Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series
Thirteen: The Test Pt. 1

By how could my feet are, I know it’s still early in the morning. The time that’s being shown on the digital clock on the nightstand confirms my assumption. It’s only five in the morning. I rarely wake up this early so it’s unusual. The times I am really awake at five is when my damn insomnia is so fucking bad. So, this is kinda odd. Whatever. It’s probably the jet lag. I’m just going to go back to sleep.

I close my still heavy eyes again. Suddenly, the memory of Alessandro fainting last night appears in my mind. Aunt Emilia said she can make someone conscious and unconscious. Could it be her? Did she make me wake up this early? Oh man. You’ve got to be kidding me. I want to sleep like a damn log at least until seven. If she really did that, damn it. However, I won’t complaint. At least not verbally. I don’t want to make her angry after witnessing what happened to Alessandro last night. If she really wants me to wake up this early, fine. I’ll wake up now and take a shower.

After finishing my business in the bathroom, I walk out of the steaming room. When realisation hits me, I stop in my tracks and grip onto the towel around my body.

Fuck. I don’t have any new clothes to wear for today. I don’t think anyone wants me to wear the clothes that I wore to sleep. It will be pretty embarrassing. No one will let me go to the mall in damn pyjamas. So, what should I do now? Oh! I can borrow Aunt Emilia’s clothes. She will be okay with that.

I put my pyjamas back on and leave my room. My subconscious mind and feet lead me to whichever room Aunt Emilia and Uncle Emiliano are in. If she woke me up earlier, she should be awake already now. I stop in front of closed doors. My feeling is telling me that this is my aunt and uncle’s room. I hope it is. If not, it would be embarrassing if I actually woke up Uncle Tomasso and Matteo or Alessio.

After a few knocks, I stop and wait for anyone on the other side of the door to answer. The door swings open, revealing Uncle Emiliano. I suddenly feel bad when I see how he still looks a bit distraught from his sleep. Shit. I guess I’m disrupting their sleep. It’s too late now. I can’t go back. I’ve woken Uncle Emiliano and Aunt Emilia already.

“Hi. Uh, I’m sorry to disturb you but is Aunt Emilia here?” I ask. My nervousness makes me hold onto my own hand tightly as Uncle Emiliano continues to stare at me with a hint of annoyance. I can’t blame him if he’s mad. It’s still around 5.30 in the fucking morning.

“Wait a second,” Uncle Emiliano says. He disappears behind the door and back into the room. The door is left ajar as I wait for him or Aunt Emilia to come out. Aunt Emilia shows up after seconds of waiting. She smiles at me sleepily as she stands before me.

I’m right. It’s just my fucking jet lag and I was overthinking it. Aunt Emilia didn’t wake me up. I woke up by myself. Shit. I shouldn’t have gone here now. I should’ve wait until seven. It’s still so early right now. Now I really feel absolutely bad about waking up my aunt and uncle.

“Hi, Allura. Can I help you? Do you need anything?” Aunt Emilia asks.

“I’m very sorry to wake you up this early but may I borrow your clothes? I don’t have any clothes to wear for today,” I say. The sleepiness on Aunt Emilia’s face vanishes, replaced with shock and confusion.

“Alessandro didn’t bought you any clothes?” Aunt Emilia asks, I shake my head.

“Not for today. This is the only clothes I have right now. He hasn’t given me anything for today,” I say.

Wait. Oh my God. I forgot about it. Luciano usually brings me new clothes. At least that’s what he did yesterday. I should’ve waited for him. Fuck. I fucked up. Im such a horrible person. I can believe I disrupted someone to solve a problem that might already be solved.

Shit. My mind is really in a weird place right now. How did I not think of it earlier? There’s no turning back now. I’m already here. I’ve woken up Uncle Emiliano and Aunt Emilia for this so telling them that I don’t need clothes anymore would be rude. Hell. Waking them up this early is rude. I better get what I need for today now and leave soon.

“Alright. Get into my room,” Aunt Emilia says. I slip into the room and wait for Aunt Emilia. She leads me to the walk-in closet past the bed where Uncle Emiliano is already fast asleep while snoring a bit. I keep folllowing my aunt and step into the room full of clothes.

“My clothes might be a little too big for you but it’s better than nothing, sì?” Aunt Emilia says.

Bigger? Definitely not. We look like we use the same size of clothes. Her clothes will probably be too small for me. She’s a bit shorter than me so there’s a higher chance that her clothes might be too small for me.

“Yes. I’m sure your clothes will fit me just fine. I don’t think they will be too big on me,” I say.

“Okay. We’ll see about that later. Anyway, these are my old clothes. I left them here because I don’t have enough space in my house for them. Feel free to take whatever you want. Call me if you need anything else. I’ll wait for you in the bedroom,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Okay. Thank you, zietta,”

“Anytime, sweetie,” Aunt Emilia says.

Now I’m left alone in the closet in the middle of walls of clothes. Everything you want, you name it. There’s literally everything in here for every season. This room makes me feel like I’m in a boutique. I better search for something now. I don’t want to stay in here for too long and keep Aunt Emilia awake.

I walk towards the end of the room where the folded tops are stored. Luciano will probably bring me something new to wear for today later but I’m already here. So, I better get something quickly.

Yesterday, Alessandro said that he wanted me to stay here. Why didn’t the buy me more clothes? Or does he actually have my clothes stored in a room and decided to give me a set of new clothes two times a day? That’s so fucking time consuming. He should’ve given me all of them all at once.

I begin my mission in search of something to wear for the day. Just something simple but still cute. I’m sure Aunt Emilia has something like that in here. I stop when I replace a blue silk cropped wrap blouse with bell sleeves. The top is pretty. It’s definitely something I’ll love to wear. Will Aunt Emilia let me borrow this one? It’s silk so I’m afraid I’ll snag the fabric and ruin it for her.

I decided to keep it and ask Aunt Emilia about it later. I continue to browse for a trouser to wear with the top. It doesn’t take me long to replace something. I decided to pair the blue top with a white high-waisted culotte. The back of the waistband has elastics so I think this will fit me just fine.

I leave the walk-in closet and go straight to Aunt Emilia. She’s currently on her phone but she immediately looks up as she feels my presence. I show her my picks and her face lights up at the sight of the trousers.

“My favourite trousers! I thought I lost it. You can borrow it, of course. For the blouse, you can keep it. I’ve never worn that because the colour makes me a bit pale. I think it’ll suit your lighter skin tone better,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Really?” I ask.

Is she seriously giving me something this pretty? Oh my gosh. She’s too kind. My mother never let me touch her clothes. She actually has so many amazing pieces in her closet. Call me an awful daughter but I’ve taken some of her clothes whenever she’s not home. Good thing about it is, she never notices them disappearing. That says a lot considering she always notices when her favourite mug is used by me. If she won’t use her clothes, I’ll be the one to do it instead.

“Yes. You can have it. It’s better than letting it stay unworn in the closet. If you want anything else, you can have it. I barely use everything in there anyway. Maybe I’ll gather the ones I never or barely use later and give them to you,” Aunt Emilia says.

Damn. If Aunt Emilia gives me her clothes, I don’t think shopping to the mall is needed. She probably has everything I need already. However, she’s the one who insisted on going to the mall so I won’t say no to going to the mall as well as getting her old clothes.

“Thank you so much. This one is enough for now,” I say.

“You’re welcome. You better try them on now to make sure if they fit you,” Aunt Emilia suggests.

“Okay.”

I go back to the walk-in closet and try the clothes. Both the top and the trousers fit me nicely. The trousers are a bit loose around my waist but it’s not a problem. It’s better to for them to be slightly loose than too tight anyway. They’re also a bit short on me but that’s also fine.

“So? How are they? Do they fit you?” Aunt Emilia asks as I approach her.

“Yes. They fit me well,” I say.

“Okay. How about the shoes? Do you have anything to wear?” Aunt Emilia asks. Shoes? I only have my old shoes from when I got kidnapped and the platform pumps I got from last night. I don’t think wearing the pumps to the mall would be comfortable so I’ll stick to my trusty old shoes.

“I have my old sneakers,” I say.

“What’s your size?” Aunt Emilia asks.

“40,” I say. Aunt Emilia frowns at my answer. From that look only, I can tell she definitely doesn’t wear the same shoe size as mine.

“40? Oh no. My shoes won’t fit you. I’m size 38,” Aunt Emilia says.

“It’s okay. My old sneakers are fine,” I say.

“Alright. If you say so,” Aunt Emilia says.

Now it’s time for me to leave. My aunt still looks sleepy. I don’t want to keep her awake any longer before breakfast.

“Thank you so much, zietta. I’m sorry for waking you up this early. I forgot it’s still so early,” I say with an apologetic smile.

“It’s okay. Don’t forget we’re leaving at 10,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Okay. See you later,” I say.

“See you later. Please close the door on your way out,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Okay.”

Without wasting any more time, I leave the room and close the door as requested. I go back to my room on the other side of the house. I put my clothes for today on the bed bench, putting them flat on it so they won’t get wrinkled.

Now I’m back on my bed, unsure of what to do. There’s still two hours left until breakfast and I have nothing else to do. So, I’m left with one option: go back to sleep. That’s it. I’m going back to sleep.

With my body under the duvet, I close my eyes and let myself fall back into my slumber.

My body jerks as I regain my consciousness. Almost too instantly. Still in the daze of my drowsiness, I look around and replace Alessandro and Aunt Emilia standing next to the bed right on my left. My forehead creases as my confused mind tries to figure out their presence.

“You’re awake! Let’s go and eat our breakfast,” Aunt Emilia says cheerfully.

It’s breakfast already? Why didn’t Luciano wake me up? He did that yesterday. He was the one who told me when it’s time to eat. Other than that, his room is the closest to mine. It won’t take him long to get to my room. Other than that, isn’t he in charge in brining my new clothes? Where is he now?

“Where’s Luciano? I thought he’d be the one who woke me up,” I say. With my eyes still heavy, I sit on the edge of my bed and look up at my cousin and aunt.

“He tried but it didn’t work. You were sleeping like you’re in a coma,” Alessandro says.

“Oh.”

Damn. I slept that deeply? My wish from earlier to sleep like a log really came true. I shouldn’t have said that. Now Aunt Emilia is here because I need to be woken up with her power. That’s the fastest way to wake me up indeed.

“Now get ready. We’ll wait for you in the dining room,” Alessandro says.

“Okay,” I say.

“See you later,” Aunt Emilia says with a smile.

After Alessandro and Aunt Emilia leave my room, I stay seated on my bed, still gathering my power after my not so fulfilling sleep. My gaze shifts to bed bench and there’s a paper bag there next to the clothes I borrow from Aunt Emilia. That’s definitely the clothes Luciano brought for me. I guess I’ll keep it for another day. I’ve borrowed Aunt Emilia’s clothes so I better wear them today.

I put on the white culotte and the light blue blouse. The ties are now cute little bow after I wrap them around my torso. Before leaving, I brush my hair quickly and swipe some lipstick over my lips. Once I have my shoes on, I leave my bedroom and go straight to the dining room.

In the dining room, everyone’s already seated in their designated seats. Heavenly scent of pastries and coffee immediately fill my olfactory once I enter the room. I wonder where the capos are eating now considering the dining room is used by my family only at the moment. The kitchen, perhaps? Why am I even asking myself this? It’s not my problem. I’m sure they’ve figured something out when something like this happens.

I take my seat between Luciano and Matteo, just like how I did last night. Luciano looks at me with a subtle smirk as he pops a piece of croissant into his mouth. My heart flutters and I immediately look away. In attempt to distract myself from my own embarrassment, I put the napkin over my lap. By how I’m feeling right now, I certainly look like a damn tomato right now. Shit.

“Buongiorno, signorina Allura. Would you like some tea or coffee?” a young man asks.

(Good morning, miss Allura.)

“Hi. Uh, I’d like a cup of cappuccino, please,” I say.

“Alright. I’ll bring it to you in a few minutes,” the man says with a little polite smile.

“Thank you.”

The man leaves my side and now I’m facing an assortment of freshly baked goods. I take a piece of croissant and put it on my clean, empty plate. For the time being, I’ll try to finish this one first. I’ll take something else if I’m not full yet.

I steal a glance at Luciano way and replace him doing the same. My gaze shifts away from him and stays on my croissant. I take another glance at his way and see him smiling at me as he pops another piece of croissant into his mouth. Shit.

With my face still red from embarrassment, I hide my face behind my hair, trying to regain my composure. I need to fucking calm down.

Calm down, Allura. What’s wrong with you? He’s just smiling at you. Why are you like this?

“Uh, did you really try to wake me up earlier?” I ask, still avoiding Luciano’s eyes.

“Yeah. I’ve called your name, tapped your shoulder, and shaken your shoulder for about ten minutes but none of those woke you up. Nothing seemed to affect you. I thought you were dead for a second but then I heard your little snoring. From that, I know you’re still alive,” Luciano explains.

I snored?! Fuck. That was embarrassing.

“That sucks. I guess God didn’t answer my prayers last night and decided to answer yours instead,” I say. With a fake pout on my face, I put a little piece of croissant into my mouth. I wonder how it would be if I actually died now. That would be shocking to say the least.

“I’m glad He did,” Luciano says.

“Jokes aside, I’m sorry about earlier. I literally didn’t feel anything. I didn’t even have any dream. Everything was just black. When I woke up, Alessandro and Aunt Emilia are already standing next to me,” I say.

“It’s fine. I’m glad you’re awake now and not dead,” Luciano says.

“I don’t know if I should be grateful or not now that He gave me another day to live,” I say.

“Of course you should be grateful. You get to see this fine-looking man for another day,” Luciano says, pointing at himself. I scoff out a laugh at his cocky joke. Luciano’ smile suddenly disappears after he realises something. I’m not sure what is it. I don’t want to read his mind.

“I’d rather see my father again,” I say.

“If you say so, I’ll send you back to your father,” Alessandro says. Despite the seriousness on his face, I can tell he’s going along with our playful conversation. It’s pretty obvious from the gleam of amusement in his eyes.

“Please don’t,” I say.

“No promises,” Alessandro says with a shrug.

The server from earlier puts down my cup of cappuccino and immediately leaves the dining table. He’s now standing at the back of the room with three other servers, perhaps waiting for us in case one of use need something.

“Allura. Please eat your breakfast. You need it for today,” nonna says.

“Yes, nonna,” I say.

The breakfast goes in a blur. Just like last night, everyone occasionally talks with each other. I only stay quiet, observing them in silence. The remaining cappuccino I drink ends my breakfast. I dab the corner of my lips and then look around the table once again.

Everyone is almost done with their own breakfast. Their white ceramic plates are almost empty. Everything from the serving plates is also almost gone. Only a few pieces of pastry are left on them. I’m tempted to take a danish pastry but I refrain from doing so. My stomach is full already so, I don’t think I can take another one and finish it all.

Luciano is currently busy with his phone, typing a message quickly on it. After hitting the send button, he looks up from his phone and stares at me. His gaze moves to Alessandro and they nod at each other.

“I’m leaving with Luciano now,” Alessandro announces.

“Alright. Be careful,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Sempre, mamma,” Alessandro says with a smile.

(Always, mom).

Both him and Luciano get on their feet. However, Luciano doesn’t go far. Instead, he leans down to me with his lips near my ear. The lack of distance causes my breath to hitch in my throat. What the hell is he doing?

“Don’t miss me too much,” Luciano whispers.

Luciano’s words cause my blood to rush to my cheeks, turning them hot. He then leaves my side, not even bothered to take a single look at me as he leaves the room. I sheepishly look around the table. Nonna and Aunt Emilia are already staring at me with a wide smile on their faces.

Shit. I hope they’re not getting the wrong impression. Why the fuck did he do that anyway? Right in front of everyone. That was so embarrassing. I want to disappear, vanish into thin air. If I can do it, I would’ve teleported out of this room right now.

A little poke on my upper left arm wakes me up from my trance. I turn and see Matteo already looking up at me.

“Huh? Did you say something?” I ask, still confused about what just happened with Luciano.

“Can you pass me the muffins, please?” Matteo asks. Oh, he wants the muffins. I thought he asked or told me something about what just happened.

“Yeah. Sure,” I say. I take the plate of muffins on my right and put it in front of Matteo.

“Thank you,” Matteo says.

“You’re welcome.”

He takes two small muffins from the plate and put it on his plate. He starts digging into one of the muffin, ignoring everything else on the dining table.

For someone his size, he sure does eat a lot. Not that it’s a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing that he has a good appetite. As an adult, I already feel full enough from only eating a croissant and a cinnamon roll. He ate like five or six different things from the table. How does his stomach fit all of them? I can’t blame him though. Everything looks good and what I’ve eaten also tastes amazing. I would’ve eaten more if my stomach is not as full as it is now.

Everyone is finally finished with their breakfast. Uncle Tomasso and Matteo leave together to go back to their room. Nonno stays in the living room while nonna, Uncle Emiliano, Aunt Emilia, and I go to the backyard. We walk past the swimming pool and then down the steps towards the woods. After we’re a few metres deep into the area, we stop and face each other in a small circle.

“Let’s start with the healing test,” nonna says. “As you’ve already know, healing is one of my powers. I want you to heal your uncle.”

From what-

My eyes widen at the sight of Uncle Emiliano slitting his own palm with a switchblade, unflinching. Blood seeps out of his wound immediately and drip onto the dirt ground beneath him. Shit.

“Uh, what should I do now?” I ask.

“Do what you think or feel right,” nonna says.

With my heart beats faster in my chest, I panicky turn to Uncle Emiliano and stare at his bleeding hand. Unsure of what to do, I only continue to stare at it.

What the fuck should I do now? Fuck. I don’t know what to do!

“Hurry up. I’m losing blood,” Uncle Emiliano says. His words only cause my anxiety to heighten.

“Okay, okay,” I say.

I look at Uncle Emiliano’s hand again. It’s now covered in blood. I inspect the wound and frown at the sight. The slit is deep. No wonder so much blood coming out of it.

Trying to keep my composure and bring back my focus, I inhale deeply. I hold his hand with both of my hands. I begin to focus on healing it with my possibly hidden healing power.

Come on. Heal yourself now, wound. Heal.

I continue to stare at my hands around Uncle Emiliano’s hand. There seems to be more blood coming out of his wound based on how it feels pooling under my hand. I turn to nonna, staring at her helplessly.

“I can’t do it,” I say.

“It’s okay. Let me do it,” nonna says. I let go of Uncle Emiliano’s hand, letting nonna do her thing. She covers Uncle Emiliano’s hand with hers gently. Not long after that, she lets go of his hand. I look at the palm of Uncle Emiliano’s hand and the wound is not there anymore. Completely gone. Not even a scar in sight.

That smell. It’s something I despise. Blood. Yes. Blood. I hate the smell of blood despite me being a woman who deals with blood every month.

The iron scent of it suddenly becomes a bit unbearable. It fills my nose and down my that and lungs, causing me to scrunch my face in disgust. My feeling of disgust gets even worse when I notice my own hands covered in Uncle Emiliano’s blood. Yikes.

“Now we can scratch off healing from the list,” nonna says.

“How did you do that? The first time you discovered your power, did you figure out what to do on your own?” I ask.

“Yes. That time, my cat fell from the roof and landed on the ground badly. The fall caused him to broke one of his tiny feet. I was called to touch and grab his broken leg. At that moment, I felt it heal under my touch. After a few seconds, he was all good. He ran into the house as if nothing happened,” nonna explains.

“So, it was instinctive?” I ask.

“Yes. You could say that,” nonna says.

If that’s how it’s supposed to be, I hope I can easily discover my other powers. If not, I guess it’ll come in a different way than how it’s been happening in decades. Either way, I hope I’ll get something useful, like mind control or teleport abilities.

I turn to Uncle Emiliano. Feeling bad about my failed attempt in healing him, I can’t help but to frown at him with regret.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“It’s nothing. It’s healed already,” Uncle Emiliano says, shrugging nonchalantly. He’s right. Considering that he was the previous mafia boss of the famiglia, he probably has gone through way worse pain. A cut like that ain’t shit to him. Anyway, where the hell did he for the switchblade? Does he have it in his pocket all this time? It’s not a questionable choice though. We live in a dangerous world so we must be prepared for any danger that might appear out of nowhere.

“Off you go to the mall. I’ll give you more tests later,” nonna says.

“Okay. See you later, nonna.”

Nonna leaves the group, only the three of us left. Not sure of what to do next, I turn to my aunt and uncle.

“Are we leaving now?” I ask.

“Yes. The is an hour away. We better go now,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Will there be anyone else coming with us?” I ask.

“Some men will go with us to help with the shopping bags. We absolutely won’t be able to bring everything ourselves. You will buy a lot of things today,” Aunt Emilia says.

Hold up. I just remember that I’m here because I’m “kidnapped”. Do people know about that? If so, won’t we be the center of attention by purchasing lots of stuff? Is there any news about me being kidnapped? I don’t think so. My disappearance is absolutely not reported to the police by my parents. Their reputation is bad enough after my mother made the headline for her involvement in corruption.

My gaze goes back on my blood-covered hands. The sight makes me grimace. The smell of it only makes me feel worse.

“I’m going to wash my hands first,” I say.

“Both of you need to wash your hands. Let’s go back to the house first,” Aunt Emilia says.

I go wherever my mind is taking me, putting my trust in it to take me to the nearest bathroom. I walk past the main spiral staircase and then take a left. The first door on my left turns out to be a bathroom. Perhaps the guest powder room from how small it is.

The running water washes away the blood on my hands, kinda intensifying the iron-like smell. The water stays red until all the blood comes off from both of my hands. To make get rid of the blood smell, I use some hand wash. I sigh in relief, finally not smelling the blood on me.

Uncle Emiliano takes his turn to wash his hands. I wait outside the powder room next to Aunt Emilia. I tap my foot on the floor, suddenly feeling nervous standing next to my aunt.

“Have the boys show you around the house?” Aunt Emilia asks.

“No,” I answer.

“How did you know there’s a powder room right here?” Aunt Emilia asks.

“I just know,” I say, smiling at her. It’s interesting that my power can show me the way to this room. I’m not sure how it’s possible but it just happened.

“Your nonna is right. Your strongest Clair sense is definitely claircognizance,” Aunt Emilia says.

“Yeah. She’s right.”

By being a claircognizant, I may be able to know my way around the place without anyone giving me a house tour. However, having someone to show me the place would be better. Hopefully, my cousins or Luciano will be able to do it later.

“Is there-“ Aunt Emilia stops herself from talking as Uncle Emiliano steps out of the powder room. What is that about? I don’t think it’s anything important.

“Let’s leave now,” Uncle Emiliano says.

“Let’s go,” Aunt Emilia says.

Right outside the house on the driveway, a black Range Rover and a black G Class and three men in black clothes already waiting for us. I follow Uncle Emiliano to the G Class. I get into the backseat while my aunt takes the front seat and my uncle drives.

I’m so excited! I can’t wait to get to the mall. I want pretty and cute clothes and other stuff. Oh wait. Who’s going to pay for them? Definitely not me. I don’t have any money on me. I probably could only afford a t-shirt with the money I have in my bank account. That means Aunt Emilia and Uncle Emiliano will be the one who pay for my stuff. I better not buy too many things and expensive stuff.