The Lost Russo
He was just a child, lost to the world for five long years. Now, he's found, but the boy who returns is a stranger, marked by the shadows he endured. Can a shattered family heal the wounds left by time and trauma? And what terrifying secrets does the youngest Russo carry back from the darkness?
Sleep pulled me under, deep and still. Then, a tiny weight on my chest, a child's voice: "Papa, wake up." It was Alessio, eleven years old in the dream, bringing me two-year-old Luca. Luca, small and thin, placed his hand on the scar over my heart and whispered, "Hurts, Papa?" And for a moment, everything was okay.
Then it shattered. Rushed footsteps, a door slamming, shallow breaths. "Papa?" Luca's frightened voice.
I gasped awake, hand on the scar, breathing heavy. Darkness. The scar was still there. "Does it hurt, Papa?" The whisper echoed in the empty room. "Yes, sweetheart... very much."
