Episode 6

The sunny days ended abruptly. Elio's cute face contorted into a grimace of disbelief, his legs lost strength, forcing him to fall onto the comfortable armchair in his living room, and even then, it felt like a hard rock.

His mother was devastated, and his brother was on the phone with who knows who.

He saw his brother frustrated, yelling. After hanging up, he called again, this time speaking more calmly. Elio didn't hear anything, he was lost in his thoughts. His little sister was in danger, why had their father never told them about his debts? He felt hate for that man for a moment.

Just a few hours ago, he had accompanied her to where her friends were waiting for her; it was Saturday, and Annalise was going out for a walk like any other day. However, their peace was shattered by the call from the "two musketeers," as Annalise used to call them.

"Anna is not coming?"

That question plunged the family into the deep icy sea of despair and anxiety. She was barely sixteen years old, a child in everyone's eyes. Radiant. She always brought joy wherever she went. Even in the direst of times, Annalise knew how to ease worries.

Annalise had only been gone for a couple of hours. Elio still had the scent of her perfume impregnated in his clothes. She liked to grab him by the arm as they walked down the street. She said she could feel safe that way.

"I can stay here; it won't be long."

That's what she had said when they reached the place where she was meeting her two best friends. Elio thought about staying, but she insisted it was no problem, that she was a big girl, and that she could take care of herself. However, as soon as he left, those bastards kidnapped her.

An image of Annalise came to mind. Her platinum blonde hair moved to the rhythm of the wind. A huge smile adorned her jovial face. He didn't understand why anyone would want to hurt her.

The shrill ringing of the house phone snapped Elio out of his thoughts. The whole family's attention focused on the device. With steady hands, Carlo, the eldest of the Mancini siblings, answered the call.

All stood around whoever had assumed the role of head of the family. The expression on Carlo's face grew increasingly indecipherable. He seemed angry, upset, sad, terrified, even relieved, but no one emotion superseded the others. With an unreadable expression, it was difficult to decipher that call.

"Who was it?" Isabella clutched her eldest son's clothes tightly. Her eyes were red, and her face was pale. Carlo looked at his mother in silence. His lips trembled. He stood like that for a couple of minutes, perhaps looking for the right words so as not to give them a bigger shock.

"Was it the ones who took Anne?" Elio approached him worriedly. Carlo, though he wanted to deny it, nodded heavily.

"They said they want half a million dollars."

The screams that followed those words increased the anguish in the family. Isabella was a woman who, for some years now, had been diabetic. The doctor said that any strong impression could cause her some alteration.

They had kidnapped their daughter, and as if that wasn't enough, those bastards were asking for a lot of money. Even more than their house was worth.

"Mom! Mom!" Isabelle was led to one of the armchairs by Carlo. Elio ran to the bathroom for the first aid kit and pulled out a bottle of alcohol along with some gauze pads.

"Mom, wake up, Mom," Elio repeated, passing the gauze covered in alcohol near his mother's nose.

After a few minutes, Isabella regained consciousness. She couldn't help but cry; just remembering all the money they were asking for made her head hurt. She didn't even know why they had taken her daughter; they didn't get into trouble with anyone, they had cut ties with the Mancinis and the Giulianis. No one was after them, or at least that's what she had thought.

"What happened to Mom?" asked Luka, the third brother in line. Luka worked late at a casino in the city, not coming home until one or two in the morning. He couldn't receive or make calls, so he was the last to hear any news of his family.

"Elio, take care of Mom," Carlo said, "Luka, come here for a moment."

Elio watched them walk away toward the backyard. His older brother, though he seemed calm, was the most worried. Carlo used to keep his problems to himself, even when those problems affected the whole family. Elio didn't understand why his brother did that, but he wanted to help him, even though he knew there wasn't much he could do.

"Mom," he said with concern.

"I'm fine, son, I'm fine," she repeated more to herself than to him.

Twenty minutes passed, and the two brothers returned. Elio was giving his mother some tea at that moment. Luka's eyes were watery, and he knelt before Isabella, rested his head on her lap, and whispered some words of encouragement.

Elio led his older brother outside again. He stopped in front of him and looked at him seriously.

"Carlo, tell me what's going on; we already know everything. Why did you take Luka?" he inquired. Carlo felt proud of the smart little brother he had.

"They gave us three days, they said if we don't have half a million by then… they'll rape her and after having enough fun, they'll start sending pieces of Anne until they kill her."

Elio's face contorted in horror at the mere thought of it. His poor sister, she was so young, so beautiful and full of life.

"Fucking shit!" he yelled as he punched the wall beside him hard.

"Elio, I'm so sorry." Carlo held his head and tears of frustration began to stream down his cheeks. Elio hugged him and made him lean on his shoulder.

"Brother, you don't have to apologize, it's not your fault." Elio felt powerless in the situation. His older brother was the rock that held their family together; if he crumbled like that, what would become of them? "I left her alone; it's my fault."

"It's no one's fault." Luka's voice made both brothers look toward the door.

"You left Mom alone?"

"I put a tranquilizer in her tea; she wouldn't sleep if I didn't put that in, and the last thing we need now is for her to get worse. I left her in her room; don't worry."

"It's true," Carlo agreed. "Thank you."

"Carlo, Luka, how are we going to raise that much money in such a short time?"

"We can go with Elisa; she can help us," Luka suggested.

"No way, Elisa won't give us a penny until we agree to her request… I don't want to be like her, or the bastards who have Annalise." Carlo clenched his fists. He felt powerless, but what Elisa wanted from him, he could not give her.

"Just filter a little information, brother, you won't kill or kidnap anyone, wouldn't you do it for Anna?" Luka was determined to convince him. Carlo could do anything, but he was loyal to that person; it would never cross his mind to betray him, even in that moment. "You care more about that son of a bitch than your sister?!" he yelled and grabbed Carlo by the shirt, pinning him against the wall. His eyes reflected fury and frustration.

"I care about you more!" Carlo shouted as well. "If I betray him, if I do that, what will happen next? They'll come after you, Mom, Elio, even if we save Annalise, they'll come after her too, Luka. You think Elisa will save us? How naive you are."

Luka released Carlo and leaned against the wall, sliding to the floor and hanging his head. Tears streamed down his face and landed on the floor. He almost hit his brother, but his sister was in danger, and they couldn't get that much money in such a short time.

"What else can we do? Anna doesn't have much time, and we don't have many options," he said, defeated. Impotence consumed each of the Mancinis.

"I've been talking to some contacts, but the money is not enough." Carlo loosened the tie around his neck and unbuttoned two of his buttons. Those ties seemed suffocating. "We have nowhere else to turn."

The doorbell interrupted Elio's words. The Mancini brothers looked at each other in confusion. They were a family that didn't receive many visitors, so that sound was even stranger to hear.

"I'll go see." Elio made his way to the entrance; as he went out, he saw an all-too-familiar back. The woman was tall, almost as tall as his older brother, with a ponytail and wavy hair that fell perfectly to her lower back.

"Brother." She turned with a smile on her lips. "Too cunning," he thought.

"Elisa, what are you doing here?" Elio became defensive. His eyebrows furrowed as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Her leather heels made her look much taller next to him.

"They are my family, of course I'm going to see them." Her lips, a deep wine color, formed a smile, but without showing any feeling of happiness.

Elio stepped aside and she entered. She looked around as if she were stepping on some garbage. Elisa had separated from them when she was barely twelve years old; since then, she was raised by her paternal grandparents, who raised her to be a cold person who liked to walk all over others, even her own mother.

"You know about Annalise, don't you?" she inquired, closing the door. Her two brothers were entering the living room, their eyebrows furrowed instantly.

"I just know you need money, and I can give you everything." Elisa leaned back on the armrest of the armchair, crossed her legs and looked coldly at her brothers.

"But nothing is free, right?" Carlo stepped forward.

"Of course not, big brother."

"She's your sister, for God's sake!" Luka shouted angrily. He had thought she could help them, and he was, as his brother had said, naive. Elisa wouldn't help anyone without getting something in return.

"You rejected me!" she shouted back. "You left me alone when I needed you most!"

"Elisa, you preferred to go with them rather than support the person who gave you life. That family only humiliated and mistreated our mother; what did you expect us to do?"

"That you would support me! That's what I expected from you…" Elisa clenched her jaw. There was a deathly silence in the room. Elisa stood up and straightened a lock of her hair. "Carlo, you know what I want, and I have what you need; she doesn't have much time. Think about it; the life or death of your little sister is in your hands."

Elisa left the room, leaving her three brothers dumbfounded. She wasn't at all the Elisa they had once known. That tender girl was nothing more than a memory that seemed made up.

"Damn it! What are we going to do now? Elisa is our most viable option."

"She is not," Elio refuted. "We would be practically selling our whole family. She would send us straight to the slaughterhouse."

"Elio… if I can get that money from her, you would have to leave." Carlo didn't look very convinced, but by then, valuable hours had passed for their dear sister. Between calls and messages, night had fallen.

"No, brother, I have a faster and safer way."

"What are you thinking?" Luka focused all his attention on him. Elio wasn't sure if that was going to work; he had flatly rejected the marriage proposal; he knew people like the Two Marcos; once you reject them, you can't get a second chance.

"That's stupid, Luka," Carlo replied. Elio looked at him with concern. "Don't even think about it; we'll find another way."

"It's that or sell our lives," he said. "Brother, I know you're worried, but it's just an attempt, besides, I've already rejected him once, I don't think he would accept anyway. However, I want to try, for Annalise, for us. They are our only salvation, let me go…"

Carlo was silent; Elio took this as a positive sign. He whispered a thank you and ran out of the house.

His family was on the brink of a precipice, and if selling his bachelorhood could help them, he would be willing to spend the next fifty years of his life by that man's side.

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