Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series
Seven: A Game

Alessandro closes the door, trapping me in the room alone with him. We sit across each other with the wooden table between us. We stare at each other in silence. I impatiently and nervously for the man in front of me to say something. He’s the one who brought me here so I’ll wait. I don’t want to get on his wrong side when I know death is nothing that would happen to me anytime soon.

Moment has passed. Alessandro hasn’t spoken a word yet but he looks calmer than he was before. Now he has his back against his chair, his gaze is calculating. It seems as though he’s trying to figure me out. Perhaps rethinking his earlier plans for me now that he suspects me having a mind reading ability.

“Let’s play a little game.”

A game? What game? Is this something related to what happened earlier in the dining room? From how calm he looks now, I don’t think it’s going to be a dangerous game. Unfortunately, he’s really in for a disappointment when he knows I can’t actually read minds. If I do can read minds, what will he do to me anyway?

“What game?” I ask.

“I’ll think of three numbers and you have guess them,” Alessandro says.

Alessandro is really convinced that I can read minds based on me guessing the men’s names. How does guessing names and numbers equal to reading minds though? Guessing something correctly is just a coincidence. Or maybe I’m secretly a psychic. Who knows, right? Anyway, it’s interesting how a mafia boss like him believes in something like this. I barely believe in this kind of thing despite having been thinking of wanting to have such abilities. I thought someone like him has a more modern, logical, and pragmatic way of thinking.

“Alessandro, I don’t read minds. I’m telling the truth when I say I only guess their names,” I say.

Why does Alessandro want to know if I can read minds? There’s definitely a hidden motive behind this test. He probably wants me to do something for him if I can actually read people’s minds. For starters, he’ll force me to read everyone’s mind. I don’t know what for but that’s definitely the purpose of this so-called game.

“It won’t hurt to try,” Alessandro says, shrugging nonchalantly.

My eyes narrow at his words. Despite the calmness in his voice, I think participating in this game might hurt me in a way. This game will only ends with me in a bad situation. No matter the outcome. Unfortunately for me, I can’t say no.

Fuck. How can my life get any worse than this?

“I doubt that very much,” I say. Alessandro breathes out in exasperation. It seems like he’s slightly annoyed by my refusal to do what he wants.

“Stop talking and just do it,” Alessandro says.

Fine. He’s the boss so I better do what he wants if I don’t want to end up suffering in physical pain but not to the point of death.

I let out a sigh. I begin to read Alessandro’s mind, my eyes focused on him. Wait. How do real mind readers even read minds? Do they stare into the person’s eyes or does whatever the person thinks of will appear in the said mind reader? This is confusing. I don’t fucking know how to read minds! Why the hell Alessando is so hellbent on me being a mind-

Three numbers pop into my head. My breath stops in my throat as I recall the numbers in my mind.

Uh, okay? Is that it? Did I just read his mind for real? Can I trust these numbers in my head? Are they actually the numbers in Alessandro’s mind or I’m just guessing again?

I recline into my seat. The numbers float in my mind yet I’m still uncertain if they’re the real answer or not.

“It’s 387, I guess,” I say, shrugging. My gaze is now on my lap. Fiddling with my own fingers is the only thing I can do to calm down my nerves.

“Okay. You guessed the first and last number correctly, but not the second one. Try it again. I’ll think of three different numbers now,” Alessandro says.

Within three seconds, three different numbers appear in my mind’s vision. I continue to stare at my lap, confused by my possible newfound power. Could I actually be a mind reader? If that’s true, I definitely don’t need to stare into someone’s eyes to get something from their head.

My eyebrows furrow as confusion further grows inside of me. How can I do this shit? Where do I even get this ability from? If I can really read minds, how do I just discover this now?

“265,” I blurt, my gaze still fixed on my lap.

“You can definitely read mind. At least mine,” Alessandro says.

I scoff at him, refusing to accept the reality of his statement. I’m absolutely dreaming now. This is just one of those weird vivid dreams. I’ll wake up soon in my bedroom or perhaps in an empty classroom. This shit can’t be real. Being kidnapped by the Italian mafia is crazy enough. Reading minds is absolutely insane. Have I actually gone mad? Has my critical mental state turned me mental?

“That’s just a coincidence. I can’t read minds,” I deny.

“Then explain me about what you just did,” Alessandro says.

“It’s just a lucky guess. Nothing more,” I say.

Impatience shows clearly on Alessandro’s face. My denial is the cause of it. He sighs in exasperation once again as he pinches the bridge of his nose, frustrated.

“Let’s do this differently. I’ll think of four words, and then you have to read my mind again,” Alessandro says. I roll my eyes at his command. There’s no escaping this. He won’t let me go now that it’s clear that I can possibly read minds.

“Fine,” I say, rolling my eyes. With my arms over my chest, I let out a sigh and attempt to read Alessandro’s mind again. Seconds have passed and then four words appear in my mind. The random words cause a frown on my face.

“I got them. I guess? The words are refrigerator, bear, pillow, and garnish?” I say. My gaze full of confusion as I stare back at Alessandro.

“What the hell? Am I even right? They’re so random,” I say with my eyebrows furrowed. Alessandro stares at me. Despite his stubbornness on me having the ability to read minds, I can’t seem to know what his thoughts are at the moment. It’s clear that I’m not an actual mind reader. I’m just good at guessing things.

“Interesting,” Alessandro says, nodding his head solemnly. “You actually guessed the words correctly. However, I thought of those words in Italian, not in English.”

What? This can’t be real. There’s no way this is actually happening. Just like what I said before, this has to be a damn vivid dream. I just need to wake up and this will all be over. It’s sad that I have to go back to my reality which is living with my parents and needing to attend my classes but this is too good to be my reality.

The pain I feel from pinching myself telling me that this is not a dream. This is actually real. I’m not dreaming. I’m experiencing this right now. I’m really kidnapped by the Italian mafia. Fuck my life.

I shake my head, refusing to believe that I indeed can read minds. It’s strange how I got the words in English and not Italian. Other than that, I didn’t expect that reading people’s mind would feel as though their thoughts are my own. Fucking hell. I didn’t even expect that I can read minds in the first place. How did my life come to this? How strange.

“No. You’ve mistaken my exceptional guessing skills with mind reading. If I can read people’s minds, I would’ve used it to get the answers to my quizzes and final exams from the smartest people in my classes. By now, I would have high GPA already without trying,” I explain.

I don’t know why I keep avoiding this clear truth about me. I can refuse this new information for as long as I want but deep down, I know that this is the truth. There’s no denying it anymore. It’s too good to be just a good guess. I can actually read minds. Damn it. If I knew about this power before, I would’ve used it to my advantage and won’t even fall into this fucking mess my father caused. I could’ve used the power to get the passcode to my father’s safe and steal his money so I can finally run away.

It seems that my persistent refusal to admit the truth cause Alessandro to lose his mind. The way he curses under his breath and stares at the table in frustration shows the decline of his patience and sanity.

“If you still don’t believe it, let’s try something else again. I’ll think of a secret that only my parents, Alessio, and Luciano know about me,” Alessandro says.

Ooh. Interesting. Never in my life I would’ve thought that I’d know a mafia boss’s secret. This is such a strange and rare situation I’ve ever encountered. I can say I’m honoured to be able to know a secret of someone as dangerous as Alessandro. I wonder what is his secret.

“Fine,” I say. A smirk is already on my face as I cross my arms over my chest challengingly. My gaze is strong as I stare into his eyes. The anxiety that was within me has disappeared.

Do it, Alessandro. I dare you. Tell me your secret.

Alessandro’s posture becomes rigid as he prepares himself to reveal his secret. I continue to stare at him. He stares back at me with the same intensity but with no playful energy.

Within a second, a thought appears in my mind. A laugh almost escapes me as the secret is getting clearer in my mind. Let’s say it’s not something that I expected but still quite an entertaining secret. It’s cute how he keeps something like that as a secret. It’s something that an ordinary person would do but for someone like him, a brooding, dark, dangerous, and authoritative man, it might slightly ruin his image.

“What is it? I know you know it already. I can see it on your face,” Alessandro says, scowling at me. In return, I smile at him, can no longer hide my amusement.

“I got your secret but why are you even keeping it hidden from everyone? Most people have it and experience it in their younger years,” I say. His secret causes the smile to stay on my face.

“It’s embarrassing, especially for someone like me,” Alessandro says. That’s understandable.

“Okay. I’ll say it out loud just to make sure that I’m getting the right secret,” I say.

“Alright. Do it,” Alessandro says.

“Okay. The secret is, you have a cream-coloured teddy bear named Fluffles. When you were younger, you always slept with it every night. Until now, you still have Fluffles in your walk-in closet, hidden from everyone,” I explain. Alessandro furrows his eyebrows, staring at me suspiciously.

“I didn’t tell you about where it is but you’re right. I still have it in my room,” Alessandro says, his suspicion has turned into slight fascination.

“There you go. That’s a proof you can read minds,” Alessandro continues. He’s definitely convinced enough that I’m a mind reader. It has been proven so I can’t really deny it any longer. However, I’m still in disbelief and uncertain about this new ability of mine. Is Alessandro actually telling the truth or is he messing with me? One of the ways to prove it is by seeing Fluffles.

“I’m still not convinced. I’ll only believe that I can read minds after I see Fluffles. I need to see the evidence,” I say. Alessandro stays silence, weighing his decision in his mind. His chair creaks as he gets on his feet. It’s decided. He’s going to let me see Fluffles.

“Fine. Let’s go,” Alessandro says.

Oh shit. Is this real or not? Is this a part of his joke? Is he going to make fun of me once he takes me to his walk-in closet and replaces Fluffles not there? Only one way to replace out.

Alessandro leads me to his bedroom. We ascend the flight of stairs, up until the third floor. We continue to walk through the long hallway, walking past some doors. We stop at the end of the hallway, in front of double doors. Without wasting any more time, Alessandro opens the bedroom door and leads me towards another door. I follow Alessandro into the small room and there I see it. Fluffles. It’s real. Fluffles is a real childhood stuffed animal of his. And it’s huge. I thought it would be a normal teddy bear but no. Its height is literally almost half of mine.

Fuck. This is real. I can read someone’s mind. This is insane. If I know about this ability sooner, I would’ve done a lot of things differently in my life. I could’ve avoided getting into this mess my father had caused.

I wonder how soft and comfy Fluffles is. It must be nice to have a stuffed animal that big to hold onto at night when sleeping or while feeling sad or just relaxing in bed while watching a movie. I can see myself crying onto Fluffles soft fur every night if it’s mine.

My step closer to the teddy bear is stopped by a grasp around my left arm. Alessandro already glaring at me when I look up at him.

“No touching,” Alessandro says.

“Just once. Please,” I plead. With my best puppy eyes, I look up at him and pout. Alessandro only stares back at me emotionless.

“No,” Alessandro says curtly. The pout on my face disappears, replaced with a scowl once again.

“Fine.”

“Now that you’ve known the truth, don’t deny it anymore,” Alessandro says.

“Okay. I can read minds. There. Don’t be so hard on me. I literally just found out about this today. What should I do about it anyway? Read everyone’s mind?” I ask.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I want you to do,” Alessandro says.

I was right all along. Alessandro wants me to read people’s minds. That’s why he’s so relentless on proofing my mind-reading ability. He wants to use me. My power. I’m not going to let it happen though. I’m here because of my father’s stupid decision, not to work for Alessandro. Still, I’m curious about his reasoning. There must be something important happening in here that cause his desperation to replace information directly from people’s minds.

“Why?” I ask.

“I have some moles in the organisation. I’ve tried to replace them with my trusted people for months yet we replace nothing significant that can help us replace the identity of them. They’re too fucking good at covering up their traces, I admit,” Alessandro explains. Anger is apparent on his face as his jaw ticks.

Oh. That’s why. Alessandro wants me to replace them, the moles. As fun as it sounds, I still won’t do it. Just because my father is indebted to him, that doesn’t mean I’ll do anything he wants me to do. I’m only a hostage. Nothing more.

“I’m not doing that. I’m here because of my damn father. I’m not here to work for you,” I disagree. Alessandro’s gaze shifts to mine. The fury in his eyes has vanished. However, he seems to be adamant about his plan. He’s not taking no for an answer. Fuck my life.

“You have to do it,” Alessandro says.

Who the fuck is he to tell me what to do? Right. He’s a fucking mafia don. With the mentality he perhaps grew up with, he now thinks that he will always get whatever he wants through coercion ans threats. Unfortunately for him, he won’t get anything from me. He has to accept someone telling him “no.”

“No,” I say. Now we’re face to face, only mere inches away from each other. I stand my ground by looking straight into his eyes, arms crossed over my chest to stand my point even more.

“Do it or I’ll do something to you,” Alessandro threatens. What is he going to do to me anyway? Lock me in a room? Beat me up? Fucking rape me? I don’t fucking care. I’m already numb to all those shits. I hope he won’t slit my skin though. That shit still hurts.

“Ooh. I’m scared,” I say mockingly.

“If you don’t do it, then I’ll lock you in your room for the rest of the week. You’ll have to wait for your father to save you or not. If the latter happens, you know what will happen to you. I’ll sell you in an auction,” Alessandro says.

He’s only going to lock me up in my room? Pfft. That’s such a weak fucking threat. I’m already used to that since I was a child. That won’t affect me. Hell, I’ll be grateful for it. That means I won’t see other people in this house anymore. I’ll have more time to sleep. Or perhaps I can watch something on the TV instead.

“Whatever. Do it. I’ll just sleep all day long or maybe watch the TV. I don’t care,” I say, giving Alessandro a nonchalant stare.

“Then I’ll take the TV out of your room,” Alessandro says. I scoff at the threat.

Does he think I’m scared of that threat? Absolutely not. I rarely watch the TV or movies and series from streaming platforms anyway. I’ll just sleep all day long because that’s all I’ve been doing lately.

“Then do it. I’ll just keep sleeping until I’m sick of doing it, which is impossible,” I say.

My gaze is unwavering despite the cold look on Alessandro’s face. The long staring into each other’s eyes somehow becomes a staring contest for God knows how long. Alessandro breaks the stare, sighing to himself in defeat.

“If you do it and replace the traitors, I’ll let you leave. You don’t need to go back to your father. I’ll give you some money so you can go and live as far away from him. I’ll have your father to face the consequences himself. I’ll give you until tomorrow after breakfast to make your decision,” Alessandro says.

That’s a tempting offer, I admit. There are clear consequences to it though. I might end up working for the rest of my life to replace the traitors. He might end up selling me if I didn’t succeed in replaceing the moles after months.

“How much money are you going to give me? And when you say I can live away from my father, can I choose where I want to live? Is there a deadline to this task?” I ask.

“No. There’s no deadline to your job but if you don’t replace the moles before I do, let’s say there will be change of plans. You’ll stay here until you replace all of them. You can choose where you want to live after you’re done getting all the traitors. I’ll give you a small, fully-furnished apartment and five million dollars after you succeeded in replaceing the moles. That amount of money should be enough for years even if you don’t have a job and smart enough with your spendings,” Alessandro explains.

Holy shit. Five million dollars? Damn. That’s actually a good offer. The best thing about it is I can finally live somewhere far away from my parents. I’ll finally have my freedom. Perhaps if I don’t live with my parents anymore, my depression will somehow disappear. Hopefully. At least if I’m away from them I can finally start healing myself. Unfortunately, I might end up living for the rest of my life here if I don’t replace the traitors. Now that I think about it, it’s not really that bad. The most important thing is that I can live as far away from my parents. As long as he keeps the end of his bargain, I’ll live a decent live here and after I’m done with my job.

“Fine. I’ll do it. One more thing. Is it possible to make a contract for this? I just want to make sure you won’t cheat on the deal,” I say.

“I’m a man of my words but sure. I’ll make the contract today. You’ll sign it tomorrow,” Alessandro says.

“Good. Can I leave now? I’m tired. It has to be the effect of the jet lag,” I say.

“Not yet. You have to do something first. Don’t you see what’s next in your schedule?” Alessandro asks.

I have something else in my schedule? What is it? I didn’t take a good look at it when I first got it.

“I only do a quick glance. What should I do anyway?” I ask.

“Guess,” Alessandro says. I stare at Alessandro and a thought immediately appears in my mind. So that’s what I have to do next. How fucking great.

“We’re going to record a blackmail video for my father?” I ask.

“Yes. Let’s go,” Alessandro says.

We leave Alessandro’s room and go through the hallway with him leading the way. He’s foolish if he thinks he can threaten my father with me. He doesn’t care about me. In the last two months he suddenly became rich, he never even bothered to give me or buy me something expensive like a new phone, a laptop, or other important stuff. I don’t give a fuck about designer stuff. I just want a phone that won’t die when the battery hits 30%. That’s it.

This kidnapping bullshit won’t work on my father. Just like what I’ve said previously, he’s probably happy about me disappearing. He’ll be glad when he replaces out that I won’t ever come back to him and my mother. They’ll absolutely live a happier life as a couple without their unwanted daughter.

I keep following Alessandro through the quiet house. We pass his office and keep going down the darker and vacant side of the mansion. The sight of a shelf of decorations at the end of the hallway makes my eyebrows furrow. We approach it and stop right in front of it. Alessandro reaches for something behind the shelf and then I hear a click. The shelf moves slightly after whatever Alessandro did.

A hidden steel door is revealed once Alessandro pulls the shelf away from the wall. There’s a keypad on it to put in the passcode to the room. Alessandro punches in some numbers and then it beeps, telling us that’s it’s now unlocked. Alessandro stays on the side, holding the door open for me. Hesitation and anxiety fills me at the sight of the dimly lit small room. I step into the room, realising there’s a stair leading to the basement of the house. Alessandro closes the door by pulling the shelf first and then locks the door again. I cautiously follow Alessandro down the stairs, still curious about where he’s taking me.

The hallway looks gloomy despite how bright the fluorescent light shines upon us. There’s nothing around me except grey walls and metal doors that lead to God knows where. A few men nod at Alessandro as we pass each other. After some turns, Alessandro stops and pushes a door open.

What the hell?