The Abruzzi Legacy - A Tragic Beginning

**Memory**
The rain was pouring like a monsoon over the private neighborhood of Vatican Hills in Rome, Italy as the black Cadillac pulled onto Via Dante Terrace. To most people the men in the car would look like normal business men in an expensive car but not to me and my mum. As the car stopped outside of our house I clung to my mum in fear.

"Isabella, you need to go hide in that secret room in your closet," Rosetta said, "Just like when you were little."

"But, I can't just leave you here!"

"Yes you can and you need to."

   As the men opened the front gate and walked up the long pathway to our house, we said our last goodbyes, then I ran upstairs and hid as my mum locked the front door and walked back to the kitchen. She knew why they were there and she knew there wasn't any use in fighting it. 

The next thing I knew I heard the front door being kicked in,screaming and yelling, 4 gunshots, and a moment later tires screeching down the street.  I did not need to go into the kitchen to know what had happened and why and I knew my mum wouldn't be down stairs anymore because that is how these people worked. 

  My mum was a very powerful attorney in Rome and she knew (and had) a lot of information that would free an innocent man from prison and the Italian Secret Service did not want that information to get out and would stop anyone that got in the way. Little did they know that I was there that night and I knew everything that my mum knew. At least I thought they didn't know I knew everything.


**Present**

  As the sun shone over the gated Venetian Cemetery, I sat on a lone bench dressed in all black staring at the gorgeous marble monument standing in front of me. It was the biggest monument there, located in the middle of the cemetery surrounded by roses. I still could not believe that my mum laid far below that monument. It has been 5 years since that tragic night and about 4 months ago the I.S.S. finally found out that I knew everything. This was the first time I have shown my face in Rome since they first threatened me and as I sat there I realized what I needed to do.

  It was time for me to move to a place where no one knew me and I could start a new life. I only had a little bit of money hidden away in the apartment I was staying in because the government took over everything that my mum and I had and they were watching all of my old hang outs extremely close.

  I took in the surroundings for the last time. the smell of the sweet roses around the monument and the freshly cut grass, fully bloomed cherry blossoms, and the beautiful view of Rome just beyond the cemetery. Since I couldn't bring my self to leave just yet, I took out my laptop to start looking for a new place to move to that would not be to expensive right away. After sitting on the bench for nearly an hour I found a city called Bridgeport in Simopolis that looked stunning. There were lots of job opportunities and many celebrities lived there. It seemed like the perfect place for me and maybe even one day I could become a celebrity. I looked through the local real estate in Bridgeport and found a beautiful piece of property in the same neighborhood as a lot of the celebrities and although I wouldn't have much of a house to begin with it would be better than staying here. So, I contacted the real estate agent and bought the property for $15,566 which luckily included my plane ticket because I would be giving her cash the day I arrived. I wrote down the address and told her I would be there soon after my plane landed.