Chapter 53 Allegra
ALLEGRA
Because I'd timed everything according to plan, I don't have to linger in bed much longer. The door to the salon opens slowly, and I know exactly who it is.
She locks the door behind her—like I knew she would—and she steps forward. Holding my eyes closed, I rely on my ears to listen for her every move.
She checks the machines before settling right next to my bed.
"Fucking bitch, you have nine lives or what?" she snickers, her hands going for the monitors. I hear the beeping as she plays with the settings, thinking they'll cause me harm.
Of course the impulse would be to disconnect me from every machine, and that's exactly what she does after she realizes she can't figure out how the monitors work. She proceeds to strip the wires from my body in a hurry, almost as if she can't wait to see me die.
We might meet in hell, sister!
When she's done, she takes a step back, waiting.
But then she realizes that I'm still breathing, so the only other option is to smother me with a pillow. Classic, right?
Well, we must have watched the same telenovelas, because that's exactly what she tries to do.
The moment the pillow is on my face, I swiftly move my hand, injecting her with a sedative. No sooner does the needle pierce her skin than I push against her until she's on the floor.
The sedative is quick to act, and her movements are sluggish as she stares in horror at me.
"Surprised? Sister?" I ask in the same smug tone she'd used right before she smashed my face against the table.
With her restricted movements, she tries to escape me by dragging herself across the floor. I measure my steps so I'm slowly advancing, making her feel the fear tenfold.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" I raise an eyebrow at her, lifting her chin with my thumb.
"Fuck you," she spits at me, and I turn my head to the side just in time to avoid it.
"Well, I think now it's my turn to say that, isn't it?" My smile grows wider just as her eyes show more fear.
Noticing there's no way out, not with the sedative in her system, she starts laughing nervously.
"So what if you're alive? No one wants you! Why do you think it was so easy to replace you? Not even your husband or your brat knows who I am."
"Are you so sure?" I cock my head, my voice grounded. She's the one with no escape, and I won't let her rattle me.
"Who do you think brought me here?" I ask, and the realization is right there on her face. "Ah, you're putting things together, aren't you? Enzo's known from the very beginning."
"Really?" Her mouth morphs into a vicious line. "I'm sure he knew when he was fucking me, calling me by your name."
Did I really expect her not to say that?
"Don't waste your breath; it's not like I'm going to believe anything that comes out of your mouth anyway," I tell her, getting up and moving back to the bed.
"You should know, though"—I stop, half-turning—"that both Mother and Father are dead."
Her eyes widen at the statement, so I give her a beaming smile. "It sure was nice to make them bleed. Now for you…"
"You?" she asks incredulously.
I just nod, stripping the bed of the bedding and pillow until it's nothing but the metal frame. Luckily, this bed's frame doesn't have any empty spaces, so it will be lovely for darling Chiara.
After I throw everything to the ground, I turn back to her.
I'm relaxed, even though something is simmering in my veins—that taste of revenge I'm finally going to have. But it's so exquisite that I can't rush into it.
I need to savor it. Take my time.
Chiara is propped against the wall, already out of it. I take her by the arms and drag her to the bed, tying her hands and feet at each end with barbed wire.
Then I wait.
She comes awake a couple hours later, and I'm halfway through my chapter. I quickly read the last sentence before putting the bookmark in and turning my attention to my sister.
"What…?" she stammers when she sees the situation she's in.
I take a seat next to her, ready for what's next—but not quite.
"I know about you and Leonardo," I state, refusing to acknowledge that bastard as my father anymore.
"What do you think you know?" she answers back belligerently.
Does she even have any other mood but aggression? I don't think we've had a normal conversation in our lives. All of them had been her yelling at me, or accusing me of something and getting me in trouble.
"That you fucked?" I ask, amused.
"Yeah, sure, we fucked, so what?" She rolls her eyes at me.
"So what? Chiara, I may have never liked you, but that's fucked up. You were fourteen!" I say, slightly outraged. I may kill her slowly and painfully over the next few hours, but that doesn't mean I don't recognize that what Leonardo did to her was plain wrong.
"So? I went to him. I knew what I was getting into."
"You were fourteen," I repeat, still in awe that she thinks it was normal.
"It's not like I hadn't watched him fuck others before. I was curious." There's no emotion on her face as she admits it, and I just shake my head.
My parents didn't just fail me. They failed her too.
"I feel sorry for you," I add, "but not sorry enough to forget everything you've done to me."
"What, you're going to smother me with a pillow too?" She mocks me, laughing derisively at me even though she's currently completely immobilized.
"No, it will be much, much worse," I tell her before stuffing her mouth with a cloth.
What I have in mind will have her screaming in pain.
Putting some wires on her chest, I watch one monitor come to life with her pulse. Then, taking a step back, I use a remote control to activate the radiator under the bed. Moving my chair next to the window and away from the bed, I just wait.
The red heat of the radiator is right below the metallic frame of the bed—a prime conductor for heat.
It takes some time until the iron of the bed heats up, and Chiara starts moving around on the bed, trying to lift herself up so she's not in direct contact with the hot metal.
Tears have gathered at the corners of her eyes as she can't hold herself up anymore; she falls onto the hot bed, her throat clogging with screams that won't come out.
The smell of burned flesh is already in the air, and I simply watch as the skin on her back starts to melt, some of it even flowing down—a mix of red and yellow that almost makes me blink twice in disgust.
She's still thrashing against the restraints, her skin red with heat, effort, and hopelessness as the bed keeps on getting hotter.
The odor coming from her melted skin is making me sick, and I open the window a little, still in my spot. I can't afford to miss this after I've been planning it for so long.
At some point, Chiara stops moving. I move closer to see there's still a pulse. It's very faint, but it's there.
I stop the radiator and wait.
After a few more hours, Chiara is up again, her pulse spiking with her awakening. I push the button, and the radiators start again.
Her throat must be sore and bleeding by now, since she's been trying to scream through her gag the entire time.
But I watch more skin melt off her body, some of it turning black, charred on the surface of the bed, while other trickles of blood and fat fall onto the floor.
I don't stop the radiators this time, letting them run at the highest temperature until the entire portion of her back is red and gnarly, bone visible through the blistered skin.
The monitor, too, stops picking up her pulse.
Finally, I go near her, clipping her restraints with a pair of pliers, the metal malleable enough to give way at the first tug.
I get rid of those so that there's nothing odd when the authorities discover her body.
Then I round the bed and pick up the bedding and pillows, throwing them on top of her and watching as the material clings to the burned flesh, sticking together to create an even worse smell.
With a book under my arm, I set up a small fire just next to the radiators.
One last glance, and I'm out of the room.
Behind me, it's not long before I hear the sound of an explosion, signaling that my plan's been successful.
I sneak out, taking the clothes Lia had hidden for me in a nook in the convent, and then I manage to get out by showing a fake staff ID.
While everyone is hurrying towards the fire, I'm heading away from it.
One more name.
Soon.