Altered (An Italian Mafia Story)

Chapter One

This is your only warning: This book contains mature content. If that makes you uncomfortable, don't read this book.

_____________________________

My hands shook violently as I stumbled around my bedroom in the dark, afraid of waking up my aunt and uncle. I quietly gathered my tooth brush and cosmetic bag in my arms before tiptoeing back into my room.

I blindly dumped clothes and necessities into the once empty backpack on my small bed. I cursed under my breath as I tripped on something and fell with a soft thump. I stayed on the floor and held my breath, waiting for a sign that someone had heard, for a sign that I'd been caught, but none came. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I was born in New York City. Having lived in the heart of the city with my my parents and brother when I was a kid, I had always dreamed of moving back to New York City. Living with my abusive Aunt and Uncle, I wanted nothing more than to run from my past and forget about every awful thing that had happened since my parents died.

I thought back to how happy I had felt just a few hours ago. Earlier that day, I had been dressed in my graduation gown with a cap perched on my head. I had been smiling and laughing with my friends, completely carefree and happy as I walked across the stage to collect my high school diploma.

Today had been a good day. A really good day, up until I came home.

Now I was sporting a dark bruise on my right cheekbone and there were dried tears on my face. That was when I had made my decision to go. I'd just turned eighteen, I'd just graduated and all of my friends were going off to college, a luxury I couldn't afford. My older brother still lived in New York and had once offered me a place to stay after graduation. There was nothing keeping me here anymore.

I closed my backpack before lifting my mattress and grabbing my sock full of money. I'd had a part time job all through high school and had been saving up for years. I knew I had enough money to keep me going for a few months and to pitch in for rent, but I would have to get a job. I shoved the money in my backpack and swung it over my shoulder.

I stood there in the tiny room I'd lived in for half of my life and took a shaky breath.

My heart pounded and blood rushed in my ears as I tiptoed out of my bedroom door and navigated my way through to the front door. I held my breath as I turned the door knob and pulled it open soundlessly.

As soon as I made it outside into the cool night air, I was ready to cry tears of joy. I'd made it. I was home free. I walked a short distance to the nearest bus stop and sat down on the bench and waited. I pulled out my phone to check the time.

I'd let my brother, Daniel, know that I was coming and he'd sounded surprisingly happy to have me come and live with him. When our parents had died, I was sent to live with our aunt and uncle, but Daniel had been old enough to live on his own. He'd stayed in New York and I had been shipped off to Ohio.

I sighed as I waited. I was going to New York. That was my dream. I'd researched which buses to take and the closest bus stop to my brother's apartment. I'd have to walk a mile or two once I got there, but I didn't mind. I had scrawled the address of my brother's apartment onto a sheet of paper before leaving.

The bus pulled up to the bus stop a few minutes early and I gratefully climbed aboard.

"Where are you headed?" The woman in the driver's seat asked.

"New York."

"One way or round trip?"  She asked in a bored voice.

"One way. Definitely, one way." I paid and sat in a seat in the very back of the bus. I rested my head against the seat and closed my eyes knowing I was gonna need my rest.