Chapter 1 THE ACCIDENT

THE ACCIDENT

ITALY : MARCH TWENTY ONE 2014

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Chatters and laughters resonated round the car as it drove across the city of Italy. From the look on the faces of its inhabitants, one could tell they were clearly one happy family.

"Dad! Jane devoured my cake!" Marco cried out as he clenched his fists tightly.

"Come on Marco, you're no longer a kid, okay? Stop crying" Mrs Fabrizio consoled as she pouted her lips while Marco frowned his face.

"Mum, let him cry, I don't care. Marco always thinks he can own everything!" Jane said, scoffing as she rolled her eyes, looking out through the window.

"Jane, you shouldn't have eaten his cake. You did wrong." Luca defended Marco.

"Oh please Luca, I know why you're defending him okay. Just 'cause you want him to help you implore dad to buy you a new car." Jane bit out, looking away with a sly smirk on her face, leaving Luca to face all sets of wide eyes gaping at him in disbelief.

"Is that true, Luca?!" Mr Fabrizio queried, feigning anger while Mrs Fabrizio hit her palm against her forehead, inhaling sharply.

"No, no, no, Dad! I never did so, I swear. Jane just lying!" Luca exclaimed, trying to defend himself as he shot Jane a death glare. If looks could kill, Jane would have definitely been 6ft below the Earth right now.

"You aren't going to say anything, brother?" Luca questioned Jason, who has been mute during the whole argument.

"I'm not interested in your childish arguments," he replied coldly, looking away from the group.

"That's my big boy talking!" Mr Fabrizio exclaimed in a comment, eliciting a playful hit on the shoulder from his wife, who proceeded to roll her eyes at him.

"Luca is the oldest. He is 16 and Marco is 15. Jane is 12 but they behave childish and Steve's 7, I'm only 9 yet I know my worth," he said arrogantly with a slight frown on his face, still staring away.

At his insulting comment, the car fell dead silent as they all focused on their father, Mr Fabrizio, who was focused on driving.

"We should have brought along the convoy, Dad. Why did you insist we use a regular car to the birthday party without some sort of protection? Anything could happen to us right now and we have no security to save us." Jane mused with a displeased frown on her face. She had been feeling awfully uneasy since the start of their journey but had only shrugged off the feeling.

"Try to be optimistic for once, Jane. Nothing's going to happen, okay?" Mrs Fabrizio asked, in an attempt to calm down her daughter, as she turned to give Jane a look.

"I'm a simple man with a simple family, Jane darling. Who's going to try to hurt us? So there's no need to worry, we are safe, okay?" Mr Brown assured.

"Um, Da—" Before Matco could complete his sentence, two black cars drove speedily past their car and blocked the way. The door opened to reveal five guys, who stepped out and rushed towards Fabrizio car.

"Lower the windows!" One of them ordered, his voice commanding and booming with authority, causing the once happy family to shiver in fear. They couldn't see the men's faces due to the masks they had on.

Mr Fabrizio gulped and trembled as he slowly pulled the car windows down. Instantly, the five men pulled their triggers and shot at the family before giving their car a push from the back, watching as it rolled off the road and hit a tree. In a hurry, they all scurried away, got into their cars and drove off, leaving behind the gory image of the bloodied family.

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"I pray they are still alive." The woman says as she and her husband stood, pacing anxiously outside the ICU room.

"The husband was long dead when I examined him, but I can't say anything about the wife and children." The man explained with a shrug.

His wife sighed deeply as she moved towards the array of waiting chairs, taking a seat as they awaited the doctor, who stepped out a few minutes later to announce the death of the man, his wife, and two sons.

"What about the other two kids, Doc?" The man asked sadly.

"We were able to stabilise them for now but they still have a slim chance of surviving. I'm sorry," the doctor answered bitterly.

"Can someone just fucking tell me what's going on here, huh?!" The man's wife exclaimed with eyes turning glassy at the thought of such huge misfortune befalling such a family with even little kids.

"Wait a minute. I thought this hospital is supposed to be one of the best and most prestigious hospital, yet you idiots couldn't save their lives! We brought in five injured patients and you couldn't even save them?! Fuck this hospital! Honey, I'm out!" She shouted, tears streaming down her face as she picked up her purse and walked out

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A week later, the man known as Mr Chevez, alongside his wife, could be seen seated in the doctor's office.

". . . And the most important thing, Mr Chevez The children lost their memories." The doctor let out.

"What?!" Both husband and wife exclaimed.

"What do you mean, Doc?" Mrs Chevez asked, her heart breaking for the poor kids and their unfortunate fate.

"They don't know their names. They don't know if they had parents or siblings, neither do they know their home nor how they got shot in the first place." The doctor explained.

"This is harder than we thought," Mr Chevez muttered lowly, but it was loud enough to be heard by everyone seated in the room.

"We've tried all our best to help them recollect their memories but our efforts have only proven to be abortive."

"So, there's no other way they could recollect their identities?" Mrs Chevez inquired, hoping against hope that there was a way to help the kids.

"Not at all," the doctor shook his head with a grave expression.

"God, save us," the wife mumbled.