Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series
Seventeen: Off Guard

I wake up to another morning, and I suddenly remember that everyone are leaving today. I’m not happy but there’s nothing I can really do about it. And I’m not sure why but my stomach feels weird and it’s definitely not because of the ravioli I ate last night. I’m sending that something weird is about to happen but I’m not sure what it is. It doesn’t feel sinister but it will definitely catch me by surprise, and not in a good way. Maybe I’ll figure it out later.

I get out from the bed and open up the curtains. I squint my eyes at the bright sky outside. Damn. What time is it now? I check the clock on the nightstand and it shows 7.14. Okay. I better get ready for the day now. If I go back to sleep, chances are I’m going to be late for breakfast again.

I go to the closet to get the short light yellow summer dress with tie straps that Luciano brought me yesterday and a set of underwear. I then go to the bathroom and begin getting ready for the day. After I take a shower and everything, including going to the toilet, obviously, I walk into my closet. I look at all the footwear in front of me and decided to use a simple pair of sandals with an adjustable strap around the ankle. I then swipe some lip tint over my lips and wait by my bed until it’s almost the time for breakfast. What time is it now? Oh. It’s still 7.42. Still a lot of time before breakfast time.

The doors open and Luciano immediately look at me, grinning.

“Oh. You’re ready. I was going to wake you up.” Luciano said.

“I woke up early today. I didn’t even expect to be awake this early.” I said, smiling at him. I’m kinda proud of myself that I’m not oversleeping again. It’s going to be pretty shameful if it happens again. I don’t want everyone to think I’m lazy.

“Good for you. Do you want to go to the dining room now or just stay here for a bit more?” Luciano asked.

“I think I’ll stay here for a bit more.” I said. I don’t want to stay in the possibly vacant dining room and zone out while I’m waiting for everyone else to come.

“Alright. Oh, anyway, Alessandro told me that we’re going to discuss about the moles later after breakfast.” Luciano said.

“Okay.”

“I’m leaving now. See you later.” Luciano said, smiling as he closes the door. Somehow, I feel like something inside me wants him to stay with me. I don’t fucking know why. It’s weird. This is strange. I’ve never felt like this before. He’s seriously messing with my mind. I don’t like this. Or do I?

After a few minutes setting up my Spotify playlist with my favourite songs, I decided to go to the dining room now. It’s almost eight so I better go there now.

I walk into the dining room and everyone is already there. Damn. I feel like I’m still the tardy one here despite making it here on time. When did everyone actually go to the dining room?

I look at everyone and they all already dressed in their day clothing. Ready to leave the house after breakfast. I still feel sad that they’re actually leaving today but it’s for the best. They have their own things to do.

I take a seat between Luciano and Matteo just like how I always do. I turn to Matteo and smile when I replace him looking at me. He returns my smile and then continue to eat his breakfast. I turn to Luciano and see him looking at me with an unreadable expression. When he realises I’m looking at him, he immediately smiles and then quickly look away from me, looking at his plate of Danish pastry.

Huh. I wonder what was that about.

I decided to start eating my breakfast by taking a piece of apple strudel and a Danish pastry and put them on my plate. I cut a little piece of the apple strudel and put it into my mouth. I immediately taste the sweetness and a little sourness from it. Oh god. This is good. It’s been a while since I ate an apple strudel. This is the best one I’ve tasted so far.

“So, Allura, have you decided to live here or not?” Aunt Emilia asked. Fuck. Why is she asking me this question now? I just got over it with Luciano last night.

“I’m still not sure.” I said.

“If you decide to stay here, would you like to take any part in the famiglia? We’re not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do but I think it’s better if you do something rather than staying here and do nothing. I’m pretty sure it could get boring after a long time.” Aunt Emilia said. She’s right. I literally thought of the same thing last night.

“Yes. I’d like to do that but what job might be suitable for me here? I don’t know anything much about the famiglia yet.” I said.

“You can help me with some stuffs.” Alessandro said.

What stuff? What would I do?

“And what will my position be? Your assistant?” I asked.

“I already have an assistant but you can be my second assistant for other stuff.” Alessandro said. “The mind reading related one.” Alessandro continued telepathically.

What the heck? That’s what Luciano said last night. Is Luciano just have the same way of thinking as Alessandro or is he secretly a psychic as well? The one that can see the future? Anyway, I think it would be an easy job for me so I won’t complain about it. All I need to do is focusing on reading people’s minds, make notes of what I got, and report it to everyone else especially Alessandro. That’s it.

“Okay.” I said.

“We’ll discuss about it further later.” Alessandro said.

“Alright.”

“That’s great. You’ll definitely do good in that position.” Aunt Emilia said, smiling happily at me.

“I hope so.” I said. I’m seriously afraid of messing things up. I literally just stayed here for a few days. I don’t want to fuck things up.

“Don’t worry. Alessandro, Alessio, and Luciano will help you learn about everything you need to know about the famiglia.” Uncle Emiliano said.

“Okay.”

We all continue eating our breakfast until all of us finish everything on the table. All of us go to the foyer to bid our goodbyes to each other. The door to the foyer is already opened and I can see everyone’s cars parked in the driveway. Ready to leave anytime soon.

“We’re leaving now.” Nonna said.

“Don’t do stupid things while we’re away.” Aunt Emilia said, eyeing Alessandro and Alessio threateningly.

“We won’t.” Alessandro said, rolling his eyes.

“Good.” Aunt Emilia nods, but still giving her sons a cautious gaze. She then turns to me with a smile. “Don’t hesitate to tell me if anything happens. You have my phone number already so I’m just a text or phone call away.” Aunt Emilia said.

“Okay.” I said, returning her smile.

Maybe just maybe Aunt Emilia is still a bit traumatised about how Alessandro put me in the forbidden room. That’s why she’s still a bit angry at her sons. However, I don’t think something like that will happen again. Maybe. I feel like something that bad just a one-time thing that I don’t need to be worried about in the future. Maybe they’ll still pull a prank on me, that’s just how most people with their family are. And I don’t think I’ll mind it. It will be depending on the prank. For now, I’m not going to worry about it.

“Treat her kindly. Don’t do anything bad to her again.” Uncle Emiliano said.

“Of course, papà. We won’t do anything to her.” Alessio said. I feel like that’s a lie. I bet he’s going to pull a prank on me in the future. Not anytime soon though.

“Goodbye for now, Allura.” Nonna said, pulling me into a gentle hug. I wrap my arms around her for a few seconds and then we let go of each other.

“I’ll see you soon, nonna.” I said, smiling at her.

“Prepare yourself because the next time I’m here, we’re going to make some gelato.” Nonna said, grinning. Gelato? Ooh nice. Now I’m suddenly craving it.

“Can’t wait to see you again.” I said, grinning back at nonna.

“We’ll be back here soon. Or you can go to my house or visit the restaurant.” Nonna said.

“I’d love to do that.” I smiled.

“I hope everything with your father will be resolved soon so you can go around the country.” Nonno said.

“Can’t wait to do that. I’ve always wanted to travel around Italy.” I said. Yes. That’s right. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy, especially for the food and the amazing places like Lake Como and Amalfi Coast.

“You’ll definitely be able to do that soon.” Nonna said, smiling at me.

“I hope so.” I sighed.

“Ciao, Allura. I’ll see you again soon.” Nonno said, pulling me into a quick hug.

“I’ll see you soon too, nonno.” I said.

“Allura.”

I turn around and then look down at Matteo. He wraps his arms around me and rake my fingers through his hair. He then stares up at me with a frown. I pout at how sad he looks right now.

“Matteo. Don’t be sad. We’ll see each other again after you’re done with your finals, okay? We’ll do something fun together. I’m not sure what yet but we’re definitely going to have fun together.” I said. Maybe we can make cookies together or play hide and seek. On second thought, playing hide and seek in this place would definitely be tiring considering the amount of roms in here.

“Okay. Please be careful.” Matteo said, still looking gloomy.

Does he feels something bad going to happen to me? He oddly looks forlorn since last night. I guess I need to be careful that something going to happen. I hope it’s nothing bad and he’s just feeling whatever it is exaggeratedly.

“I will. Now smile. I don’t want to see you off with a frown on your face.” I said. Matteo forces out a smile. “Alright. Now go back to your father.”

“Okay. Bye.” Matteo said. He walks back to Uncle Tomasso. Uncle Tomasso looks at me and only smiles. I smile back at him and then turn to Aunt Emilia and Uncle Emiliano.

“Don’t forget to tell me when something happened.” Aunt Emilia said, rubbing my back as she hugging me.

“I’ll try.” I said. I’m forgetful so I can’t really promise telling everyone anything about something. We let go of each other and then I turn to Uncle Emiliano. He smiles and then pulls me into a quick hug.

“Take care, Allura.” Uncle Emiliano said.

“You too, Uncle Emiliano.” I said.

Everyone leaves the foyer and head to their cars. Alessandro, Alessio, Luciano, and I wait by the entrance to the house and wave our hands back to everyone as their car leaves the driveway. The cars have finally gone from our sight and then I turn to Alessandro who already has a serious, grim look on his face.

“My office. Now.” Alessandro said.

All of us walk towards Alessandro’s office and then get inside of the room right away. I sit on the right side of the couch, which is closer to the armchair where Alessandro is sitting, while Luciano sits in the middle between Alessio and me. Let’s see what we’re going to talk about now. I want to know what Alessandro has in mind.

“Luciano has told me about your conversation last night.” Alessandro said, referring to the conversation I had with Luciano before we went to sleep.

“Yes. So, what do you think?” I asked.

“I don’t think I can let you go to the warehouse yet. Not until we we’re finished dealing with your father. So for now, I just want you to read the minds of everyone around the house, including the capos since you suspected that there is one people with a high position in the famiglia that’s the traitor.” Alessandro said.

I really want to go to the warehouse and read everyone’s mind immediately but if that’s what Alessandro thinks I should do now, I’m going to do it. It might also be dangerous if I go there in the near future. I kinda have a bad feeling about it. Maybe it’s because Matteo. It looks like he knows something’s going to happen. I really do hope it’s nothing bad.

“Okay. What else should I do now?” I asked.

“I think it’s better that you start learning some basic self-defense skills. Although you have powers that might help you in urgent situations, you still need to know how to defend yourself in case you forget how to use your powers. Learning self-defense also help you train your focus and reaction so it should help you effortlessly use your powers as well.” Alessandro said.

Fair enough. He’s definitely right about how learning self-defense will help me stay focused and alert. I hope I’ll be able to learn everything quickly because anything could happen anytime and I want to be able to defend mysef. I’m a fast learner most of the time so I think learning self-defense won’t be that different from learning how to dance.

“One more thing. Our next dealing is on Tuesday, which is in two days, so we better replace the person in the higher up position as soon as possible because he’s definitely the one who’s responsible for the theft and missing drugs. If we catch him, it’ll hinder our rival’s strategy and we might be able to catch the other moles in action.” Alessandro said.

Two days? I should work fast. Ain’t no way I’m letting these assholes profiting off of our weakness at the moment. I’ll also make sure they’re going to pay for what they did. We all absolutely going to make sure of that.

“Okay. When should I start training?” I asked.

“You can start the training tomorrow. Or today if you want to.” Alessandro said.

Today? Nah. I’d rather use today as my resting day. I feel like I want to explore the garden in the back for now and go on a relaxing walk.

“I think I’ll start tomorrow.” I said. Alessandro nods at my response.

“Alright. You can leave now. I want to discuss other matters with Alessio and Luciano. You can stay but I’m sure it’ll bore you.” Alessandro said. He’s definitely right. I don’t think I can really handle logical discussion anymore at the moment. I better go to the garden now and see how pretty it looks.

“Can I go around the place now? Like the garden?” I asked.

“Sure.” Alessandro said.

Yes. Awesome. I’m definitely going to enjoy my time there. I wonder if we have a greenhouse here. I bet we have it. There’s no way we don’t have a greenhouse in a place with this so much space.

“Okay. I’ll see you later.” I said.

I get up from the couch, walking past Luciano and Alessio towards the office door. I shut the door as I walk out of the room and then head towards the back door leading to the swimming pool area and the backyard. I stare past the swimming pool and look at the ten of metres of green yard. This place is definitely going to take me long to really explore. I think I’m going to go to the end of the yard for now because I feel like that’s the entrance to the garden. I hope I won’t get lost in the garden or the woods later.

I walk down the steps and then walk around the swimming pool towards another steps leading to the yard. I then walk through the green space, looking up at the bright blue sky above me. After minutes of walking, I finally reach the end of the yard and see a stone path. Leading to a place unknown to me.

I keep walking down the path. Bushes with blooming flowers accompanying me along the path. The scent of the various flowers in the garden mix together in the air, making the perfect and heavenly floral scent. I keep following the path until I see a greenhouse at one of the path’s ends.

Told you. There is a greenhouse here.

I carefully open the door and see various plants inside, mostly orchids of different types and colours. There’s a fountain in the middle of the glass building and I listen to the trickle of water. I look around the place once again and then decided to walk outside to continue my exploration.

I step out of the greenhouse and take a right turn. A path that leads me further away from the mansion. I keep walking and walking until I see a white gazebo at the end of the path. I step into the wooden shelter and look at the large pond before me. I look at the water and see many lily pads covering the surface of the water. I see some fish swimming around the pond, chasing each other. I let out a sigh at the serene environment and then decided to go back and go down the other path.

I keep walking towards the greenhouse and then stop when I feel someone grabs my wrist tightly. Preventing me from walking away.

Who the fuck-

I turn around and stare at the man in front of me with wide eyes. The man’s face is covered with a black ski mask. Everything he’s wearing is in black. He wears a long sleeved top and a long trousers.

The man quickly pulls out his phone and then I hear the camera shutter sounds coming from his phone. He quickly lets go of me and jump over the bushes before I can react to him.

What the fuck?

I snap out of my daze and look over the bushes but I didn’t see any sign of him. Im fucked. Who the fuck was that? I think I’m in danger. What if he comes back with his friends soon? I better leave now and tell everyone about this.

I run through the garden and then squint my eyes at the bright sky as I reach the yard. I keep running and running until I get to the mansion. I continue to run through the house, almost colliding into one of the worker on duty as I take a turn into the hallway.

“Sorry!” I shouted, not really bothered to look back because if I do I definitely going to run into the wall.

I finally reach Alessandro’s office and push the door open. I look at where everyone were minutes ago and they’re still there. Now, the three of them stare at me in confusion as I try to catch my breath. Oh my god. I think that was the fastest run I’ve ever done in my entire life. I’ve never been so scared of something until I run like that.

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Alessio said jokingly. I only stare at them, putting my hand up as I motion for them to wait as I try to breathe calmer and slower.

Fuck. I can’t breathe. That was insane. I feel like I’m faster than Usain Bolt earlier. He would probably be proud at how fast I run considering I’m no athlete.

“It’s worse. It’s a person.” I said, still standing in the doorway.

“Get inside and close the door.” Alessandro said. I do as he told and then sit on the empty space next to Alessio, sighing.

“What happened? Who did you see?” Alessandro asked.

“I don’t know. I was walking in the garden when a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took a picture of me. He was covered from head to toe. I couldn’t really see his face. He then disappeared before I could do anything to him.” I explained.

I should’ve tried to stop him by making him unconscious or something. And then I could read his mind and replace out about who he is and who does he works for. It’ll definitely help us a lot on replaceing the other moles.

Alessandro quickly pulls out his phone and call someone. He speaks in Italian with urgency in his voice. He then ends the call and look at me again.

“I’ve warned the security. I hope we’re fast enough to catch whoever the fuck it is.” Alessandro said, seemingly stressful at the current situation we’re facing.

“Now I’m traumatised. I thought something worse going to happen to me.” I said.

I thought I was going to die. That’s a first. I’m used to be the one who chase death and now I’m actually scared of it. I don’t know if that’s an improvement or not. I also thought that if he didn’t kill me, he could’ve kidnapped me. Where is he going to take me if he did succeed in kidnapping me?

“It’s better for you to stay inside the house for the time being. There’s more cameras and people in here than outside so we can prevent anything bad from happening to you again.” Alessio said.

He’s absolutely right. I’d rather stay inside now. I don’t want anything like that to happen again.

“You’re right. I’ll definitely stay inside from now on.” I said.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Luciano asked. I turn to him and see him looking genuinely worried as he stares at me. I give him a little reassuring smile.

“No. I’m fine. Just still a bit shocked.” I said.

“Now we have more problems.” Alessio said.

“Yes. Who he might be? I don’t think he’s from outside. We have a tight security around the place and also high walls around the area. It must be one of the men in here or there’s a traitor in here that let whoever it is into our place.” Alessandro said.

He’s definitely from here. There’s no way he’ll escape fast without any of the guards catching him. He probably changed back into his normal clothes right after he took that picture of me. Making him seem normal and not suspicious at all.

“We have to be extra careful now when talking to everyone. We don’t know who this person is yet. And now that we got a clue from Allura that one of the man with a high position in the famiglia is also a traitor, we can’t discuss any important stuff with anyone just yet.” Luciano said.

“Yes. We can’t talk about important matters with the capos for now. We’ll discuss about the normal work stuff and that’s it.” Alessandro said. Everyone nods at his words. Alessandro then turns to me with a frown.

“Allura. You can go to your room now. The three of us are going to the security room in the basement.” Alessandro said.

“Can I come with you all instead?” I asked, still feeling kinda scared that whoever it is might come back and be able to get to me.

“No. It’s better if you stay in your room. We’ll be talking in Italian most of the time so I don’t think you’ll understand what we’re going to talk about and no. We don’t have the time to translate everything to you.” Alessandro said. He’s right. I don’t want to bother them.

“Alright. Let me know if you got something.” I said.

“We will. Just wait in your room for now.” Alessandro said.

“Okay.”

We all leave Alessandro’s office and I go straight to my room on the third floor, not wanting to come across any surprise anymore. I then step into my room and close the door behind me. Shit. That was scary. Who the hell was that and what does he want from me? Why did he take a picture of me? There’s got to be a reason for that. What if he send the picture to our rival? Who is our rival? I can’t get any information about who they are just yet. This sucks. I want to know who we’re dealing with. Everyone hasn’t told me about our rivals. I should’ve asked them about our rivals earlier.

Alessandro did told me that the traitor in this place might tell our rival about me. Now that my information is leaked, what are they going to do to me? What will our rival do to me? I didn’t expected something like this could happen.

Wait. I did feel something going to happen. I felt strange this morning. Damn. I should’ve pay attention to that feeling. I thought my future is already clear enough. It’s either me keep living here or move to my own apartment. Now that this has happened, I feel like I lost the vision of my future again.

It is what it is. I can’t really do anything about it now that it has happened. Let’s wait and see what’s going to happen next. I hope nothing worse is going to happen in the future.