Late at night, in a quiet room, a woman gently rocked her baby in her arms. Her eyes were full of love as she looked at her little boy, humming softly to him. In that moment, nothing else mattered—he was her whole world, and she would do anything to keep him safe and healthy.
Suddenly, the door slammed open. She looked up, happy to see her husband, but her smile faded when she noticed the worry on his face. She knew something was wrong.
"Madelyn…" he called, walking quickly toward her, his face serious.
"Declan?" Madelyn stood up, holding the baby close. She looked at him with fear in her eyes. "What's happening?"
Declan put his hands on her shoulders and said quickly, "I got some news. They're coming after me.
"They?" Madelyn seemed lost for a while until it dawned on her and her eyes widened with fear.
"No," she whimpered, and began to panic while her husband in question began to rummage through his drawers for something, creating quite a mess in the process until he found the gun.
Madelyn took a step back when she saw the weapon. Although she knew her husband would not use the weapon on her, she still shivered as a reflex action.
She hated violence. No, part of the reason why they were in this mess was because her husband quit his position in the mafioso for her and their child. He didn't want the violence anymore, not with a baby in his life now. He wanted a normal life with his family, not one filled with gore and war.
Unfortunately, that war was coming their way because the Mafioso would rather end his life than lose him in their organization. He knew so much and there was no out. He's either with them or he's dead.
"How are you sure they are the ones?" Madelyn wanted him to take a minute to think. Everything was happening so quickly that her head was spinning.
He gave her a hard look, "Deep down, both of us always knew that it would come to this point. You have to go now."
"You? Aren't we?" Madelyn noted the pronoun he used, making her gaze narrow at him in suspicion, "Declan?" She didn't like where this was going.
Declan in question sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration. He grabbed her shoulder once more and said to her, "You have to get out of here with our son,"
"No!" She roared, pushing him away from her with fury.
"You have to come with us, Declan!" Madelyn began to beg him. It was over two years since they got married and have always been together that she couldn't imagine the thought of being alone all of a sudden.
"Listen, they would kill all of us if they were to get here. However, our baby.." He gulped, this was not easy for him either, "You have a chance to leave here now with our child. With you, our son would have a chance."
"No, no, no, don't do this to me, Declan," Madelyn cried out, holding onto him as if that would stop him from leaving when she heard a sudden racket coming from downstairs and both of their gazes connected.
They are here.
The Mafioso was here to get them.
To end them.
"You have to go now!" Declan shouted at her, hardening his heart. If he went soft on her, all of them were going to die and he didn't want that.
Knowing time was running out, he had no choice but to grab onto her and begin to lead her out. He knew one person who could take her and the baby safely out of here. He just had to find him and hopefully, they hadn't killed him in the fight going on downstairs.
The moment they made it out the door, an enemy was right outside and Declan, as if expecting that move, shot him first before he could aim at them. Seeing the body drop at their feet, a scream left Madelyn's lips. It was so much gore.
"Come on!" Declan dragged her along. There was no more time to waste.
They broke into a sprint in the long hallway while the racket downstairs grew in strength.
"Mason!" Her husband hollered amid the chaos, looking for him.
"What do you need Mason for?" She couldn't understand him.
"Only he knows the way out. You can't go out through the front, they have the house surrounded now and I can't lose my family." Declan said through gritted teeth before stopping at a door and kicking it open.
They both stepped into the room only to be affronted by a shocking scene. Two men were seen struggling on the bed and one of them seemed to be gaining the upper hand since he was strangulating the other beneath him.
But a clean shot through the brain ended the struggle and the one on top ended up falling from the bed while the other rose with a gasp
"Brother!"
"Mason!"
While Mason was in the mood for hugs, the same couldn't be said for Declan who broke apart immediately, and said to him firmly,
"You have to get my wife and son out of here. You know the way,"
Unlike his emotional wife, Mason simply nodded his head in understanding before walking over to his shelf and pulled out a book. Before Madelyn's eyes, the wall slid open and a secret pathway that hadn't been there in the first place opened up.
Declan turned to her, "I had this built for emergencies and my fear came to pass after all."
"No..."Madelyn shook her head, her lips trembling, "You have to come with us please,"
"I can't," Declan said, "They would never stop coming for me. I should have known this was how it would end with the kind of life I choose to live…" He placed both hands on her shoulder, looking into her eyes as he requested, "Just promise me that you would do everything to keep our son safe and keep him from going down the path I took."
"Fine, I would… just come with us p-please…" Her voice broke at the end.
Unfortunately, while they were delaying the inevitable, an enemy snuck in without any of them noticing. Mason did notice though and raised an alarm, but it was too late, the shot was fired. Declan grunted as he felt pain coursing through him, but he ignored it and fired at the fool who dropped to the ground, dead.
He then looked down, and saw that his stomach was bleeding. Madelyn screamed at the sight and tried to reach for him but Declan seem to have come to his senses because he screamed at them,
"Get out of here now!"
His sacrifices can't be in vain.
Mason didn't need further instructions as he reached for Madelyn and began to drag her along.
"No!" The woman screeched, struggling with him. She can't leave her husband. She can't go without him!
"Think about your son!" Mason snapped at her when it became obvious that he wasn't going anywhere with her being this stubborn.
Madelyn froze, tears streaming down her face.
"This is Declan's will. The child has the right to live or all of this would be for nothing." He told her.
Mason's words must have gotten to her because she stopped fighting him. However, Madelyn broke away from his grip and ran to give her husband one last hug.
"I love you," She whispered.
"I would always love you," Declan answered before lowering his head to place a kiss on his son's forehead.
The child was staring back at him and even through the chaos, he had a smile on his face and Declan knew instinctively that he was going to be a strong one. The thought comforted him.
Madelyn pressed her lips against his one last time, tears running down faster as her heart broke into pieces. It took a whole lot of willpower to break away from him knowing what was about to happen. Saying goodbye was too hard.
"Let's go now!" Mason came to take her hand and together they walked into the hallway. All the way, Madelyn never took her eyes off her husband until Mason locked the door behind them and a wail left her lips as reality finally dawned on her
"We can't do this here, Madelyn. We are not truly safe until we leave this place," He took hold of her hand and dragged her along.
Honestly, Madelyn didn't even care what happened so she let Mason take her wherever he wanted. It was as if her soul had left her body and she was just a shell. She had no more will to live.
The only time her eyes lit up, showing a sign of life was when Mason announced, "We are out,"
They ended up downhill, Madelyn noted. Which meant that they could see her house since the place was built on top of a hill. However, life must be taunting her because the moment she lifted her gaze, a resounding boom was heard and all Madelyn saw was a flash of light before everything went dark again.
"No!" Madelyn screamed at the top of her voice, her lips buckling and she fell to the ground with the child in her arms while Mason stood there confused. He had no idea how to comfort a crying woman.
As if sensing his mother's distress, the baby who had been quiet all this while began to cry, drawing her attention. And as devastated as Madelyn was, she couldn't ignore her child.
She stared at the young boy who looked so much similar to his father the sight was heartbreaking. He reminded her so much of him.
Madelyn brought the child up to her chest and hugged him tight saying,
"I'm sorry, boy, but it's me and you now."