Chapter 1
Introducing to you: The Alarmed Series
2019 was the year that I wrote this book on Episode Interactive. This was the book that got me ready to write The Societa Oscura series and since then it has been picked up by Inkitt. Now I go back to where it all began. The original Mafia book ever to be written by me and one that will always have a special place inside my heart. Welcome to the newly edited version of Alarmed.
Another edit will follow this one. To begin with, I need to get the full book finalised on here.
“Ava!" Bell shouts from the living room and Ava yawns staring at her reflection in the mirror. Rubbing her eyes, she snaps out of a daze and glances over her shoulder at Bell who storms to the bathroom door in her red Christmas pyjamas that she robbed from the local supermarket last Christmas as a "fantastic work effort" gift to herself.
Ava stares bluntly at Bell, the girl with beautiful wavy brown hair and baby blue eyes. Ava can't really complain about the way that she looks because she has luscious baby blonde hair and bright green eyes. The two of them share the same pale skin and stand at the exact same height of five foot two. Small and delicate, cute and adorable. Keeping her eyes on Bell, Ava turns herself around with crossed arms slowly to face Bell in her purple crop top and leggings. She will have to wear this set for the next week because the two of them working long shifts don't bring in enough money to cover the bills and therefore cannot afford to spend their money on luxury items or pieces of clothing. Their finances are that problematic, they cannot afford the rent which needs to be paid as soon as possible.
Staring intently, Ava looks at Bell as Bell rolls her eyes and huffs out an irritated breath. “What’s taking you so long?”
Talking awkwardly, Ava replies in a whisper, almost audible to Bells ears “I don’t want to go! I worked late last night and now I am paying the ultimate price for it. Like how is that fair?” She’s exhausted and needs to sleep more. Not that it’s possible considering the amount of hours that she has to work. Some days she’s had to work over fifteen hours even if it’s not legal. How her boss can expect her to work all the hours under the sun she doesn’t know, but she carries on trodding along with no sleep in her system.
Rolling her eyes, she stares at Bell who keeps on laughing at Ava because she keeps on yawning. Turning her lips into a sad frown, she glares at her best friend with pleading eyes trying to beg her to cover for her. “Can you tell them that I died in my sleep?”
Placing her hands on her hips, she purses her lips and Ava starts to become excited with hopes that Bell will help her get out of her night shift.
“No, I can't tell them that you died in your sleep. Now move it!”
Thinking about another way to go about her situation, she comes up short and looks down at the floor miserably. “All you have to say is that I died and then tomorrow I magically come back to life.”
“No” Bell points at her and Ava tries to contend with her failing miserably at her task.
“You’re not a fair person.” She pouts her lips out and snarls at Bell who smiles apathetically.
“Boo hoo cry me a river” Groaning out, Ava rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. Narrowing her eyes, she says “no fair” impersonating a small child and Bell laughs.
“Hurry up we have college soon”
“Ok ok be patient”
Entering her dirty motel room, Ava sees Bell with a notepad in her hand thinking deeply about something as she writes a sentence down on the lined paper. Ava knows that it involves the rent because it’s due and they simply cannot afford it.
“Are you okay babe?” Ava asks her as she steps inside the room slowly. Bell drops down on her bottom with her head in her hands. Ava walks over to her and takes a seat next to Bell.
“We need six hundred euros by tomorrow.” Bell shrugs her shoulders “what are we going to do?” and Ava cannot think of a way to get out of their situation. They have no family to run to and they are going to end up on the street in the end. Even Ava knows that as much as she tries to tell herself another story.
“What are we going to do?” Bell asks again and Ava shakes her head. She doesn’t have an answer to Bells question/
“I will ask for extra hours at the cafe to cover us,” Ava states hoping that it will give her some more time to gather the money needed. Plus that’s the only solution that she can think of to be able to find that amount of money. Bell reminds her that they need it for the following day and Ava turns to face her, she’s afraid and doesn’t want to become homeless. Trying to help Bell relax because she doesn’t want her to suffer with depression again like she did a couple of years previously, Ava apathetically speaks telling her to relax and that she will find a way to gather the money needed.
They enter the supermarket and Ava sends Bell to go and retrieve crisps and chocolate while Ava routes through the shelves and finds a DVD to rent for the night. Not feeling accomplished with her mission, she waits for Bell to pay for the items and they leave to go back home. They found some money in the cupboard when they were cleaning. It wasn’t much, five euros, if that but it made them feel happy and they ran out of the door the second that they found it.
On the way back, Ava pops into work to see if she can gather a couple of extra shifts to earn more money for the rent, but her boss tells her that they cannot offer her anything because she works as a waitress and the hours inside the restaurant are tight. Ava exits the building with tears in her eyes and she knows that it’s time to say goodbye to the happy life that she lives and say hello to a life on the cold, dangerous streets.
THE NEXT DAY
“Bell are you here?” Ava calls out to Bell as she enters their apartment. She’s been working for twelve hours and she needs to go to bed, but Ava also knows that it’s now time to start packing up their items ready to leave. Their landlord isn’t a nice man and will show up within a couple of hours to boot them out of what he can rightfully call his. Ava had only managed to scrape one hundred euros together and is feeling useless.
“What are we going to do about the rent?” Ava asks as she walks from one side of their room. Their apartment has two single beds, a toilet in the bedroom, no living area and a bath in a separate room.Their kitchen is also inside their bedroom, so it’s not very big.
Bell takes a seat on her bed and crosses her arms with a smug grin on her face. Ava on the other hand is pushing her hair back in a panic.
“I’ve already paid it.”
Stopping abruptly, Ava snaps her head around to face Bell who laughs at her and lays down on the bed.
“How?” She stares at her confused with her hands on her hips. Where could she have possibly managed to find six hundred euros? She thinks to herself.
“I have my ways” Bell smiles at Ava and she knows that they have a problem on their hands. Where did she get the money from and if she was given it then she obviously owes somebody the money. Bell doesn't talk to nobody other than Ava unless she's in work. Now the question is who she managed to get the money off considering she wasn't in work and she doesn't exactly own a mobile phone so she cannot store numbers anywhere. Crossing her arms, Ava feels angry and wants an answer from Bell.
“Where have you got six hundred euros from to pay the rent? ”
“And the rest” Bell tells her smugly and Ava's mouth drops open. She's shocked by her response and she wonders how much money Bell has taken out in a loan. That's the only way that she could have possibly got it. But how considering she's in more debt than anyone could build up in a lifetime and that's literal. If Bell didn't get it on loan then Ava knows that the two of them are in deep shit.
“How much Bell?” Ava speaks cautiously, not wanting to know the answer, but she needs to know if she needs to fix what could have possibly been broken. Not that she has a plan of action written up. Bell shrugs her shoulders and Ava rolls her eyes irritated.
“It’s enough” Bell tells her and Ava starts to feel scared. Her head is trying to figure out how much money Bell has got and how she managed to get it, but her mind comes back clear. She has no idea.
“Where did you get it from? Your job only pays you three euros an hour.” Bell places her hands on her hips sassily with a grin on her face and Ava taps the bed sheet waiting patiently for her to tell her which seems to be taking forever.
“I found a credit card.”
"You found a credit card?" Ava stares at Bell with wide eyes, they may as well pop out of her head because she now knows that the situation has just changed direction and given her whiplash.
"Where did you find it?"
"It was on the floor." Bell talks apathetically. Ava knows that she thinks that it's fate and was supposed to happen, but she's robbed someone of six hundred euros and that's the minimum amount. How much higher of a sum did she take?
Ava crosses her arms and stands up. "Pass the card to me" she tells Bell and Bell pulls the card out of her pocket, handing it over to Ava who reads the name on it.
-------------------------
Mr Russo
79673 67994 908
6652793
09-788-938
Signed: Russo
-------------------------
Walking over to her pillow, Ava picks up her notepad and writes his name inside it. This book has everything inside it from her favourite foods right the way down to her sexual fantasies. She stands there trying to figure out what they're going to do next. Placing her notepad back down, Ava walks over to Bell who hands her a bank statement.
"I am guessing that this is a statement from the cash point? How did you manage to withdraw it?" Ava asks her wondering how it was possible to get a bank statement. Appathetically speaking again, Bell tells her that the credit card was touch sensitive. Ava feels repulsed as her friend stands in the room, a smug grin on her face. She doesn't realise the situation that the two of them are now in. It's a criminal offense!
"They do touch sensitive for bank machines now?"
"They sure do."
"Who is Mr Russo?" Ava asks Bell and she shrugs her shoulders.
"I have heard his name before.Where have I heard that name?" Bell sits down on the bed in thought and Ava thinks of the best action plan that she can.
"You need to give it back to the bank."
"I can’t do that!" Bell stares at her nervously and Ava huffs out a deep breath.
"Why can’t you give it back"
"Because I have done something bad." Feeling anger rise, her blood is boiling, Ava shouts out "what have you done with the card Bell?"
"I've spent nine thousand euros plus I may have brought this house." Bell shrugs her shoulders and Ava smacks herself across the head "you did what?"
Apologising, Bell pouts her lips out and Ava slams her hand down on the kitchen counter. "Take the card and give it to the bank Bell. I don't know how we will pay that money back!"
"I'm so sorry Ava. I didn't think."
"I know you didn't otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation."
"Wipe the card down with a cloth. Remove all of our finger prints and make sure that they're all gone. Not a blemish is to be left on it. Shit how are we going to get out of this. Think Ava think." Pointing at the door, Ava shifts on her left foot "go now!"
She cannot believe that Bell thought that it would be a fantastic idea to spend somebody else's money when it wasn't hers to take in the beginning. For all she knows, the man who the card belongs to could be a murderer for all she knows. She does hope that Bell can fix it before everything spirals out of control. Yet, she knows that the two of them are in a bad situation and there may be nothing that she can do to fix it.
