CHAPTER 53 - ARIANNA
CHAPTER
Arianna
IDIDN’T EXPECT THIS, but there’s no time to react. My brother glances up as we enter the dimly lit room, his mouth opening in surprise, his eyes narrowing with rage.
“Not expecting us, eh, Matteo?” Red snarls, firstly unloading his gun into the man to Matteo’s left, then just as rapidly, delivering another bullet through the head of the guard to the right.
Frozen in shock, I watch with detached fascination as playing cards flutter to the floor and a can of beer trundles off the table, spewing its contents to mix with the blood spraying from the guard’s shattered head.
I stare at the bullet hole in the man’s stomach left lying on his back. He’s bleeding profusely, but he’s not dead because he’s fumbling for his gun at the same time Matteo reaches for his.
A third shot makes me jump as it plows into the first man’s chest, but it’s not enough to pull me into action.
Matteo’s face twists with rage, his finger on the trigger, the barrel trained on Red.
My heart no longer beats as Red moves his pistol back towards Matteo. It’s not quick enough to offset the motion my brother has on his own trigger.
He’ll shoot Red, yet I’m doing nothing. Holy mother of God!
A further shot fires, followed by another, the noise louder than the first three.
I jolt backwards. Have I been shot? Has Matteo shot me? Or is it another guard? Which?
“You fucking wanker!” Red kicks Matteo’s gun away from his hand that grasps with what remains of his fingers.
Such is my racing brain; Red’s movements happen in slow motion. His boot then comes into contact with my brother’s skull before he jumps astride him.
“Isn’t this where we came in, Bateman?” Matteo grapples with his good hand, blood from the stumps of his fingers streaking Red’s face.
It’s then I realize it was my gun that fired the shot. I’ve shot my brother’s fingers off!
“You took my wife!” Red yells. “You took my fucking wife. I’ve waited far too long for this, and now you’re going to die, you cunt!” His face twists with hatred, his blue-gray eyes dark with rage - so dark they look almost black.
Matteo chuckles, his hair wet with his own blood, the stumps of his fingers still grasping at Red’s face and neck.
I feel sick and can’t move.
Red slams the butt of his pistol into Matteo’s face, shattering his jaw, and scowls as blood, bits of teeth and frothy saliva pour from my brother’s mouth, along with a strange gurgling sound.
“Not so funny now, is it?” He shoves the gun under Matteo’s chin; the bottom half of his smashed jaw hanging at a weird angle, forcing his mouth into a slack gape.
As Red pulls back on the trigger, I’m propelled into action. Snapped out of my trance, I bolt forward, my feet slipping on the beer, blood and bits of flesh coating the floor.
I hear screaming.
It’s coming from me.
“Don’t!” I screech. “He’s mine to kill. MINE!”
I’m crazy. I know I’m crazy. But I’m doing this. Red promised that I could do it. He promised.
Grabbing Red’s arm, I pull it, his primed gun veering dangerously in my direction. It’s only then that I see a tinge of fear enter the dark void in his eyes. “He’s mine.” I tug harder on his arm. “I’m doing this, not you!”
Red is suddenly on his back, knocked off balance from the swift kick my brother delivers to his chest.
Swinging around, I find Matteo on his hands and knees crawling towards his gun. The dark blue eyes glaring at me with hatred look strange in the ruined face that used to be so handsome. He’s mumbling something, but his words are indecipherable.
“Where is Maria?” I scream. “What have you done with her?”
“Arianna...”
I hear Red but ignore him. I’ve got to do this, otherwise he will.
“Arianna - the gun!”
Lurching forward, I stamp on the remains of Matteo’s hand inches away from his gun. “You’ve ruined my life, now you want to ruin Maria’s? You ruin everyone’s lives! Not anymore!”
Matteo’s not listening, but I don’t care. His face may be smashed, his ability to throw hateful comments removed, but his eyes still hold the base contempt and sarcastic humor they always have. Even now, when he knows he’s fucked, he’s still laughing at me.
Sending him a look holding an equal amount of resentment, I kick his gun further away. “Fetch it then,” I sneer, my hatred melding into a thick black sludge. “Go on! Fetch it, and if you manage that, I’ll let you kill me.”
As I lower my gun, Red says something, but I’ve zoned out, too focused on Matteo as he continues his slow drag across the floor.
Red need not worry about stepping in. I’ve got this.
Realization slowly dawns on my brother’s face as my gun stops at his kneecap. The first flash of fear blazes through his eyes, and a howling noise follows the bullet leaving my pistol.
I wipe fragments of bone and flesh off my face with the back of my hand; my gun still trained on Matteo as he writhes on the floor.
I need to finish this and finish it now.
“You piece of shit!” My mind separates from my body as I engage the trigger and line my gun’s barrel between Matteo’s eyes.
“You were always supposed to be mine.”
My finger freezes. Luca.
“Fuck!” Clutching his winded chest, Red scrambles to his feet and fires a shot at the open doorway, but Luca has gone.
Red glances at me. I know what he’s thinking. “I’ve got this. Just go and kill him and find Maria!”
I don’t know whether Red remains in the room as I turn back to Matteo. “Goodbye, you evil bastard!”
Releasing the bullet that kills my brother is surprisingly easy. I watch a thin trickle of blood ooze from the clean hole in his forehead; the hatred now emptied from his eyes as they stare sightlessly up at the ceiling.
I’m surprised there’s not more blood.
The burden of the last few weeks, as well as what could have happened, unfastens from around my shoulders and drifts away.
Then I remember Luca.
“Maria!” I sprint towards the door, slipping in the blood and flesh. “Red! RED!”
“I’ve got her. She’s up here.”