Her Safety

Chapter Fifteen

I was in a dark room with mirrors surrounding me and a wooden floor beneath my bare feet. I curled my toes, pulling my knees up to my chest. My chest. It heaved as my heart raced, sending my body into a frenzy. This place was unfamiliar and cold. All I could see was my reflection, through the dim lights. Suddenly, my favorite song blasted through the speakers that sat in the corner of the wide-spanning room.

"Hello?" I shouted, getting off the dirty floor. The wood panels were old, scratched up and worn down. I looked behind me to catch a glimpse of several rails, which seemed like they were for ballerinas. I figured I was in a dance studio, but where? How? I called out again, hoping for some answers. "Anyone there?"

Calm down, Angelina. Someone is messing with your head. Just find the nearest exit. I thought to myself, while spinning around hoping to find the doors. It was too dark, so I had to feel around for them. I dragged my hand across the only bare wall in the large room until I felt the cold touch of a metal doorknob. I twisted it open and came chest-to-chest with a towering stranger. I couldn't see their face, but they smelled very familiar. I was sure it was a man.

"Where do you think you're going?" The deep, husky voiced asked me with a hint of a smile at the edge of his lips. I gasped, pulling him into the light.

"Ang!" I shouted as I desperately threw my arms around him. Tears instantly sprung to my eyes, "I was so worried."

He brushed the hair out of my face, "Shh," He pulled me into him, grabbing my waist. "Can we dance?"

I realized the music was still playing. It was "Stand by Me," by Ben King. My all-time favorite song. I used to slow dance to it with my dad growing up, so it was bittersweet, but a song I held onto dearly. My body instantly relaxed into his and I let the music take me away. It struck me how easily I relaxed around him and how safe he made me feel. My dad was the only person who had that effect on me, until now. DeAngelo was now my safety.

Once the song ended, Ang and I snapped out of our trance, "What are we doing here, Ang?" I asked, curiously peering around the room.

"You don't remember this place?" His beautiful sea-green eyes crinkled.

"No," I crinkled my brows at him, "Am I supposed to?"

Suddenly, the lights went out and the feeling of Angelo's arms around me disappeared. My steady heartbeat now picked up once more. What is going on? If I'm dreaming, why does it feel so real? I fell to the floor, anxiously trying to find my way back to the door. Sliding my hands across the mirrors, they were cold against my palm, until I felt the wooden door under my hand. I jumped up, banging and screaming for help. If I was dreaming, I needed to wake up. Two strong hands grasped my own and stopped me from banging. The room became silent.

"Ang?" I whispered shakily. It didn't smell like him nor did his presence feel the same. This time, the air around me felt more eerie.

The man laughed mockingly, "Ang? Ang? Is that you? My savior?"

I held back a sneer in realization, "What do you want from me?"

"Revenge." He declared, like I was the one who was going to help him get it.

"Leave me out of it, Frankie. If you're so deadest on getting revenge, you go do that, but you leave me out of it." I struggled out of his firm grip.

His laugh boomed in the empty room and I shivered. Although it was too dark to see his face, I felt the menacing air around him, "Oh, sweet little cousin of mine. You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into. You're as good as dead."

"Shut up!" I screamed, covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut. Get me the hell out of this place!

"YOU WILL GET WHAT IS COMING TO YOU. TRAITOR. TRAITOR. TRAITOR."

"NINA!" I jumped up, heaving and wheezing, trying to get air into my lungs. I flailed my arms around me in defense. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor.

"Stop it!" I screamed, covering my ears with my eyes shut. All I could think about was Frankie and his menacing threat.

"Shhh, it's me," The person who had woken me up rubbed my back and soothed me until my mind could finally settle down. I looked up apprehensively, still trying to make sense of what I just experienced.

There was the poor, worried face of Mark, crouched at my bedside. He looked at me with concerned and bloodshot eyes. I sagged in relief, trying to regain my composure. I knew it was a dream, but it was also something more. A warning? How did my subconscious know more than I did? The way my mind trapped me in that fantasy nightmare land until I could heed Frankie's warning, was so interesting to me. I looked at Mark with reddened cheeks.

"I'm sorry." I shook my head, my eyes as wide as saucers. "Did I punch you?"

He chuckled tiredly, "No, but you have an excellent right hook. It was a hard one to dodge, I must say."

I covered my face, "I don't know what got into me. I had a really weird dream—er nightmare." I scanned his tired face and felt sorry for unloading my 24/7 drama on him. He had no doubt, not had a single second of sleep and on top of that, was dealing with business and Ang at the same time. I sighed, "How is he?"

Mark rubbed his chin, mentally deciding how to explain himself, "So, there's good news and there's bad news. Good news, he's healing quickly, bad news, he fractured a couple ribs, so he has to be on bedrest for at least a week or so."

My stomach dropped. How bad was this "car accident?" "Did he wake up?"

"He did," This time, his tired face lit up a little, "And of course he asked about you first thing. I told him you are safe and taken care of. He fell asleep soon after. He needs his rest, honestly, so it's not a bad thing. The more he rests, the sooner he'll get better."

"And what about you?" I asked.

Mark looked dumbfounded, "What about me?"

"You need to get some rest, too."

This made him laugh, "I'll get my rest when I'm dead."

Rolling my eyes, "That's something Ang would say."

He stood up to leave, with a big, proud smile on his face, "Who do you think I learn from?"

A felt a pit in my stomach. Mark was a good guy, an honest person and a hard-worker. Loyal to a fault. I didn't want Mark to get involved in any of the drama with my family. He didn't deserve that. I felt the urge to warn him, "I know it wasn't a car accident."

He suddenly stopped at the door, his hand on the knob, "Stop talking like that Nina. It was a car accident."

Tears sprung to my eyes and my chest welled up, "I'm ashamed of them, Mark. They betrayed my dad, me. . . It wasn't enough to cut us off, now they have to come after the man I love?" I couldn't hold back the tears. I needed to talk to Ang. I needed to tell him everything, but I couldn't do that and even if I could, I didn't want to. It would only make him more upset and delay his healing process. I couldn't be selfish just because I wanted to have a heart-to-heart about my deadbeat family.

Once again, Mark was at my side, comforting me and shushing me, "I can't discuss this with you, Nina. I promised Ang I would keep you safe and part of doing that is keeping you out of this."

I looked up at him with pleading eyes, "Please just tell me one thing."

Mark looked like he was at war with himself. He seemingly stopped breathing, before letting out a large sigh. He shook his head in agreement.

"Was it my cousin? Frankie Sorrentino?"

Mark gave me a strange, pained look. Without uttering a word, he blinked firmly and I frowned in disappointment.

"Don't make me regret that, Nina." And with that, he left the house.