Piccoletto

Panic Attack

Luca cradled his arm as he knelt on the floor, rocking steadily back and forth in tune with his breathing. His elbow was quickly swelling, and any minor movement made it painfully ache. Luca couldn't concentrate, as blood was pumping violently through his temples. Everything hurt.

A loud noise sounded from above, and Luca turned his attention towards the ceiling. Suddenly, he couldn't control himself. It was as if his body wasn't letting him breathe. All he could do was sit still, paralyzed with fear, eyes fixed on the door that led to inside the house. A slight thumping came from behind it and the door swung open, revealing Ercole standing there with an evil grin.

"Good morning, Piccoletto," he said.

Luca didn't know what happened to him. It was a feeling he'd never felt this strongly before. His entire body locked up, and an explosion of adrenaline rushed through his veins. He had never felt this terrified before. Looking upon Ercole made his eyes well up with tears as his breath got caught in his throat.

Ercole looked down at the shaking boy, who for some reason was kneeling in the very center of the cellar. Luca's fear only filled Ercole with power as he stepped closer.

"Did you sleep well?" Ercole said dangerously, towering over Luca who still wasn't able to move.

Luca began to hyperventilate as his body shook violently beneath him. It looked like he was trying to scream, or cry. But he could only let out a shallow breath. In an effort to shut himself up, Luca slapped the hand of his free arm over his mouth. Ercole kicked his side without hesitation, sending Luca to scream as he landed on his hurt elbow.

"Sta 'zitto, I said!" Ercole shouted, crouching over Luca. "Are you crazy, boy? I'm going to- what is this?"

The panic attack Luca was suffering had a grasp on his vocal chords, and he couldn't bring himself to talk. Every breath he took made him feel physically sick, and the bones in his elbow had rearranged painfully upon the impact. All he could do was shut his eyes tight to avoid looking at Ercole.

Ercole crouched down over Luca and gently slid both hands under Luca's forearm, bringing it up closer to inspection. Luca squirmed painfully as Ercole attempted to straighten his hurt arm. It was already puffy and discolored, and a protruding bump alerted Ercole that a bone had popped out of place.

"Che strano," Ercole said, inspecting Luca's elbow. He looked up past Luca and realized that the door behind him had a point of impact from the way it sunk in. Ercole fumed as he looked back down at Luca.

"Did you do this to yourself?" he asked in an irritated tone. "Che diamine! You're lucky my parents are out, Piccoletto, or-"

Ercole stopped himself after looking back from the door to Luca. Luca still had his eyes shut tightly, bringing more attention to his incredibly pale face. Maybe Ercole had put him through too much.

Ercole sighed and realized he'd have to give Luca at least some of his strength back if he could put his plan into motion.

"Don't move, Piccoletto," Ercole snapped as he tightened his arm around Luca's. He lightly brushed his finger over the protruding bump of Luca's bone, and pressed it back in without hesitation. The bone popped back into place, sending Luca to stifle a gasp. After opening his eyes, Luca looked down at his now mended elbow. He slowly straightened it out and turned back up towards Ercole with a questioning look.

"Th- thank you," Luca mustered, fearfully looking into Ercole's eyes. Ercole stood back up and scoffed, feeling immensely confused. After all he had put Luca through, Luca still thanked him? If anything, it only made Ercole feel more in control.

"I'm going to town," Ercole said, ignoring Luca's words. "I'm getting my vespa and telling Ciccio and Guido to take a day off. You and I have a lot of work to do."

Luca looked up and anxiously gulped. "Work?"

Ercole's entitled smile dropped. "Yes, Piccoletto, work. You stay here for now. Well- not like there's anywhere you can go, ha!"

Ercole sent himself into a fit of snobby laughter, but his mood died down quickly. With no one else but Luca to admire him (in which Luca wasn't even maintaining eye contact) it was difficult to still show off the way he had wanted.

"I am also going to deliver this," Ercole said in an effort to grab Luca's attention. Luca looked up just in time to see Ercole reach behind his back and pull out a yellow rose. Luca's yellow rose. Amazingly, it was still perfectly intact.

"Can I have it back?" Luca asked suddenly, his voice much higher than usual. Ercole remarked that it was the first full sentence Luca had given him all day.

"Hmm," Ercole taunted. "I don't think so, Piccoletto. It is mine now, after all."

Luca rolled his eyes, his fear settling into irritation. Ercole felt his fists bawl up in response but he stopped himself, realizing that he'd need to win some part of Luca's trust to make his day work out. Physical violence was not going to help whatsoever, so Ercole did the next best thing. In one swift movement, Ercole stepped over Luca and bent down, his fingers closing onto Luca's shirt. He pulled it off in one quick movement by the collar, letting Luca fall back.

"Hey!" Luca said, turning and reaching for the shirt. "That's mi- that's not yours!"

Ercole snickered. "Not anymore, Piccoletto. It's about time you find better rags than this, anyway."

Ercole leaned in and gave the raggedy, yet still sturdy shirt, a sniff. He dramatically recoiled as he pinched his nose with laughter.

"Ugh, smells like the back of la pescheria, my friend!" Ercole said. "Maybe if I take it with me it'll remove all the stink from down here, eh?"

Luca growled as he went to stand up. Ercole had everything. He had Luca's shirt, Luca's rose, and Luca himself! Luca had done too much damage to himself by constantly getting back up to fight Ercole. But he felt like he had no other choice.

"Please, give it back," Luca said with a new found confidence, holding his hand out for Ercole to give back the shirt. He didn't want to admit that with nothing but his shorts on, his now visible bruises were making him feel quite vulnerable, as if his size wasn't already doing that for him.

Ercole huffed. "I don't think I will, Piccoletto. Now go to the corner, I'm leaving."

Luca looked between Ercole and the corner he was pointing to. It was the very opposite corner from the door that led to the stairs outside. Feeling more defeated than ever, Luca stiffly walked over to the corner in shame. As soon as he made it over, Ercole gave his fingers a little wave of goodbye with a venomous scowl.

"Bye bye, Piccoletto!"

Ercole quickly opened the door with his keys and rapidly slammed it behind him.

Luca could hear him lock it shut from the other side.