Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series

“You’re who?!”

“Pietro. Niccolo’s twin.” The man said, still with a ghostly sound. Okay. I’m right. He’s actually Niccolo’s twin, Pietro. I’m talking to him now. I’m really talking to Pietro.

“Uhm, guys, I don’t know if you all going to believe this but the ghost is Pietro. You know, Niccolo’s twin. He said it himself.” I told my cousins and Luciano. My eyes wander around the room, hoping to catch the sight of Pietro but I still can’t see him.

“Pietro is dead and now he’s a ghost in our house? How? Why is he here?” Alessio asked. That’s what I’ve been wondering myself. How is Pietro here? I can’t see him still so could this ghost lie about being Pietro? It’s possible.

“I’m not sure.” I shrug to Alessio. I turn to stare at the TV in front of me, not feeling sure about where to look since I can’t see where the ghost is right now.

“If you’re really Pietro, can you show yourself?” I asked again. Everything suddenly goes quiet. Not even a single word comes out from the ghost. I furrow my eyebrows at the strange reaction. That’s weird. The ghost is probably lying about being Pietro. I can’t truly believe that he’s Pietro unless he shows himself.

I snap myself out of my thoughts and jump in my place as I see the splitting image of Niccolo materialising out of thin air. I gape at the sigh in front of me with my hand over my rapidly beating heart. Still in shock and the sudden appearance of Pietro, I glance at my cousins and Luciano and see them staring at me in confusion.

“Are you guys seeing this right now?” I asked. My cousins and Luciano only look at each other in confusion before turning to me again. Oh no. That doesn’t look good. This means I’m the only one who can see Pietro. Shit. I can actually see ghost right now.

“Allura, what are you talking about? We don’t see anything. Don’t lie and scare us like this.” Alessio said, frowning at me. He then scans the room as he hugs his pillow. Fuck. He doesn’t see Pietro.

“He’s there! He’s literally standing in front of my bed right there!” I said, motioning at Pietro. His eyes widen as he stares back at me pointing at him.

“You can see me?” Pietro asked. His voice doesn’t sound like a narrator from movies about ancient civilisation anymore. He sounds normal like a human. That’s weird. How did he do that voice?

“Uh, yeah! As clear as the day! I can see you standing there wearing an all black outfit.” I said, frantically gesturing at Pietro again. He frowns and then looks down at his own body.

“Fuck. How do I get back to being invisible?” Pietro asked. Is he asking me that question or what? How would I fucking know the answer anyway? I’m not a ghost.

“I don’t know! You’re the ghost! You figure that out yourself.” I said. I can’t believe I’m actually looking at Pietro’s ghost right now. Why does this suddenly happen to me?

Pietro lets out a sigh and then shrugs in defeat.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’re the only one who can see me anyway. Now, I want to let you know that Giulio and Enzo were the ones who installed the hidden cameras and microphones. I saw them doing that. And yes, Giulio, Carlo, and Enzo are the actual traitors. They worked for Federico but not for too long. I tried to stop them but I suddenly lost my energy and consciousness.” Pietro explained. So, the list is correct. We better lock up everyone who betrayed us right now.

I suddenly remember the first night my cousins, Luciano, and I had this sleepover. The cushions on the armchair. Was Pietro the one who mess with them? Oh and that time I woke up before dinner. I heard someone called my name. I don’t remember how the voice sounded but could it also be Pietro?

“Okay. Thank you for letting me know about that. Anyways, I have a question. Well, two questions to be exact.” I said.

“Ask away.” Pietro said, shrugging at me.

“We’re you the one who knocked off the cushions? And were you also the one who called my name when I was alone in the room?” I asked. Pietro smirks at the question and then nods.

“Yeah. It was me.” Pietro answered with a grin. Damn it. It was actually him. It was so scary and confusing when I heard someone calling me when there’s no one around me.

“You seriously scared me. I thought I was losing my mind after hearing a voice calling my name while I was in the dark.” I said, frowning at him.

“I’m sorry. That’s just what ghosts like me do. At least that’s what I do. I’m not sure about other ghosts but I like to scare people out of boredom.” Pietro said.

I wonder how bored he is by being a ghost. He’s still conscious of everything despite not being in his body. Being a ghost is probably boring. You can’t really anything other than just roaming around a place and scare people. I don’t want to end up being a ghost when I die. That would be suck.

Now that I know I can see ghosts, will I be encountering any other ghosts in this house? I don’t think I’m ready to see ghosts with fucked up and bloody face and body. My cousins might have tortured someone to death in the basement so there might be a ghost like that here.

“Is there any other ghost here in this house?” I asked, starting to feel nervous about finding a crazy ghost that’s out for revenge. Actually, there’s probably no evil ghosts in here. If there is one, my cousins and Luciano will probably already be dead by now because the ghost could’ve kill them.

“There’s only me. At least that’s what I know until now. I’ve been alone all this time. I don’t know how I ended up here after I died but I’m here now. Since then, I’ve only been going around the house mindlessly and sometimes scare the people here because I can’t seem to go past the gate of this area.” Pietro explained with a frown. Damn. That sounds shitty. I still don’t understand how he’s here after he died. It’s strange.

“That’s what I’ve been wondering. It’s weird that you end up here after you died.” I said.

“It is. I guess I’m an immortal being with no life purpose now. I don’t think I can do anything about it and actually die and go to the afterlife or whatever but it doesn’t matter now. You have to go and stop Federico and the traitors before something bad happens.” Pietro said. Now I feel bad for him. I really hope I can do something to help him cross the bridge and leave this mortal world so he can finally be somewhere else.

“Do you know if they’re planning to hurt us or something?” I asked. Pietro shakes his head.

“Unfortunately no. Just like what I said earlier, I could just suddenly lose my awareness and not know anything that’s happening while I was gone. Some other days I’m fully aware that I’m here, existing as a ghost, like how it is now.” Pietro said. I guess I can’t ask Pietro anything else now that he’s told me that. He’s kind enough to let me know about Giulio, Carlo, and Enzo betrayal.

“That’s fine. Thank you for telling me all this.” I said, smiling at him.

“No problem. Now I feel like I have a purpose for still being here. I’ll let you know if I got something else.” Pietro said.

“Okay. I’ll see you around?” I said.

“Yeah. Maybe. I’m leaving now. I can go through the walls but I want to let everyone know I’m actually here and that you’re not crazy like how you’re looking right now talking to the air.” Pietro said, grinning at me. Now I just realize my cousins and Luciano are only seeing me and not Pietro. That does sounds crazy. I’m literally looking like I’m talking to an empty space now since no one else can see Pietro.

“Okay. Bye.” I said, grinning at his silly idea of scaring my cousins and Luciano. He opens the door and then grins as he stares past me. I turn around and see Alessio staring at the door with wide eyes.

“What the fuck?! The door opens itself! Allura is right! The ghost is real! Pietro is here!” Alessio whisper-yelled, still staring at the door, petrified.

How could a grown man like Alessio that could look scary and intimidating and also probably deals with killing people sometimes be scared of ghosts? This is way too hilarious.

“Bye, Allura. I’ll see you around.” Pietro said, winking at me. I only smiled at him as he closed the door. I guess from the interaction we just had with each other, I can conclude that Pietro is indeed more playful than Niccolo. That means my feeling is correct.

“And the door closes itself too.” Alessio said, still staring at the door in disbelief.

I know I’ve seen ghosts when I was younger but I don’t think I’ve seen more ghosts as I got older. There’s this belief that children are more susceptible to energy of spirits and ghosts. As people get older, they experience less and less contact and sightings of ghosts because they got desensitised to that kind of stuff. Because of that, adults only believe that those ghosts are only a mere imagination. An imaginary friend to be exact. To be able to see ghosts and spirits again, someone must activate their third eye. If they don’t do that, then they won’t see ghosts anymore. I find this weird that I can suddenly see a ghost after not seeing any of them for a while. At least that’s what I believe. So, is this real or did my cousins and Luciano set me up? Are they pranking me right now? I mean, Pietro is Niccolo’s twin so they could’ve told him to participate in this prank by pretending to be Pietro to fool me into thinking that I can see ghosts.

“Y’all are not playing with me and making Niccolo to pretend to be Pietro, right?” I asked.

“No! Why would we do that? Niccolo won’t even talk about Pietro ever since his death. How could we persuade him into pretending to be his dead twin? If you don’t believe me, let’s go and check the hallway’s security footage right now and you’ll see that there’s no one there.” Alessio explained. He’s right. I mean, how could Niccolo just appeared out of thin air right in front of me? I think it would be almost impossible to get that kind of artificial ghostly effect in real time. That only happens in movies.

“Okay. I believe you. I just still can’t believe I actually saw Pietro and none of you saw him. It was also strange how he looked, normal. No blood or anything else. Wasn’t he killed while fighting against our enemies?” I asked.

“Yeah. He got shot a few times.” Alessio said. A forlorn look appears on his face at the thought of Pietro.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It was five months ago. We found out that Federico had been doing his dirty business in our territory. He opened a brothel disguised as a hotel with 5 girls around 12-15 years old as the workers. When we wanted to confront him about the brothel at his bar, all hell broke loose. Federico was the one who started the shooting. He wanted to kill us. We ended up shooting at each other and Pietro died from protecting me. He jumped in front of me and took the bullets for me. Federico lost many of his men from the fight. Unfortunately, he managed to escaped us. We couldn’t save Pietro because he got shot right in his heart and lungs. Until now I still regret his death. He was one of our best soldiers and he sacrificed his life to save mine. He was a really good man.” Alessandro said, nodding to himself with a blank stare.

Pietro is indeed a good man to be willing to protect Alessandro like that. Even after he died, he still tries to protect us all. Now that’s a real loyal man. I swear to god if these fucking traitors turn their back on us only because of money and power, I’m going to make them pay the price of their betrayal with pain and suffering.

“I’m sorry about that. From just talking to him for a few minutes, I can see that Pietro is indeed a good man. He still watches our backs even though he’s a ghost now. He told me earlier that he did saw Giulio and Enzo put the hidden cameras and microphones in my room. He unfortunately couldn’t do anything to stop them because he disappeared into the void while it was happening.” I explained.

“Okay. We need to interrogate all these traitors soon. We’ll start with Giulio first. I should’ve locked him up earlier after you mentioned his name even if he wasn’t there with Salvo when he tried to kidnap you.” Alessandro said, the sadness on his face is now replaced with anger.

“It’s better to be late than never.” I said, shrugging.

“Maybe.” Alessandro said.

“This is strange. How many more powers will I get? At this point I seriously can’t keep up with everything. This is getting out of hands.” I said.

How can I use my powers if I don’t even remember having them? Having too many powers really confuses me. This might be an issue for me in the future. What if I forget about my powers when I needed them the most? I’ll be damned. I want to use my powers to not only protect myself but everyone else as well especially my cousins, Luciano, and the members of the famiglia.

“Don’t overthink it. You’re probably destined to have more powers than Nonna and mamma. Our ancestors trusted you with all those powers for a reason.” Alessandro said.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

With power comes great responsibility. My ancestors definitely want me to use my power to help my family and protect everyone. I’m not sure if I can do that. I’m still learning and trying to get the hang of all my powers. I’m scared that I’ll fail in protecting everyone despite having superpowers. That’s stupid of me if I let that happen.

“Talking about power, I just discovered something from my reality shifting experience.” I said, smiling at everyone.

“What is it?” Alessandro asked.

“I can send pictures telepathically. I think all of us can do it with each other and not only me.” I explained. I hope it does work both ways. This would be really helpful in the future.

“That’s new. We never know about this nor tried to do it before. We just thought that telepathy is just a way of communication with words done through our mind. We never know sending pictures or whatever it is an option.” Alessandro said. Ooh nice. I actually discovered something new for my family. I feel like a genius right now despite the guys being the first one to discover it in my other reality.

“Here. I’ll send you something from the other reality, which is the image of the gate of Federico’s safe house.” I explained. I the. do the same thing as I did with Luciano earlier.

“Okay. I see a gate to a house.” Alessandro said.

“Yeah. I see the same thing. The house number is 3.” Alessio added.

Okay. This is good. That means me sending them my visual memory is actually working. Now it’s their turn to send me something to make sure it’s actually working both ways.

“That’s what I sent. Now you guys can try to send me something. Let’s see if it’s actually work if you do it.” I said.

“I’ll try first.” Alessandro said right away. I immediately see his huge teddy bear in my mind’s eye. Fluffles! Why is he sending me a picture of him though?

I smile widely at the image only to get a look from Alessandro. Why does he look kinda annoyed? He’s the one who send me the image of Fluffles! Is he actually embarrassed that the first thing that popped up in his mind is his childhood plushie?

“Don’t say anything about that.” Alessandro said. He sends a strict gaze at my way and I frown at him. What? Why?

“Wait a minute.” Alessandro said. I watch him jump off his bed and then run out of my room. Shit. I haven’t read his mind yet. What is he thinking? Why is he leaving my room so suddenly?

We wait for Alessandro in silence and then a grin forms on my face as I see the cream/coloured teddy bear in the doorway. The size of it covers almost half of Alessandro’s height. He tosses the teddy bear at my way and without any doubt, I catch Fluffles. I stare at Alessandro again, still not sure why he brings Fluffles here to my bedroom.

“He’s yours now.” Alessandro said.

Did I hear that correctly? Is Alessandro really giving me Fluffles? But why? This is fucking amazing. This teddy bear is the teddy bear that has the softest fur I’ve ever felt. And the size! Fluffles is almost half my height so it feels good and comfortable to be hugged and cuddled with.

“Are you serious right now?” I asked, still staring at Alessandro in disbelief. I still can’t believe he’s giving me his teddy bear. This is something important to him. Never in my life I have someone who gives me their stuff, especially the one that means to them the most, to me.

“Yes. I do have fond memories with Fluffles since I slept with it almost all my childhood but I want you to have it now.” Alessandro said. He shrugs as he gives me a little smile.

“Really? Awww thank you so much. This is one of the sweetest things someone has ever done for me.” I said, pouting at him as I hug Fluffles.

“Bro, I want him. Why are you giving it to her?” Alessio asked with a disappointed frown. Alessandro turns to Alessio and gives him a scowl.

“You tried to steal it from me way too many times. You don’t deserve to have him.” Alessandro said. The words that’s left his mouth only make the frown on Alessio’s face go deeper. Oh my god. Are they seriously fighting over a teddy bear? Nah, not really. This is just a siblings banter but I’m going to with it.

“We can share Fluffles!” I said brightly. The dejected look on Alessio’s face disappears almost immediately at my suggestion. Now he’s grinning like a child waiting for his mother to give him a some sweets and chocolates. Gosh, he’s so funny.

“No. Nah-uh. Absolutely not. If I find Alessio lay a finger on it, I’m taking it back from you.” Alessandro threatened. I know that it’s just a lie from the glint of mischief in his eyes. I fake a shocked look at Alessandro’s threat.

“No! Please don’t take Fluffles away from me!” I said, hugging Fluffles tighter against me. Alessandro only stares back at me blankly as he crosses his arms over his chest. I turn to Alessio and squint my eyes at him.

“You. Stay away from Fluffles.” I said, facing away from him.

“No!” Alessio shouted. My bed shakes a bit as Alessio jumps onto it and hugs me from behind, preventing me to get away from him. He touched Fluffles! Fuck!

“Nooo. You touched Fluffles!” I wailed.

“He is mine now!” Alessio said with an evil laugh. He tries to get Fluffles out of my embrace jokingly and I keep resisting.

“No! You can’t take him away from me! He’s mine.” I protested, hugging Fluffles even tighter. I shriek as I feel Alessio poking my sides as he attempts to take Fluffles away from me.

“No! Stop! Alessio! Don’t tickle me!” I shouted, trying to get away from Alessio who’s tickling me and grinning evilly at me.

“Alright. Alessio, stop tickling her. Enough playing. We have to prepare for tonight. We also need to think of something to do with those men in the list.” Alessandro said. Alessio finally stops poking my sides. I turn to Alessandro, still panting from the cruel torture of tickling Alessio just did to me.

“Allura, are you ready to put your mind reading power to use?” Alessandro asked with a sinister smirk. I return the smirk, nodding once at him.

“Hell yeah. Absolutely.” I responded. It’s about time that I finally use my ability to make these assholes confess. Federico and our traitors won’t know what’s coming at them. I don’t want to sound cocky and so ahead of myself but I know we’re going to beat Federico in his own game. I’ll make sure of it. I can’t let us lose to Federico, a human with no superpower. He’s going to pay for every damage he’s done to everyone. He’s so going to regret messing with us.

Federico, I’m coming for you. No. Not in that way. What the fuck is wrong with my mind? I’m oddly dirty minded sometimes. Okay. Whatever. I’ll stop now.

“About making someone confess something with your powers, have you trained with Alessio for that? Alessio didn’t told me about it.” Alessandro asked.

“Yeah, I’ve made Alessio confess about his most embarrassing experience and succeeded on first try. I got Alessio’s dirty secret now. You know what’s the secret is though.” I said. I glance at Alessio and he deadpans me.

“Don’t you dare remind him of that.” Alessio warned. Oh, I will. That’s my revenge for tickling me. He has tickled me twice. Once at the gym and then earlier. I’m not letting you go that easily, Alessio.

“What was the secret?” Alessandro asked, seemingly amused by my findings. Alessio only glares at me and I can’t help but to smile evilly at him.

“It was something-“

“No. Don’t say it, Allura.” Alessio warned again. I let out a sigh, rolling my eyes at him.

“Is it drug related?” Alessandro asked before I can say anything else. I nod vigorously at the question. Too late, Alessio. Your twin already remembered the incident.

“Yeah. It is.” I said, grinning ear-to-ear at Alessandro.

“I can’t believe you really get that out of him. He promised himself that he won’t tell any soul about that anymore. I wish you and Luciano were there when he was high. It was too fucking hilarious. He was acting like Tarzan by saying all that shit about not needing to put clothes on anymore and seeing himself in the forest and the monkeys. I still can’t believe he didn’t fall down the stairs while it happened but that’s good that he didn’t hurt himself physically.” Alessandro said, smiling as he recollect the memories of his brother doing the unthinkable. It’s funny to hear that story but I don’t think I want to see Alessio butt naked while he’s running around the house.

“It sounds like it’s hilarious to witness it with my own eyes but I don’t think I want to see Alessio running around the house naked.” I said, chuckling at the story.

“Can you please stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Alessio said, annoyance already showing clearly on his face.

“Alright. We’ll stop now.” Alessandro said, but he’s still smiling. Alessio ignores Alessandro by looking away from him.

“So, are we going to interrogate them now?” I asked. I’m ready to do it. I feel like my sleepiness is gone now. I’m not tired anymore. I can’t wait to make our traitors confess and probably make a fool of themselves.

“We’ll interrogate all of them tomorrow but I might try to interrogate Giulio later. For now, go get your rest. You have to be well-rested for tonight. You’re going to need to act miserable in front of your father again. If you want to, we can do a rehearsal later.” Alessandro explained.

Huh. A rehearsal? I don’t need it. I know I’m a good enough actress to fake an emotion in front of my father. It’s not going to be much different than acting in front of the camera for the blackmail video. The only difference is I would be acting right in front of my father. I know I’ll do well as long as my cousins and Luciano do their part. So, if Alessandro wants me to rest now, I’m not going to refuse it. I’ll sleep as long as I want to. But not for too long now, I guess. We’re going to have our breakfast in a few hours.

“No need for rehearsal. For now, I’m going to go back to sleep with Fluffles. Thank you for giving him to me, Alessandro.” I said, smiling at him. I let out a content sigh and lie on my side while still hugging Fluffles.

“What about me?”

Wait what? Did Luciano just said that out loud? Right in front of my cousins? There’s no way he really said that. I’m probably hallucinating. I’m not sure though. I don’t know the truth because I didn’t look at Luciano while he said that because my back is facing him right now.

“What’s wrong? Did you see another ghost?” Alessandro asked. He looks behind him and then back to me. Oh. Alessandro didn’t hear it. That means Luciano didn’t say what he said earlier out loud. It’s either I’m hallucinating or he said it in my head. Yeah. How did I forget we all can communicate telepathically? But how? Didn’t Alessandro and nonna told me that we must be the one who starts the telepathic conversation? I don’t think I’ve said something to Luciano telepathically earlier.

“Allura? Hello? Are you still with us?” Alessandro asked, waving his hand in front of me. I blink my eyes a few times and quickly look at Alessandro.

“Oh. Yeah. It’s nothing. I thought I heard something.” I said. Alessandro stares at me in silence. I don’t know what he’s thinking about right now. I don’t want to read his mind.

“Alright. I’m going to tell the capos about the name list with Alessio. We’ll talk about the telepathic thing again later. We’ll get our family to come here again to discuss about it soon. Luciano, stay with Allura.” Alessandro ordered.

“Okay.” Luciano responded.

As the door closes, I quickly sit and turn around to face Luciano. The sudden movement seems to shock Luciano by how he’s staring me with wide eyes right now. I don’t think I imagine his voice at all. I definitely heard him talking in my head. I’m not sure if this is possible since no one said it before. Let’s see and ask Luciano if it’s true or not. This time, I’m not going to let him deny it.