, but I don't care.

I sigh and feel my body being lifted up, and tingles erupting on the contact. Lucca. I smile into his bare chest as he carries me to the edge of the sea. The shore quietly crashes down into the sand and the noise is peaceful. I open my eyes and Lucca sets me down, and I set my feet in the sand before standing up straight. I stretch before walking into the ocean, the cool clear water hitting my feet, and I dive in. As my arms break the surface of the ocean my body follows, my whole body amerced in the cool waters of the ocean.

I push my body through the waters, a splash beside me telling me Lucca has joined me. I open my eyes and the water doesn't burn, and I can also see clearly. Tiny fish swim around at the bottom near the golden sand. Sea shells litter the ocean floor and I reach for one. It's rough complexion scrapes against my skin, making me drop it back to the sand where it belongs.

Soon, I try to swim to the surface, my body needing oxygen but I can't move. I start swimming faster in an upwards motion but I can't move. I start to flail and scream but nothing happens, I just lose more oxygen. And then I'm brought back to reality.

My head is pulled from the cold water, and I gasp for air. I start to flail, but Mark holds my arms, while my legs are tied loosely to a metal pole. Frank shoves my head back under the water and I soon become motionless after awhile, hoping they'll think I'm dead. They pull me out of the water and Mark lets go of my arms, first mistake. My eyes snap open and I throw my head back and hit Frank in the head.

I rip my feet from the rope that binds them to the pole. Frank's holding his nose while Mark comes towards me. He tries to stab me with a knife he's holding, but I dodge him, grabbing his wrist, and twisting it backwards. The knife falls from his grip and I catch it mid-air. I hold it up ready to defend myself. Frank is gone, so I don't worry about him, but go for Mark. I go for his arm, slashing it with the knife, just as he did to me. While he wails in pain, I do his other forearm making his screams echo around the room.

"Not so fun when it's you, now is it father?"

"I thought you said your father is dead to you?"

"He's not dead....yet." I smile sinisterly as I lunge for him, punching his face with my left fist, my right hand digging the knife into his stomach. I don't pull it out, but twist it, making him fall, blood pooling around his body. He starts gasping in pain, but he can't move from the damage I've done. I pull out the knife and look for Frank. Clapping echos in the warehouse and Frank comes from the corner wall he was leaning on and he nods his head in approval.

"Wonderful show my beautiful cherry blossom, well done." I roll my eyes and get ready to fight him. He doesn't move so I throw the knife right into his leg, making him fall in pain. He groans and a satisfactory smile appears on my face.

I come over to him and clap loudly while he lays on the ground with a bloody leg and broken nose.

"Good show. Marcolini the Magnificent. That name brought me nightmares but now it just makes me laugh. You're not Magnificent. You had to force a dying girl into non-consented sexual relations, so she could save her life. No, you're not Magnificent. You're just a monster. Where you're going is a place that's cold and lonely. Similar to my childhood. Good luck there, you're going to need it."

I grab the knife from his leg before pushing him face first into the floor. I bring my heel down on his spine towards his neck, and a loud crack resonating through the abounded warehouse.

"W-why can't I feel the pain in my leg? Why can't I feel anything?"

"I just paralyzed you. Enjoy laying here, dying." I turn to exit before I spin on my heel and head towards my father who was trying to crawl away. I grab the bloody knife and plunge it into both of his legs, making him unable to move.  I move to the door, my body slow and it's more of a limp than a walk. My body is stiff and I can't feel my arms after the punching and torture.

"Thea." Franks voice rasps from behind me. I spin to see a gun pointed at my head and I back away from him, putting distance between myself and the gun.

"Goodbye my beautiful cherry blossom, I love you." Frank's last words sound before the sound of the gunshot resonates in the warehouse. My body falls to the ground and I can no longer move. I try to feel where the bullet entered, but my arms won't move from my sides. I scream in annoyance, and the men's quiet laughs fill the silence.

"We may have not won in your eyes cherry blossom, but you didn't win, so we won. You're defeated." My father's voice sounds in the warehouse and an anger bubbles in me.

Flashes of Bri, Damon, Maggie, Lucca, and my family flash in my mind. My mother's flowery smell, her warm fresh cookies on cold November days. Bri's shopping sprees where she'd buy the whole store, and I'd buy the whole food court. Damon's annoying over protectiveness of me whenever boys would talk to me, and his warm hugs when I was feeling low. Maggie's coffee and breakfast runs, and her hilarious sense of humor. 

Carter, Lily, and Aaron flash in my mind, their newborn baby in their arms smiling for a Christmas photo. Lucca. His warm smile, his smooth voice, his loving hugs and the way he looks at me. The one of pure love in his eyes as he looks down at me, a large smile on his face. A tear rolls from my eye, but a large smile is plastered on my face. I could die a happy woman if that image was all I see as I lay here. I close my eyes and picture everyone's loving and warm smiles, and then everything turns black.