Revenge And Vows

"I think I've had enough," Lena grumbled as she leaned back on her chair, patting her belly.

"Nonsense, figlia," her father scolded. "There's no such thing as having too much lasagna."

"I've found my limits, papa," she answered. "If anymore lasagna goes into me I might die."

"Don't say things like that, Lena," her mother snapped, her fork falling from her hand. "Think before you speak."

Lena lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, mama."

Beside her, her elder brother, Adriano, gave her a sympathetic smile before he continued eating, not saying anything like he always did.

It was like every other evening in Santoro's mansion. The Santoro family had dinners like this everyday without fail.

But for the past weeks there haven't been any family talks. Lena's father has become tense lately. The smallest of things irritated him, the smallest noise caused him to flinch, and he left immediately after dinner.

Lena has never seen her father like this before and it bothered her to no end. She had tried to talk to him several times but he always dismissed her with a word so she had stopped trying.

Adriano was done with his food so he and his father were deep into a discussion. Adriano would be leaving for New York soon to start his new job. He had just graduated from engineering school only just four months ago but he already had a job.

Lena felt guilty for not being happy. But she couldn't help it. Her brother was her friend, her best friend. And he was leaving her. All through the twenty years she had lived she had done everything with her brother. She didn't know how to live life without him. But it seems she was going to have to learn.

She was twenty for goodness sake! She could live without her brother.

Lena stared at the chandelier, lost in her head.

"Lena," her father called. Her father barely called her by her given name, so when he did, she knew it was serious.

She sat up immediately, her eyes falling to him and he had a frown on his face as he watched her.

"There's something important we would like to discuss with you," he said.

She shifted on her seat, suddenly uncomfortable. She looked at her mother and brother and they both had the same look on their faces.

She swallowed. "I'm listening, Papa."

Her father nodded. "This wil–"

Her fathers words were cut off by the sound of gunshots and their windows breaking.

"Get down!" Adriano shouted before he threw Lena down and covered her body with his.

The gunshots died down and the room fell silent. But not for long.

She couldn't see more than the ground but she saw black boots entering their house. She raised her head slightly but Adriano pushed her head back down, but not before she saw men on black masks with big guns. There were up to ten men.

A cold shiver passed through her.

"How dare you break into my home?" She had never heard her father's voice so cold like that.

"You've forced our hand, Santoro," a deep voice answered, the sound chilling. "You do not betray the Mafia and walk away."

The Mafia? What was happening?

"Give us what we came here for," the man continued, "and we'll leave."

Her father laughed, the sound harsh. "Do you take me for a fool, Antoine? You have come to kill me. And whether I give you what you want or not you'll do what you've been sent here to do."

Antoine didn't deny it. How did her father know these people?

"Then let's not waste time here, Alessio," Antoine said. "Give us what we came here for."

"I would rather die."

"Alessio," Lena's mother called her father, her voice soft and trembling.

"Ssshh, amore mio. Nothing will happen to you."

"Don't give your wife false hope, Alessio," Antoine mocked.

Lena couldn't see what was happening but she knew her father's face was twisted with anger. His voice confirmed that. "You will not touch my family."

"Give us what we came here for. Your family will live."

Her father said nothing. Why was he keeping quiet?

There was a beat of silence before she heard her mother's voice. She was screaming, shouting at the men to leave her alone. Her father's voice joined, throwing threats to the men.

Lena tried to raise her head but her brother pushed her back down, his body still covering hers. "Stay still," he hissed.

"This is your last warning, Santoro. Give us what we came here for and prevent this."

Her father stopped shouting.

Her mother continued to scream and soon her screams turned to sobs. Lena heard a man's grunt and she knew. She knew what they were doing to her mother.

Tears rolled down her eyes and she had to bite her lips to keep the sounds in.

Her mother screamed her father's name but he still remained silent.

Lena saw her mother on the floor where the man had pushed her. She clenched her teeth to keep the sob that wanted to burst out in. Blood was flowing down her mother's legs.

"Amore mio," her father whispered as he crawled to his wife, tears rolling down his eyes.

He had no right to cry when he had let this happen.

"This is your last chance, Santoro," Antoine said, his voice hard.

Her father said nothing and just held his crying wife.

A gunshot sounded and Lena watched in horror as blood rolled down her father's temple, a hole in his forehead.

Lena screamed, the sound muffled by her brother's hand covering her mouth.

Her mother followed.

Lena buckled under her brother's weight but he held strong.

"Avenge us, Lena," he whispered into her ear. "Bring hell down on our enemies."

Another gunshot sounded and her brother jerked before he went still. Warm blood poured down on her as her brother's body remained on her.

She waited for another gunshot to sound but it never came.

"Search the house!" Antonie commanded. "Make sure there are no survivors."

"Yes, Sir!"

Soon Lena heard gunshots and screams as the men killed her household. She remained silent, her body trembling as she became soaked with her brother's blood.

The smell of gasoline filled her nose.

"Did you find anything?" Antoine asked.

"No, sir."

"Light it up."

Lena felt the heat of the flame a moment later. She waited until she was sure the men was gone before she managed to move her brother's body from on top of her, tears rolling down her cheeks.

She stood and looked down on her brother with blurry eyes while the fire raged around her, her whole life crumpling together with the walls.

She bent down and pressed a kiss to his forehead before she walked to her parents and kneeled in front of them.

She took their hands into her trembling ones and kissed them. "I will get revenge for all of you," she whispered.

She tugged their wedding rings off, clenching her fist around the cold metal before she turned and walked towards the shattered window.

She screamed as the ceiling collapsed right where she was headed, a ball of flame soaring through the air and landing on her hand. The sound that escaped her was primal, as searing pain coursed through her hand.

She couldn't die here. No. She had to live and avenge her family.

And that was the reassurance she needed.

She took off her shirt and covered her burnt hand before she turned. Smoke filled her lungs and clouded her vision but she had to keep going.

She kept repeating her brother's last words as she crawled her way out of her burning home, coughing all the way with snot running down her nose.

She inhaled fresh air when she broke out of the burning house. But she couldn't rest now.

She dragged her body up the hill where she stood and watched her life, her family, her identity burned.

Siren calls filled the air as police and firefighters arrived. But they were too late. Her life was gone.

She watched them, staying in the shadows until the sun broke out in the cloud. And as the sun rose her old self was left behind in the night.

She was no longer Lena Santoro. She was now someone else, someone who was going to find her family's killer and bring hell down on them.