Chapter 2 TWO-JADEN

"No!"

The sound I made came as a whisper at first. But when the teenage girl in front of me starts crying on seeing me ,my voice becomes high-pitched.

"No!" I shout getting up from my chair. Everyone in the room turned to look at me like I was going crazy. A few boys that were in the same room with me whisper to me get back to my seat before my father arrives the scene and sees me. But

"The ritual must go on"

"You'll get killed"

"There's nothing you can do about it"

"Don't do this Jaden"

Their whispery warning voices fill the room but I ignore them . Even the older men in the Mafia gave me looks that meant I would be dead meat the moment my father comes into the room. There was no escaping the ritual. This was my only chance get my mother out of that dreadful dungeon but I couldn't bring myself to doing this to her. I couldn't do this to the pure innocent girl in front of me.

"The Capo is here" someone announced and the room fell into total silence with only a few sniffles and snorting from the crying girls. My father walks into the room and the air became ominous immediately. The room was so silent that the sound of a pin falling to the ground could be heard from a Mile away. Only his heavy footsteps could be heard as he took long strides into the center of the room. Everyone, both men and women held their face down in the presence of my father.

The Mafia rules are 10 in all. But those were the only official rules. There were a few unspoken ones around that don't even have to be in the rule book. Ones you don't even need to be told about. Ones that could get you killed for not knowing they even exist.

Whenever my father,the Capo , passes by, we hold our faces down. Not because it was part of the rules but once,when one of the men dared to look at his face out of curiosity, he was castrated and left to die in the dungeons. That was a warning for everyone of us.

Most of the boys here and even the older men in the Mafia have absolutely no idea how my father looks. All they see are his shoes as he passes ominously by and the sound of his voice that makes even the strongest Mafia men tremble.

But I've seen my father multiple times since I was a child. The other boys I trained with called me privileged and lucky to have seen his face and to be his son. It isn't a privilege. It's torture.

My father looks like the beast he is.

His tall figure was accentuated by by bulky legs and muscular arms. His face is always drawn into a hard line with eyes as cold as ice. The scars on his face are a proof of the kind of life he has lived and how he survived them. When I was just 5, the time my mother got married to him ,and I saw him for the first time, I was scared and called him a monster to his face. The burn scar on my back served as a warning for me to watch my words till this day.

I watch his eyes move around the room in content before they catch mine and the girl standing in front of me with her head hung low. His eyes twinkled knowingly and he gave a satisfied nod.

"I see the cause of the commotion" he said. His deep voice resonating through the room.

On impulse, I hurried away from my seat and rushed off to his feet.

" Father please, she's just a maid. She's not even a slave . please father. Please. I'd do anything. Anything you ask me father. Not her please"

I begged trying to so hard to follow the 4th Mafia rule that said not to cry. But how could I not cry when the two people I care about are in dangerous situations.

He gave a deep evil chuckle that made me almost tremble at his feet. I knew that he did intentionally. He did it to make me pay for disobeying him and getting friendly with a maid.

Mia has been my personal maid since I was 10. As young as she was then, she took good care of me and my needs. Whenever I return from my father's room after watching him brutally rape my mother, she would heat water to make my fever go away and then sing me to sleep. She would sneak into my room to play games with me and she was the only one who made every of my gloomy day bright. After a day of shooting at the range and getting beaten, I always look forward to the rest of the day that I would spend with her.

She became my best friend. My only friend.

I tried my best not to make our relationship known to my father as the sound of making friends with a maid was the most despicable thing that could happen in the Mafia. As I grew older, I started to develop special feelings for Mia. I didn't tell her about it because I had to protect her from my father. I knew all hell would break loose the moment he finds out but I wasn't careful enough. A few days ago in the garden , I kissed her. It was both our first kiss and it was amazing.

I should have known better than to do that in the garden. I should have known my father would find out. I should have been more careful. I dreamed of an happily ever after with her when I knew how ridiculous it was. Whatever I do , I'll remain the son of a monster.

My father crouched in front of me and pulled me by the hair to look at my face. The pain was immeasurable but I held it in for Mia.

" What's the 6th rule Jaden" he asks.

" Show no mercy" I say quietly.

" You've learnt this rule all your life , so why do you beg me?" He questions annoyance slowly creeping into his voice.

" Please father, please. I would do anything you want. Please not Mia. Please" I continue to plead trying to keep the tears away.

"Are those tears I see in your eyes?" He asks. I quickly rub them off my eyes before they would spill down my cheeks.

My father let go of my hair and stands to his feet.

"Fine then, you don't have to do it. You won't do it "

My heart leap at the thought of my father heeding my plea. But the Joy was only short-lived when he said again

"You won't do it but someone else will. How about that?". He snickered evilly before looking around the room. His eyes fell on a older man who wasn't even part of the ritual. The man was big and bulky just like my father.

" You. Get her. " A simple command and my heart tore into pieces. I jumped off my feet and rushed off to protect Mia but the men were faster. They carried right off her feet and onto one of the beds in the room. Her cries skyrocket and pierced my heart. I couldn't watch them do that to her.

"No!no father please. Please! "

My pleas tell on deaf ears. The tearing sounds of her clothes pierced my ear as she struggled between two strong men who held her down for the bulky one my father called.

" No please father ,no" I cried. "I'll do it!I'll do it !" I scream the moment the bulky man tries to push himself into her.

My father signalled him to stop and he pushes himself off her. She tried desperately to cover her naked body with tears in her eyes. I walk with faltering steps towards her. She looked petrified on the bed, her eyes red and cheeks puffy from the tears. Slowly I got on the bed with her. Her eyes pleaded with me and I knew things would never remain the same for either of us. This was the only way. I told myself.

" I'm sorry Mia"