Piccoletto

Magic Tablets

"P- please," Luca begged, desperately grabbing for Ercole's leg. Luca's eyes were filled with tears, and he began coughing violently under Ercole's stance. His face quickly turned pale as he began choking on his own saliva. Ercole was forced to flip Luca over, and let the younger boy mend himself before his next beating.

Luca coughed onto the ground, almost gagging from his winded abdomen. Between chokes, Luca let out horrible wails of pain as he grabbed his throat. He turned up towards Ercole, his eyes begging for mercy.

"No- more," Luca stammered between coughs.

Ercole leaned in closer to Luca. "What was that? Say it again, Piccoletto."

"No- no more!" Luca cried as he began to find his voice. Ercole laughed maliciously.

"Louder boy! You want to live? Scream!"

"NO MORE!" Luca screeched, setting him into a fit of sobs as he collapsed onto the floor.

"That's more like it, Piccoletto!" Ercole shouted over Luca's trembling body. "But not loud enough!"

Luca groaned as Ercole dropped himself over Luca's body, flipping Luca back onto is back before pinning him to the floor.

"You dirty little liar!" Ercole bellowed, sending spit flying into Luca's face. "Say you did it! Say you did it!"

Luca could only sob. He was so winded he could barely breathe, and his cries made his lungs sting painfully through coughs and chokes. His temples were pounding from his head hitting the back of the wall. But still- he couldn't let Ercole win.

"I didn't," Luca mustered, shutting his eyes tightly. Ercole sat on Luca, waiting for another response as he screamed at the boy to answer him. But Luca defiantly shook his head no.

"I didn't take your vespa," Luca repeated, his voice bearing a more assertive tone. "I never saw it. How could I have taken it if I'm here?"

Ercole relaxed his grip on Luca's shoulders and looked down at Luca. Ercole would never admit it out loud, but Luca was right. And Ercole had known Luca was right even before he entered the cellar. He just wanted someone to blame. Or maybe someone to take out his anger on. But who else would be stupid enough to take a vespa without its keys?

Ercole looked up from a struggling Luca as he realized who it could have been. Giulia and Alberto. Did they know Ercole had Luca? Ercole hoped so, as half the reason for taking Luca in the first place was to destroy Alberto's heart. But Ercole wasn't too worried. Who could they tell? Alberto didn't even seem to have family around. And Giulia- well, Ercole was sure she wouldn't outright blame him without evidence. And anyways, who would actually believe Ercole had kidnapped Luca? People saw him as a talented, and handsome seventeen-year-old. He was safe. For now. He just needed to make sure that Luca was kept secret.

Ercole stepped off of Luca and watched as the weaker boy took a deep breath of air with Ercole's weight off of him. Luca tried to prop himself up and scoot his back against the wall as Ercole turned around and headed for the door.

"Don't move," Ercole said, as he opened the door leading to inside the house with his keys.

Luca looked back up, grabbing his stomach in pain as he sniffed. He wanted to talk to Ercole about his idea of letting him go, but he was too nervous to bring it up after Ercole had been so furious. But it wouldn't matter because Ercole had already turned to go up the stairs.

But one thing had changed. Ercole had left the door wide open. Luca couldn't see much more than the orange tile stone that led up to the ground floor, but that wouldn't matter. How come Ercole had left the door open? Did he just forget to close it? That didn't seem likely. Was this all a trap? Did Ercole want Luca to go up the stairs, only to beat him as a punishment?