A young Mia sat in her living room, lounging on the cream fluffy couch facing the television. A small notepad lay in her lap; the page open was filled with vibrant colors and sketches that she had been happily creating. It was a rare time in her childhood she felt genuine happiness.
But all that quickly washed away when the sound of the front door being shoved open startled her. Mia froze and turned to face the doorway. She felt a lump in her throat, her stomach dropped.
Someone trudged along the corridor, their feet dragging against the wood flooring. They turned the corner and stumbled forward into the light. It was her mother. She clutched her waist tightly as she panted; her face looked roughed up and beaten. She leaned to the side and spat out a thick clump of blood and spit.
'Mamma,' Mia said quietly, 'are you OK?'
'Zitto,' she replied coldly. 'Get the kit, I need it. Now'
Mia just stared, her eyes gazing up and down her once again injured mother. She caught a glimpse of a bag behind her that seemed almost as beat up as her.
'Now!' Italia shouted, her voice laced with self-authority and venom. Mia jumped at words before leaping off the couch and dashing out of the room. She slid into the kitchen and threw open one of the cabinets and grabbed a first aid kit. Not bothering to close the cabinet after her, she raced back to her mother and held it out for her.
Italia snatched the kit from Mia's hand. She took one look at her daughter before taking her palm across the child's face. A scream erupted into the air as Mia hit the ground, clutching her stinging cheek as tears flooded down her face. She crawled back into a wall and watched as her mother staggered over to the couch to patch herself. Mia quietly wept to herself, the stinging only growing more painful.
'Never make me wait again, Tesoro,' Italia spat over to her.
Mia's eyes cracked open, the haunting memory quickly disappearing to the depths of her mind. She felt the gripping, agonising pain thundering through her body with the slightest movement. Lifting her head up, she saw two pieces of debris laying across her legs. With a gentle nudge, she managed to pull her legs out from under it, freeing herself from the crushing feeling. Mia let out a relieving sigh as she crawled back from the debris.
She backed up into a tree and used it to slowly pull herself up, clenching her teeth while she did so. The pain seemed to ease off when she was standing up but that didn't make it any more durable.
As she tried to gather her bearings together, she had brief flashes of Lorenzo moments before the motel began to collapse. She could feel her heart in her throat as terrifying thoughts rampaged within her head.
"Lorenzo!" Mia tried to shout, her voice was hoarse, and it only hurt to shout. "Daniela!" Mia then said loudly, voice cracking. She looked around but saw nothing apart from the destroyed parts of the motel laying everywhere, trailing down the mountainside as far as she could see. She couldn't think of anything but Lorenzo and about how she got him into this mess and how she promised him she'd keep him safe. Her eyes welled up as the theories in her mind span out of control.
"Lorenzo!" She called out again, only this time her voice had much more of a worried tone to it as it echoed down the mountainside.
Mia opened her mouth to call out for him again, but she was quickly cut off by the distant sound of helicopter blades whirring mixed with men shouting at one another. She knew all too well who they were – the clean up unit. Back when she worked at the DIS, when she had finished a mission in a messy fashion, the clean up unit would be sent to eliminate any loose ends and bring back anyone they thought back be of use.
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On the Run
الأكشنWhen Italian agent Mia Di Marco becomes ensnared in a deadly conspiracy, she finds herself branded a fugitive. Forced to go on the run, Mia must use all of her skills as an elusive spy to uncover a web of deception and violence, while trying to stop...
