THE ISLAND WOLF - EPISODE 53

The Vincaso Family needed the sincere help of The Lucian Brothers to back them up against Xpresso, a gang of fearless terrorists who were under the single leadership of a powerful man—Luca Aguero. They had gotten into a very big fight with him and had no way to back out, except if they were able to kill him. They decided to seek the help of The Lucian Brothers, but were scared Alejandro would not agree to help. So, they called for a sudden meeting first. An inside man who was amongst the Vincaso Family leaked the news to Luca Aguero, that they were seeking the help of another Mafia family. This inside man did not know it was going to be the Lucian Brothers, so he did not report it.

On the day of the meeting, they sat round a table in the VIP section of the club. It was their own hotel, so having meetings in the VIP room was not a new thing. Luca’s inside man had sneaked in men to start shooting randomly at the members of the Mafia. Alejandro was just in a wrong place, at a very wrong time. His gun was tucked behind him as usual, and he had men on the lookout too. But who would suspect men dressed like Vincaso guards?

Death was marked for Alejandro that day. He would have survived if he quickly dodged and hid under the table, before shooting back. But he was one of the first men to be hit by the raining bullets.

Avril wouldn’t stop crying even after the bodies were moved away. Her body was stained with Alejandro’s blood, after hugging him for almost forever, begging him to come back to her. The police raided the place but couldn’t find the culprits. They took note of the people who were killed and sent word to their families. The hotel reported that Alejandro Mateo had lodged in with a woman and her friends, so they requested Avril to come to the station for questioning.

“What are you going to do? Will you go to the police station?” Xiào Wéi asked Avril who was seated at a corner of the room, twirling her bracelet absentmindedly.
“We don’t have a choice. We can’t go back to Mexico through the airport, they’d have figured out who he truly was already. We can’t escape anywhere here, because we’re foreigners. We’re stuck,” Chidi stated and exhaled deeply.
“Staying in this hotel room won’t help any of us, would it?” Nana asked.
“The police would come back for us after they figure out we’re working with the Mexican Mafia,” Chidi spoke.
“And we’ll be doomed,” Nana added.
“But, are we really working with the Mafia? Remember, we’re captives. We were trafficked from our countries to work as sex slaves. We didn’t have a choice,” Xiào Wéi opined.
“You are right. We’re all captives here,” Nana cooed and Avril scoffed. All the girls looked at her. It was the first time she had made a sound since they entered the room about an hour ago. She had just sat at that corner, looking at her bracelet which was wrapped around her index finger, and twirling it in circles.

“I was not a captive,” she muttered. Everyone kept quiet.
“Alejandro gave me a choice, and I chose to stay with him. I was only his sex slave for the first month. You of all people should know that,” she added.
“But Avril, if you agree to being his accomplice, you could end up in jail,” Nana stated calmly.
“And what you’re suggesting is?”
“Just admit that you were a victim of human trafficking. Tell them you were under force from Alejandro.”

Avril chuckled softly and stopped twirling her charm bracelet.
“I won’t sh!t on Alejandro’s memory,” she said firmly and got on her feet. They watched her as she walked into the bathroom and they heard the water running. None of them moved until she returned.

“Grab whatever you can grab. We’re leaving,” she ordered and went to her bag. She grabbed her phone and called Feliz.

“Avril,” his voice trailed.
“Are you okay? Alejandro’s news just reached us,” he stated.
“Feliz, we don’t know how to get home. We’re stranded,” she said with all the courage she could muster.
“El Cando is making some calls to help you come back. Are you all right? Where are you? We’re so worried over here,” he stated and she exhaled. Her eyes began to sting as she fought back tears.
“I don’t… I don’t know, Feliz. I’m not okay, but I don’t know what to do,” she cried and palmed her eyes.
“We’ll be there soon. Just stay put in the hotel, okay?”
“The police, they want to interrogate us,” she breathed out.
“They won’t. El Cando is on it. Arturo will be coming with us to get you. Just stay in your room. Don’t come out, the culprits might be after you too.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Avril said and dropped the call. She pinned the lower part of her palms upon her eyes to stop the tears that were streaming down. Then she turned back to her friends who were still seated.

“I know you girls desire freedom from the kind of life we lived, so I’m giving you the opportunity Alejandro gave me. The opportunity to choose. You can go down to the security guards and ask to be taken to the police station. Tell them whatever will make them free you. You should be free. Go back to your families,” she said courageously.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go to where I’ll be accepted. I have to go back to Tijuana, even if he won’t be there anymore. I don’t know why I keep losing people in my life,” she choked on her sobs and broke down to the floor.
“I lost my parents. I lost Dakar. I lost Alejandro too. I keep losing people,” she cried and hugged her legs to cry more.

Nana blinked repeatedly to keep the tears out, Chidi smiled sadly and sat beside Avril on the floor, Xiào Wéi was already crying hard.
“I’m not leaving. I’m right here with you, Avril. You’re not going to lose me,” Chidi said to her.
“Me too. I don’t want to go back to Ghana. I’ll stay by your side,” Nana spoke.
“I likewise. I’m on your side, Avril. We started this together, we’ll end it together,” that was from Xiào Wéi.

They all sat beside Avril on the floor and hugged her. They cried together for long minutes before they stopped. As Avril was wiping her tears away, she noticed something from the open window. Someone was at the top of the other building and aiming a sniper at them. Her eyes widened.
“Duck!” she screamed and fell face down. But somehow, her three friends were hit from three different angles. The one she had seen was meant for her. She had not seen the ones meant for her friends.

“No,” she mumbled and crawled to her friends. They were not hit by a bullet, but a syringe. They were not meant to be killed. Whoever wanted them wanted them alive. Before Avril could move away and take caution, a dart wheezed through the air and sunk it’s syringe into her neck. She winced and pulled it out. Two seconds later, she was on the floor—unconscious.

They all woke up later in a moving van, driving on a tarred road at the rocky plains of Italy. The girls were being transported by road somewhere unknown. Avril sat up from the floor of the van and rubbed her neck. She groaned and looked up to see a man smirking down at her.
“You took longer than expected to wake up. Is it as a result of the grief?” he asked and she glared at him.
“I’m guessing you’re not on our side,” she gritted and sat on the long seat. Nana groaned and sat down beside her. Xiào Wéi was still on the floor of the van, moving consciously. While Chidi sat up on the floor there.

“You guessed wrong. I’m on your side,” he stated with that ugly smirk still plastered on his face.
“Who shoots darts into their allies bodies?”
“Oh, sorry about that inconvenience. My instincts told me you wouldn’t want to follow me on a calm note.”
“I like your instincts already.”
“Hmm, you got wit. I like that. You are exactly as I heard.”

Avril scoffed and stopped rubbing her neck. She looked outside the windows at the rocks and mountains they drove past.
“What is this about?” she asked the man.
“Well, first, my name is Miguel Vincaso,” he said.
“A member of the Vincaso Family,” she stated and he nodded.
“I apologize over the death of your man, Alejandro Mateo. He was a good man, in a bad way though. Trust me, he wasn’t part of the targets,” Miguel chirped.
“What do you mean by that?”
“My targets were the other members of the Mafia family. I had no idea the man they invited was Alejandro. I only knew after he was killed.”

Avril’s jaw clenched as she tried to understand what this Miguel was driving at.
“You are responsible for the killing?” she asked, trying hard to appear calm.
“Once again, I apologise for his death. But, he’s gone now. Let’s get to business,” he quipped and she began to breathe very fast.

“Your family. You betrayed your family,” she said between gritted teeth.
“Please, no amount of talk would make me feel the slightest remorse. They deserved it. A bunch of arseholes,” Miguel scoffed.

“Alejandro is dead because a prick betrayed his own blood,” she muttered as she glared at him.
“Girl, Alejandro was not supposed to die. Trust me, if I had known he was going to be at that table, I would have leaked the news to him and get him out. Luca Aguero needed him. And now, he’s going to be so pissed at me for Alejandro’s death. But, I know his anger will be pacified if I present you to him.”

“Present me to who?”
“Luca Aguero. The leader of Xpresso and the real Mastermind behind the massacre today. He would love you as his woman. And you would give him all the information you know about The Lucian Brothers. You will be so much of an asset to him.”