Chapter 38
Persephone
I rest my head on Alessio’s shoulder. He kisses my head, keeping his focus fixed on his tablet. It’s habit for him, kissing me whenever I get close.
“I’m feeling strange,” I sigh.
He puts the tablet down and looks at me. “What happened?”
I sit straight. “Nothing’s happened, it’s just a bad feeling, like the one I had when Wen was taken two years ago.”
“Have you talked to her?”
I hum. “Yesterday, for a few minutes. She was doing something and seemed very happy.” I smile. “So I didn’t disturb her for long.”
“And what about Leo? Have you talked to him too?”
I nod. “He’s also fine.”
He opens his mouth to speak, but the sound of my phone ringing cuts him off.
I get up from the couch and walk to his desk, where I left my phone when I entered his office.
He was sitting in his chair earlier, but we moved to the couch afterward.
I don’t usually come to his office, but today I was feeling too out of sorts.
The call ends before I reach it, then rings again. I see May’s name on the screen and pick up. Frowning, I answer the video call.
May’s face fills the screen.
“Is everything alright?” I ask before she can speak.
She doesn’t look good, her face is filled with worry.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, madam, but it’s urgent. Miss isn’t okay.”
My breath quickens. “What happened to her?” I ask anxiously.
Alessio comes to my side, wraps an arm around my shoulders, and takes the phone.
“Hello, sir,” May greets him.
“Hello, May. What’s the problem?” he asks, guiding me back to the couch.
“Let me show you,” she says, then turns her phone’s camera around.
Wen is there, playing with her dogs, blowing big bubbles from a small tube that they’re trying to catch. She’s laughing and jumping around them.
“She’s perfectly fine,” Alessio says.
“It all looks fine from a distance,” May says, moving closer to Wen.
She turns the camera back around and hands the phone to Wen.
I gasp when I see her face up close. Her eyes are sunken, dark circles stretching down to her cheeks, she looks like she hasn’t slept in a month.
Her gaze flickers in and out of focus within seconds.
She’s grinning, but the smile looks unnatural.
Her skin is dry like a leaf, her entire complexion drained. There’s no color left in her.
She waves like a happy child. “Hey, Dad. You look handsome.”
She blows bubbles at the screen, giggling. “Come play with me. It’s so much fun.”
My chin trembles. Tears spill down my cheeks. I cover my mouth to hold back the sobs. Alessio rubs my arm, his jaw clenched.
“How are you, Princess?” he asks, lovingly.
“I’m good. Do you want to see the new dresses I bought yesterday?”
“Later.”
“Okay. See you soon, Dad. I’m busy right now.” She thrusts the phone back into May’s hand and runs off.
May turns the phone back to herself.
“What the hell is this?” Alessio snaps.
“I don’t know, sir. She’s either like this or she won’t speak at all.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“For the past three days, she’s been like this. Things have been strange for about a week, but Mr. De Falco said she’s going through a depressive phase, so I didn’t think much of it. But now it looks like more than depression to me, so I called madam.”
“This isn’t depression,” I mutter, wiping my eyes.
Alessio ends the call.
“I’ll have Remi bring her to San Diego immediately.”
I nod.
A knock sounds at his office door before it opens and his assistant steps in. He looks between us and lowers his head. “I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but the news is urgent.”
“What is it?”
“Chris Flisher’s estate has been burned.” He then asks the office AI assistant to show the video he sent to Alessio on the wall screen.
The video is satellite footage. A small fire ignites in one circle, then moves to the next, and soon spreads over all the greenery around the palace, and then inside it.
“How did this happen? Wasn’t his estate fire-resistant?”
“It was, especially the inside of the palace.”
“Who did this?”
“The pattern and materials used to start and spread the fire match those of the Naples fire. Even Canadian news channels are speculating that the Butcher of Naples has reached Canada.”
Alessio frowns. “How is this possible? Salvario’s in Naples.”
“It could be someone else with his methods.”
“Find out who did it.”
Elowen
I sit on the grass. It’s soft. I run my hand over it, chuckling. There’s nothing funny here, and yet everything is.
Bruno brings back a ball. Where did he find it? Did I throw it? But wasn’t I in the pool just now? I look around, there’s no pool. Where did it go?
I don’t think about it further. I watch Rosie try to snatch the ball from Bruno’s mouth. I clap, laughing at their tussle. Bruno reaches me and drops the ball at my feet.
I pick it up and throw it with all the strength I can muster. It rolls back, a long distance that Bruno and Rosie cover in seconds. No, it wasn’t long. Only a few feet. It just felt long.
I stare at them as they tussle. My mouth stretches into a laugh, but no sound comes out. Slowly, it closes. The sky is dulling. A clawing sensation digs into the back of my mind, there are screams in my skull, sounds like my screams. They’re hurting me. My head is splitting.
The gray dog drops the ball on the gray grass. I don’t reach for it. I can’t move, the screams are getting louder.
Someone touches my shoulder. I try to turn my head, but it won’t move. Something warm touches my lips. I part them. Warm liquid touches my lips, then my tongue. Instantly, my eyes shift. I take a long sip, looking at the man in front of me.
Two more sips, and I remember his name. Salvario. He lives in the house with me. He’s my best friend, or maybe my boyfriend. But didn’t Dad say no boyfriends before eighteen?
How old am I?
I don’t care. I drink the remaining tea in one gulp and fall back onto the soft grass—which is green again—looking up at the bright sky, laughing with joy.
Salvario sits beside me, smiling. I grin back.
He places his hand on my stomach, where the crop top doesn’t cover.
My grin falters. Darkness flashes behind my eyes.
Something inside my head is trying to surface, but something else keeps dragging it back.
I should push his hand away, it’s now on my breast, under my top, but I’m grinning.
A scream wants to tear out of my throat, but a giggle comes out instead as he squeezes my breast. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I’m laughing through tears. He’s pushing my bra up.
I shake my head, still laughing. “No. Don’t do this.”
He presses the finger of his other hand to my lips. “Shhh. It’ll be fun.”
I chuckle. My body is shaking. Tears are streaming down my face. I’m suspended between happiness and fear.
“I don’t want fun.” I try to push his hand away, but my grip is too weak.
“Don’t think about it.” His hand moves lower, to my shorts. “Just let me make you feel good.”
I try to stop his hand as it slips inside the waistband of my shorts. His fingers part my folds and touch the flesh. I’m laughing breathlessly now. There is only fear, no happiness, but I’m still laughing.
Right then, Bruno jumps on Salvario, knocking him down. As soon as his hands leave my body, the fear vanishes. Now I’m only happy.
I sit up on the ground, laughing and clapping as Bruno plays with Salvario, tearing his clothes. Salvario tries to push him off, shouting. Rosie also joins in.
“What’s going on, ma’am?” A voice comes from behind me.
I turn to see my other friend, Remi, standing there.
“Bruno and Rosie are playing with Salvario.”
I turn back to watch their game, but it’s already over. Remi’s friends have Bruno and Rosie pinned to the ground. Salvario stands a few feet away, his clothes torn, scratches covering his body.
May comes to my side and crouches down. “Miss, sir wants us to go to San Diego. Let’s go.”